The Massacre at Madéfalva took place at Csík-Mádéfalva, Grand Principality of Transylvania (today Siculeni in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

). In

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''Siculicidium'' "murder of

Székelys The Székelys (, Székely runes: 𐳥𐳋𐳓𐳉𐳗), also referred to as Szeklers,; ro, secui; german: Szekler; la, Siculi; sr, Секељи, Sekelji; sk, Sikuli are a Hungarian subgroup living mostly in the Székely Land in Romania. ...

" was a

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

committed against Székelys by the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

army in 1764, under

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...

History

In 1763, the Court of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

entrusted general Adolf Nikolaus von Buccow to set up three Székely and two

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

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 Csík-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 ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

, 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 Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berge ...

and – after the intervention of Count András Hadik – 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: Istensegíts ("God help us!", now Ţibeni, 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 Siculeni ( hu, Madéfalva, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. The Siculicidium took place here. The commune is composed of a single ...

, 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 (oddly enough, 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, ...

, 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.

References

{{reflist 1764 in Europe Massacres of Hungarians Draft evasion History of Transylvania (1683–1848) Massacres in Europe Massacres of ethnic groups Mass murder in Europe Persecution Székelys Massacres in 1764 1764 murders in Europe

History

Consequences

Commemorations

See also

References