CRICĂU – UN SAT DIN COMITATUL ALBA ÎN SECOLELE XIII-XV
CRICĂU – A VILLAGE IN ALBA COUNTY BETWEEN THE 13th AND 15th CENTURIES

Summary/Abstract: According to a royal diploma from 1206, Cricău was one of the first three Transylvanian villages colonized with Western “guest” settlers (hospites) by Hungarian kings, probably in the first decades of the 12rh century. King Andrew II considered them as primes hospites regni, the term regnum (“realm”) referring in this case to regnum Transilvanum (“the realm of Transylvania”). Transylvania preserved institutional autonomy in the Hungarian kingdom throughout the Middle Ages. The evolution of the Cricău community was not similar to that of other groups of Western colonists from Transylvania. The villagers from Cricău were exceedingly involved in the political, economic and religious structures of the time. The community became increasingly vulnerable and eventually lost its economic advantages because of its outdated privileges.Around 1300, the community owned extensive lands and got involved in mining and building activities. The priests of Cricău were also canons in the chapter of the Alba Iulia Cathedral and members of the Court of the Voivode of Transylvania Ladislaus Kan (1294-1315). Such a priest, Arnold, was influential enough to represent the Cathedral chapter in the provincial congregation of 1296. Several decades later when King Charles Robert suppressed the supporters of Transylvanian autonomy, Cricău lost most of its lands. According to a 1338 census, the village was inhabited by 188 Catholic families (around 799 people). Moreover, documents revealed the presence of an Orthodox Romanian population in the village and its surroundings. In the 15th century, the community lost its freedom and most of the inhabitants became serfs of the Bishopric of Transylvania.

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