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The Transylvanian Saxons ((ドイツ語:Siebenbürger Sachsen); (ハンガリー語:Erdélyi szászok); (ルーマニア語、モルドバ語():Sași)) are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania ((ドイツ語:Siebenbürgen)) from the 12th century onwards. The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary (1141–1162). For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the Kingdom of Hungary. The colonization continued until the end of the 13th century. Although the colonists came mostly from the western Holy Roman Empire and generally spoke Franconian dialects, they were collectively known as Saxons because of Germans working for the Hungarian chancellery. After 1918, when, following the Treaty of Trianon, Transylvania was separated from Hungary and united with Romania, Transylvanian Saxons, together with other German-speaking groups in newly enlarged Romania (Banat Swabians, Sathmar Swabians, Bessarabia Germans, Bukovina Germans, became part of the German minority in Romania. The Transylvanian Saxon population has decreased since World War II. Transylvanian Saxons started leaving Transylvania during and after WWII, settling first in Austria, then especially in Germany. The process of emigration continued during Communist rule in Romania, and even into the collapse of the Ceaușescu regime in 1989 when approximately half a million fled to homeland Germany.〔Jenkins, Simon. "The Forgotten Saxon World that Is Part of Europe's Modern Heritage," ''The Guardian'' October 2009. Accessed on 15 March, 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/01/romania-saxon-conservation-village〕 The great majority of Transylvanian Saxons now live in Germany. A sizable Transylvanian Saxon population also resides today in the United States, notably in Idaho, Ohio and Colorado and in Southern Ontario, Canada. Very few still live in Romania, where at the last official census around 37,000 Germans were registered, the number including also Banat Swabians and Sathmar Swabians. ==Medieval settlements (Ostsiedlung)== (詳細はSzeben, Sibiu County), based around the city of Hermannstadt, the modern Sibiu. Although the primary reason for Géza II's invitation was border defense, employing the Szeklers against invaders, Germans were also sought for their mining expertise and ability to develop the region's economy. Most colonists to this area came from Luxembourg and the Moselle River region. A second phase of German settlement during the early 13th century consisted of settlers primarily from the Rhineland, Southern Low Countries, and the Moselle region, with others from Thuringia, Bavaria, and even from France. A settlement in northeastern Transylvania was centered on the town of Nösen, the later Bistritz (Bistrița), located on the Somes River. The surrounding area became known as the Nösnerland. Continued immigration from the Empire expanded the area of the Saxons further to the east. Settlers from the Hermannstadt region spread into the Hârtibaciu River valley ''(Harbachtal)'' and to the foot of the Cibin ''(Zibin)'' and Sebeș ''(Mühlbacher)'' mountains. The latter region, centered on the city of Mühlbach (Sebeș) was known as the Unterwald. To the north of Hermannstadt was settled the Weinland near Mediasch (Mediaș). The term "Saxon" was applied to all Germans of the regions because the first German settlers who came to the Hungarian kingdom were poor miners or convicted groups from Saxony.〔K. Gündisch, "Autonomie de stări şi regionalitate în Ardealul medieval, în Transilvania şi saşii ardeleni" în ''istoriografie, Asociaţia de Studii Transilvane, Sibiu'', Heidelberg, 2001, pp. 33–53.〕 In 1211 King Andrew II of Hungary invited the Teutonic Knights to settle and defend the Burzenland in the southeastern corner of Transylvania. To guard the mountain passes of the Carpathians ''(Karpaten)'' against the Cumans, the Knights constructed numerous castles and towns, including the major city of Kronstadt (Brașov). Alarmed by the Knights' rapidly expanding power, in 1225 Andrew II expelled the Order, which henceforth relocated to Prussia in 1226, although the colonists remained in the Burzenland. The Kingdom of Hungary's medieval eastern borders were therefore defended in the northeast by the Nösnerland Saxons, in the east by the Hungarian Border Guard tribe Szeklers, in the southeast by the castles built by the Teutonic Knights and Burzenland Saxons, and in the south by the Altland Saxons. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Transylvanian Saxons」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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