Decree of Turda


The Decree of Turda was a decree by Louis I Anjou of Hungary.

Background

King Louis I of Hungary stayed in Transylvania for six monthsfrom October to Aprilin 1366. On 28 June 1366, while residing in Torda, the monarch issued a decree at the request of the Transylvanian noblemen. The latter had informed the King that they "have been suffering, day by day, many troubles because of the evil arts of many malefactors, especially Romanians,...because of their way of being and their disorderly behaviour". The royal decree granted special privileges to the Transylvanian noblemen "in order to remove, from this country, malefactors belonging to any nation, especially Romanians". For this purpose, the decree determines the rules of the legal procedure.
Historians have not reached a consensual view of the exact circumstances of the issuing of the decree and its main purpose. István Petrovics writes that the mobile way of life of the increasing Romanian population caused their conflicts with the sedentary Hungarians. According to Ioan-Aurel Pop, the decree shows the Romanians' "muted resistance" against the monarch and the noblemen who had attempted to deprive them of their property, especially their inherited estates.