page_title: History of the Székely people
section_title: Late Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Székely people / Kingdom of Hungary / Late Middle Ages
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Die katholische Kirche im Stadtzentrum von Cristuru Secuiesc (Székelykeresztúr, Siebenbürgen).
context_page_description: The history of the Székely people can be documented from the 12th century. According to medieval chronicles, the Székelys were descended from the Huns who settled in the Carpathian Basin in the 5th century. This theory was refuted by modern scholars, but no consensual view about the origin of the Székelys exists. They fought in the vanguard of the Hungarian army, implying that they had been a separate ethnic group, but their tongue does not show any trace of a language shift.
  Scattered communities of light-armored Székely warriors lived in the Kingdom of Hungary, especially along the western frontier till the 14th century. Their migration to Transylvania began in the 11th or 12th century. They first settled in southern Transylvania, but they moved to present-day Székely Land after the arrival of the Transylvanian Saxons in the late 12th century. They were subjected to a royal official, the Count of the Székelys, from the 1220s. Their military role enabled them to preserve their privileged status. They did not pay tax and the kings of Hungary could not grant landed property in Székely Land.
context_section_description: The register of the papal tithe (the tenth part of each clergyman's revenues which was to be paid to the pope) between 1330 and 1337 is the first document to provide detailed information of the Roman Catholic parishes in Székely Land. At least 150 parishes were mentioned in the document, showing that a church had been built in at least 80% of the villages (this ratio did not exceed 40% in other regions of the kingdom). The parishes were divided among four archdeaneries of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Transylvania. The presence of Orthodox communities in this period has not been demonstrated.
  The Székely administrative units were known as széks (or seats) from the middle of the 14th century. There were initially seven seats, but Stibor of Stiboricz, Voivode of Transylvania, authorized the community of Miklósvár (now Micloșoara in Romania) to set up its own court of justice around 1395. The other seats only acknowledged the establishment of Miklósvárszék in 1459. Each seat was headed by two elected officials, the lieutenant (maior exercitus) and the seat judge (iudex terrestris). Theoretically, lieutenants were responsible for the military affairs and seat judges administered justice, but lieutenants also heard legal disputes. Both seat judges and lieutenants heard disputes together with twelve jurors.
  Only Székelys who owned landed property known as "Székely inheritance" could be elected lieutenants or seat judges. Such property almost always included a mill, increasing the revenues of its owner. "Székely inheritances" were divided among the lineages, because the right to nominate and elect the officials of a seat moved from lineage to lineage in each year. Consequently, members of the families who owned more than one "Székely inheritance" held the offices more frequently than others.
  Most Székely villages were named either after a lineage, or after individuals, known from 13th- and 14th-century charters. Unlike the villages in the counties, the Székely villages preserved their autonomous status. Ten families made up the basic administrative units (known as "tenth") of Székely Land. Tenths supervised the regular division of the communal lands.
  Tenths were also responsible for the mobilization of the Székely warriors. The Székelys' military obligations did not diminish in the 14th century. Andrew Lackfi, Count of the Székelys, launched a campaign against the Golden Horde in 1345. His victory enabled the expansion of Hungary across the Carpathian Mountains and contributed to the establishment of Moldavia. Székely troops also participated in the campaigns of Louis I of Hungary in Italy, Lithuania, Serbia and Bulgaria. Stephen Kanizsai commanded the Székely warriors in the Battle of Nicopolis, which ended with the catastrophic defeat of the Christian army by the Ottomans in 1396.
  The Székelys primarily grew grain, onion, cabbage, hops, hemp and flax in the late 15th century. Apple, pear, plum, walnut and hazelnut were the characteristic fruits of Székely Land. The breeding of horses and cattle was also important segment of the local economy. The Székelys also traded in skins of wolves, foxes, squirrels, martens and other wild animals. The staple right of the Saxon town of Brassó hindered the development of the nearby Székely towns, especially that of Sepsiszentgyörgy (now Sfântu Gheorghe in Romania). A royal charter recorded that a town was located in each seat in 1427, but most towns received privileges only during the following century.
  The existence of legally distinct groups of the Székely society was first documented in the early 15th century, but the origin of the three main groups can be traced back to the previous centuries. Archaeologist Elek Benkő proposes that the tripartite Székely community (consisting of the high-ranking primores and primipili, and the commoners) preserved the features of the 11th-century Hungarian society. The number of Székelys who could not secure their living increased due to the divisions of landed property through inheritance in the 15th century. The poor entered the service of wealthy la
caption: Medieval Roman Catholic church in Székelykeresztúr (present-day Cristuru Secuiesc, Romania)
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