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The Vlachs (English pronunciation: or ) are several modern Latin peoples descending from the Romanized population in the present-day territory of Romania and Moldova, as well as the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula and south and west of the Danube River.[5]
The Vlachs did not become easily identifiable before the 11th century when they were described by Migration period is considered by some historians a matter of scholarly speculation.[6] According to one of the origin theories Vlachs originated from Latinized Dacians.[7] According to some linguists and scholars, the existence of the present Eastern Romance languages proves the survival of the Thraco-Romans in the Lower Danube basin during the Age of Migrations,[8] while populations from the western Balkans historically referred to as "Vlachs" could have also had Romanized Illyrian origins.[9]
Almost all modern nations in central and south-eastern Europe, e.g. Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Greece and Bulgaria have native Vlach or Romanian minorities. In other countries, the native Vlach population has been more or less assimilated into the Slavic population. Only Romania and Moldova have Romanian ethnic majorities today.
The word Vlach is ultimately of Germanic origin, from the word Walha, "foreigner", "stranger", a name used by ancient Germanic peoples to refer to Romance-speaking and (Romanized) Celtic neighbours. In turn, Walha may have been derived from the name of a Celtic tribe which was known to the Romans as Volcae in the writings of Julius Caesar and to the Greeks as Ouólkai in texts by Strabo and Ptolemy.[10] As such, the term Vlach shares its history with several European ethnic names, including the Welsh and Walloons.[11]
From the Germanic peoples, the term passed to the Slavs and from these in turn to other peoples, such as the Hungarians ("oláh", referring to Vlachs, more specifically Romanians, "olasz", referring to Italians) and Byzantines ("Βλάχοι", "Vláhi"), and was used for all Latin people of the Balkans.[12] In Bosnia, Orthodox Christians were called "Vlachs", actually used as a synonym of "Serbs".[13] The Polish word for "Italian", Włoch (plural Włosi), has the same origin, as does the Slovenian, vaguely derogatory word "lach", also for Italians. The Italian-speaking region lying south of South Tyrol, now part of Italy with the name "Trentino", was known as Welschtirol in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. "Vlah" is also a derogatory term used in Croatia when referring to inhabitants of Dalmatian hinterland and the Dinarides area, regardless of their religious affiliation, ("Vlaji") and in Bosnia referring to a person of Eastern Orthodox Church ("Vlasi").
The first record of a medieval Romance language in the Balkans dates to the early Byzantine period in which Procopius' (500–565) mention forts with names such as Skeptekasas (Seven Houses), Burgulatu (Broad City), Loupofantana (Wolf's Well) and Gemellomountes (Twin Mountains).[14][15] A Byzantine chronicle of 586 about an incursion against the Avars in the eastern Balkans may contain one of the earliest references to Vlachs. The account states that when the baggage carried by a mule slipped, the muleteer shouted, "Torna, torna, fratre!" ("Return, return, brother!").[16][17][18]
Byzantine historians used the German origin name Vlachs for Latin speakers and especially for Romanians.[19][20][21]
The name Blökumenn is mentioned in a Nordic Saga, in the context of some events taking place in 1018 or 1019, believed to be related to the Vlachs.[22][23]
Traveler Benjamin of Tudela (1130–1173), of the Kingdom of Navarre, was one of the first writers using the word Vlachs for a Romance-speaking population.[24]
Arab chronicler Mutahhar al-Maqdisi stated: "they say that in the Turkic neighbourhood there are the Khazars, Russians, Slavs, "Waladj", Alans, Greeks and many other peoples."[25]
Byzantine writer Kekaumenos, the author of the Strategikon (1078), described a Roman (Vlach) revolt in Northern Greece in 1066.[26]
In the late 9th century, the Hungarians invaded the Pannonian basin, where, according to the Gesta Hungarorum written around 1200 by the anonymous chancellor of King Bela III of Hungary, the province of Pannonia was inhabited by Slavs, Bulgars, Vlachs, and pastores Romanorum (shepherds of the Romans) (in original: sclauij, Bulgarij et Blachij, ac pastores romanorum). Between the 12th and 14th centuries they came under the Kingdom of Hungary, the Byzantine Empire and the Golden Horde.[27]
Anna Comnen in Alexiade (Chapter XIV) identifies the Vlachs from Balkans with Dacians, describing their places around Haemus mountains: "...on either side of its slopes dwell many very wealthy tribes, the Dacians and the Thracians on the northern side, and on the southern, more Thracians and the Macedonians". Byzantine historian John Kinnamos described Leon Vatatzes' military expedition in Northern Danube in which he mentioned the participation of Vlachs in battles against Magyars in 1166.[28][29]
In 1213, a joint army composed by Romans (Vlachs), Saxons and Pechenegs led by Ioachim from Sibiu, attacked the Bulgars and Cumans from Vidin. From this date, all battles of Hungarian kingdom in Carpathian area were supported by Romance people from Transylvania.[30]
Simon de Keza wrote at the end of the 13th century (during Ladislaus the Cuman) about the Roman origin of "blacki" and placed their presence in Pannonia starting with the Hun Empire.[31][32]
Archaeological discoveries in Transylvania show that Transylvania was gradually occupied by Magyars and the last standing region defended by Vlachs and Pechenegs (until 1200) was between Olt river and Carpathians[33][34] Shortly after the fall of Olt, a Catholic church started to be constructed at Cârța and catholic emigrants (Saxons) were brought to balance the local Orthodox population.[35] Diploma Andreanum issued by Andrew II of Hungary in 1224 shows that "silva blacorum et bissenorum" was granted to emigrants.[36]
Vlachs (Wołosi in Polish) have spread along Carpathian ridge to former Poland, Slovakia and even as far as to Moravia. Vlachs were granted with autonomy under the Ius Vlachonicum (Walachian Law, Prawo Wołoskie) and professed Orthodox faith.[37]
In 1285, Ladislaus the Cuman battled with Tatars and Cumans and arrived with his troops (made of orthodox Vlachs from Transylvania) until Moldova river. Shortly after this, a town named Baia was constructed (attested in 1300) by emigrant Saxons near Moldova river. This starting date for Moldova state was correctly interpreted by a lot of historians [38][39]
In 1290, Ladislaus the Cuman who protected the Cumans, Pechenegs and Orthodox believers was assassinated and a new Magyar king with other preferencies forced some leaders (including Negru Vodă) from the space between Olt and Carpathes to move over Carpathes and to contribute to the formation of Valachia[40]
The Eastern Romance languages, sometimes known as the Vlach languages, are a group of Romance languages that developed in south-eastern Europe from the local eastern variant of Vulgar Latin. There is no official data from Balkan countries such as Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and Serbia.
Besides the separation of some groups of Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians during the Age of Migration, many other Vlachs could be found all over the Balkans, as far north as Poland and as far west as Moravia (part of the modern Czech Republic), and the present-day Croatia where the Morlachs gradually disappeared, while the Catholic and Orthodox Vlachs took Croat and Serb national identity.[50] They reached these regions in search of better pastures, and were called "Wallachians" ("Vlasi; Valaši") by the Slavic peoples.
Statal Entities mentioned in Middle Ages chronicles:
Regions, places:
In 2006, Bosch et al. attempted to analyze whether Vlachs are the descendants of Latinised Dacians, Illyrians, Thracians, Greeks, or a combination of these. No hypothesis could be proven because of the high degree of underlying genetic similarity of all the tested Balkan groups. The linguistic and cultural differences among various Balkan groups were thus deemed too weak to prevent significant gene flow among the above groups.[58]
Due to the Vlachs’ extensive occupation with sheepherding, their ethnonym has come, since the Middle Ages, to be identified with the profession of the sheepherder (regardless of his language or a real ethnicity) in many Balkan and Central European languages.
Many Vlachs in mediaeval times were shepherds who drove their sheep through the mountains of south-eastern Europe. The Vlach shepherds reached as far as southern Poland and Moravia in the north by following the Carpathian range, the Dinaric Alps in the west, the Pindus mountains in the south, and the Caucasus Mountains in the east.[59] Vlachs have been referred to as "the perfect Balkan citizens" because they are "able to preserve their culture without resorting to war or politics, violence or dishonesty."[60]
The Vlachs in the Southern Balkan peninsula are self-defined as Αrmɨɲi [61] or Remeɲi, terms deriving from the Latin word Romani (Romans). This is where the neologism Aromanians, that is used in scientific/academic bibliography, comes from. The majority of the Vlachs live in Greece, Albania, Macedonia and Romania. The greater region of the Pindos mountain range is considered to be their historic cradle. The Vlach language was used mostly in oral speech while for written speech the Vlachs used primarily the Greek language.
Note: The Vlach Connection
Brno, Olomouc, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bohemia
Ă, Romanian language, Romance languages, Î, Dalmatian language
Roman Empire, Ottoman Empire, Constantinople, Empire of Trebizond, Christianity
Spanish language, Sardinian language, French language, Romanian language, Catalan language
Vlachs, Aromanians, Romania, Moscopole, Greeks
Romania, Romanian language, Ă, Dacia, Moldavia
Transylvania, Bucharest, Oltenia, Danube, Moldavia
Ă, Eastern Romance languages, Romanian language, Î, Romance languages
Moldova, Romanian language, Romanians, Dacia, Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova