The land beyond the forest; facts, figures, and fancies from Transylvania . domand policy far in advance of his century, as theresult has proved. It was a bargain by which bothparties were equally benefited, and thereby in-duced to keep the mutual compact. The Germansobtained freedom which they could not have hadin their own country, while their presence was aguarantee to the monarch that this province wouldnot be torn from his crown. In the midst of a population of serfs, and sideby side with proud and overbearing nobles, theseGerman immigrants occupied a totally differentand neutral position
The land beyond the forest; facts, figures, and fancies from Transylvania . domand policy far in advance of his century, as theresult has proved. It was a bargain by which bothparties were equally benefited, and thereby in-duced to keep the mutual compact. The Germansobtained freedom which they could not have hadin their own country, while their presence was aguarantee to the monarch that this province wouldnot be torn from his crown. In the midst of a population of serfs, and sideby side with proud and overbearing nobles, theseGerman immigrants occupied a totally differentand neutral position. Without being noble, theywere free men every one of them, enjoying rightsand privileges hitherto unknown in the directly from the king, they had noother master, and were only obliged to go to warwhen the monarch in person commanded the ex- 1G THE LAND BEYOND THE FOREST. pedition. For this reason the country inhabitedby the Germans was often termed the Konigs-boden, or Kingsland, and on their official seal wereengraved the words, Ad retinendam Saxon Burglur in olden times. The exact date of the arrival of these Germancolonists in Transylvania is unknown, but appearsto have been between 1141 and 1161. That theydid not all come at the same time is almost certain. HISTORICAL. 17 Probably they arrived in successive batches atdifferent periods; for, as we see by history, all didnot enjoy exactly the same privileges and rights,but different colonies had been formed under dif-ferent conditions. Also the question of what precise part of theGerman fatherland was the home of these out-wanderers is enveloped in some obscurity. Theyhave retained no certain traditions to guide us toa conclusion, and German chronicles of that timemake no mention of their departure. The Crusades,which at that epoch engrossed every mind, musthave caused these emigrations to pass compara-tively unnoticed. Only a sort of vague floatingtradition is preserved to this day in some of the
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