Pelerinajele la mormântul lui Simion Bărnuțiu
The Pilgrimages to the Tomb of Simion Bărnuțiu

Summary/Abstract: Dedicated to the emancipation of his nation, Simion Bărnuțiu (1808–1864) has beeen a representative personality of Romanians since the mid-19th century. Pilgrimages to his tomb in the Transylvanian village of Bocșa perpetuated his image as a charismatic personality and fueled national fervor throughout the centuries. This is the first research that describes all the significant pilgrimages to Bărnuțiu’s tomb. The study highlights these pilgrimages as an important and long-lasting phenomenon in Romanian history. A crowd of 2,000 people attended his funeral in 1864. But many more pilgrims came to Bărnuțiu’s tomb in the following centuries. Pilgrimages to his tomb were a great success, from both a religious and popular perspective. The obelisk built on his grave, in 1878, promptly came to the attention of public opinion. The Hungarian authorities controlled pilgrimages, the tomb, and access to it before the First World War. For Romanians, pilgrimages were a form of resistance against oppression. An unprecedented turnout was recorded in 1889, when 3,000 pilgrims gathered for the official inauguration of the obelisk on Bărnuțiu’s tomb. The pilgrimage emphasized the importance of the tomb for the Romanian national movement. Religion and politics were mixed during the great pilgrimages. Initially, the pilgrims were led by groups of priests, but gradually the role of politicians became prominent. Major politicians used pilgrimages to the tomb to increase their popularity over time. Pilgrimages became even more widespread after Romania took over the region where the tomb was located in 1919. Opposition leader Iuliu Maniu was among the 6,000 pilgrims who came to Bărnuțiu’s tomb in August 1933. There has been a long line of such visits, for example, in 1998, the opposition leader also came to the tomb. When construction of Bărnuțiu’s mausoleum began in 1937, over 2,000 pilgrims gathered at the tomb. When the scholar’s remains were transferred from the original tomb to the new mausoleum in 1940, Romanian military planes flew over the crowd. Pilgrims attended the consecration of the mausoleum church, under Hungarian administration, in 1943. In the first two decades of the communist dictatorship, groups of pilgrims continued the tradition of pilgrimages to the mausoleum. With the unveiling of his first bust of Bărnuțiu in Bocșa near the tomb in 1967, the frequency of commemorations was unprecedented. I saw thousands of participants in the annual commemorations of Bărnuțiu. For some of them, the priority were the pilgrimages to the tomb. Some of them participated for religious ceremonies at the mausoleum church, not included in the atheist agenda of the government. The events around the tomb, and especially the annual one, helped legitimize the totalitarianism for decades. The dictatorship tried to improve its image by opening, in 1985, a museum dedicated to Bărnuțiu, near the tomb. After the fall of the dictatorship in 1989, multiple pilgrimages were organized to the tomb. Religious practice is intertwined with national fervor, for the pilgrims to the tomb. Simion Bărnuțiu continues to be a spiritual leader of Romanians of all confessions, as the Transylvanian Romanians have recognized him since 1848. Bărnuțiu’s tomb has fascinated crowds for centuries, as has his personality. By their frequency, scale and variety of forms, the numerous pilgrimages to the tomb of Simion Bărnuțiu are an important part of Romanian history since the 19th century. Considering that only a few pilgrimages to the tomb have been studied by other authors, this well-documented study represents a major contribution to the literature on pilgrimages to the tomb of Simion Bărnuțiu.

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