Revolt of Horea, Cloșca, and Crișan
{{Short description|1784 peasant revolt in Transylvania}}
{{expand Romanian|topic=mil|otherarticle=Răscoala lui Horea, Cloșca și Crișan|date=February 2013}}
{{more footnotes|date=September 2014}}
The revolt of Horea, Cloșca, and Crișan ({{Langx|ro|Răscoala lui Horea, Cloșca și Crișan}}; 31 October – 14 December, 1784) was a Romanian-led revolt that began in the Metaliferi Mountains, Transylvania, but it soon spread throughout all Transylvania and the Apuseni Mountains. The leaders were Horea (Vasile Ursu Nicola, 1731–1785), Cloșca ({{ill|Ion Oarga|ro|Ion Oargă Cloșca}}, 1747–1785) and Crișan ({{ill|Marcu Giurgiu|ro|Crișan}}, 1733–1785).
Background
The revolt was directly related to the poor conditions of feudal serfs in the Principality of Transylvania, where Orthodox Romanians lacked political equality with Catholics.
After Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I's incorporation of the principality into the Habsburg domains in 1691, the rights of the Hungarian, Székely, and Saxon nobles were preserved. The peasants, however, still had no representation in politics. In particular, though they were tolerated, the Romanian peasantry lacked guarantees for their Orthodox church institutions.
The revolt
File:Georg Decker Joseph II.jpg]]
As representative for the Romanian peasants, Horea — whose official name was Vasile Ursu Nicola — traveled to Vienna often in the years from 1779 to 1782 to explain the hardships of the Transylvanian peasantry and lack of representation, without any result. The trigger of the events occurred on 31 January 1784, when Emperor Joseph II issued an order to increase the number of the border guards of Transylvania. Many men from many villages assembled in Alba Iulia ({{langx|hu|Gyulafehérvár}}, {{langx|de|Karlsburg}}) to enroll in the army as an option to live better instead of the obligatory labor system to their landlords. Most of them were Romanian peasants. The local authorities tried to slow down the process assuming the Gubernium got around and did not involve them. The people interpreted this action as the "nobility" opposing their chance for a better fate for their families. Horea spread a rumor that Joseph II appointed him as leader of the Romanians who wished to enroll into service, while Crișan called the serfs to revolt in the surrounding areas of the Crișul Alb (Fehér-Kőrös) river. Thereafter, more than ten thousand people united against the "nobility," who in their eyes were oppressors imposing high taxes on them. Shortly, the tensions culminated into a revolt, targeting the nobles and the non-Orthodox common people (regardless of ethnicity), because they unfairly received opportunity for advancement in society. The massacres mostly affected the areas and population of Alsó-Fehér County, Zaránd County, and Hunyad County. Between the autumn of 1784 and the winter up to 1785, civilian casualties numbered about 4,000 people from 133 settlements, mostly Hungarians.
While the Gubernium and the military leadership debated about a possible intervention – awaiting the order from Vienna, the Hungarian nobility took action: they organized a defence; they captured and tried the rioters in Deva (Déva); and they executed 56 peasants.{{cite web |url=http://mult-kor.hu/cikk.php?id=3705 |title=Kitör a Horea és Cloșca vezette felkelés|author= |website=www.mult-kor.hu |date=21 May 2004 |quote="A Gubernium és a főhadparancsnokság egymással vitázott; Bécsből vártak utasítást. Közben a vármegyei nemesség megszervezte önvédelmét, Dévánál kisebb győzelmet aratott a felkelők fölött, 56 elfogott parasztot kivégeztek."}}
When Joseph II ordered the army to intervene, the uprising was ended by Horea on 14 December 1784, at Câmpeni (Topánfalva, Topesdorf). In January 1785, the leaders were captured on charges of treason, after a bounty had been placed on their heads.{{cite web|url=https://adevarul.ro/locale/alba-iulia/ospatul-tradatorilor-horea-closca-crisan-rasplata-oferita-ordinul-imparatului-viena-1_56d01cf15ab6550cb83adabe/index.html|title=Ospățul trădătorilor lui Horea, Cloșca și Crișan: răsplata oferită din ordinul împăratului de la Viena|newspaper=Adevărul|first=Dorin |last=Țimonea|lang=ro|date=March 6, 2016|access-date=December 19, 2021}} Of the more than 600 captured rebels, 120 were sentenced; 37 death penalties were delivered initially but they were changed to imprisonment as a result of the amnesty of the emperor, with an exception regarding the three leaders.{{cite web|url=http://www.rubicon.hu/magyar/oldalak/1785_februar_28_horea_es_closca_kivegzese_gyulafehervaron/|title=Horea és Closca kivégzése Gyulafehérváron|lang=hu|trans-title=The execution of Horea and Closca in Alba Iulia|last=Tarján |first=Tamás M.|website=www.rubicon.hu}} Horea and Cloșca were executed by the Hungarian authorities by breaking on the wheel on 28 February 1785 at Dealul Furcilor (Gabelberg, Forks Hill), Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár). Crișan hanged himself on the night before the execution.
Legacy
After the revolt had been put down, Joseph II responded by enacting a Patent for the Abolition of Serfdom for Transylvania in 1785. This put an end to serfdom, although the feudal system continued to be practiced for several more decades. The Emperor also ended aristocratic control over peasant marriages and expanded the peasants’ grazing rights.
The uprising reverberated throughout Western Europe. It upset the feudal system and is considered by many to have inspired the French Revolution.{{cite web | url =https://adevarul.ro/locale/botosani/cine-fost-adevarat-horea-motul-botezat-ritual-pagan-legaturi-masoneria-fost-acuzat-cruzime-margini-1_59609bfe5ab6550cb8e8a1b7/index.html | title =Cine a fost cu adevărat Horea. Moțul botezat după un ritual păgân avea legături cu masoneria și a fost acuzat de cruzime fără margini | lang=ro|date =July 10, 2017 | newspaper =Adevărul|first=Cosmin|last= Pătrașcu Zamfirache|access-date=December 19, 2021 }} {{cite web | url =http://www.ziare.com/cultura/documentar/rascoale-romanesti-rascoala-lui-horea-closca-si-crisan-1043315 | title =Răscoale românești: Răscoala lui Horea, Cloșca și Crișan | lang=ro|last =Dologa | first =Laurențiu | date =September 24, 2010 | work =Ziare.com|access-date=December 19, 2021 }} In 1785, Jacques Pierre Brissot, who would become a leader of the French Revolution, published an open letter to Joseph II in which he asserted the right of royal subjects to protest.{{cite web|url=https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/french-revolution-horea-and-romanian-peasants-revolt-1784|title=Before the French Revolution: Horea and the Romanian Peasants' Revolt of 1784|last=Winkler|first=Anita|publisher=The World of the Hapsburgs| website=www.habsburger.net|access-date=December 19, 2021}}
In 1937, a monument in the form of an obelisk was erected in Alba Iulia to commemorate the revolt. It was designed by {{ill|Iosif Fekete|ro}} and Octavian Mihălțan.{{Cite web |title=Obeliscul "Horea, Cloșca și Crișan" – AlbaIulia QR |url=https://albaiuliaqr.ro/obeliscul-horea-closca-crisan/ |access-date=2023-11-18 |language=ro-RO}}
During World War II, the Soviet Union created the Horea, Cloșca și Crișan Division which was named after the revolt. The division was made up of Romanian volunteers mainly drawn from prisoners of war and exiled communist activists.
File:Closca.jpg|The execution of Horea and Cloșca
File:Bustul lui Horea.JPG|The bust of Horea in Horea Commune, Alba County
File:Albac Olanesti wood church.jpg|The wooden church in Horea's village
File:Alba Iulia 2018 (1).jpg|The Obelisk of Horea, Cloșca, and Crișan in Alba Iulia
File:Rumän Horea-Cloșca-și-Crișan-Division 1943-5.jpg|The divisional insignia of the Horea, Cloșca și Crișan Division
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book|last=Pascu|first=Ștefan|title=Revoluția populară de sub conducerea lui Horea|year=1984|lang=ro|publisher=Editura Militară|location=București|oclc=26020442|page=534}}
- {{cite book|last=Prodan|first=David|title=Răscoala lui Horea. Vols 1 and 2|lang=ro|location=București|publisher=Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică|year= 1984|orig-date=1979|edition=2nd|oclc=185620334}}
- {{cite web|url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/322.html|title=Joseph II and enlightened absolutism: Policy toward Villeins and the Horea Uprising|website=mek.oszk.hu|access-date=December 19, 2021}}
External links
- {{cite web|url=http://www.executedtoday.com/2017/02/28/1785-horea-and-closca-transylvanian-rebels/|title=1785: Horea and Cloșca, Transylvanian rebels|website=www.executedtoday.com|date=28 February 2017 |access-date=December 19, 2021}}
{{Commons category|Horea, Cloșca and Crișan}}
{{Medieval and Early Modern European Peasant Wars}}
{{Riots, protests and civil disorder in Romanian territory}}
{{Romanian nationalism}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Revolt Of Horea, Closca And Crisan}}
Category:History of Transylvania (1683–1848)
Category:18th-century rebellions
Category:Riots and civil disorder in Romania