What was ethnic breakdown of Transylvania in the 1400s and before? Were Romanians always majority?

[Blondie]

No, the numbers come from 14th century sources, but indeed they are not real census numbers.

But what sources exactly?

[Universe]

How about we use local German sources instead of Romanian or Hungarian? Saxon colonists were certainly interested in having a realistic picture before moving to such a far away and foreign land.

Here's how they described the ethnic distribution:






So yes, while keeping in mind that sources before 1700s and real censuses sucked, most still give Romanians as being about 50% of the population in Transylvania.

What do the pictures say? I don't understand german, but I don't see 1400 or earlier years displayed there.

[Blondie]

What do the pictures say? I don't understand german, but I don't see 1400 or earlier years displayed there.

Are you blind? The first number is 1310.

[Universe]

Are you blind? The first number is 1310.

I read 1810

[Universe]

So in 1310 Transylvania's population was 1 million and 40% of it was Romanian? What was the ethnicity of the remaining 150,000 that weren't Romanian, German or Hungarian?

[Videx]

A promising thread

[ixulescu]

So in 1310 Transylvania's population was 1 million and 40% of it was Romanian? What was the ethnicity of the remaining 150,000 that weren't Romanian, German or Hungarian?

In Maramures there were many Slavs. I'm pretty sure Saxons put the totals for Maramures into Transylvania numbers because almost half of the Saxons lived in the Southern tip of Maramures.

[Universe]

In Maramures there were many Slavs. I'm pretty sure Saxon put the totals for Maramures into Transylvania numbers because almost half of the Saxons lived in the Southern tip of Maramures.

According to historical records, mongol raids of 1241 and 1242 caused to percentage of ethnic hungarian population to decrease. We don't have data about data about 13th, 12th, 11th centuries and so on. So I am not sure if Romanians were always relative majority in Transylvania.

[ixulescu]

According to historical records, mongol raids of 1241 and 1242 caused to percentage of ethnic hungarian population to decrease. We don't have data about data about 13th, 12th, 11th centuries and so on. So I am not sure if Romanians were always relative majority in Transylvania.

We know that for Hungary, but it's unclear what happened in Transylvania. There no evidence that Mongols had any lasting effect on the demography of Transylvania.

Also Romanians could not have materialized in such numbers, all of a sudden, in Transylvania of the 13th century. A proof that Romanians were there in numbers is that one of the first voivodes of Transylvania after the Mongol invasion was Roland Borșa, a Vlach from Maramureș. He did not recognize the Hungarian king, and even payed for an assassination attempt on the king.

[Universe]

We know that for Hungary, but it's unclear what happened in Transylvania. There no evidence that Mongols had any lasting effect on the demography of Transylvania.

Also Romanians could not have materialized in such numbers, all of a sudden, in Transylvania of the 13th century. A proof that Romanians were there in numbers is that one of the first voivodes of Transylvania after the Mongol invasion was Roland Borșa, a Vlach from Maramureș. He did not recognize the Hungarian king, and even payed for an assassination attempt on the king.

Sugar, p.27: "In the plains, between 50 and 80 percent of the settlements were destroyed. In forested areas, in the mountains, and in Transylvania, the demographic loss is estimated at 25-30 percent".