Michael Conrad von Heydendorff și românii la 1848-1849

Abstract:

The paper presents the image of the Romanians during the 1848-1849 Revolution in Transylvania, as reflected in Michael Conrad von Heydendorff Junior’s memoirs. In 1848, the accounts of the Saxon memorialist from Mediaș mention his Romanian countrymen, on one hand, in the context of the former tolerated nation militating for the acknowledgement of its national rights, and, on the other hand, by showing images of Romanian leaders in action during the revolutionary events. Among them, Heydendorff Junior manifests open admiration especially towards the Orthodox Bishop Andrei Șaguna, but he also shows tacit sympathy towards the Greek-Catholic archpriest from Mediaș Ștefan Moldovan, the ideologist of the Transylvanian Romanians Simion Bărnuțiu, the revolutionaries and members of the Romanian National Committee August Treboniu Laurian and Nicolae Bălășescu, the „King of the Mountains” Avram Iancu. In 1849, Heydendorff Junior’s diary turns into a war chronicle, even more during his flight in front of the heading Hungarian Kossuth troops and his refuge to southern Transylvania between 16 January - 18 April 1849, until the return of his son from Wallachia on 3 August 1849. Moreover, Heydendorff offers a touching description of the last days of life of the great Saxon patriot Stephan Ludwig Roth, before he was executed by Hungarian revolutionaries in the citadel of Cluj on 11 May 1849.

Keywords:

Michael Conrad von Heydendorff, memoirs, 1848-1849 Revolution, Transylvanian Romanians, Transylvanian Saxons