Romanian district
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Romanian district (Latin: districtus Valachorum) was an autonomous administrative unit of the Vlachs (or Romanians) in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary.
According to scholars who say that the Romanians (or Vlachs) descended from the inhabitants of the Roman province of "Dacia Traiana", the Romanians' territorial organization can be traced back to Roman patterns.[1] Their cohabitation with the Slavs, who settled in the region during the Early Middle Ages, also influenced the Romanians' local administration, as it is demonstrated by the title knez of the Romanians' leaders.[2] However, no firm territorial structures developed before the Kingdom of Hungary incorporated Crișana, Banat, Transylvania and other regions inhabited by the Romanians.[1] The territorial units of the Romanians were mentioned as terrae ("lands"), kneziatus ("a territory under a knez's rule"), provinciae, sedes ("seats") in medieval royal charters, but most commonly as districtus Valachorum ("district of the Romanians").[3]
According to a concurring scholarly theory, the Romanians' districts came into existence through organized migration in the 13th-15th centuries.[4][5] The knezes who organized the settlement of the pastoralist Vlachs in the mountainous regions became the hereditary leaders of the newly established villages.[6][5] The knezes were responsible for the collection of the "fiftieth", which was an in kind tax (two ewes for every hundred sheep), specific to the Vlach communities.[6] In exchange, they had a share in the tax income and they were entitled to own mills in their districts.[7]
Administration
The local administration of the districts is known from documents issued in the second half of the 14th century.[8] The districts, with their own assemblies and officials, had a strong corporate character.[5] For instance, in 1360, the property rights of local knezes to two villages was confirmed at the assembly of "all the knezes and men of other status" in the Hațeg district.[8] The assembly was presided by the castellan of the royal castle of Hațeg, and the ruling was made by a jury, made up of twelve knezes, six priests and six communers.[8]
