Moldovan peasant: Transylvanians and/or Ruthenians (Dimitrie Cantemir, 1769)

[Ion Basescul]

According to Cantemir, there isn't such a thing as a truly Moldovan peasant. They are all either Ruthenians, Romanians from Transylvania (Mocan/Ungurean) or a mix of both. Thoughts?

Ţăranii nici nu sunt drepţi Moldoveni, ci aceia cari se află ţărani, se trag sau din Ruşi, sau din Ardeleni cărora le zic Moldovenii Ungureni şi adevărat că în veacul cel dintâi după descălecarea Moldovei, cu totul a împărţit Dragoş celor ce venise cu dânsul, toată ţara cea nouă care a fost găsită golită de locuitori. Iară mai pre urmă văzând ei că nu este bine ca să lucreze şi să muncească boieri la boieri, pentru că toţi care era din neamul Romanilor se socoteau că sunt boieri şi pentrucă neamul acesta fiind deprins numai cu armele, se socotea a fi mai vrednic, decât a se pune tocma să lucreze pământul; pentru aceia următorii lui Dragoş, au fost siliţi să-şi caute cu învoeala Domnilor, prin alte ţări de prin prejur şi să-şi aducă oamenii carii era deprinşi cu munca şi să-i aşeze pre la moşiile lor.

https://www.tititudorancea.com/z/dim...a_moldovei.htm

English translation

The peasants are not even rightly Moldovans, but those who are peasants are descended either from Russians, or from Transylvanians, whom the Moldovans call Hungarians, and it is true that in the first century after the conquest of Moldavia, Dragos divided the whole of the new country, which was found empty of inhabitants, to those who came with him. But later on they saw that it was not good for the landlords to work for the landlords, because all the Romans considered themselves landlords, and because this people, being trained only in arms, considered themselves more worthy than to work the land; For this reason, the followers of Dragos were compelled to seek, with the permission of the lords, in other countries around and to bring their men who were skilled in work and to settle them on their estates.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[Cristiano viejo]

Da. De vanzare.

[Ion Basescul]

By the way, this is not to say that Maramures Vlachs/Romanians did not come here. Dragos and the gang were Maramureseni, it's just that they constituted the noble class.
For peasants, Cantemir suggests that they were different and as 99% of Moldovans (including those from Romania) don't have noble origins, this suggest that we do not trace ancestry only to Maramures, but to Vlachs/Romanians from Transylvania as a whole (including Maramures) and various East Slavs.

[ixulescu]

According to Cantemir, there isn't such a thing as a truly Moldovan peasant. They are all either Ruthenians, Romanians from Transylvania (Mocan/Ungurean) or a mix of both. Thoughts?

The peasants are not even rightly Moldovans, but those who are peasants are descended either from Russians, or from Transylvanians, whom the Moldovans call Hungarians, and it is true that in the first century after the conquest of Moldavia, Dragos divided the whole of the new country, which was found empty of inhabitants, to those who came with him. But later on they saw that it was not good for the landlords to work for the landlords, because all the Romans considered themselves landlords, and because this people, being trained only in arms, considered themselves more worthy than to work the land; For this reason, the followers of Dragos were compelled to seek, with the permission of the lords, in other countries around and to bring their men who were skilled in work and to settle them on their estates.

https://www.tititudorancea.com/z/dim...a_moldovei.htm

English translation

This story is recounted by several Moldovan chroniclers. Most likely, there is at least a kernel of truth in it.

Here's some notes for English speakers regarding the translated quote:

1. traditionally, when Romanians talked about Russians they are actually referring to Ruthenians. "Rusu" (meaning "Russian") is a common name in Moldova, but again it points to possible Ruthenian ancestry, rather than Russian.

2. in the past, Romanians often called Romanian ethnic Transylvanians "Ungureni" (meaning "Hungarians"). This can be quite confusing for people not aware of it.

3. The referrence to Romans is incorrect, it should have been "Romanians". Dragos and Bogdan were indeed warlords from Maramureș of Romanian roots (and called Vlachs by the neighbors).