Vlach

Vlachs or Walachians (pronounced /ˈvlɑːk/ or /ˈvlæk/) is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Vallachians, Wallachians, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs; Groups that have historically been called Vlachs include: modern-day Romanians or Daco-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.

Branches of Vlachs/Romanians and their territories

The term Vlach is originally 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).

The Vlachs are generally considered descendants of Romanised indigenous ancient(Paleo-Balkanic) peoples such as the Thracians (incl. Dacians) and Illyrians^[1], as well as other populations of the Balkans such as Greeks (Hellenes and Greco-Romans).

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 have native Vlach minorities: Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia, Greece and Bulgaria. In other countries, the native Vlach population have been completely assimilated by the Slavic population and therefore ceased to exist: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Montenegro. Only in Romania and the Republic of Eastern Moldova, the Vlach (Dacoromanian or Romanian proper) population consist an ethnic majority today.

Etymology

The word Vlach is ultimately of Germanic origin, from the word Walha, a name used by ancient Germanic peoples to refer to (mainly) Romance-speaking neighbours. As such, it shares its history with several ethnic names all across Europe, including the Welsh and Walloons. 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 ("Olasz 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 (Karadjaovalides). In the Croatian region of Dalmatia, Vlaj/Vlah (sing.) and Vlaji/Vlasi (plural) are the terms used by the inhabitants of coastal towns for the people who live inland or pejoratively: barbarians who came from the mountain. In Greece, the word Βλάχος (Vláhos) is often used as a slur against any supposedly uncouth or uncultured person, but literally it simply means countryperson and is often used as a synonym for Χωριάτης (Choriátis) which means villager.

Territories with Vlach population

Besides the separation of some groups (Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians) during the Age of Migration, many other vlachs could be found all over the Balkans, as far north as Poland and as far west as the regions of Moravia (part of the modern Czech Republic), and the present-day Croatia where the Morlachs gradually disappeared, while the Catholic and Orthodox Vlachs took Croat and Serb national identity.^[2] They reached these regions in search of better pastures, and were called "Wallachians" ("Vlasi; Valaši") by the Slavic peoples.

Statal Entities:

• Wallachia (Ungro-Wallachia or Wallachia Transalpina in administrative sources; Ţara Românească in Romanian Language) - between the Southern Carpathians and the Danube
• Moldavia (Moldo-Wallachia, Maurovlachia - Black Wallachia, Moldovlachia or Ruso-Vlachia 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 Nistru river;
• Transylvania (or Ardeal), Transylvanian vlachs ^[3] mentoned in Middle Ages chronicles;
• Wallachia and Bulgaria - between the Danube and the Balkan mountains;
• Great Wallachia (Μεγάλη Βλαχία, Megáli vlahía) - in Thessaly.

Regions:

• Vlaşca - a former county of southern Wallachia (a name derived from the Serbian designation for Wallachia: Vlaška);
• Greater Wallachia (Muntenia) - east of the Olt river;
• Lesser Wallachia (Oltenia) - west of the Olt river;
• Cisalpine Wallachia/Walachia citeriore (also called Vulaska, Vlaska, Valachia, Vlaskozemski, Parvan vallachiam, etc.) - Banat;
• Upper allachia ("Άνω Βλαχία", Áno Vlahía) - in southern Macedonia and Epirus;
  • Moscopole;
• Small Wallachia ("Μικρή Βλαχία", Mikrí vlahía) - in Aetolia, Acarnania, Dorida (Doris), Locrida (Locris);
• Old Vallachia (Stara vlaška) - in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• Stari Vlah (The old vlach) - in western Serbia;
• White Wallachia - in Moesia;
• Black Wallachia (Morlachia) - in Dalmatia;
• Sirmium Wallachia - on the Sava river;
• Fǎgǎraş and Haţeg (Valahia transalpina);
• Maramureş;
• Moravian Wallachia (Valašsko in czech language) - in the Beskid Mountains of the Czech republic.

People

Map of Balkans with regions inhabited by Vlachs/Romanians highlighted

• Daco-Romanians (Romanians proper), speaking the Romanian language (Daco-Romanian), known by that name due to their location in the territory of ancient Dacia, who live in:
  • Romania - 20 million
  • Moldova - 2.8 million
  • Ukraine - 400,000; in southern Bessarabia and northern Bukovina
  • Serbia - 30,000 in Vojvodina and 40,000 in Central Serbia
  • Hungary - 15,000
  • Bulgaria - 11,500 (1,000 persons counted as "rumuni" and 10,500 persons counted als "vlasi")

• Aromanians (speaking the Aromanian language), live in:
  • Greece, mainly in the Pindus Mountains (the Greek government does not recognise any ethnic divisions, so there are no exact statistics. See Demographics of Greece)
  • Albania - Less than 15,000, there are no exact statistics.
  • Romania - 100,000
  • Republic of Macedonia - 80,000
  • Bulgaria - 10,500 incl. Vlachs.

• Megleno-Romanians (speaking the Megleno-Romanian language), living in the region of Macedonia, specifically Greece and the Republic of Macedonia - 20,000.

• Istro-Romanians (speaking the Istro-Romanian language) living in Croatia, with a population of 1,200, but with fewer than 200 acknowledged native speakers.

Genetics

Vlachs have a similar genetic structure compared to other southeastern Europeans. Population genetics analyses have demonstrated significant molecular variance among different Vlach groups, suggesting that they do not constitute a homogeneous group. Instead, most of the tested Vlach groups were genetically similar to their Greek and Slavic-speaking neighbours.

Bosch et al. attempted to analyze whether Vlachs are the descendents of Latinized Dacians, Illyrians, Thracians, Greeks, or a combination of the above. No hypothesis could be proven due to the high degree of underlying genetic similarity possessed by all the tested Balkan groups. The linguistic and cultural differences among various Balkan groups were thus deemed to be have not been strong enough to prevent significant gene flow among the above groups. Bosch et al. did, however, conclude that there was no significant external genetic input from Italy^[4].

Culture

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 ^[5].

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. 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 Slavs and later on Hungarians, 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.

Religion

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 (around 500 Megleno-Romanians from Greece who converted to Islam and have been living in Turkey since the 1923 exchange of populations).

History

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 certain Duke from Scythia named "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 or pastores Romanorum (shepherds of the Romans) (in original: sclauij, Bulgarij et Blachij, ac pastores romanorum). However, the chronicle was written around 1146. In the 12-14th century they came under the Kingdom of Hungary, the Byzantine Empire and the Golden Horde.^[6]

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 and the Second Bulgarian Empire was established. Peter styled himself "Tsar of the Bulgarians, Greeks, and Vlachs" (see Vlach-Bulgar Rebellion), though the reference to Vlachs in the style fell out by the early 13th century.

• History of Aromanians
• History of Romania

See also

• Thraco-Roman
• List of Aromanians
• List of Romanians
• Lex Antiqua Valachorum
• Supplex Libellus Valachorum

Further reading

• Theodor Capidan, Aromânii, dialectul aromân. Studiul lingvistic ("Aromanians, Aromanian dialect, Linguistic Study"), Bucharest, 1932
• Victor A. Friedman, "The Vlah Minority in Macedonia: Language, Identity, Dialectology, and Standardization" in Selected Papers in Slavic, Balkan, and Balkan Studies, ed. Juhani Nuoluoto, et al. Slavica Helsingiensa:21, Helsinki: University of Helsinki. 2001. 26-50. full text Though focussed on the Vlachs of Macedonia, has in-depth discussion of many topics, including the origins of the Vlachs, their status as a minority in various countries, their political use in various contexts, and so on.
• Asterios I. Koukoudis, The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora, 2003, ISBN 960-7760-86-7
• George Murnu, Istoria românilor din Pind, Vlahia Mare 980-1259 ("History of the Romanians of the Pindus, Greater Vlachia, 980-1259"), Bucharest, 1913

External links

• Vlachs in Greece
• French Vlachs Association (in Vlach, EN and FR)
• Studies on the Vlachs, by Asterios Koukoudis
• Aromanian Vlachs: The Vanishing Tribes
• Panhellenic Confederacy of Vlachs' Cultural Associations (in Greek)
• Vlachs' in Greece (in Greek)
• Consiliul A Tinirlor Armanj, Youth Aromanian community and their Projects (in Vlach, EN and RO)
• Vlach in Serbia, Online Since 1999 (in Vlach, EN and RO)
• The Vlach Connection and Further Reflections on Roman History

Footnotes