The Roma, or Romani, entered southeastern Europe via the Byzantine Empire in the late Middle Ages from India. Early chronicles referred to the Roma as AEgyptians, hence the name Gypsies. However, in much of Europe they are referred to as Zigeuner, cigán, cigány, or tsiganes, which are derived from the Byzantine Greek word Atsínganoi, 'itinerant soothsayers and wanderers'. Most members of this diverse ethnic group prefer to be called Roma, 'group', or Romas, the adjectival form being Romani.
By the beginning of the early modern period, there were Roma scattered throughout the Balkans. While most lived as nomads, those in Walachia and Moldavia (modern Romania), traditionally the European homeland of the Roma, had been enslaved by the boyars (nobility). Initially the Roma were respected for their skills as metalsmiths, gunsmiths, equine specialists, and musicians. As the Ottoman Turks gradually took over other parts of the Balkans, the Roma were subject to a growing body of prejudice that sought to restrict their settlement patterns or force them into a more permanent nomadic status.
Some Roma who tried to seek refuge in central and western Europe met with similar prejudice, particularly in the Holy Roman Empire. By the beginning of the early eighteenth century, Habsburg rulers threatened nomadic foreign Roma with branding, torture, and execution if they were caught. Such policies changed during the Enlightenment, particularly under Maria Theresa (ruled 1740–1780) and her son Joseph II (ruled 1780–1790). They adopted new policies designed to force the Roma to assimilate into Habsburg society; this included kidnapping Roma children, who were then placed into foster Catholic homes. They also ordered that wheels be taken off Roma wagons, and they limited the number of horses that a Roma family could own. Most of these policies failed, and many Habsburg Roma resumed their nomadic ways. One of the few good results of these policies was a series of extensive Habsburg Roma censuses detailing Roma life at the end of the Enlightenment.
The plight of the Roma in the rest of the Balkans was not much better, particularly in Walachia and Moldavia, where the Roma remained slaves until 1864. The Roma suffered from similar discrimination in other parts of Europe during this period. They had entered France as early as the fifteenth century and also moved out of the Balkans into the German states, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Russia, although the bulk of Europe's Roma remained in the Balkans.
While most of Roma history in the early modern period tends to focus on various aspects of the discrimination they faced, the Roma contributed significantly to the history and culture of Europe during this period, particularly in the fields of music and literature. They formed the modern basis of Russian choral music and Spanish Flamenco and inspired some of Europe's most prominent writers.
Bibliography
Crowe, David M. A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia. New York, 1995.
Fraser, Angus. The Gypsies. Oxford, 1992.
—DAVID M. CROWE
