The present study provides an overview of the main political and religious events in European his-tory that led to the Reformation of the sixteenth century, and discusses the particular traits of the reception of Reformed ideas in Transylvania, especially the church ordinances and their political impact. Emphasis is put on the Reformation in the Saxon communities of the Transylvania, who adopted a Wittenberg-inspired but nevertheless hybrid form of Reformed theological ideas. The author presents the main characteristics of the ecclesiastical and theological setup of the Universitas Saxonum and the reciprocal influence and cooperation of ecclesial and secular elites, with mental and spiritual consequences not only for the Saxons, but also for the tenant peasant communities in the Transylvanian counties.
This article investigates the career and historical significance of Nikolaos Skoulidas, a Greek physician and apothecary from Cerigo (Kythera), who served as court physician to Prince Grigore II Ghica of Moldavia between 1747 and 1748. Situated at the crossroads of the Ottoman, Venetian, and Phanariot spheres, Skoulidas's biography-reconstructed through scarce primary Venetian sources and supplemented by the also limited Romanian and Greek historiography-exemplifies the transnational circulation of medical knowledge and professional mobility in eighteenth-century Eastern Europe. The study contextualizes his appointment within the broader phenomenon of Greek physicians, often Padua-trained, who were highly valued at the Romanian Principalities' courts for their expertise and European medical education. Despite the brevity of Skoulidas's tenure and the absence of extensive medical writings, his role underscores the gradual modernization of medical practice in Moldavia and the use of foreign experts by Phanariot rulers eager to secure high-quality medical assistance. Furthermore, the article explores the socio-professional networks linking Constantinople's Greek medical practitioners with the princely courts and highlights the significance of private arrangements, such as the documented no-interest loan concerning the Skoulidas brothers' apothecary shop, in sustaining physicians' livelihoods. Ultimately, the case of Nikolaos Skoulidas illuminates the dynamic interactions between diplomacy, medicine, and cultural exchanges in the eighteenth century, offering insights into the role of Greek professionals in shaping the medical landscape of Eastern Europe on the eve of the Age of Revolutions.
Banishment is undoubtedly an ancient method of punishment. It was widespread in the Middle Ages, not only as a punishment, but also as a form of correction of behavior or coercion. The present paper focuses on the case of the city of Zagreb, a complex city in itself. Even though nu-merous studies were devoted to urban life in Zagreb, the topic of banishment(s) was never actually addressed. The preserved sources reveal the existence of (at least) 120 procedures of banishment only in the course of the fifteenth century. The sanction of banishment emerges as an alternative to fines, a flexible, potentially reversible and cheap form of punishment. Unsurprisingly, banishment was in fact a "middle path" between fines and the death penalty.
Romanian-Hungarian relations are a constant presence in Romanian historiography. The present study analyzes a topic that has not been scientifically approached so far: the dynastic union between the Kingdom of Romania and the "Kingdom" of Hungary during the reign of the Romanian King Ferdinand I. The negotiations were initiated by the Hungarian side and took place, according to the documents included here, between 1921 and 1922. Negotiations took place in both Budapest and Bucharest. The Hungarian demands (including the territorial ones) were considered far too radical by the Romanian side. The fact that the Romanian king was tempted by this personal union is indicated even today by the place allocated to Transylvania in the coat of arms of Romania.
The role of the guilds in town defense and in the maintenance of fortifications is a well known topic among historians specialized in medieval and early modern urban history. On the other hand, there are certain research questions which need to be asked. What did the defensive regula-tions exactly demand from the guilds? How many of those regulations from Transylvania have survived? Were the regulations modernized or updated with the constant development of firearms and defensive structures in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries? The study focuses on present-ing and discussing in detail the regulations of the guild statutes regarding the defensive obligations of craftsmen in fifteenth to seventeenth century Cluj and Sighi degrees oara, completing the analysis with the use of primary source analogies from Sibiu and Bra degrees ov.
How can parties in government find an economic policy balance between their representative and governing duties? How are growth coalitions transformed? By looking at the case of Italian centrist and populist governments, covering a period of approximately 10 years-between 2013 and 2022, the paper shows how the structural preconditions-internal and external constraints-of the growth model strongly limit the ability of political leaders to fundamentally alter pre-existing growth coalitions, in the context of a pre-existing crisis of the Italian growth model itself and the dismantling of a previously functional national industrial policy. Our comparative approach, albeit highlighting the populist episode, focuses on: 1) the 'balancing strategical act' between factions of capital and segments of labor pursued by centrist governments and 2) the economic legitimacy work that populists do by delivering policies and redistributing resources towards reconfigured growth coalitions "embedding" the growth model into a distinctively populist political project. To sum up, we look at the Italian case study to asses the centrists' and populists' capacity for growth coalition building and editing, while avoiding the economic costs incurred, domestically, by confronting the demands of the national growth model and, externally, by the constraints posed by Eu membership and bond market access.
After the Great Union, national symbolism became present in Transylvania and Banat, reunited with the Kingdom of Romania. At the level of public works, an important place was occupied by the statues of the Lupa Capitolina, gifted to Romanian cities by the Italian authorities. In Timi degrees oara, the statue of the Lupa Capitolina was donated to the city by the municipality of Rome in a precise political and economic context of relaunching bilateral relations, being unveiled on 23 April 1926, and was later one of the focal points of the local population's revolt in September 1940, upon hearing the news of the cession of Northern Transylvania following the Second Vienna Award. The document in the annex brings unpublished information on the moment of the removal of the Latinity monument from the capital of Banat, in November 1949, by the Stalinist authorities.
Born in Topli & thorn;a, Harghita County, Dr. Elie Miron Cristea (1868-1939) is one of the artisans of the Great Union, also with an important activity during the interwar period. He is considered to be a model of the Romanian aristocratic spirit, whose origin lies in the dignity and nobility of the Transylvanian Romanian peasant. In 1890 he graduated from the Andreian Theological and Peda-gogical Seminary in Sibiu. A year later he obtained a state grant from the Transylvania Society, which offered him the opportunity to continue his studies at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the Hungarian Royal University in Budapest where, in 1895, he received his PhD in Philology. Between 1895 and 1902 he served as bishopric secretary at the Archbishopric of Sibiu, being ap-pointed, for three years, editor-in-chief of the Romanian Telegraph magazine, and respectively pres-ident of the ASTRA (Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and Romanian People's Culture), 4th Division, Sibiu, until 1910. Between 1902 and 1909 he was appointed counselor at the Orthodox Archbishopric of Transylvania in Sibiu, where he dealt with various administrative activities, including drawing up the plan for the interior painting of the new cathedral in Sibiu. On 8 May 1910 he was elected Bishop of Caransebe degrees; then he emerged as a great fighter for the unity of the Romanian people, both as a cleric and as a member of the Transylvanian Romanian delegation who presented the Unification Document in Bucharest. On the last day of 1919 he was elected Archbishop of Wallachia, with the title of Metropolitan-Primate of the Orthodox Church of Romania, and then, in 1925, he became the first Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church (Patriarch of All Romania). In times of political crisis, he was a member of the Regency Council (1927-1930) and then President of the Council of Ministers, in a national unity government.
From the latter half of the sixteenth century century, the Transylvanian Saxon towns also embra-ced the political ideal of public order embodied by the early modern imperial concept of 'Gute Ordnung und Policey', along with its regulatory elements and legal-political instruments. Both the literate secular and ecclesiastical elites played a role in promoting ideas about good governance. This study examines how the local authorities argued for individual measures within more comp-rehensive urban statutes and what governmental principles and political content the normative texts conveyed. Referring to a prominent example that influenced contemporary public discourse, such as the sermons of Damasus D & uuml;rr, a Lutheran pastor from Apoldu de Jos, it also illustrates the manner in which these governmental narratives were criticised.
This article will discuss the presidential elections in Romania in 2025. It covers the national and international realities, as well as Romania's position in the EU and the world. Additionally, we will present the main candidates running for the position of president of Romania in 2025. Finally, we will share some of our conclusions regarding the candidates and the whole election campaign.
The theft of four treasure pieces from the Drents Museum in Assen has once again brought to public attention the issue of cultural heritage management in Romania. Unfortunately, it took a criminal act for citizens to become aware of the major dysfunctions in the regulation, funding, and security of this heritage. The lack of interest and vision among public institutions in Romania has led to the phenomenon of treasure hunting using metal detectors-which became difficult to quantify over the past 25 years, when the initial regulatory attempts were made-evolving in a direction that has proven to be highly detrimental to the archaeological and cultural heritage. The incomplete management and documentation of archaeological sites, the gaps and inconsistencies in legislation regulating metal detection, the trend of reducing the personnel in public institutions responsible for overseeing the relationship with metal detector users, the venality and lack of education among so-called "treasure hunters," and, not least, the disappearance of a critical mass within society that would otherwise express interest and concern for the protection of the national cultural heritage-all these factors, as identified by the author, constitute a converging set of circumstances that has resulted in the largest and most systematic looting of the archaeological heritage in modern history.
The diplomatic tour undertaken by the Romanian state delegation led by Nicolae Ceau & scedil;escu in June 1971 in some Asian countries held considerable importance, both for Romania's foreign policy and for international politics. The main focus was the visit to rP China, the visit to the DPrK coming second. Archival documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest-particularly the reports of Romanian diplomats concerning the international climate and the expectations of various states regarding the outcome of the delegation's visit-served as the primary sources for this analysis and help to elucidate the broader importance of the event. Accordingly, this study focuses on the preparatory phases of the visit as a means of understanding its diplomatic implications.
A historical study of the sonic-musical practices of indigenous cultures in South America entails facing a set of issues mainly related to the available sources that allow for the exploration of this topic. From both anthropological and historiographical perspectives, approaching this topic implies assuming the issue of distance. What this article attempts to show starting from a particular case, the Mocovi society of the Gran Chaco region, is 1) that the issue of distance should be considered in a comprehensive approach which enables the analysis of not one, but a variety of distances (whether cultural, geographical, temporal, aesthetic, etc.); 2) that the concern for distances goes further than the gap between researchers and studied societies, it also reaches inside these communities; and 3) that distances are not only a limiting condition that obstructs knowledge but rather they can also activate strategic and creative attempts to overcome them, while also having heuristic potential. In order to achieve that purpose, I propose the analysis of six dimensions related to this culture from which a variety of distances emerge. The ideas expressed in this article stem from both my personal previous experience and the observations of how other researchers have approached the matter.
Lviv has always belonged to the category of great medieval cities, so we can apply the same theo-ries of exchange elite as in cities such as Krak & oacute;w, Vilnius, Pozna & nacute;, and Gdansk. However, com-pared to these centers, Lviv shows particular social traits. The period analyzed in this study can be divided into two time periods: the first covers the fourteenth century and the first half of the fif-teenth century, when the mobility of the group of Lviv officials is very high, and the second spans from the last decades of the fifteenth century to the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the combination of economic and political factors led to the formation of a new model of elite group. The number of councilors expanded to twelve (rather than six) and membership became lifelong. Such re-organization made the council of Lviv a closed oligarchic institution. Tracing various cases of family development in Lviv, we can understand that there are several most common scenarios.
Our research started from the historiographical work of David Prodan and Nicolae Edroiu. Both historians have approached the subject of the echoes of Horea's uprising in Europe. They highlighted, following Brissot's letters, certain common characteristics between stages of the American Revolution and the peasant revolt in Transylvania (1784-1785). Studying the American newspapers of the time of Horea's uprising, I present a diachronic analysis of the mood in America and Europe, especially among the Romanians in the Habsburg Empire, in order to explain the American interest towards the mentioned event in Transylvania. I concluded that the emancipation movements in America and Europe explain the considerable interest in Horea's uprising on these two continents. The attention paid to Horea's uprising by the European and American public opinion is significant in outlining the spirit of an age dominated by powerful transformative forces and was an instrument not only of politics but of the entire process of modernization. The American newspapers did not see the event in Transylvania as a mere local uprising, but as a social and political movement aimed at radically changing society within the Habsburg Empire, as well as in Europe and America.
From the broad spectrum of research directions, in the case of the history of historiography, explored in & ordf;tefan Pascu's writings, the present analysis focuses only on those that contribute to a synthetic perspective on the history of Romanian historiography. The synthetic view on the history of Romanian historiography in & ordf;t. Pascu's writings can be observed from multiple perspectives: as a synthesis in itself (an attempt to piece together the evolution of modern Romanian historiography), and as a monographic approach, including studies on "historical thought" within the Romanian Academy between 1866 and 1918, as well as historiographic reviews, such as the repertoire of historical writings in Romania from 1944 to 1964, or from 1944 to 1974. The present paper examines Pascu's contributions to the synthesis of historiography in terms of the chronological scope of his studies, his efforts to conceptually structure Romanian historical writing in the modern era, his cultural contribution to the political project of building the Romanian national state, and, last but not least, his role in illustrating the development of Marxist and historical materialist in Romania after World War II.
Understanding the dynamics of cultural transfer requires the analysis of specific cases, seemingly minute and isolated, but highly representative of an era and a cultural atmosphere. My study does not intend to focus on the general reception of F & eacute;n & eacute;lon's Les aventures de T & eacute;l & eacute;maque in the Romanian space, but on the translation realized and printed in Buda in 1818 by Petru Maior, one of the most important figures on the cultural scene of those years, and a leading exponent of the so-called Transylvanian School. What makes the interest in this translation even more acute is not only the authority of its author, but also the fact that the translation was not based on the French original, but on a hitherto unidentified Italian intermediary. In the present study I propose a hypothesis for the identification of this Italian source, thus solving a small philological 'mystery.' Such an ope-ration, carried out on the basis of linguistic-lexical criteria, is not only of interest in the research of the source, but is also extremely useful for the understanding of the nature of the cultural and linguistic transfer operated by the Transylvanian philologist.
The first field research pertaining to the Sociology of Law was conducted in the villages of Greater Romania by the Sociological School of Bucharest (founded and led by Professor Dimitrie Gusti). Starting with the first monographic campaign conducted by the Gusti School in Goicea Mare, Oltenia (1925), and continuing until sociology was banned by the communist regime-removing it from the school curriculum and from the official classification of professions (1948)-the ethical and legal manifestations of the Romanian society became the building blocks of the sociological research methodology developed by the Gusti School. The Gustian forays in the Sociology of Law meant knowledge and understanding of the perception of peasants in Greater Romania regarding the traditional and modern judicial systems, the comprehension of the customary and modern law, compliance with the law and the constitution, abuse of power by the state's officials, the abuse of authority perpetrated by public servants, elements of peasant legal mentality, and the dynamics of power between central and peripheral structures within the public administration.
