From Paganism to Christianity and the Administrative-Ecclesiastical Integration of the Parishes on the Middle Valley of Târnava Mare in the Twelfth to Fourteenth Centuries

Abstract

Abstract This paper aims at describing the process through which religious rites and rituals have changed within settlements located along the middle valley of the Târnava Mare River, evolving from pagan manifestations to the emergence of Catholic ecclesiastic institutions, contributing thus to a new regional religious identity. The archaeological findings of the Mediaş group indicates the practice of the cremation rite in this particular area, which was a common custom up until the mid-ninth century. In the following ninth to eleventh century period, however, there is a gap in archaeological evidence relevant to the funeral rite; no burial grounds or cemeteries have been identified, and only one settlement in Albeşti (Mureş County) was found. The Târnava Mare basin was shortly encompassed within the Hungarian Kingdom. Thus, starting with the twelfth century, a series of indagines were built and defended by the Szeklers’ communities. The cemetery on the so-called Dealul Viilor in Sighişoara is attributed to the Szeklers. A new burial ritual was observed, namely an anthropomorphic practice, after German populations settled down along the Târnava Mare valley and after the arrival of Dominican monks in Sighişoara, where they erected a Dominican convent. From an institutional point of view, these settlements were placed under the jurisdiction of the Transylvanian bishopric and of the chapters/ diaconates of Mediaş, Laslea/Criş, Târnava Mare, Târnava Mica, Saschiz, Tileagd.