„Trăiau după legi şi reguli distincte”: datinile de moştenire ale secuilor
"They Lived by Particular Laws And Rules”: Inheritance Customs of the Szeklers

Summary/Abstract: The Szeklers lived in the Transylvanian society in a specific military system, and served the central power with no charges. From its early beginnings, the life of the Szeklers was governed by strict rules, which are known from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, an epoch considered to be “the time of the Szeklers’ liberty.” The “Law and Statute” of the Szeklers of Telegd of 1279 include specific regulations relating to territorial self-governing. The present article addresses a significant aspect in every man’s life, namely the inheritance-succession procedures, as mirrored in the Szeklers’ wills of the time. In this particular case, the testator was called upon to obey the written law of the Szeklers, whose origin cannot be traced back to any royal privilege, and whose beginnings in written form date to 1451. The Szekler customs, in addition to their transposition into the law norms of the Hungarians, were presented by Werbőczy in his classical writing “Hármaskönyv” (“Tripartitum”) of 1517. Differences and derogations between the Hungarian and the Szekler legislations appear in a separate Decree. The main derogation was the fact that Szekler law was unfamiliar with the term of ius regium, the right of return to the royal treasury. In addition, according to the Szekler law, the king did not have the power to give estates in the Szekler county but only outside its borders, on the territories on the comitats.

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