## Catalogue of Contemporary Quotes from 16th and 19th Century Moravian Wallachia

**I. On Wallachian Identity and Character:**

**Ondřej Knošek from Příbor (approx. 110 years old, testifying in 1556-1560):**
> "He remembers that in his youth there were no Wallachians with cattle in those mountains..."

**David from Kozlovice (approx. 90 years old, testifying in 1556-1560):**
> "He has been in Kozlovice for fifty years under the rule of Mr. Dobeš¹, who was the first to accept the Wallachians into the Hukvaldy Mountains and rent pastures to them, and it was shown how long they were to graze..."

**Jan Maršálek (approx. 80 years old, testifying in 1556-1560):**
> "It was about seventy years ago when a certain Wallachian, whom they called Ondřej, moved to those Ukvaldy Mountains with his cattle."

**Local saying about Wallachian border delimitation (undated, likely 16th-17th century):**
> "as I heard from elders… these mountains were the true border"

**Matouš Václavek, describing the unique character and challenging conditions of the Vsetín region (1901):**
> "Travelers in the Wallachian region, especially in the Vsetín and Rožnov areas, will experience many pleasant impressions from the views of the landscape. Plains and valleys are found only along the Bečva and its tributaries; the rest is all slopes, hills, and mountains, all hollows, forks, and “grapas” (steep, narrow valleys)... There is little fertile land. Poverty and hardship are mostly at home here." 

**Matouš Václavek, describing the resourcefulness and resilience of the Wallachian people:**
> "If the potatoes and cabbage do not yield, if the fruit trees do not bear fruit, then there is misery upon misery. That is why the inhabitants take on any kind of earnings, small trade, and industry they can, wherever and however they can, to support themselves and their families (by splitting shingles, making hoops from fir wood, making baskets, clogs, etc.)... In summer, the people of the Vsetín Region, especially from the villages of Ratiboř, Kateřinice, and others, go to work “in Moravia” (in the Haná region), to Austria, and to Hungary... Anyone who wants to work, who lives modestly, who does not waste money on unnecessary things, on various indulgences, does not have to despair and flee to unknown lands overseas, where perhaps twice the hardship awaits them."

**Jan Nekeš Jr. from Landek and Lukov, requesting clarification about pasture boundaries from Bernard from Zerotin in Meziříčí (January 3, 1568):**
> "I send my regards to Your Lordship, noble sir, my dear and gracious neighbor. I wish you good health and all other good things faithfully. You are kind enough to write to me that a certain Hrkodej, a voivode subject to you, has informed you that my subjects from Hovězí, namely Knuda and others, have been grazing Wallachian and cattle herds on your lands. Please inform me faithfully, unless you do not wish to inform me about this at all, where or in which places. For I have ordered my subjects never to cross the boundaries and the Javorníky Mountains unjustly. However, if any force should harm my subjects in this peaceful land, I would truly have to find out who it was, so that I would not abandon my subjects in this matter. If I or my subjects have wronged anyone in any way, it seems to me that I am sufficiently settled in this margraviate under order and law, and I want to be just to everyone, including my subjects. However, God willing, I wish to point out that these are mountains to the peaks and the Javorníky Mountains are rightfully mine, but if they have grazed anywhere across the just boundaries and the Javorníky Mountains, please let me know, for they should indeed be punished for it and you should stand by the law. With this, I wish you all the best, given at Slušovice on Saturday after New Year's Day in the year of our Lord 1568."