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Transylvania
Transylvania means 'beyond the forest'. Parts of its territory were occupied by the Germanic
Bastarnae
in the first century BC, but this tribe was subjugated by
Rome and resettled on the
south bank of the Danube. Subsequently, in the third century AD, the
Germanic Goths passed
through the region while the Gepids remained for a time, where they were
badly disrupted by the arrival of the Huns. In later centuries, some
Saxons
settled in Dacia (the Roman name, which later became Transylvania),
but although the language of the region's later peoples was largely
Romance-derived, Transylvania was historically part of
Hungary.
Largely surrounded by mountains, especially the Carpathians to the south,
the plateau of Transylvania was relatively isolated and protected from
the grassy lowlands around it, through which various Steppe incursions
passed. The name most commonly associated with Transylvania is that of
(Count) Dracula, who was in fact Prince Vlad of
Wallachia. |
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