Ancient Hungarian legends suggest a connection between the Székelys and Attila's Huns. The origin of the Székely people is still debated. The Székely seats were the traditional self-governing territorial units of the Transylvanian Székelys during medieval times. (Saxons were also organised in seats.) The Seats were not part of the traditional Hungarian county system, and their inhabitants enjoyed a higher level of freedom (especially until the 18th century) than those living in the counties.
From the 12th and 13th centuries until 1876, the Székely Land enjoyed a considerable but varying amount of autonomy, first as a part of the Kingdom of Hungary, then inside the Principality of Transylvania. The autonomy was largely due to the military service the Székely provided until the beginning of the 18th century. The medieval Székely Land was an alliance of the seven autonomous Székely seats of Udvarhely, Csík, Maros, Sepsi, Kézdi, Orbai and Aranyos. The number of seats later decreased to five, when Sepsi, Kézdi and Orbai seats were united into one territorial unit called Háromszék (literally Three seats).
The main seat was Udvarhely seat, which was also called the Principal seat (Latin: Capitalis Sedes). At Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc) were held many national assemblies of the Székelys.
The Armenians settled in Moldova during the Middle Ages experienced religious and ethnic persecution under the reign of Rareş Ștefan and Stefan Tomşa, two rulers of Moldova in 16th century. In 1671 a revolt against the ruler of Moldova, Gheorghe Duca, broke out in which important Armenian personalities also took part. The uprising was brought to stop in1672 by the ruler with the help of Turkish troops.
After the uprising, the Armenians had to flee Moldavia, took refuge in the forests of the Carpathians, and they sent their ambassador to the Prince of Transylvania, Apafi Mihály, who allowed the refugees to settle in Transylvania. When the mountain passes became passable, the first carts transporting the Armenians reached the borders of Transylvania.
As a result, in the first months of 1672 about 10-15 thousand Armenians arrived from Moldova to Transylvania.
There were three main routes through they entered:
- From direction North, through the Bargau-pass they arrived in the area of Bistrita and Nasaud, the lands of the Saxons. In this group proeminent figures of the Armenian community travelled such as Daniel Theodore, supreme judge of the Moldavian Armenians, Minas Eudoxiensis Zilifdar-oglu, bishop of Suceava, the clergy and other important secular personalities.
- In the middle, through the Straits of Bicaz and Tulghes arrived in the area of gheorgheni and Ditrau.
- Through the path to the South, the armenian crossed the Ghimes-pass leading them to Frumoasa, a settlement near Miercurea Ciuc.
In Gheorgheni Armenians had lived before their exodus from Moldova. The first Armenian families settled presumably in 1637 near today's town.
The 1700s their arrival continued, not only from Moldova, but also from Poland.
In the life of the Amrenian settled in and near Gheorgheni trade was the major source of income and form of occupation. A script dating dating back to 1837 states: "it is not flashy, not too pretty, but it is a rich little town ... its fair with many shops and packed with various and inexpensive goods, Gheorgheni is an Armenian-spirited little trading town..." In almost every village of the Gheorgheni area Armenian merchants and landowners lived who have made donations to the local churches to make them more beautiful and donations with the purpose to boostcultural life in the settlements they lived in.
When talking about the Armenian communities in Transylvania, beside their settlement in the places mentioned above,we must also speak about their resettlement to other commercial centers of the former Monarchy that resulted in changes in their number. Notable centers for emigration were picked in the Great Hungarian Plain where they had more possibility for develop their businesses. The Armenian community in Gheorgheni is the inly Armenian community in the Carpathian Basin in terms of number has not changed. In 1913, 600 residents of Armenian origin were registered, today, approx. 625 still account themselves as having Armenian origins.
