during the High Middle Ages). Legend: along with
Luxembourg City (
Luxembourgish:
Lëtzebuerg). The initial phase of German settlement in Transylvania began in the mid and mid-late 12th century, with colonists travelling to and residing in what would later become known in standard German as (i.e. Țara Oltului in Romanian, after the German name for the
Olt river, or the old land as in a word for word translation from German) or , based around the picturesque well preserved medieval town of , today's
Sibiu. Additionally, the surrounding areas of the present-day town of Sibiu/Hermannstadt (former
European Capital of Culture in 2007 alongside
Luxembourg City) were formed of marshlands in the High Middle Ages. This is further hinted but also highlighted in the coat of arms of the town of Sibiu/Hermannstadt () by the water lily included therein. These German settlers were invited by
Géza II. Although the primary reason for
Géza II's invitation was border defence, similar to employing the
Szeklers against foreign invaders in the east of Transylvania, Germans were also sought for their mining expertise as well as the ability to develop the region's economy. Most colonists to this area came from
Luxembourg (
Luxembourgish:
Lëtzebuerg) and the
Moselle River region (see for instance
Medardus de Nympz, former knight and founder of the fortified village of Niemesch/Nemșa in
Moșna). A second phase of German settlement during the early 13th century consisted of settlers primarily stemming from the
Rhineland region, the southern
Low Countries, and the Moselle region, with others from
Thuringia, Bavaria, and even from
France. A settlement in northeastern Transylvania was centered on the town of , the later (), located on the
Bistrița River. The surrounding area became known as the . That area was important for mining in the Middle Ages. Continued immigration from the Empire expanded the area of the Saxons further to the east. Settlers from the Hermannstadt region spread into the
Hârtibaciu River valley () and to the foot of the
Cibin () and Sebeș () mountains. The latter region, centered around the town of (), was known as . To the north of Hermannstadt they settled what they called the including the village of (Latin for /) near (). Allegedly, the term
Saxon was applied to all Germans of these historical regions because the first German settlers who came to the Kingdom of Hungary were either poor miners or groups of convicts from Saxony. In 1211, King
Andrew II of Hungary invited the
Teutonic Knights to settle and defend the in the southeastern corner of Transylvania. To guard the mountain passes of the
Carpathians () against the
Cumans, the knights constructed numerous castles and towns, including the major city of (). Alarmed by the knights' rapidly expanding power, in 1225 King
Andrew II expelled the Teutonic Order from Transylvania permanently, which henceforth relocated to
Prussia in 1226, although the colonists remained in . The Kingdom of Hungary's medieval eastern borders were therefore defended in the northeast by the Saxons, in the east by the Hungarian border guard tribe of the Székelys, in the southeast by the castles built by the Teutonic Knights and Saxons and in the south by the Altland Saxons. A common interpretation of the tale of the
Pied Piper of Hamelin, dated to 26 June 1284 and recorded in Hamelin records that (the earliest of such records dating from 1384: "It is 100 years since our children left") when a group of 130 children from the town of Hamelin (), in present-day
Lower Saxony, were led away from their hometown by a piper (who may be a folk memory of a
lokator) is that this related to an emigration event as part of the
Ostsiedlung (i.e. Eastern settlement). The destination is usually supposed to have been
Prignitz,
Uckermark, and
Pomerania, but a minor alternative theory suggests settlement in Transylvania.
The proper usage of the term Saxon in the context of medieval Transylvania (),
Sibiu County (), with the local medieval Evangelical Lutheran fortified church situated in the centre of the aerial photograph. In the context of medieval Transylvania, the term
Saxon was used to denote a nobleman's title and not necessarily someone who was German-speaking. In these regards, the Saxon title could have been awarded to someone who was a non-native German speaker as well. Not all Transylvanian Saxon settlers were German-speaking given the fact that they also stemmed from the contemporary
Low Countries (i.e. aside from Luxembourg, also contemporary
Netherlands and
Belgium) and from modern day France as well. Additionally, it is equally important to mention the fact that the family name 'Sas' or 'Sasu' in
Romanian and 'Szász' respectively in
Hungarian could denote both an ethnic lineage as well as a social liaison to the Saxon title awarded in Transylvania during the High Middle Ages.
Transylvanian Saxon ethnic consciousness Hence, taking in consideration the aforementioned regarding the Saxon title in high medieval Transylvania, the Transylvanian Saxons' ethnic consciousness subsequently solidified after the first waves of settlers from Western Europe arrived in the region and was further reinforced or revitalised with new waves of settlers from central and southern present-day Germany during the
Modern Age, more specifically during the 19th century. Furthermore, Transylvanian Saxon intellectual
Stephan Ludwig Roth also pleaded for a strengthening of the German element in Transylvania during the 19th century by means of subsequent waves of settlers stemming from contemporary Germany while at the same time firstly supporting the rights of the
ethnic Romanians.
Historical occupations ' (1884) depicting a group of Transylvanian Saxons hunters (or guardsmen), some of them on horseback. During the Middle Ages, the main historical occupations of the Transylvanian Saxons within the regional
feudal system of Transylvania were the following ones: • Frontier guardsmen; • Knights; • Local politicians and noblemen, most notably the Gräfe (within the Königsboden lands organised in seats and administered by the Transylvanian Saxon University); • Judges; • Farmers (who introduced a new farming technology in Transylvania, that is the biennial
crop rotation, sometimes also a triennial one involving the
three-field system); • Craftsmen (organised in
trade guilds); • Carpenters; • Weavers; • Metalworkers or smiths; • Miners; • Builders (constructing fortified churches and castles); • Traders or merchants; • Priests. The Transylvanian Saxons settlers enjoyed exemption from trade taxes wherever they traded within the former Kingdom of Hungary. They also collectively enjoyed a reputation of hard working and skilled settlers as well as the status of a privileged class in the feudal hierarchy of the Hungarian kingdom for several centuries between the High Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages, with many benefits for this community being preserved well into the late Modern period. Furthermore, the main historical occupations of the Transylvanian Saxons were very similar or identical to those of the Zipser Saxons, their kinsmen from
Spiš (also known as Zips in German; or the former
Szepes County in
Upper Hungary, Kingdom of Hungary), present-day Slovakia. While they were initially loyal to the Hungarian monarch, at times they also rebelled against his authority (as in the case of
Charles I of Hungary in 1324) and even clashed against the Catholic church in Transylvania in 1277 because of the taxes imposed by the church (
tithes), attacking the Catholic cathedral in
Alba Iulia (this led to the intervention of
King Ladislaus IV the Cuman to punish several Saxon leaders). == Medieval organization ==