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Transylvania, historic eastern European region; after forming part of Hungary (11th— 16th centuries), it was an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire (l6th—l7th centuries), and then was returned to Hungary at the end of the 17th century; later, it was incorporated into Romania (1918). The region, whose name (meaning Beyond the Forest) first appeared in written documents in the 12th century, covered a territory bounded by the Carpathian Mountains on the north and east, the Transylvanian Alps on the south, and the Bihor Mountains on the west. Its neighbouring regions of Maramure, Criana, and Banat have also, on occasion, been considered part of Transylvania.
Having formed the nucleus of the Dacian (Getic) kingdom (flourished 1st century BC- 1st century AD) and the Roman province of Dacia (after AD 106), Transylvania was overrun by a succession of barbarian tribes (e.g., Germanic, Ural-Altaic, and Slavic) following the withdrawal of the Roman legions in AD 271. Finally, the Magyars (Hungarians) conquered the area at the end of the 9th century, and firmly established their control over it in 1003 when their king Stephen I, according to legend, defeated the native prince Gyula. The Magyars encouraged the political and economic development of the region. Despite the interruption caused by the Mongol invasion of 1241, Transylvama (while remaining, part of the Hungarian kingdom) evolved during the following centuries into a distinctive autonomous unit, with its special voivode (or governor), a united, although heterogenous, nobility (descended from Szekler, Saxon, and Magyar colonists), and its own constitution.
When the Turks decisively defeated Hungary at the Battle of Mohacs (1526), Transylvania effectively became independent. Its voivode John Janos Zapolya, who was elected king of Hungary (Nov. 10, 1526), engaged Transylvama in a 12-year war against Ferdinand, the Habsburg claimant to the .Hungarian throne. Afterward Hungary was divided between the Habsburgs and the Turkish sultan and Transylvania was transformed into an autonomous principality, subject to Turkish suzerainty
(1566).
During the next century Transylvania, ruled by the Bathory dynasty (1570—1613, with interruptions), Istvan Bocskay (reigned 1605— 06), Gabor Bethlen (reigned 1613—29), and Gyorgy Rakoczi I (reigned 1630—48), played off the Turkish sultan against the Habsburg emperor to retain its independent status.
It emerged from a series of internal religious struggles, accompanied by Habsburg intervention, as a power of international importance, a defender of Hungarian liberties against Habsburg encroachments, and a bulwark of Protestantism in eastern Europe.
During the reign of Gyorgy Rakoczi II (ruled 1648—60), the Turks, trying to curb Transylvania’s growing power, stnpped it of its vital western territory and made the obedient Mihaly ApafI its prince (1662). Shortly afterward, the Turks were defeated before Vienna (1683). The Transylvanians, their land overrun by the emperor’s troops, then recognized the suzerainty of the Habsburg emperor Leopold I (1687); Transylvania was officially attached to Habsbur-controlled Hungary and subjected to the direct rule of the emperor’s governors. In 1699 the Turks conceded their loss of Transylvania (Treaty of Carlowitz); the antiHabsburg elements within the principality submitted to the emperor in 1711 (Peace of Szatmar).
During the succeeding century the pressure of Catholic and bureaucratic rule gradually undermined the distinctive character of Transylvania. A strong Mayar movement, overshadowing the declining influence of the Szekler and Saxon nobles, urged the abandonment of the principality’s separate administration and integration with Hungary. Consequently, during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 the Magyars of Transylvania identified with the insurgents. The Romanian peasantry, which had been developing its own national consciousness and agitating for more extensive political and religious liberties, took a stand against the Magyars and swore allegiance to the Habsburgs. When the Habsburgs reasserted their control over Hungary, Transylvania was separated from Hungary and transformed into a Habsburg crown land, subject to strict, absolutist rule. Subsequently, it was reabsorbed into Hungary (1867) and dominated by the Magyar population.
When Austria-Hungary was defeated in World War I, the Romanians of Transylvania proclaimed their land united with Romania. In 1920 the Allies confirmed the union in the Treaty of Trianon. Hungary regained about two-fifths of Transylvania during World War II (Vienna Award; August 1940), but the entire region was restored to Romania in 1947.
