Ecelesiastical Arhitectural Patrimony in Southern Transylvania. Archaeological Perspective

The archeologic research of ecclesiastical monuments became inevitable especially for those monuments that have a history beginning before the 13th century, when written data begins to spread. Written sources can be useful, if available, for the detailing of the information gained from archaeologic research, but before the mid-13th century, it is highly unusual to find such sources. The research of the ecclesiastical heritage from Southern Transylvania has a long tradition in German-language historiography, but, in most cases, their focus was on architecture and the history of art. Ensembles, fortified or not, have caught the attention of certain archaeologic research programs especially between 1960 and 1980, when ample restauration projects were started for several important sites: Sibiu – The Evangelical Parochial Church; Sebeș – The Evangelical Church; Brașov – The Black Church; Alba Iulia – The Roman-Catholic Church, among others.

Keywords: Medieval archaeology, Urban archaeology, Transylvania, Sibiu.

Oriental pottery from the honfoglalás period.Cylindrical-neck, grooved vessels in the Carpathian Basin

The topic of cylindrical-neck, grooved vessels in the Carpathian Basin has been debated in the Hungarian historiography, mostly by the likes of Mesterházy Károly (1975), Fodor Janos (1985), Takács Miklós (2012), Szabina Merva (2014), and in the Romanian field literature by Petru Iambor (1985-1986), Dan Băcueț-Crișan (2013) and others. This kind of vessels were uncovered both in settlements, as fragments, and burial places, where these were better preserved, some even as a whole, and are more interesting. The neck marks a distinct part of the vessel, being made of leveled clay rolls forming deep shafts. The neck’s upper part, namely its lip, is mostly straight but sometimes, in rare cases, flared. One can observe a diversity in the classification criteria of these vessels’ typology, an emphasized attention being directed towards the presence or lack of holder, the type of vessel’s lip, the type of shaft, the technology used in producing them and their sizes. Most of these vessels were produced using the slow potter’s wheel. Their chronology has been established between the 10th and 11th centuries, being attributed to some nomad populations, especially Khazars. This vessels’ typology has been also unearthed in Bulgarian or Pecheneg dominated regions. The ones found in the so called Silvaniei Plateau are dating back to the 10th – 12th centuries.
(Translated by Corina Hopârtean)

Keywords: cylindrical-neck grooved vessels, 10th – 12th centuries, slow potter’s wheel, Carpathian Basin.

Dan Băcueț-Crișan, Contribuții la studierea ceramicii medieval timpurii din depresiunea Silvaniei. Vasele cu gât canelat / Contributions to the study of the early mediaeval pottery from Sylvanian Basin. Grooved neck pots, în AMP, 35, 2013.
Fodor István, Honfoglalás kori bordázott nyakú edényeink származásáról / The origin of the ribbed neck vessels of the Conquest Age, în Folia Archaeologica, 36, 1985.
Horváth Tibor, Honfoglaláskori sírok Tiszaburán / Tombs of th Conquest Age from Tiszabura, în Archaeologiai Értesítő, 46, 1934.
Petru Iambor, Vase cu gât canelat descoperite în așezări feudale timpurii din Transilvania / Potted neck dishes discovered in early feudal settlements in Transylvania, în AMN, 22-23, 1985-1986.
A. Koperski-M. Parczewski, Das altungarische Reitergrab von Przemyšl (Südostpolen) / The old Hungarian rider grave of Przemyšl (southeast Poland), în Acta Archaelogica Hungariae, 30, 1978.
Keve László, Tipuri de vase ceramice din perioada arpadiană, în Scaunul Mureş / Árpádian Age Ceramic Vessel Types from Mureș Seat, în Orbis Mediaevalis I, 2017.
Szabina Merva, The analysis of pottery from 10th-11th century graves in the Carpathian Basin. Technolofical and typo-chronological studie, in Avars, bulgars and Magyars on the middle and lower Danube, Editors Lyudmila Doncheva – Petkova – Csilla Balogh – Attila Türk, 2014.
Mesterházy Károly, Honfoglalás kori kerámiánk keleti kapcsolatai / Conquest Age ceramic with Eastern relations, in Folia Archaeologica, XXVI, 1975.
Révész László, Wolf Mária, A Honfoglaló Magyarság / The Hungarian Conquest Age, Budapest, 1996.
Szigeti Judit, Különleges formájú kerámiaedények Halima-Cseres 10-12. századi emetőjében / Unique Ceramic Earthenwares in the 10th-12th Century Cemetery of Halimba-Cseres, în „A cserép igazat mond, ha….”, Opuscula Hungarica IX, Editori Simonyi Erika – Tomka Gábor, MNM, 2016.
Takács Miklós, A Kárpát-medence 10-11 századi cserépedény -lelőhelyeinek térképészeti vonatkozásairól – másodszor / On the cartographical aspects of the ceramic funds of the 10-11 century in the Carpathic base – for the second time, în A. Liska, I. Szatmári (Eds.), Sötét idők rejtélyei. 6–11. századi települések a Kárpát-medencében és környékén. Tempora Obscura 3, Békéscsaba 2012, p. 413-414.
Török Gyula, Die bewohner von Halimba im 10. Und 11. Jahrhundert / The inhabitants of Halimba in the 10th and 11th centuries, Budapest, 1962.
Wolf Mária, Előzetes jelentés a borsodi földvár ásatásáról (1987-1990) / Preliminary report on the excavation of Borsod Castle (1987-1990, în A Nyíregyházi Jósa A. Múzeum Évkönyve, 30-32 (1987-1989), 1992.

The Emergence of Mendicant Orders in 13th Century Transylvania

One of the most important events of the 13th century was the acknowledging and approval of reformatory religious orders, the Dominicans and the Franciscans, considered to have been the first of the so called mendicant orders. The paradigm proposed through their religious behavior and their spread within medieval urban communities enabled a direct relation with the people, with the believers and the non-believers. The field literature has given them various names, from friars, to beggars, to mendicants but most recently the latter seems to have been coined with more accuracy. The present paper focuses on their emergence in 13th century Transylvania, as part of the Hungarian realm and the novelty brought upon by their presence within towns, the places they received inside or outside the fortified urban settlements, and the reactions at the level of their contemporary society.

Keywords: mendicant orders, Transylvania, 13th century, emergence and development, urban topography.

Adriányi, Gabriel, Geschichte der katholischen Kirche in Ungarn, Köln, Weimar, Wien, Böhlau Verlag, 2004.
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Busuioc von Hasselbach, Dan Nicolae, Țara Făgărașului în secolul al XIII-lea. Mănăstirea cisterciană Cârța, vol. I, Cluj Napoca, Editura Centrului de Studii Transilvane, 2000.
Dinzelbacher, Peter; Hogg, James Lester (Hrsg.), Kulturgeschichte der christlichen Orden in Einzeldar-stellungen, Stuttgart, Alfred Kröner Verlag, 1997.
Dreisziger, Nandor, Church and Society in Hungary and in the Hungarian Diaspora, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2016.
Emery, Richard W., The Second Council of Lyons and the Mendicant Orders, în: The Catholic Historical Review, vol. 39, no. 3, 1953, p.257-271.
Fugedi, Eric, La formation des villes et les ordres mendiants en Hongrie, în în: Annales. Économies, sociétes, civilisations, an 25, nr. 4, 1970, p. 966-987.
Gross, Lidia, Confreriile medievale în Transilvania (secolele XIV-XVI), Cluj-Napoca, Editura Argonaut, 2009.
Ivanyi, Béla, Dominikanerorden in Siebenbürgen und der Moldau, în: Siebenbürgische Vierteljahresschrift. Korrespondenzblatt des Vereins für siebenbürgische Landeskunde, 62. Jahrgang, Heft 1, 1939, p. 22-59.
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LeGoff, Jacques, Ordres mendiants et urbanisation au Moyen Age: En France, în: Annales. Économies, sociétes, civilisations, an 25, nr. 4, 1970, p.924-946.
Prudlo, Donald S., Mendicancy among the early saints of the begging orders, p. 26, în: The origin, development and refinement of medieval religious mendicancies, ed. Prudlo, Donald S., Leiden, Boston, Editura Brill, 2011, p. 85-117.
Romhányi, Beatrix, Le fonctionnement matériel des couvents mendiants dans le Royaume de Hongrie aux XIIIe-XVIe siècles: aperçu des sources et de l’historiographie, în: Études franciscaines, nouvelle série, 6, 2013, fasc. 1, p. 47-57.
Rusu, Adrian Andrei (coord.), Dicționarul mănăstirilor din Transilvania, Banat, Crișana și Maramureș, Cluj-Napoca, Presa Universitară, 2000.
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Salontai, Sanda, Așezămintele monastice ale ordinelor cerșetoare din Cluj și Sibiu la sfțrșitul Evului Mediu, în: Cluj-Koloszvár-Klausenburg 700. Várostörténeti tanulmányok. Studii de istorie urbană, ed. Mária Lupescu Makó, Cluj Napoca, Editura Erdélyi Muzeum-Egyesület, 2018, p. 279-287.
Thompson, Augustine, The orgins of religious mendicancy in medieval Europe, pp. 3-4, în: The origin, development and refinement of medieval religious mendicancies, ed. Prudlo, Donald S., Leiden, Boston, Editura Brill, 2011, p. 3-31.
Țiplic Crîngaci, Maria, Oaspeții germani în sudul Transilvaniei (secolele XII-XIII), București, Editura Academiei Române, 2011.

Document Collections

Codex Diplomaticus Erdélyi Okmánytár. Oklevelek, levelek és más irásos emlékek Erdély történetéhez I. (1023-1300), ed. Zsigmond Jakó, Editura Kiadó, Budapesta, 1997
UB – Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte der Deutschen in Siebenbürgen, vol. I, Hermannstadt, ed. Franz Zimmermann, Carl Werner, Böhlau, 1892.
DIR C – Documente privind istoria României. Seria C – Transilvania, veacul XI, XII și XIII, vol. I, București, Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, 1951

Transylvanian Secular Institutions in the Second Part of the 13th Century

The last decades of the 13th century have brought upon a significant moment in the development of the Inner Carpathian area and its administrative teritorial units. The conflicts between the ever growing autonomous tendencies of the nobility towards a week royal authority have led to the emergence of an ambitious dynasty of noblemen, eager to fill up the power void. The present paper aims to analyze the local institutions during the second half of the 13thcentury in a time of weakening authority of the last Arpadian kings: theTransylvanian duchy, banate and voivodeship, the counties of Dăbâca, Cluj, Sibiu and Hunedoara.

Keywords: the Transylvanian duchy, the Transylvanian banate, the Transylvanian voivodeship, counties, medieval sources, 13th century.

András Kovács, Voievozi şi Vicevoievozi ai Transilvaniei la conducerea comitatului Alba în evul mediu / Voievodes and Vice-Voievodes of Transylvania at the head of the county of Alba Iulia, în: AnnalesUniversitatis Apulensis, SeriesHistorica, 15/1, 2011, Alba Iulia, p. 7-41.
Attila Zsoldos, Kings and Oligarchs in Hungary at the Turn of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, în: Hungarian Historical Review 2, nr. 2, 2013, p. 211-242.
Attila Zsoldos, Magyarország világi archontológiája 1000-1301, Budapesta, Ed. MTA Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközp, 2011.
Emma Iczkovits, Az Erdélyi Fehér megye a középkorban, 1939,
Erik Molnár, A magyar társadalom története az Árpád kortól Mohácsig, Budapesta, Ed. Szikra, 1949
Gyula Szeghalmi, Erdélyi vármegyék (A törté-netiErdély), Budapesta, Magyar Városok Monografiája K.., 1942
János Karácsony, A magyar nemzet áttérése a nyugati kereszténységre 997-1095, Oradea, 1926
Pál Engel, The Realm of St. Stephen, The Realm of St. Stephen. A history of medieval Hungary, 895-1526, Londra, I. B Tauris, 2001
Radu Popa, La începuturile Evului Mediu românesc. Țara Hațegului / At the Beginnings of the Romanian Middle Ages, București, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, 1988
Tudor Sălăgean, Transilvania în a doua jumătate a secolului al XIII-lea. Afirmarea regimului congregațional / Trahsylvania in the Second Half of the XIIIth Century Asserting the Congregational Regiune, Cluj-Napoca, Centrul de Studii Transilvane, 2003

Funeral Moments in Wallachia – Narrative Discourse and Effigy

Medieval and pre-modern charters and chronicles detail the conjunctions in which the pious attitude and action taken through liturgical service and prayers of the living become premises for the redemption of the deceased’s souls. These testimonies reveal that the perpetuation of devotion was ensured by funerary monuments by means of both image and text, which preserve the pious deeds of the dead in the memory of posterity. Many questions arise with reference to the relationship between the inscription and the iconography of the burial monument, the ways of legitimating memory through funeral and commemorative inscriptions, the typology and the function of the memorial monument. The study addresses the image and the text of the eulogium of funeral slabs in 16th century Wallachia that can be addressed and elucidated not only by analyzing the epigraphical form, or the iconography of the burial monument, but also by the detecting the relationship between the monument’s text and its iconographic image.

Keywords: Funerary monument, epigraphy, iconography, Neagoe Basarab, Radu de la Afumați, Albul Golescu, Stroe Buzescu

Ioan Albu, Memoria epigrafică în Europa Centrală și de Sud-Est (evul mediu și epoca premodernă) / Epigraphic Memory in Centrale and South-Eastern Europe (Middle Ages and Pre-Modernily), (Sibiu, 2014).
Constantin Bălan, Mânăstirea Dealu / Dealu Monastery, (ed. II) (București, 1968).
Victor Brătulescu, Frescele din biserica lui Neagoe dela Argeș / Frescos from the Curch of Neagoe in Argeș (București, 1942).
Victor Brătulescu, „Inscripții din biserici: Inscripțiile pietrelor de mormânt dela Biserica Sf. Nicolae din Scheii Brașovului”, în: Studii teologice: Revista facultăților de teologie din Patriarhia Română / ”Inscriptions from Churches: The Funeral Inscriptions from St. Nicholas Church in Scheii Brașovului”, 1952, nr. 9-10, 610-618.
Pavel Chihaia, De la Negru Vodă la Neagoe Basarab, Interferenţe literar‑artistice în cultura românească a evului de mijloc / From Negru Vodă to Neagoe Basarab, Literary and Artistic Interferences in Romanian Culture during the Middle Age, (Bucureşti, 1976).
Documente privind istoria României, veacul XVII, B. Țara Românească, vol. I (1601-1610), (București, 1951).
Documenta Romaniae Historica, B. Țara Românească, volumul VII (1571-1575), (București, 1988).
Nicolae Iorga, Inscripții din bisericile României / Inscriptions from Romanian Churches, I (București, 1905).
Constantin Rezachevici, Cronologia critică a domnilor din Țara Românească și Moldova, a. 1324-1881, I, secolele XIV-XVI / The Critical Cronology of Wallachian and Moldavian Princes, 1324-1881, I, 14th to 16th Centuries, (București, 2001).
Stefano Riccioni, „L’Epiconografia: l’opera d’arte come sintesi visiva di scrittura e immagine », dans Medioevo”, în: Arte e storia, X Convegno internazionale di studi, AISAME, Parma, 18-22/09/2007, a cura di A.C. Quintavalle (Milano 2008), 465-480.
Stefano Riccioni, „Épiconographie de l’art roman en France et en Italie (Bourgogne/Latium). L’art médiéval en tant que discours visuel et la naissance d’un nouveau langage”, în: Bulletin du centre d’études médiévales d’Auxerre | BUCEMA [En ligne], 12 | 2008. URL : http://cem.revues.org/7132 ; DOI : 10.4000/cem.7132.
Stefano Riccioni, „The Word in the Image: an Epiconographic Analysis od Reformed Mosaics in Rome (Twelth-century)”, în: Inscriptions in Liturgical Spaces, ed. K.B. Aavitsland, T.K. Seim (Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia, vol. XXIV, n.s. 10), (Roma, 2011), 86-137Nicolae Stoicescu, Radu de la Afumați (1522-1529), (București, 1983).
Ion D. Traianescu, „Schitul Stănești (Vâlcea)”, în: BCMI IV (1911), 13-23.

Several Reflections Concerning the Figurative Sculpture in the Romanesque Churches of the Transylvanian Saxons

The present study contains some brief observations concerning the defining elements of the Romanesque sculpture, observed in the churches of the Transylvanian Saxon communities. In the works already published, we have found that there is a provincial component of Romanesque architecture and sculpture, mainly due to the rural communities in which these were built. Beyond the rural specificity, in sculpture is a consistent thematic repertoire is present, with a well-defined moralizing character.

Keywords: Transylvania, Romanesque style, church, portal sculpture, iconography, moral

Corneanu Sebastian, Der Kampf des Glaubens gegen die Götzenanbetung. Eine moralisierende Darstellung auf dem Portal der evangelischen Kirche in Freck/Avrig (Kreis Hermannstadt/Sibiu) / The Illustration of the Penance Sacrament. An Iconographic Approach of the Carved Scenes
Corneanu Sebastian, Die Darstellung der Buße. Eine ikonographische Interpretation der auf den Archivolten des Portals der evangelischen Kirche in Holzmengen /Hosman (Kreis Hermannstadt/Sibiu) vorhandenen Skulpturen, în vol. Forschungen zur Volks – und Landeskunde, nr. 54/2011;
Corneanu Sebastian, Ilustrarea Penitenţei în sculpturile din arhivoltele portalului bisericii evanghelice din Hosman, judeţul Sibiu. Interpretare iconografică / The Illustration of the Penance Sacrament. An Iconographic Approach of the Carved Scenes on the Portal of the Protestant Church in Hosman, în Transilvania, nr. 2/2011;
Corneanu Sebastian, Moralisierende Darstellungen an drei romanischen Kirchenportalen. Fallstudie zum Portal der evangelischreformierten Kirche von Sakadat (Kreis Sibiu / Hermannstadt) / Three Portals carved with Moralizing Scenes. A Case Study – The Portal of Protestant Church from Sakadat (Sibiu County), în vol. Forschungen zur Volks -und Landeskunde, nr. 59/2016;
Corneanu Sebastian, Trei portaluri decorate cu scene moralizatoare. Studiu de caz – portalul bisericii evanghelice din Săcădate / Three Portals carved with Moralizing Scenes. A Case Study – The Portal of Protestant Church from Săcădate, în STUDIA UNIVERSITATIS CIBINIENSIS – Series Historica, nr. 13/2016;
Corneanu Constantin Sebastian, Amprente în piatră: figurativ şi decorativ în sculptura romanică şi gotic timpurie din Transilvania / Prints in Stone: Decorative and Figurative in the Romanesque and Early Gothic Sculpture from Transylvania, Sibiu, 2015;
Corneanu Sebastian, Arborele vieţii în portalurile bisericilor săseşti din Ocna Sibiului, Vurpăr, Drăuşeni / The Tree of Life in the Portals of Churches from Ocna Sibiului, Vurpăr, Drăuşeni, în Transilvania, nr. 4/2014;
Corneanu Sebastian, Die Darstellung des Lebensbaumes auf den Portalen der siebenbürgischsächsischen Kirchen aus Salzburg/Ocna Sibiului, Burgberg/Vurpăr und Draas/Drăuşeni / The Tree of Life in the Portals of Churches from Ocna Sibiului, Vurpăr, Drăuşeni,, în vol. Forschungen zur Volks -und Landeskunde, nr. 55/2012;
on the Portal of the Protestant Church in Hosman, în vol. Forschungen zur Volks -und Landeskunde, nr. 57/2014;
Salontai Mihaela Sanda, Portalul bisericii evanghelice din Hosman / The Portal of the Protestant Church from Hosman , în Artă, Istorie, Cultură. Studii în onoarea lui Marius Porumb, Cluj Napoca, 2003;
Vătăşianu Virgil, Istoria artei feudale în Ţările Român / The History of the Feudal Art in The Romanian Countries, Bucureşti, 1959.

The Passageway Areas in the Sacred Space of the Church. Iconographical Themes

This paper aims to present the research results concerning the church painting of the entrance and passage portals. I analysed the place of the iconographic subjects and their possible role in this area. The results are based on the study of Moldavian churches that were built and painted during the reigns of Stephen the Great and Petru Rares (century).
The entrance portal of the church acts as the border between the profane exterior space and the sacred interior one, as in Mircea Eliade’s view. Through a series of factors such as architecture, iconography, and ritual, the interior of the church becomes a space with sacred value.
Passing through the portals and through the successive rooms of the church that carry a progressive sense of sacredness suggests the idea of a ‘passage’ from the exterior to the interior. This ‘passage’ is highlighted by the interior architecture and the iconography of each room and portal area.

Keywords: passageway, church portal, iconography, sacred space, medieval Moldavia, 15th – 16th century

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Dionisie din Furna. Carte de pictură (The Painter’s Manual). București, Editura Meridiane, 1979.
Eliade, Mircea. Sacrul și profanul (The Sacred and the Profane). București, Editura Humanitas, 2017, 168 p.
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Ică, Ioan I. Jr. Maica Domnului în teologia secolului XX și în spiritualitatea isihastă a secolului XIV: Grigorie Palama, Nicolae Cabasila, Teofan al Niceei – studii și texte (Virgin Mary in the 20 thCentury Theology and in the Hesychastic Spirituality of the 14 th Century: Gregory Palamas, Nicholas Cabasilas, Theophanes of Nicaea – Studies and Texts), Sibiu, Editura Deisis, 2008, 640 p.
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Vasile Ladislau Pop, President of Astra (1867-1875),
Proponent of the Cultural-Scientific Programme of the Transilvania Periodical

Vasile Ladislau Pop (1819-1875) is one of the Transylvanian personalities who had a major role in the political and cultural life from this province. He was elected president of Astra in 1867 (and occupied this position until 1875, when he died). In this quality, he focused on accomplishing a mission – which was known since the foundation of Astra (1861) – namely the establishment of a periodical. Therefore, on the 1st of January 1868, Transilvania magazine was first published – the official periodical of Astra, which had a major importance in the spreading of the culture of and for the Transylvanian Romanians, in order to strenghten the unity and national solidarity

Keywords: Vasile Ladislau Pop, Astra, Transylvania periodical, George Barițiu, the Romanian culture

*** Actele privitoare la urdirea şi înfiinţarea Asociaţiunii transilvane pentru literatura română şi cultura poporului român / Acts regarding the founding of the Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People, Sibiu, 1862, p. 3.
Dăianu, Ilie, Al doilea președinte al Asociațiunii Vasile L. Bar. Pop 1819-1875 / The Second President of the Association Vasile L. Bar. Pop 1819-1875, Sibiu, 1925.
George Bariț și contemporanii săi / George Bariț and his contemporaries, vol. IX, București, Editura Minerva, 1993, vol. X, București, Editura Enciclopedică, 2003.
Hitchins, Keith, Cultură și naționalitate în Transilvania / Culture and nationality in Transylvania, Cluj, Editura Dacia, 1972, pp. 67-71.
Hitchins, Keith; Maior, Liviu, Corespondența lui Ioan Rațiu cu George Barițiu (1861-1892) / The correspondence of Ioan Ratiu with George Barițiu (1861-1892), Cluj, Editura Dacia, 1970, p. 153.
Lupaş, Ioan, Înfiinţarea Asociaţiunii şi conducătorii ei / Establishment of the Association and its leaders, în Transilvania, nr. 3, mai-iunie 1911.
Manciulea, Ștefan, Timotei Cipariu și Astra / Timotei Cipariu and Astra, Blaj, Editura ASTRA, Despărțământul „Timotei Cipariu”, 2001, pp. 83, 84.
Matei, Pamfil, Asociațiunea în lumina documentelor / The Association in the light of documents, Sibiu, Editura „Universității „Lucian Blaga” din Sibiu, 2005.
Sălăgean, Tudor, Vasile Ladislau Pop, românul transilvănean care a ajuns „de-a dreapta împăratului” / Vasile Ladislau Pop, the Romanian Transylvanian who got „to the right of the Emperor”, în Adevărul, articol disponibil la adresa web https://adevarul.ro/cultura/istorie/vasile-ladislau-pop-romanul-transilvanean-ajuns-de-a-dreapta-imparatului-1_5bd6149cdf52022f75f38628/index.html.
Sofronie, Mihai, Asociația Transilvană (Astra) model de organizare culturală până la 1918 / The Transylvanian Association (Astra) model of cultural organization until 1918, Sibiu, Editura Caleidoscop, 1996, p. 44.
Transilvania / Transylvania Periodical, 1868-1875.

Mircea Eliade in Italy. Cultural Influences and Interferences in the Context of the History of Religions

Part of a larger work, this article aims to briefly expose Mircea Eliade’s, by analyzing his memoirs and journals. I opted for an approach from the perspective of cultural history since it shows us more clearly the influences and cultural interferences between personalities of the Romanian cultural elite and Italian intellectuals. At a time when France was seen as the center of latinity in Europe, attracting the majority of students who wanted to study abroad, Eliade managed to take another path, that to the Italian language and culture, and under the influence of Italian Orientalists such as Giuseppe Tucci, becoming himself a historian of religion and an Orientalist, his books being read all over the world.

Keywords: intellectual, traveler, Italy, history of religion, orientalism, memoirs, cultural influences, Italian orientalists

Alexandrescu, Sorin, Mircea Eliade, dinspre Portugalia / Mircea Eliade, from Portugal, București, Editura Humanitas, 2006.
Băicuș, Iulian, Mircea Eliade, literator și mitolog, În căutarea Centrului pierdut / Mircea Eliade, Literator and Mythologist, in Search of the Last Centre, București, Editura Universității, 2009.
Culianu, Ioan Petru, Dialoguri întrerupte, Corespondență Mircea Eliade – Ioan Petru Culianu Interrupted Dialogues, Correspondence Mircea Eliade-Ioan Petru Culianu, Iași, Editura Polirom, 2004.
Eliade, Mircea, Europa, Asia, America…Corespondență / Europe, Asia, America… Corespondence, vol. II, I-P, București, Editura Humanitas, 2004.
Eliade, Mircea, Europa, Asia, America…Corespondență Europe, Asia, America… Corespondence, vol. III, R-Z, București, Editura Humanitas, 2004.
Eliade, Mircea, Jurnal de Vacanță / Holiday Diary, București, Editura Garamond, 2003.
Eliade, Mircea, Jurnalul portughez și alte scrieri / The Portugal Jounal, vol. 2, trad: Mihai Zamfir, București, Editura Humanitas, 2006.
Eliade, Mircea, Le promesse dell`Equinozio, Memorie I, 1907-1937, traduzione dal romeno di Roberto Scagno, Milano, Jaca Book, 1995.
Eliade, Mircea, Memorii 1907-1960 / Memoirs 1907-1960, București, Editura Humanitas, 2004.
Eliade, Mircea, Romanul Adolescentului Miop / Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent, București, Colecția Biblioteca pentru Toți, Editura Jurnalul Național, 2009.
Fomin, Ana-Maria, Mircea Eliade. Paradigma unui Nou Umanism / Mircea Eliade. The Pradigm of a New Humanism, Teză de Doctorat susținută în 2013, coordonator științific Prof. univ. dr. Mircea A. Diaconu, Universitatea ,,Ștefan cel Mare” din Suceava.
Gligor, Mihaela (coord.); Ricketts, Mac Linscott (coord), Întâlniri cu Mircea Eliade / Encounters with Mircea Eliade, București, Editura Humanitas, 2007.
Gligor, Mihaela (ed.), Mircea Eliade between the History of Religions and the Fall into History, Cluj-Napoca, Presa Universitară Clujeană, 2014.
Handoca, Mircea, Scriitori români comentați / Romanian Writers commented, Mircea Eliade, Mircea Eliade, București, Editura Recif, 1993.
Paraschivescu, Mihaela, Reading Mircea Eliade in America, pref.: Rodica Mihăilă, Iași, Editura Institutul European, 2015.
Scagno, Roberto (Prof. Dr.), Conferință: Receptarea operei lui Mircea Eliade în Italia: un bilanț critic, / The Reception of Mircea Eliade’s in Italy: a Critical Review Universitatea din Padova (Italia).
Țurcanu, Florin, Mircea Eliade, Prizonierul Istoriei / Mircea Eliade, The Prisoner of History, trad.: Monica Anghel, Dragoș Dodu, București, Editura Humanitas, 2005.

The Armed Equipment Of Sibiu in the First Half of the 16th Century

The Ottoman danger to Transylvania at the beginning of the sixteenth century caused Sibiu, like many other cities in the province, to take measures to strengthen the defense. In this sense, Sibiu bought numerous firearms or white weapons from the fortress, but also important quantities of gunpowder or lead powder. All this information was very well captured in the economic and consular records of Sibiu and reflects the seriousness of the situation around the events before and after the Mohács moment. More, Sibiu is actively involved in the fight for the crown of Hungary, on the side of Ferdinand of Habsburg in his fight against Transylvania voivode John Zapolya.

Keywords: Transylvania, Sibiu, Mohács, weapons, rifle, gunpowder.

Magnificus Johannes De Hunyad, Wayuoda Transylvanus, Validam Potentian Sevissimos Turcorum Debelasset, Triumphum Victorie Reportando

Our title paraphrases the charter issued by the Chapter of Arad în July 3, 1444, through which George Branković, Despot of Sebia, donated several estates in Hungary to John Hunyadi, by that time voivode of Transiylvania, for the latters victories over famous Ottoman warlords, like Mezid Beg and Şehabeddin. Hunyadi’s victories over the Ottoman must have seemed real miracles at that time when the Ottoman Empire besieged the gates of Europe for over an half of century. The re-examination of the narrative and documentary sources on John Hunyadi’s early battles with the Ottoamns in the years 1435-1442 is a necessity in the Romanian historiography, since the topic wasn’t analysed since the monographs on the hero’s life and times, signed by Camil Mureşan (1968) and Mihail P. Dan (1974). The attentive analyse of the sources reveals interesting details on the (at least!) yearly raiding parties in the Ottoman borderlands, so common on the Hungarian-Ottoman frontier in the first half of the 15-th century, as well as on John Hunyadi’s victories over Ishak Beg, Mezid Beg and the vezir Şehabeddin. King Wladislas Jagiello wrote about this victories that they raised the moral of the Christians, determining them to retake the offensive against the „cruel Turks”. And indeed, Hunyadi’s military success led to the great anti-Ottoman Crusades of 1443-1444 and 1444.

Keywords: John Hunyadi; Ishak Beg; Mezid Beg; Şehabeddin; The Realm of St. Stephen; medieval Hungary; Ottoman Empire; Hungarian-Ottoman border; Hungarian-Ottoman wars; Transylvania; Battle of Sântimbru; Battle of Vaskápu; Poarta de Fier a Transilvaniei; Battle of Ialomiţa.

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Barany, Attila, King Sigismund of Luxemburg and the preparations for the Hungarian crusading host of Nicopolis (1386-396), in Partir en croisade à la fin de Moyen Âge. Financement et logistique, eds. Daniel Baloup and Manuel Manuel Sánchez Martínez, Toulouse, 2015, p. 153-178.
Cîmpeanu, Liviu, “Ex bono tirone miles fortissimus, ex milite imperator optimus emersit”. Reflections on the beginnings of John Hunyadi’s career, in Politics and Society in Central and South-Eastern Europe. 13-th – 16-th Centuries, ed. Zoltan Iusztin, Cluj Napoca, 2019, in print.
Dan, Mihail P., Un stegar al luptei antiotomane. Iancu de Hunedoara [A Standard-Bearer of the Anti-Ottoman Fight. John Hunyadi], Bucharest, 1974.
Engel, Pál, János Hunyadi: The Decisive Years of His Career, 1440-1444, in From Hunyadi to Rákóczi. War and Society in Late Medieval and Early Modern Hungary, eds. János M. Bak, Béla K. Kiraly, New York, 1986, p. 103-123.
Engel, Pál, Hunyadi pályakezdése [The Early Career of John Hunyadi], in Nobilimea românească din Transilvanuia-Az erdélyi román nemesség [The Romanian Nobility of Transylvania], ed. Marius Diaconescu, Satu Mare, 1997, p. 91-109.
Engel, Pál, Regatul Sfântului Ştefan. Istoria Ungariei medievale 895-1526 [The Realm of St. Stephen. The History of Medieval Hungary], Cluj-Napoca, 2006.
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Minea, Ilie, Vlad Dracul şi vremea sa [Vlad Dracul and his Age], Iaşi, 1928.
Mureşan, Camil, Iancu de Hunedoara [John Hunyadi], 2-nd edition, Bucharest, 1968.
Pálosfalvi, Tamás, Az 1442. márciusi török hadjárat. Adalékok Hunyadi János első törökellenes harcaihoz [The Ottoman Campaign of March 1442. Remarks on the first Anti-Ottoman Struggles of János Hunyadi], in „Történelmi Szemle” [„Historical Review”], XLIII (2001), 1-2, p. 43-54.
Pálosfalvi, Tamás, From Nicopolis to Mohács. A History od Ottoman-Hungarian Waefare, 1389-1526, Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2018.
Rezachevici, Constantin, Cronologia critică a domnilor din Ţara Românească şi Moldova, a. 1324-1881 [The Critical Chronology of the rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia, a. 1324 – 1881], vol. I, secolele XIV-XVI [14-th – 16-th centuries], Bucharest, 2001.
Szakály, Ferenc, Phases of Turco-Hungarian Warfare before the Battle of Mohács, in „Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientarum Hungariae”, XXXIII (1), 1979, p. 65-111.
Werner Ernst, Die Geburt einer Grossmacht – die Osmanen (1300-1401) [The Birth of a Great Power – the Ottomans], 3-rd edition, Berlin, 1978.
Wertner Mór, Magyar hadjáratok a XV. század első felében [Hungarian campaigns in the first half of the 15-th century], in „Hadtörténelmi közlemények” [„Quarterly of Military History”], vol. XII, 1911, p. 63-76, 251-276, 410-448, 537-574.