Who are the Vlachs of Vlassko

Who are the Vlachs of Vlassko
By Dr. Gary Kocurek, 104 S. Georgetown, Round Rock, Texas 78664
Who are the Vlachs of Vlassko
By Dr. Gary Kocurek, 104 S. Georgetown, Round Rock, Texas 78664
People of Czech ancestry in Texas are not representative of the modern Czech
Republic or of the former Czechoslovakia as a whole. Rather, a great many
“Tex-Czechs” trace their heritage to the Vlassko region in eastern Moravia (figs.
1,2). Vlassko is situated along the northwestern rim of the Carpathian
Mountains, which historically have served as both a refuge and a conduit for
immigrating groups of peoples. Vlassko was largely settled during the 16th
Century by colonist immigrating from the east and southeast, and whom were
referred to at that time as the “Vlachs.” Historical events during the 17th
Century, especially the Thirty Years War, set the stage for the massive
immigration of people from Vlassko to Texas after the Revolution of 1848.
Figures One and Two
“Vlach,: “Valach,” “Volach,” “Vlakh” and other variations of the term date back
in time nearly 2,000 years and refer to a variety of “Latinized” people whose
origin is ultimately the Roman Empire (Magocsi 1993). In archaic Czech, for
example, “Vlassko” means Italy, and “Valach” refers to “Italian” (Radio Prague
1999). Today, only isolated groups of peoples in the Balkans (Greece,
Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria) are referred to as Vlachs and these people
speak Aromanian (e.g., Wace & Thomson 1914, Winnifrith 1987, Caragui 1999).
The Romanian and Moldavians, who speak another language derived from
Latin, Daco-Romanian, represent the largest concentration of Latinized people
of southeastern Europe. Historically, Romanians and Moldavians were known
as Vlachs. The Romanian province of Walachia was named for the Valachs and
served as their traditional homeland. Other groups of Vlachs have been
assimilated into the local populations. The Vlach culture of Vlassko was largely
destroyed at the end of the Thirty Year War (1648).
The purpose of this paper is to ask some very simple questions. Who were the
Valachs of Vlassko? What is their relationship, if any, to other groups of people
called “Valchs“? What events caused their migration to Vlassko? Unfortunately,
the answers to these simple questions are stymied by the same problems that
have confronted all Vlach research. First, there is little written history about the
Vlachs. Second. On lifestyle Vlachs were largely nomadic shepherds who lived
in remote mountainous locales and were known to travel great distances. In
fact, Vlachs are tied into the difficult mosaic of Balkans History. Fourth, Vlachs
were famous (and still are) for their ability to assimilate into which ever culture
they happened to find themselves (Balamaci 1995). For Example. Vlachs who
migrated into Bosnia readily dropped Christianity in favor of the local Islam,
and the Vlachs who migrated into the Habsburg Empire were “Slavicized” in
both religion (Orthodox to Roman Catholic) and language (Winnifrith 1987).
Fifth, the term “Vlach” has historically been loosely used by others and
oftentimes referred to any outsiders who were shepherds. Although conclusive
answers are not forthcoming, it is clear that the history of Eastern Europe
(Romania, Hungary, the Balkans) is at least as important as Czech history in
describing the ancestry of Tex-Czechs.
Tracing the Vlachs Though History
Roman Era
The maximum extent of the roman Empire in southeastern Europe occurred
after 106 AD when conquest of the Dacian people extended the empire from
modern Greece to Romania. By all accounts, the Latinized people of the Roman
Empire represented both a variety of indigenous people as well as colonists
who came into the region (e.g. Magocsi 1993). Under barbarian pressure, the
Roman Legions retreated from Dacia (modern Romania) in 217. According to at
least Romanian historians, Roman colonists and the Latinized Dacians retreated
into the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania after the Roman Legions
withdrew from the area. This view is supported to the extent that archeological
evidence does indicate the presence of Latin-speaking people in Transylvania
by at least the 8th Century (Carragie 1999).
By the late 4th Century, the Roman Empire was plagued by internal problems
and, in southeastern Europe. By the incursion of the Germanic tribes. By the 7th
and 8thCenturies, the Roman Empire existed only south of the Danube River in
the form of the Byzantine Empire with its capitol at Constantinople (Fig.3). In
this ethnically diverse closing area of the Roman Empire, Vlachs were
recognized as those who spoke Latin, the official language of the Byzantine
Empire until the 6th Century when Greek came to dominate (Balamaci 19956).
These original Vlachs probably consisted of a variety of ethnic groups, but who
shared the commonality of having been assimilated in language and culture
into the Roman Empire.
Figures Three and Four
The remainder of Central and Eastern Europe north of the Danube River was
occupied by shifting groups of (1) Slavs, who immigrated into the region during
the first few centuries of the millennium from the northwestern Ukraine, (2)
Germanic tribes (e.g., Goths, Vandals, Sueves), (3) Asiatic groups (e.g., Alans,
Huns, Avars), and (4) the Turkic Bulgars who migrated into area in 679
(Magocsi 1993).
The Vlach Empire and Expansion
The Byzantine Empire was weakened by (1) the split of the Roman and
Orthodox Churches in1054, (2) Norman conquests of Byzantine territories in
Italy, (3) Turkish conquests of Byzantine territories in the east beginning in
1071, and (4) the seven crusades between 1096 and 1254 (Magocsi 1993). Against
this weakened Byzantine Empire, a Vlach Revolution occurred in 1185086 in
protest against a harsh tax imposed on sheep-goat herds and was lead by Ivan
and Peter Asen (Magocsi 1993). This “Asenid Empire” or “Empire of the Vlachs
and Bulgars” existed south of the Danube River within present-day Bulgaria,
and reached its zenith between 1218 and 1241 (Fig. 4). The first written record of
Vlachs north of the Danube River (in Transylvania) is in 1210 (Caragiu 1999).
This group has been considered as representing a northward influx of Vlachs
from the Asenid Empire and/or Vlachs who had previously retreated into the
Carpathian Mountains when the Roman Legions withdrew.
By 1242, the Vlach Empire was weakened by Mongol invasions. However,
Vlachs during the late 1200’s spread eastward to establish Moldavia, which
alternated as a vassal state of Poland and the Ottoman Turks (Magosci 1999). By
the late 13th Century as well, continued Vlach migration into the plains north of
the Danube gave rise to Walachia in 1290 (Magocsi 1999). Walachia was
established as the new “homeland” of the Vlachs and as a province of Hungary
(Fig. 4). From 1330 until 1340, Walachia, under the rule of Basarab I, existed as a
nearly independent state. Walachia again emerged as a near independent state
ruled by Mircea between 1386 and 1390.
During this period, the Carpathian Mountain range of Vlassko in Moravia was
largely uninhabited, and formed the northeastern border of the Bohemian
Kingdom within the Holy Roman Empire (Magocsi 1993). Slovakia was part of
Hungary. During the middle 14th Century, Hungary reached its maximum
extent, and Bohemia-Moravia began its “Golden Age” under Charles IV (13461378) as he assumed the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Ottoman Turk Era
Southeastern Europe was forever changed by conquests by the Ottoman Turks
beginning near the close of the 14th Century (Fig. 5). These conquests or
formation of Turkish vassal states include: Bulgaria in 1396, Albania in 1415,
Walachia in 1390 and again in 1446, Serbia in 1459, Bosnia in 1463, Herzegovina
in 1466, Moldavia in 1512, and the other remaining parts of the Byzantine
Empire between 1453 and 1460 (see summary in Magocsi 1993). Initially, the
Vlachs are believed to have assisted the Turks by acting as guides and guards
through mountain passes that were well known to the Vlach shepherds (Sugar
1977). In time, however, Vlachs numbered among those resentful of the Turkish
presence. Indeed, the most prominent resistance against the Ottomans occurred
in the Vlach states of Walachia and Moldavia. Vlad II Dracul took Walachia to
the status of semi-independent state between 1436 and 1446. His son, Vlad III
Tepes (the historical figure for Dracula of fiction) used both diplomatic and
brutal means of war to establish Walachia as an independent state between 1453
and 1460. And again in 1476. Stefan the Great maintained Moldavia free from
Ottoman rule from 1457 until 1504 (Magocsi 1993).
Exodus From Ottoman Lands and Settlement of Vlassko
One outcome of the Ottoman Turk westward advance and the political insanity
that it brought was a major exodus from the conquered lands accompanied by a
massive influx in Habsburg lands. In an early immigration, Slovak peasants in
1514 immigrants to southern Moravia (Strani and Hrozenkov areas) as a result
of the Dozsas Rebellion (Kann & David 1984). In 1526, the Hungarians were
defeated by the Ottoman Turks at Mohac, allowing expansion of the Ottoman
Empire to near the borders of the Habsburg Empire (Fig. 5) (Magocsi 1993). All
that remained of Hungary was Royal Hungary (including Slovakia), which was
in name ruled by the Habsburgs but in practice paid tribute to the Ottoman
Empire until 1601, and acted as the buffer zone between the Habsburg and
Ottoman Empires. As a result of the Hungarian defeat, huge areas of the former
Hungary were depopulated as Christian Magyars (Hungarians), Vlachs and
Slavs (Largely Croats, Serbs, and Slovaks), fled into Habsburg lands (Magocsi
1993). Another major exodus occurred during the Turkish Wars between 1593
and 1606 when Orthodox Serbs and Vlachs fled into the southern part of Royal
Hungary (Croatia) (Kann & David 1984).
Figure Five
The frontier border (Royal Hungary and adjacent areas such as Vlassko)
between the Ottoman and Habsburg Empires was the zone of both colonization
and conflict between the great powers. The area was subject to frequent raids by
the Turks, and the Habsburgs, in turn, attempted to fortify this zone with
military camps and to welcome the colonists who, if not completely loyal to the
Habsburg, at least regarded the Turks as the greater enemy. In a move that
would haunt Habsburgs later during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648),
numerous privileges were bestowed upon the new colonist, who were typically
organized into military bands (Kann & David 1984, Magocsi 1993). These rights
included (1) the right to bear arms, (2) tax exemptions, (3) election of their
leaders, (4) no compulsory work for feudal lords, and (5) the grazing rights
(Podolak 1969, Sugar 1977, Kann & David 1984). In Vlassko, these rights were
referred to as “Valachian Law” and stood until the Thirty Years War
(Polisensky 1971).
The overall picture that emerges for the 16th Century is a massive flux of people
from the whole of southeastern Europe into the borderlands of the Habsburg
Empire as the Ottoman Turk wave spread westward. Against this backdrop.
The Vlassko area of Moravia, which already had ethnic Moravians inhabiting
the lowlands, received colonists who largely occupied the highlands. Although
it seems certain that the immigrants were largely shepherds and peasant
migrating along the Carpathians from Slovakia, it is impossible to state just
which ethnic wave they represented.
The Vlachs of Vlassko
Because there is no written account that identifies the ethnic character of the
Vlachs who settled Vlassko, only indirect evidence can be called upon. The
evidence includes: (1) period reference to the people as a distinct group called
the Vlachs or Wallachians, (2) some elements of the language, (3) surnames, and
(4) the distinctive pastoral culture.
Period References
As early as the 14th Century, Vlach shepherds of a definite Romanian origin are
documented as migrating into Slovakia (Podolak 1969). Somewhat later,
disorganized bands of Romanian Vlachs are noted in the Carpathian Mountain
regions of Ukraine, Poland, and Moravia. This initial influx of Vlachs does
coincide with the early Ottoman conquests in the Balkans, but appears to
represent only disorganized bands of shepherds traveling along the
Carpathians and is small in comparison to the later influx in the 16th Century.
In Vlassko, the first widespread reference to Vlachs occurred during the Thirty
Years War and are well documented in Dostal (1956) and Polisensky (1971). For
example, Jan Amos Comenius wrote in 1960 “Moravians of the mountains
around Vsetin, called Wallachians, are a warlike people…they refuses to accept
the Habsburg yoke and for three whole years defended their freedom with the
sword.” Later, in 1624, he wrote “the inhabitants of the lordship of Vsetin and
the mountains thereabout (who are called Wallachians) continued to resist with
arms and could not be brought to deny their faith or offer submission…” In
1628, Jesuit missionaries, in abandoning their attempt to convert the Vlachs to
Catholicism, stated that the “inhabitants of Vlassko were Valachs and hence
utterly infractory.” Zlin town records from 1621 refer to “the Wallachians, who
are the local rabble,…” Albrecht Waldstein, Habsburg Military lord of Vsetin,
wrote in 1621 about the expected uprising of the locals and referred to the
Vlachs as “Wallachians” against whom he did not have sufficient support to
mount a campaign. A Habsburg commissioner in 1622, writing about the local
Moravians, stated that “the people are inclined more to the enemy and the
Wallachians.”
The significance of these period references is that the Vlachs of Vlassko were
both considered apart from the Moravians, and referred to as Wallachians.
Walachia is the Romanian province and the homeland of the Vlachs. This later
distinction is important, because, as noted below, “Vlach” came in Moravia to
refer to shepherds in general.
Language
Linguists make the argument that the Moravian dialect spoken by the Vlachs
had its roots in Slovak, but that the vocabulary concerning aspects of the raising
of sheep and goats was Romanian (e.g. Podolak 1969, Hannan 1988). In fact,
there is a clear evolution of the Vlach language along the Carpathian
Mountains. Ukrainian Vlachs spoke a language that had a strong Romanian
influence. Slovakians Vlachs, in turn, spoke Slovak, but with a strong Ukrainian
character. The Moravian spoken by the Vlachs in Vlassko had the Slovak
character. This geographic evolution of language can be interpreted as an
assimilation of the Vlachs in terms of language as they migrated into new areas.
The overall pattern shows a westward migration of the Vlachs from Romania
into Moravia via the Carpathian Mountains and over a time scale significant
enough for local assimilation of the language to have occurred. The only aspect
of the language that remained unchanged throughout the Carpathians was that
related to the Vlach style of sheep and goat tending (see below), and for which
there were no local words that could be used. The counter argument--that this
geographic sharing of language would be typical for any groups into cultural
contact--is weakened by the fact that the drift in language is in one direction.
Ukrainian Vlachs do not show a Slovak influence, and so forth.
Surnames
Hanna (1988), based upon a compilation of Czech names typical of Texas,
demonstrated two important points. First, the most common names are not
typical of the Czech Republic as a whole, but rather are distinctive of Vlassko
and surrounding areas. Second, many of these names are not Czech in origin
but rather Romanian (Baca, Balcar, Sandera), Hungarian (e.g. Orsak), Slovakian
(e.g. Fajkus), and Polish (Adamcik). The collection of surnames from Vlassko is
probably representative of origins of peoples who settled in Vlassko, and also
coincides with the presumed route traveled by the Valachs through the
Carpathians.
Culture
A remarkable aspect of Vlachs found everywhere along the Carpathian
Mountains is that the culture associated with herding remained the same
despite the evolution in language (Podolak 1969). As with those aspects of
language associated with sheep and goat tending, this cultural aspect of the
Vlachs likely did not change because there was no competing culture--the Vlach
methods and associated rituals of sheep and goat tending were unique and
newly introduced by the Vlachs. Although sheep and goats were long
associated with agriculture practiced in the lowlands adjacent to the
Carpathians, it was the Vlachs that introduced grazing in the highlands and the
emphasis upon the production of milk and cheese. Podolak (1969) describes a
set of methods and rituals of Vlach herd tending that were not only unique but
also essentially identical along the entire belt of the Carpathian Mountains from
Moravia to Romanian and then along the adjacent mountains into Serbia and
Bulgaria. Similarly, the style of Vlach log architecture remained the same along
the length of the Carpathians (Polisensky 1971). The semi-nomadic lifestyle
practiced today by the Vlachs of the Balkans (as described by Wace &
Thompson 1914) seems largely unchanged from that of the 16th Century or
earlier.
The Thirty Year War
Whatever the origin of the Vlachs of Vlassko, the Thirty Year War and
subsequent events most profoundly changed the Vlach culture, and, as argued
in the next section, set the stage for the next wave of Vlach immigration. The
most detailed accounts of this war in Vlassko are found in Dostal (1956) and
Polisensky (1971).
The Thirty Year War began in Bohemia in 1618 with the Battle of White
Mountain near Prague. The war had numerous roots, but the primary one was
the religious battled between Catholicism that the Habsburgs deemed to prevail
over all their lands and the growing Protestant movement that had it roots with
Jan Hus and later reformers such ass Luther and Calvin. War spread to Moravia
in 1619 and Waldstein, lord of Vsetin, was appointed military commander for
Habsburg forces in Moravia. With the exception of Vlassko, the Moravians were
defeated in less than two years, with the Moravian government collapsing soon
after the Bohemian defeat at White Mountain, and most Moravian towns and
villages surrendering to Habsburg Imperial forces without a fight. It was the
Vlachs, who at this time had largely become Protestants of one sort of another
and who considered themselves freer than the lowland Moravians, who proved
the thorn in the Habsburg side.
Vlach warfare against the Habsburgs consisted of raids, including those against
Malenovice, Zlin, and Valasske Mezirici. Waldstein stated that the Vlachs
fought as a “Horde” and Vlach forces were victorious against the Habsburgs
during the initial years of the war. During portions of these initial years as well,
Vlachs were joined by Protestant Hungarians, and by 1621 all of Moravia east of
the Morava River was controlled by Vlachs. Hungarian forces, however, were
defeated by the Habsburgs at Olomouc in late 1621 and withdrew from Moravia
in 1622. Vlach forces were subsequently subdued in 1623, accompanied by a
series of public executions.
Renewed Vlach attacks on Vsetin occurred in late 1623. The Hungarians, now
aided by the Ottoman Turks, reentered the War, and fighting occurred as far
west as Brno. The Turks, however, were an older enemy of the Vlachs, and the
Vlachs did not join their former allies, the Hungarians. A second peace between
Hungary and the Habsburgs was signed in 1624. The Habsburgs seized this
opportunity to attack the Vlachs in March 1624 in the mountains west of Vsetin,
but the Vlachs prevailed in what was described as a “slaughter” of Habsburg
forces. Vlachs captured Lukov in 1626, and joined by Danes, who had entered
the war against the Habsburg, also captured Hranice in 1626.
In 1627, Waldstein’s counter-attack forced the withdrawal of the Danish army
from Moravian, and sent the Vlachs into retreat. By 1630, Vlachs controlled only
their Carpathian strongholds. The final Vlach uprising occurred in 1640 when
the Swedes invaded Moravia to do battle with the Habsburgs. Combined VlachSwede forces won back portions of Moravia, but then the Swedes withdrew in
1643 to concentrate on a war with Denmark.
In January 1644, a massive Habsburg raid was conducted against the Vlachs in
the mountains east of Vsetin, The Habsburg rout was completed by this time
with a battle that culminated in the burning of Vlach villages (e.g. Hovezi,
Huslenky, Halenkov, and Zdechov), disarming of the Vlachs, destruction of the
fields and livestock, and an estimated 20 percent of the males of Vsetin were
killed or later executed. Vlachs who fled the area were pursued by the
Habsburgs as far as into Hungary. Ultimately, about one third of the total Vlach
population was killed. With the Conscription of Vlassko on February 16, 1644, a
complete registration of the remaining Vlachs occurred. Execution or oath of
allegiance to Habsburg and conversion to Catholicism were the choices. Many
Vlachs were executed during the infamous executions of 1644 in Vsetin. By
March 1644, essentially all the remaining Vlachs who had taken refuge in the
high high Carpathians had been pursued and killed. Plague then struck the
region in September 1644.
War continued with one more attempted invasion of Moravia by the Swedes
and Hungarians. The war ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. In
Moravia alone, 63 castles, 22 towns, and 330 villages had been annihilated
during the war.
Destruction of the Vlach Culture in Vlassko--Stage-Setting for Immigration
The net result of the crushing Vlach defeat with the close of the Thirty Year War
was the destruction of Vlach Culture. Retribution by the Habsburg was severe
and the Vlassko area remained one of the most repressed in Europe. A harsh
serfdom was imposed upon the Vlachs. Whole groups of people and families
were relocated. Taxes were raised to the point (two-third of total gross) that
extreme poverty resulted. Overlords were entirely foreign. Serfdom was not
lifted until the Revolution of 1848 (Pech 1969), one of the last places in Europe.
Immigration to Texas began in earnest in the 1850’s.
Conclusion
In returning to the three simple questions posed at the beginning of this paper,
what conclusions can be drawn?
Who were the Vlachs of Vlassko? They were certainly migrating shepherds
from Slovakia. If the period references are taken at face value, they were
Wallachians or Romanians. The complicating factor, however, is that these
Vlachs may have been in migration for a generation or more and had been
assimilated in language and probably through marriage to Ukrainians, Poles,
and Slovaks.
What is the relationship to these Vlachs to other Vlachs scattered throughout
southeastern Europe? First, the original Vlachs were not a single ethnic group,
although many were Dacian. Vlachs show every inclination toward
assimilation, hence, there are Serbian, Moravian, and Romanian Vlachs. They
are united by a shared history, and language and culture to some degree. The
strong tie to Romania exists in the historical location of the Vlach homeland and
the continuation of the Latin-derived language there.
What caused the migration of the Vlachs into Moravia/ The Ottoman Turks
caused the westward migration of Vlachs and other ethnic groups of people.
Vlach westward migration along the Carpathian Mountains ended in Moravia
were the Carpathians terminate.
References
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http://farsarotul.org/n118_htm
Caragiu, M., 1999. Historical Snapshots. <wysiwyg://130/http://www.free
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Dostal, F., 1956.Valasska povstani za Triceltilete Valky. Nase Vojsko, Praha, 237 pp.
Hanna K. 1988. Tracing Valach Surnames in Texas. Vesnik 7 December, 11-12.
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Sugar, P.F., 1977. Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354-1804. University
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Wace A,J.B. & Thomson, M.S., 1914. The Nomads of the Balkans, an Account of life
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New York, 188 pp.
Permission to reprint received from the author on November 28, 2001.
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