The Massacre at Madéfalva took place at CsÃk-Mádéfalva,
Grand Principality of Transylvania (today
Siculeni in
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
). In
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''Siculicidium'' "murder of
Székelys" was a
mass murder
Mass murder is the violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...
committed against Székelys by the
Habsburg army in 1764, under
Maria Theresa.
History
In 1763, the Court of
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
entrusted general
Adolf Nikolaus von Buccow to set up three Székely and two
Romanian regiments to patrol the borders. However, the Székelys were unwilling to give up their hundred-year tradition of soldiering and their
privileges. Thus, they resisted the forced military draft and organized a revolt against it. Maria Theresa appointed a new general,
Joseph von Siskovics, who commanded his soldiers to attack CsÃk-Madéfalva (present-day
Siculeni), where the Székely leaders were supposed to meet in a council. It was under the darkness of the snowy night of January 7, 1764 that the Habsburg soldiers entered the village and massacred about 400 unsuspecting people, including women and children.
Consequences
The following days, the Székely leaders were captured and impeached, while thousands of terrified Székelys started to migrate to
Moldavia
Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...
, where they took refuge in the villages of the
Csángómagyars who had been living there for centuries. In 1774, the Habsburg soldiers took control of an area of Moldavia that would eventually be named
Bukovina
Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...
and – after the intervention of Count
András Hadik
Count András Hadik de Futog, Futak (; ; ; 16 October 1710 – 12 March 1790) was a Nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian nobleman and Field MarshalDarrell Berg (editor): ''The Correspondence of Christian Gottfried Krause: A Music Lover i ...
– they pardoned the Székelys there and settled them down. There, the Székelys founded settlements of their own. The five villages of the
Székelys of Bukovina were: IstensegÃts ("God help us!", now
Å¢ibeni, 1776), Fogadjisten ("Accept God's will!", now
Iacobești), Józseffalva (now
Vornicenii Mari, 1785), Hadikfalva (now
Dornești) and Andrásfalva (
Măneuţi, 1786).
Commemorations
The events remained vivid in the Székely collective memory: in 1905, an obelisk was erected at
Madéfalva,
on its top carrying a
Turul-bird with the wings spread. At the bottom of the stone-pyramid there is a plate with the word ''SICVLICIDIVM'' on it (adding up the values of the letters as
Roman numerals
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...
, the result is exactly the year of the massacre).
Since the
Székelys of Bukovina came into existence as a consequence of the events of January 7, 1764, they celebrate this day as the community's birthday.
See also
*
History of the Székely people
References
{{reflist
Massacres of Hungarians
Draft evasion
18th century in Transylvania
Massacres in Transylvania
Székelys
1764 murders
Massacres in the 1760s
1764 murders in Europe