Martiriul Sfinților Năsăudeni reflectat în istoriografia greco-catolică
The Martyrdom of the Saints of Năsăud as covered by the Greek-Catholic historiography

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to present the way in which the martyrdom of the Saints in the Romanian county of Năsăud, which occurred on November 12th, 1763, is described in the historiography produced by Greek-Catholic authors. We are analyzing the opinions of historians such as Augustin Bunea, Zenovie Pâclişanu, George Bariţiu, Nestor Simon, Victor Onişor, Virgil Șotropa, Ștefan Buzilă, Teodor Tanco, Ironim Marțian or Nicoleta Marțian, who relate, even tangentially, the investigated event. Two contrasting perspectives are reviewed: one is the objective approach, considering the event in all its complexity, and highlighting its motivations and consequences in their entirety. This view is recorded bysome of the authors concerned: Teodor Tanco, Victor Onişor, Virgil Sotropa, Nestor Simon, George Bariţiu. The other view prefers to minimize the religious motivation of the Saints’ martyrdom, focusing Pâclişanu, Augustin Bunea, Nicoleta and Ironim Marțian, Dionisie Piciu, Ștefan Buzilă. These diverging views are analyzed and compared with that of the Orthodox Church, but with other existing historiographical materials and approaches, projecting the underlying causes and the historical truth. The paper presents an event with a profound theological significance (the profile of Transylvanian neomartyrs is still insufficiently known to the public), which highlights some Transylvanian Orthodox heroes of modern times, as seen by Greek Catholic historiography. It proposes a relatively new approach in the contemporary theological research, also making use of a rich historiography made up of both previously published and unpublished material.

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