Maramureş (historical region)
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Maramureş (in Romanian; Hungarian: Máramaros; Latin: Marmatia; Ukrainian: Мармарощина / Marmaroshchyna, Мараморщина / Maramorshchyna, Марамуреш / Maramuresh; Yiddish: מאַראַמאָראָש (maramurush)) is a historical region in northern Transylvania, along the upper Tisza River. The territory of its southern section is now parts of Maramureş County in the northern Romania; its northern section is included in the Zakarpattia Oblast of western Ukraine. Prior to this division, that occurred in 1920, the region coincided with Máramaros comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary.
Alternatively, the name Maramureş is used for the Maramureş County of Romania, which countains the southern section of the former historical region and also small parts of the interbellic Satu Mare County and Sălaj County counties (former pre-WWI Szatmar and Szolnok-Doboka comitata).
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[edit] Geography
Unlike the surrounding areas, Maramureş is a large valley totally enclosed by mountains, with a thin opening at Khust, with several dozen small mountain rivers and creeks flowing into the river Tisza (Tisa). It is forested and not easily accessible.
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[edit] History
Maramureş was under loose Hungarian control from the 11th century, nominally a part of the comitatus of Borsova. However it remained an autonomous region[citation needed], gradually losing its privilleges, until it was fully included in the Hungarian Kingdom in the 14th century. It was allowed to preserve its specific “political” organization – the Voevodate - comprising itself many small autonomous parts. The King has long struggled[citation needed], to convince the Voivodes to accept the title of Count, with the implied dependency in political and financial matters, which to the locals meant losing their independence – something they could not bear to hear. The social organization during the Middle Ages was also very specific: the people in many mountain villages, where each family by definition had a considerable domain, were called nameşi (pronounced [name'sh']), i.e. free peasants taking pride in their family (the term points to the belonging to a small clan, from Romanian neam = extended family). Another possible explanation to the term "nameşi" is that in the Hungarian Kingdom, free people possessing land were called "nemes" in Hungarian (pronounced [name'sh]).
[edit] People
In the southern section, the majority of the population are Romanians. There are also some Hungarians, Ukrainians and Roma. In the northern section, the majority is Ukrainian, with smaller Hungarian and Romanian communities.
[edit] References
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2006) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
1.^ Atlas and Gazetteer of Historic Hungary 1914, Talma Kiadó ISBN 9638568348
3.^ Sighetul Marmatiei, Culture and Tourism 2007, Teofil Ivanciuc ISBN 973-7663-12-8
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