1075 → TODAY · ONE LAND, SEVERAL NAMES
Where do the names Transylvania, Erdély, Ardeal and Siebenbürgen come from?
The same land appears in documents and speech under different names: Erdély in Hungarian, Transylvania in the Latin of the charters, Siebenbürgen in German and Ardeal in Romanian. The forms do not appear at the same moment and do not share one history. This page follows what can be dated, what can be explained, and where hypothesis begins.
- 1075
- terra ultra silvam — the first mention, in Latin
- 1224
- the Andreanum — the Golden Charter to the Germans from Broos to Draas
- 9 × 357
- dated forms + 1 context document, from the first mention to Ardeliu
Five hands, one land, in documentary order:
- ULTRA SILVAM 1075 · the land beyond the forest the charter's Latin
- ERDEUELU ~1200 · beyond the forest Gesta Hungarorum
- SEPTEM CASTRA 13th c. · seven castles the annals' Latin
- SIEBENBUERGEN 1296 · seven castles the German world
- ARDELIU 1432 · the chancellery form the Slavonic chancellery
Chapter one · the Hungarian world
The forest: Erdély
The Hungarian name says where the land lies seen from the plain: beyond the forest. Two old pieces build the word, and a twin name shows the pattern is old.
Erdeuelu, in the Gesta Hungarorum
The oldest surviving Hungarian form is Erdeuelu, in chapter 11 of the Gesta Hungarorum. The Gesta was written around 1200, in Latin, by an anonymous notary; the Hungarian Electronic Library's scholarly commentary marks chapter 11 as Anonymus's first mention of Transylvania, under the Hungarian name Erdeuelu.
the word dates to ~1200; the events do not WORD DATED ~1200
The twin proof: Havaselve
The same element lives in Havaselve, the old Hungarian name for Wallachia: beyond the snowy mountains, in Latin Transalpina. Gyepűelve, near Uzhhorod, stands beside it. Two twin names show the element is old, not improvised for one case.
Which forest?
Hungarian historiography usually reads the Apuseni mountains, with the familiar probably. Another hypothesis places the name at Etelköz, before the settlement of the Pannonian plain. The page keeps both in view and picks neither.
Chapter two · the Latin chancery
The calque: Transylvania
In the Latin of the charters, the land first appears as a description, then packed into a single proper name. The documents show written usage; what we read beyond the line is interpretation.
1075: terra ultra silvam
The region's first mention is a Medieval Latin phrase, terra ultra silvam, in a charter issued in 1075. The 12th century brings Partes Transsylvanæ in the Legenda Sancti Gerhardi, then Transsilvania in the kingdom's documents.
The charter was issued in 1075, but the original did not survive: the known text reaches us through a copy from the second half of the 13th century, interpolated around 1237 and 1270. The date of the charter is not the date of every surviving letter.
TRANSMITTED LATER
terra ultra silvam
Translated from Hungarian?
The form Ultrasylvania, cited for 1077, becomes Transylvania. The consensus of linguists and historians, cited by Engel, reads the Latin name as a direct translation from the Hungarian form. Wiktionary lists the same direction: Medieval Latin Transsilvania as a calque on Hungarian. The direction stays an attribution, not a bare fact.
CITED CONSENSUS
New hypothesis · 2026
In May 2026, Gheorghe Bogdan proposed in National Identities that Transylvania and Erdély are both calques on Slavic Zagor(i)a: za- (“beyond, across”) + gora (“mountain, forest”). The author presents his thesis as a challenge to the dominant interpretation — the article is new, and the page keeps the established etymology in the main narrative.
NEW HYPOTHESIS · 2026
The mirrors
Two more languages translated the same idea on their own: Ukrainian Zalissia and German Überwald, both meaning beyond the forest.
The document dates the form, not the birth of the word.
Chapter three · the Saxon towns
The castles: Siebenbürgen
The German world named the land Siebenbürgen. “Seven castles” is the dictionary sense of the word, not a proven origin: first the annals' Latin, then the German of charters and chronicles.
First the annals' Latin
1241
Septum urbium
Annales Sancti Trudperti and the Zwifalt annals: Tartari terras Pannonie, Septum urbium, Moraviae vestaverunt.
1242
Septem castrorum
The Erfurt friar's note, at the fall of Hermannstadt: terra scilicet Septem castrorum.
1285
Septemcastrenses
The annals: quid audientes Septemcastrenses — the people of the seven castles.
Then in German
1296
Siebenbuergen
A charter mentions one maister Dietrich von Siebenbuergen.
1300
Sybenburger
Ottokar of Styria writes Sybenburger in the rhymed chronicle.
The seven towns?
The seven-town link appears only in the mid-15th century, with Pope Pius II — two hundred years after the first attestations —, without saying which towns. The list below is the traditional one, found in secondary literature; scholars have quarrelled over it, and no charter from the name's own time clarifies its origin.
the traditional account · TRADITIONAL, UNVERIFIED
- Bistritz Bistrița
- Hermannstadt Sibiu
- Klausenburg Cluj
- Kronstadt Brașov
- Mediasch Mediaș
- Mühlbach Sebeș
- Schässburg Sighișoara
Three rival accounts
The chieftains
Each of the seven Magyar chieftains is said to have raised an earthen castle in the Mureș valley.
Zevenbergen
The first settlers, speakers of Low German, Flemish and Dutch, may have brought the name of home regions: Zevenbergen, Sevenbergen.
Cibinburg
Sibiu's early German name, Cibinburg, may have corrupted into Siebenbürgen and spread to the whole land.
The seven-armies legend
Thuróczy tells in the Chronica Hungarorum how the host divided into seven armies and seven hillforts were built for wives and cattle: This is why the Germans call this part of the land Siebenbürgen, meaning seven castles to this day. A legend with a named author, not an etymology.
LEGEND
The Slav echo
The region's Slav names translate the German one: Sedmigradsko, Siedmiogród, Semihorod — plus the Walloon Zivenbork.
Chapter four · in Romanian
Ardeal, through Hungarian
The dominant etymology explains Ardeal as a loan from Hungarian Erdély. Attestation is another story: two dates honestly keep apart the chancellery form and the word of the Romanian texts.
1432: Ardeliu
The oldest attestation identified here of the form behind Romanian Ardeal is Ardeliu, in 1432, in a Slavonic document of the Wallachian chancellery. The a/e alternation of the adaptation has known pairs: Hungarian egres becomes Romanian agriș, Erdőd becomes Ardud.
the chancellery, not the street
1432 · Ardeliu
The Slavonic chancellery form. That is what the document dates: the chancellery, not the street.
Ardeal
The word of the first Romanian texts, from the early 1500s. A silence of the documents lies between the two.
Erdel, through Hungarian
Turkish Erdel comes from Hungarian too, through Ottoman Turkish: Wiktionary lists it among the descendants of Erdély. For the Serbo-Croatian form the page has no citable source, so it gives none.
The hinge · 1075 → 1224
First the name. Then the seal.
Two parchments, 149 years apart. The first mentions the land; the second regulates rights inside it. Between issue and surviving copy, texts have histories of their own.
1075 · the name
Géza I, crowned king in early 1075, gives the foundation charter of the Benedictine abbey of Garamszentbenedek, today's Hronský Beňadik in Slovakia. That charter holds the region's first mention: terra ultra silvam — in a text surviving through a late, interpolated copy.
1224 · the seal
In 1224, Andrew II regulated the rights and obligations of the Germans of Transylvania, from Broos to Draas; the text is known through the confirmation made by Charles I in 1317, surviving in the original.
1075 → 13th c. → today
issue of the charter · copy and interpolations, around 1237 and 1270 · the surviving text
1224 → 1317 → today
the Golden Charter · Charles I's confirmation, original surviving · the known text
The engine · the document scroll
The registry of names
Nine dated forms, each with its document, plus one context document: the 1224 seal — the charter that followed the names, not a name itself. Drag the years forward and the land's name changes exactly at the documented years; open a seal and read the line itself. The registry stops at the last sourced seal: 1432.
Year 1075
Form terra ultra silvam
Seals 1/10
Open a seal for the line, the gloss and the source.
1075 terra ultra silvam Géza I's foundation charter for Garamszentbenedek abbey
terra ultra silvam
the land beyond the forest
Latin · Géza I's foundation charter for Garamszentbenedek abbey
TRANSMITTED LATER
C01
1077 Ultrasylvania the form cited for 1077
Ultrasylvania
beyond the forest, in one Latin word
Latin · the form cited for 1077
C02
~1200 Erdeuelu Gesta Hungarorum, chapter 11
Erdeuelu
erdő + elü: beyond the forest
Hungarian · Gesta Hungarorum, chapter 11
WORD DATED ~1200
C04·C06
1224 Diploma Andreanum Andrew II’s Golden Charter to the Germans from Broos to Draas CONTEXT DOCUMENT
Diploma Andreanum
rights and obligations; text known through the 1317 confirmation
Latin · Andrew II’s Golden Charter to the Germans from Broos to Draas
C14
1241 Septum urbium Annales Sancti Trudperti; the Zwifalt annals
Septum urbium
of the seven towns
Latin · Annales Sancti Trudperti; the Zwifalt annals
C08
1242 Septem castrorum the Erfurt friar's chronicle: the fall of Hermannstadt
terra scilicet Septem castrorum
of the seven castles
Latin · the Erfurt friar's chronicle: the fall of Hermannstadt
C08
1285 Septemcastrenses the annals: the people of the seven castles
Septemcastrenses
the Seven-Castle people
Latin · the annals: the people of the seven castles
C08
1296 Siebenbuergen charter: maister Dietrich von Siebenbuergen
maister Dietrich von Siebenbuergen
seven castles
German · charter: maister Dietrich von Siebenbuergen
C09
1300 Sybenburger Ottokar of Styria's rhymed chronicle
Sybenburger
a Transylvanian Saxon
German · Ottokar of Styria's rhymed chronicle
C09
1432 Ardeliu Wallachia's Slavonic chancellery
Ardeliu
the chancellery form of Ardeal
Slavonic · Wallachia's Slavonic chancellery
C04·C10
The game · eight rounds
Who says it how?
Eight rounds: five forms from five worlds, then three questions about what a document actually dates. Every round teaches one registry row; what is disputed stays in the text, not in the questions.
Score 0/8
1 Erdeuelu
Which world does Erdeuelu come from?
The Hungarians · The oldest surviving Hungarian form, Gesta Hungarorum, chapter 11.
2 Septem castrorum
Which world does Septem castrorum come from?
The Latin chroniclers · The annals' Latin, 1242, at the fall of Hermannstadt.
3 Siebenbürgen
Which world does Siebenbürgen come from?
The Saxons · The German world, 1296: maister Dietrich von Siebenbuergen.
4 Ardeliu
Which world does Ardeliu come from?
The Slavonic chancellery · The 1432 chancellery form behind Romanian Ardeal.
5 Transylvania
Which world does Transylvania come from?
The Latin chancery · A Latin calque on the Hungarian form, after the consensus cited by Engel.
6 The ~1200 word
Erdeuelu appearing in the Gesta, around 1200, securely dates…?
the word, in that text · The document dates the written form, around 1200 — not the tale of the 9th–10th centuries, and not the first time people spoke the word.
7 The 1075 charter
A charter issued in 1075, surviving through a copy interpolated in the 13th century — what do we know securely?
the charter's issue date · The issue date is not the surviving text's history: the copy was interpolated around 1237 and 1270, which calls for caution with each form in turn.
8 Seven towns?
Do the later Saxon towns prove Siebenbürgen was named after them?
No — alone they prove nothing · The seven-town link appears only with Pius II, in the mid-15th century, without the list of towns; no charter from the name's own time clarifies its origin.
Three numbers
How long the row runs
1075
terra ultra silvam
The region's first mention, in Latin, in a charter issued in 1075.
1224
the Diploma Andreanum
Andrew II's Golden Charter: rights and obligations for the Germans from Broos to Draas.
9 · 357
forms · years
Nine dated forms from the first mention to Ardeliu, across 357 years — plus the 1224 seal as a context document.
Five corrections
What it is not
The 1075 record is Hungarian.
1075 is a Latin mention: terra ultra silvam. The first Hungarian form, Erdeuelu, appears in the Gesta, around 1200.
The Gesta proves what happened in the 900s.
The Gesta dates the word Erdeuelu, around 1200. Its tale of the 9th–10th centuries belongs to disputed historiography.
Siebenbürgen certainly means the seven Saxon towns.
The seven-town link appears only with Pius II, in the mid-15th century, without the list of towns. Three rival accounts stand beside it.
Ardeliu 1432 is already the Ardeal of the Romanian texts.
1432 dates the Slavonic chancellery form, not the first utterance. Ardeal arrives with the first Romanian texts, in the early 1500s.
A charter issued in 1075 proves every surviving word comes from 1075.
The issue date is not every surviving letter's date: the 1075 text reaches us through a copy interpolated in the 13th century.
Short questions
In brief
Where does the name Ardeal come from?
From Hungarian Erdély, on the dominant etymology. The oldest form dated here, Ardeliu, appears in 1432 in a Slavonic document — the attestation, not the first utterance.
What does Erdély mean?
“Beyond the forest” — erdő (forest) + the old element elü/elv/elve (beyond). The oldest surviving form, Erdeuelu, appears in the Gesta Hungarorum, around 1200.
Where does Transylvania come from?
From the Latin rendering of the same idea, “beyond the forest” — terra ultra silvam (1075), then Transsilvania. The cited consensus reads it as a calque on Hungarian; a new hypothesis (2026) proposes a shared Slavic source, Zagor(i)a.
What does Siebenbürgen mean?
“Seven castles” in German — the sense, not a proven origin. The seven-town link appears only in the mid-15th century, and no charter from the name's own time clarifies it.
Sources and method
What the page stands on
Every dated form has its document in the registry. Below, the claims with their direct sources and their hedges.
| C01 | First mention: terra ultra silvam, in a charter issued in 1075. | Encyclopedia synthesis, read directly; the charter: the Garamszentbenedek foundation. Transmission: Szőke — original lost, 13th-c. copy interpolated (~1237, ~1270). |
|---|---|---|
| C02 | Ultrasylvania, the form cited for 1077. | Encyclopedia synthesis, read directly. |
| C03–C05 | Erdély = erdő + the old element elü/elv/elve, beyond the forest; the Havaselve proof. | Wiktionary Erdély, read directly; Benkő/Kiss/Papp through synthesis. |
| C04·C06 | Erdeuelu in the Gesta, chapter 11; the Gesta written around 1200–1230. | The MEK scholarly commentary + the Gesta Hungarorum lemma, read directly. |
| C07 | Transylvania, a Latin calque on Hungarian (cited consensus). | The consensus cited by Engel; Wiktionary lists the same direction. The new alternative: C15. |
| C08 | Septum urbium 1241; Septem castrorum 1242; Septemcastrenses 1285. | The Latin lines, read directly as quotes; the MGH editions not consulted. |
| C09 | Siebenbuergen 1296; Sybenburger 1300; seven towns (Pius II, 15th c.); three rivals; the Slav echo. | Read directly as quotes; the town list is disputed tradition (Pancratz 1970): no charter from the name's own time clarifies it. |
| C10 | Ardeliu 1432, a chancellery form; the a/e pairs: egres → agriș, Erdőd → Ardud. | Encyclopedia synthesis, read directly; no “first Romanian form” claim made. |
| C14 | The Andreanum of 1224: rights and obligations, from Broos to Draas; confirmed 1317. | Urkundenbuch online, no. 43 (text known through insertion) and no. 350 (the confirmation, original surviving). |
| C15 | New hypothesis (2026): Transylvania and Erdély as calques on Slavic Zagor(i)a. | Bogdan, National Identities, May 2026 — an avowed challenge to the consensus, not a new consensus. |
| U3·U4 | The Drăganu chain and Pop's thesis are missing: the sources could not be read directly. | The 1923 Drăganu edition was not accessible; no citable Pop edition was found. |
The Latin quotes and form chains come from two encyclopedia lemmas, Wiktionary, the Hungarian scholarly commentary and the Géza I and Gesta Hungarorum lemmas, read directly. Charter transmission rests on the Urkundenbuch online edition (nos. 43, 350) and Melinda Szőke's analysis; the seven-town dispute, on Pancratz (1970); the Slavic hypothesis, on Bogdan (2026). Anything that could not be verified in a directly read source was left out. The page dates words, not events.
Documentary editions and studies
- Urkundenbuch online: no. 43 (1224)
- Urkundenbuch online: no. 350 (1317)
- Szőke: Hungarian toponyms in non-authentic charters (PDF)
- Pancratz (1970): Sieben Burgen? Sieben Berge? (PDF)
- Bogdan (2026): the Zagor(i)a hypothesis
Dictionaries and chronicles
The names and the diploma
Type: Fraunces, Newsreader and Atkinson Hyperlegible, under the SIL Open Font Licence.