In Transylvania in the Second Half of the Thirteenth Century Tudor Salagean describes the deep transformations of a country that was the scene of a fierce resistance against the great Mongol invasion of 1241-1242. In the second half of the thirteenth century, with the rise of the provincial nobility, Transylvania redefines its internal political system, which reached its maturity during the rule of Ladislas Kan (1294-1315). The appearance of a complex congregational system, also achieved in this period, is connected with the assertion of Regnum Transilvanum, which represents a historical link between the early medieval regnum Erdewel of duke Gyula and the regnum transsilvaniensis of the Union of 1459, announcing the rise of the early modern Principality of Transylvania.

This book explores the history of banditry in the medieval Balkans between the ninth and fifteenth centuries. While several scholars have recognized the problems which various outlaw groups caused in the region during the Middle Ages, few have given much attention to the bandits themselves, their origins, their reasons for taking up brigandage, and the steps taken by the central authorities to control their activity. Among other things, this book identifies three main sources of banditry: shepherds, soldiers and peasants. Far from being ʻlone wolvesʼ, these men operated within well-defined social networks. Poverty played a decisive role in driving them to a life of crime, but there is strong evidence to suggest that the growing economic prosperity in parts of the Balkans from the ninth century onwards may have also contributed to the rise of the phenomenon.

The authors of this work - obviously of different nationalities - have tried to depict the past of all Transylvania's inhabitants. It is up to readers and particularly to specialists to assess how well they have done this. This second volume, like the first one, is only an attempt to reflect the new historiographic findings and interpretations. It tries to deepen one's knowledge of one's roots in present-day Europe, a continent still in the making, a continent of many different inhabitants, regions, ethnic groups and nations. It is our belief that the desire to know the past - far from reflecting an obtuse, selfish and past-driven attitude - is part of human nature, of our search for our roots, for the collective memory we have been creating with such hardiness and passion, just like we build our life.

This book takes a multidisciplinary approach to the issue of the Christianization of Transylvania, starting from the recent archaeological discovery of a 10th-century, Byzantine-style church in Alba Iulia.

The first comprehensive and truly pan-European study of populist radical right parties in Europe.