Historical names of Transylvania

Transylvania has had different names applied to it in several traditions.

''Transylvania''

The first reference to the region was as the Medieval Latin expression ("land beyond the forest") in a document dating to 1075. The expression ("area beyond the forest") appears in the 12th century in ' and subsequently as ' in medieval documents of the Hungarian kingdom.

'/'

The first Hungarian form recorded was (12th century, in the ''Gesta Hungarorum'') while the first Romanian form recorded was in 1432 as ''Ardeliu''.Lucy Mallow, ''Transylvania'', 2nd edn. (Bradt Travel Guides, 2013), 16. The initial ''a''/''e'' difference between the names can be found in other Hungarian loans in Romanian, such as Hungarian ‘ gooseberry’ → Romanian , , as well as in placenames, e.g., → , and .

In the early 16th century, the ''Erdőség'' form, literally 'forest', was also used in Hungarian ( Érdy-codex).

According to the Romanian linguist Nicolae Drăganu, the Romanian ''Ardeal'' came from the Hungarian ''Erdély.'' The Hungarian name of Transylvania evolved over time from ''Erdőelü'', ''Erdőelv'', ''Erdőel'', ''Erdeel'' in chronicles and written charters from 1200 up to late 1300. In written sources from 1390, we can find also the form ''Erdel'', which can be read also as ''Erdély''. There is evidence for that in the written Wallachian Chancellery Charters expressed in Slavonic where the word appears as ''Erûdelû'' (1432), ''Ierûdel'', ''Ardelîu'' (1432), ''ardelski'' (1460, 1472, 1478–1479, 1480, 1498, 1507–1508, 1508), ''erdelska'', ''ardelska'' (1498). With the first texts written in Romanian (1513) the name ''Ardeal'' appears to be written. Drăganu takes into consideration the form ''Ardalos'' for the inherited word, dismissing it by proving that the evolution of such an etymon according to Romanian phonetics does not match the current form. Drăganu claims that the greatest Romanian philologists and historians maintain that ''Ardeal'' came from Hungarian.

The consensus of linguists and historians on the etymology of both ''Erdély'' and ''Transylvania'' is as follows:
* The modern Hungarian form ''Erdély'' was derived from the Old Hungarian '/ (transcription: ), literally ‘beyond the forest’ (). means ‘woods, forest’, and the ''elv'' suffix meant ‘beyond’ and was applied to a type of border region (''gyepű'') and the associated social and economic organisation; for example, (near Ungvár), and archaic , ‘Wallachia’, lit. "beyond the snowy mountains" ( in Latin, modern ), refers to a region lying beyond the Carpathian mountains if viewed from Hungary, and was under strong Hungarian political influence during the Middle Ages. If viewed from Hungary, ''Erdő-elü'' probably refers to the fact that the Transylvanian plateau is separated in the northwest from the Great Hungarian Plain and Crișana plains by the well-forested Apuseni mountains. Alternatively, from the point of view east of the Carpathians, the name could suggest that the Hungarian name was created in Etelköz/Atelkuzu (Hungarian homeland in southern Ukraine), prior to settling on the Hungarian plain.
* The Medieval Latin form (1077), later (from another point of view after the foundation of Hungary in 895), was a direct translation from the Hungarian form.Engel, Pál (2001). ''Realm of St. Stephen: History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526'' (International Library of Historical Studies), London: I.B. Tauris. This theory is also supported by the Romanian historian Ioan-Aurel Pop.
In Ukrainian and German, the names Zalissia ( uk, Залісся) and Überwald, both meaning "beyond the forest" are also used.

''Siebenbürgen''

The oldest occurrences of this form are from the 13th century:
* In the year 1241: in ''Annales Sancti Trudperti'' and in the Annals of Zwifalt: "”
* In the year 1242: in the notes of the friar Erfurt: "”
* In the year 1285: "” and "”.
* In the year 1296: a reference to a particular "''maister Dietrich von Siebenbuergen''”.
* In the year 1300: Ottacher of Styria mentions "''Sybenburger''”.

There exist a number of theories on the etymology of , the German name for Transylvania.

The most widely accepted theory is that refers to the seven principal fortified towns of the Transylvanian Saxons. The name first appeared in a document from 1296. An alternate Medieval Latin version, ("Seven fortresses") was also used in documents. The towns alluded to are Bistritz (Bistrița, Beszterce), Hermannstadt (Sibiu, Nagyszeben), Klausenburg ( Cluj-Napoca, Kolozsvár), Kronstadt (Brașov, Brassó), Mediasch (Mediaș, Medgyes), Mühlbach (Sebeș, Szászsebes), and Schässburg (Sighișoara, Segesvár).

Other theories include:
* ''Siebenbürgen'' means "Seven Castles" but does not refer to the towns of the Transylvanian Saxons. Transylvania and the Mureș valley seem to have been the first portion of land within the Carpathians where Magyars gained a foothold. According to legend, each of the seven Magyar chieftains erected an earthen 'castle' in this region.
* ''Siebenbürgen'' means explicitly "Seven Towns" or "Seven Castles". However, this etymology seems to originate in the dialectical tradition of the first, mainly Low German, Flemish and Dutch settlers, in whose homelands there are hilly regions called "Zevenbergen" (a town in North Brabant, the Netherlands) and "Sevenbergen" (east of the town of Hameln on the river Weser, Germany).
* Saxon settlement in Transylvania began in Sibiu. An early German name for the town was ''Cibinburg'' (akin to the ''Cibiniensis'' Latin name of the area). The alternate name ''Cibinburg'' was corrupted into ''Siebenbürgen'', and became the name for the whole region.

The Slavic names of the region ''Sedmigradsko'' or ''Sedmogradsko'' (''Седмиградско'' or ''Седмоградско'') in Bulgarian, ''Sedmogradska'' in Croatian, ''Sedmograjska'' in Slovene, ''Sedmihradsko'' in Czech, ''Sedmohradsko'' in Slovak, ''Siedmiogród'' in Polish, ''Semihorod'' (''Семигород'') in Ukrainian), as well as its Walloon name (''Zivenbork''), are translations of the German one.

Caucaland

According to Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, ''"due to the high forests and mountains Caucaland is an inaccessible place"''. (''"Caucalandensis locus, altitudine silvarum inacessus et montium"'') Modern historians agree that the territory he mentions is Transylvania. Archaeologist Kornél Bakay linked this toponym with the Hungarian mountain names in the Southern Carpathians, usually ending in ''-kő'' (stone).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Historical Names Of Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania
History of Transylvania