History of Religion Tolerance (Turda Diet)

From its foundation, Transylvania has been an eclectic mix of ethnicities and religions. Throughout its history, it has belonged to a variety of empires and states, including the Dacia, the Romans, the Huns, the Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarians, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Romanians. Different ethnic and religious groups have vied for prominence in Transylvania during these ages. After a sixteenth century marked by conflict between the Muslim Ottoman Empire and the Catholic Hapsburg Empire, Transylvania became a semi-independent principality. Once Transylvania was relieved of the pressure of the Catholic Hapsburgs, other religions had the freedom to flourish. In 1568, the Edict of Turda guaranteed freedom of religious expression—the first legal guarantee of religious freedom in Christian Europe—for Lutherans, Calvinists, Unitarians, and Catholics.


Following the Edict of Turda in the 16th century, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent overtook central Hungary. For the next two centuries, Austria and Turkish forces vied for supremacy in a now semi-independent Transylvania. Because Transylvania now existed outside of Catholic religious authority, Calvinist and Lutheran teachings flourished in the region. On the other hand, Orthodoxy, the Romanian religious tradition, was “tolerated” or banned altogether.
Historically, Transylvania exists as a region of continual change. With various powers and governments in constant conflict over power and authority in this region, the amount of religious tolerance is actually quite surprising. In stark contrast to tolerance, religious practices were harshly monitored and controlled under the all-encompassing communist regime from WWII to the Romanian revolution of 1989. Religious structures and educational institutions were controlled by the government, just as every facet of life under communist rule.

Leah, Alison, Rachelle, Sam