Vlachs
Vlachs (also called
Wallachians, Wlachs, Wallachs, Olahs or
Ulahs) is a blanket term covering several modern
Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in
Central,
Eastern and
Southeastern Europe. Groups that have historically been called Vlachs include: modern-day
Romanians,
Aromanians,
Morlachs,
Megleno-Romanians and
Istro-Romanians. Since the creation of the
Romanian state, the term in English has mostly been used for those living outside Romania.
The term
"Vlach" is an
exonym. All the Vlach groups used various words derived from
romanus to refer to themselves:
Români, Rumâni, Rumâri, Aromâni, Arumâni etc. (note: the Megleno-Romanians nowadays call themselves
"Vlaşi", but historically called themselves
"Rămâni"; The Istro-Romanians also have adopted the names
Vlaşi, but still use
Rumâni and
Rumâri to refer to themselves).
Vlachs descend from the
Romanised Thracians (and possibly
Illyrians), the indigenous populations of the Balkans, and Roman colonist (from various
provinces of the Roman Empire).
The Vlach languages, also called the
Eastern Romance languages, have a common origin from the
Proto-Romanian language. Over the centuries, the Vlachs split into various Vlach groups (see
Romania in the Dark Ages) and mixed with neighbouring populations:
Slavs,
Greeks,
Albanians,
Cumans, and others. Almost all modern nations in
Central and
Southeastern Europe, either
South Slavic,
West Slavic or other, have Vlach minorities, either native (in the case of Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine) or a later addition (Greece, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia), or both (Serbia, Ukraine, Hungary).
The word Valach is of
Germanic origin, and was taken by Slavic people as Vlach and sharing this origin with the words "
Welsh" and "
Walloons" in other parts of
Europe.
Slavic people initially used the name Vlachs when referring to
Romanic people in general. Later on, the meaning became narrower or just different. For example
Italy is called
Włochy in
Polish, and
Olaszország ("Olas' country") in
Hungarian.
Through history, the term "Vlach" was often used for groups which were not ethnically Vlachs, often
pejoratively - for example for any
shepherding community, or for
Christians by
Muslims. In
Greece, the word 'λάχος (Vláhos) is often used as a slur against any supposedly uncouth or uncultured person. However, in recent years there has been a concerted effort by Greek Vlachs to reclaim the term from its negative connotations and to proclaim openly and proudly their
Vlach identity.
|
White = Romanians
Green = Istro-Romanians
Yellow = Aromanians
Orange = Megleno-Romanians |
Besides the separation of some groups (Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians) during the Age of Migration, many other Vlachs could be found all over the
Balkans and as far north as
Poland and as far west the
Czech Republic, and
Croatia. They reached these regions in search of better pastures, and were called "Wallachia" ("Vlashka") by the Slavic peoples.
Statal Entities:*
Wallachia (
"Ungro-Wallachia" or
"Wallachia Transalpina" in administrative sorces;
"Ţara Românească" in
Romanian Language) - between the
Southern Carpathians and the
Danube*
Moldo-Wallachia ("Moldavia",
Maurovlachia - "Black Wallachia" or
Moldovlachia in Byzantine sources,
Bogdan Iflak - "Bogdan's Wallachia", or even "Wallachia" in
Polish sources, and "L`otra Wallachia" -the other Wallachia- in native sources) - between the Carpathians and the
Dnister*
Wallachia and Bulgaria - between the Danube and the
Balkan Mountains*
Great Wallachia ("Μεγάλη 'λαχία",
Megáli Vlahía) - in
Thessaly.
Regions:*
Vlaşca - part of southern Wallachia
*
Greater Wallachia ("Muntenia") - east of the Olt river
*
Lower Wallachia ("Oltenia") - west of the
Olt river*
Walachia Cissalpina/Walachia citeriore (also called
Vulaska,
Vlaska,
Valachia,
Vlaskozemski,
Parvan Vallachiam, etc.) -
Banat*
Upper Wallachia ("Άνω 'λαχία",
Áno Vlahía) - in southeastern
Epirus**
Moscopole*
Small Wallachia ("Μικρή 'λαχία",
Mikrí Vlahía) - in
Aetolia,
Acarnania,
Dorida (Doris),
Locrida (Locris)
*
Old Wallachia ("Stara Vlaška") - in
Bosnia*
Stari Vlah ("Стари 'лах") - in Eastern Serbia
*
White Wallachia - in
Moesia *
Black Wallachia ("Morlachia") - in
Dalmatia*
Sirmium Wallachia - on the
Sava river*
Moravian Wallachia ("Valašsko") - in the
Beskid Mountains of the
Czech Republic |
Map of Balkans with regions inhabited by Romanians/Vlachs highlighted |
*
Daco-Romanians known by that name due to their location in the territory of ancient
Dacia. They are divided into:
**
Romanians (speaking the
Romanian language), who live in:
***
Romania - 20.5 millions
***
Ukraine - 500,000; in southern
Bessarabia and northern
Bukovina***
Hungary - 70,000 (0.7% of the total population)
***
Serbia - 34,000 (mainly in
Vojvodina)
see: Romanians of Serbia***
Slovakia - 9,000
***
Bulgaria - 1,088 according to the last census
**
Moldovans (speaking
Moldovan/
Romanian language), who live in:
***
Moldova - 2.8 millions
**
Vlachs of Serbia and Bulgaria (speaking the
Vlach/
Romanian language), who live in:
***
Serbia - 40,000 (eastern
Serbia, see article
Vlachs of Serbia)
***
Bulgaria - 10,500 (north-western
Bulgaria)
*
Aromanians (speaking the
Aromanian language), live in:
**
Greece, mainly in the
Pindus Mountains - 65,000 (The Greek government does not recognise any ethnic divisions, so there are no exact statistics. See
Demographics of Greece)
**
Romania - about 50,000, mainly in
Dobruja**
Albania - between 10,000 and 40,000
**
Republic of Macedonia - 9,695 (0.5% of the total population)
*
Megleno-Romanians (speaking the
Megleno-Romanian language), living in northern
Greece - 20,000.
*
Istro-Romanians (speaking the
Istro-Romanian language) living in
Croatia, with a population of 1,200.
Many Vlachs were shepherds in the medieval times, driving their sheep through the mountains of Southeastern Europe. The Vlach shepherds reached as far as Southern
Poland and
Moravia in the North (by following the Carpathian range),
Dinaric Alps in West, the
Pindus mountains in South, and as far as the
Caucasus Mountains in the east
[ Silviu Dragomir: "Vlahii din nordul peninsulei Balcanice în evul mediu"; 1959, p. 172;].
In many of these areas, the descendants of the Vlachs have lost their language, but their legacy still lives today in cultural influences: customs, folklore and the way of life of the mountain people, as well as in the place names of Romanian or Aromanian origin that are spread all across the region.
Another part of the Vlachs, especially those in the northern parts, in Romania and Moldova, were traditional farmers growing
cereals. Linguists believe that the large vocabulary of Latin words related to
agriculture shows that they have always been a farming Vlach population, unlike the
Albanians, who have borrowed many of these words from Slavic.
Just like the language, the cultural links between the Northern Vlachs (Romanians) and Southern Vlachs (Aromanians) were broken by the
10th century, and since then, there were different cultural influences:
*
Romanian culture was influenced by neighbouring people such as Hungarians and Slavs and developed itself to what it is today. The
19th century saw an important opening toward Western Europe and cultural ties with France.
*
Aromanian culture developed initially as a pastoral culture, later to be greatly influenced by the Byzantine and Greek culture.
The religion of the Vlachs is predominantly
Eastern Orthodox Christianity, but there are some regions where they are
Catholics and
Protestants (mainly in
Transylvania) and a few are even
Muslims (former
converts from
Greece, living in
Turkey since the
1923 exchange of populations).
The first record of a Balkan Romanic presence in the
Byzantine period can be found in the writings of
Procopius, in the
5th Century. The writings mention forts with names such as
Skeptekasas (Seven Houses),
Burgulatu (Broad City),
Loupofantana (Wolf's Well) and
Gemellomountes (Twin Mountains). A Byzantine chronicle of 586 about an incursion against the
Avars in the eastern Balkans may contain one of the earliest references to Vlachs. The account states that when the baggage carried by a mule slipped, the muleteer shouted,
"Torna, torna, fratre!" ("Return, return, brother!"). However the account might just be a recording of one of the last appearances of Latin (
Vulgar Latin).
Blachernae, the suburb of
Constantinople, was named after a
Scythian named Duke Blachernos. His name may be linked with the name "Blachs" (Vlachs).
In the
10th Century, the
Hungarians arrived in the
Pannonian plain, and, according to the
Gesta Hungarorum written by an anonymous chancellor of King
Bela III of Hungary, the plain was inhabited by
Slavs,
Bulgars, Vlachs and
pastores Romanurum (
shepherds of the Romans). However, the chronicle was written around
1146.
In
1185, two noble brothers from
Tarnovo named Peter and Asen led a Bulgarian revolt against Byzantine Greek rule and declared Tsar Peter II (also known as Theodore Peter) as king of the reborn state. The following year, the Byzantines were forced to recognize
Bulgaria's independence. Peter styled himself
"Tsar of the Bulgars, Greeks, and Vlachs" (see
Vlach-Bulgar Rebellion).
*
History of Aromanians
* History of Romania*
Thraco-Roman*
List of Aromanians*
List of Romanians*
Lex Antiqua Valachorum*
Supplex Libellus Valachorum* Asterios I. Koukoudis,
The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora, 2003, ISBN 9607760867
*
George Murnu,
Istoria românilor din Pind, Vlahia Mare 980-1259 ("History of the Romanians of the Pindus, Greater Vlachia, 980-1259"), Bucharest, 1913
*
Theodor Capidan,
Aromânii, dialectul aromân. Studiul lingvistic ("Aromanians, Aromanian dialect, Linguistic Study"), Bucharest, 1932
*
State statistical office, Republic of Macedonia*
Studies on the Vlachs, by Asterios Koukoudis
*
Aromanian Vlachs: The Vanishing Tribes*
Panhellenic Confederacy of Vlachs' Cultural Associations (in Greek)
