Part 2 in an ongoing recollection of the Roma in the early 1500’s.

Join me, my friends and readers as we speak of the Roma, and their valiant history.

I remember this story clearly my Dear Ones as told to my by my companion and friend, Sylvie who had heard it from her grandmother, who had a friend that lived in Saxony during this time.

A Gypsy woman of stature and humor

During the early years of the 15th century we recollect that the Roma lived in most of Europe, including France, Belgium, Holland, Bologna, Slovakia, and Spain. By the end of the 15th century Roma were living as far west as the British Isles and as far east as Lithuania and Latvia. As young women, fascinated by the tales of color, and fortune, we longed to hear more of the Roma, but it was said that these were a people of danger. Some even said that a young woman could be kidnapped and sold by these travelers in the land.

During these early migratory years the people of the Roma sometimes claimed to be Christian pilgrims from “Little Egypt”, often producing letters of protection from the Pope. According to some chroniclers, these documents were counterfeit but there is no evidence to support this claim. Early accounts suggest they were well respected and benevolently received in the West at that time. However, because they had no military, political, or economic strength, they were an easy target for nationalists and fascists, and as time passed one country after another enacted repressive law against them.

As the story went, a tragic tale, the first recorded sale of Roma slaves was in Romania in 1385; a little later, in 1416, Roma were expelled from the Meissen region of Germany, whence they were driven out on account of the robberies and disturbances they were accused of committing.

In 1445 Prince Vlad Dracul of Wallachia kidnapped 12,000 Roma from Bulgaria and put them to slave labour, and in 1449, Roma were driven out of the city of Frankfurt, Germany. The very first “anti-Gypsy” laws were passed in Switzerland in 1471, and in the same year 17,000 Roma were transported into Moldavia for slave labour, by Stephan the Great.

Chroniclers who mention them at that time speak of their chief, Michel, as Duke of Egypt, and relate that these strangers, calling themselves Egyptians, pretended that they were driven from their country by the Sultan of Turkey, and condemned to wander for seven years in want and misery. These chroniclers add that they were very honest people, who scrupulously followed all the practices of the Christian religion; that they were poorly clad, but that they had gold and silver in abundance; that they lived well, and paid for everything they had; and that, at the end of seven years, they went away to return home, as they said. Yet this did not protect them from the harshness of the laws, and so they suffered.

As we listened to this story, my Dear Ones, tears flowed from our eyes, thinking of the small children and gentle women who suffered so at the hands of the European community of the day. We did not understand the purpose of such treatment, and to this day see no purpose to the punishments that were taken against them.

More humanely in 1472 Duke Friedrich of the Rhine Palatinate asked his people to help Roma pilgrims, and in 1476 King Matthias of Slovakia ordered safe-conduct for them. This was not to last, and again Anti-Gypsy legislation was passed in Brandenburg in 1482, and in Spain in 1492. Sanctuary was offered to the Rom, when Slovakia proved to be “Gypsy” friendly again in 1492 and 1496 when King Vladislav issued safe-conduct orders for them.

In 1493, Roma were expelled from Milan, and in 1498. Landau and Freiburg declared that the Roma were traitors, Turkish spies, and carriers of the plague. It should be noted that though I questioned the truth about such Turkish Spy stories, I could not help but shudder as I realized that even I, Karima Hurrem could have been accused of such atrocities as a woman alone and unprotected.Laughable in retrospect, but frightfully possible in fact.

Ordered to Cease the Wandering Life

Gypsies in Spain in 1499 were ordered  cease traveling and find a trade, failure to obey was punishable by lashing and banishment. Repeat offenders suffer amputation of the ears, sixty days in chains, and re-banishment. If anyone was foolish enough to offend a third time they became the slaves of those who capture them.

However, whether because a considerable number remained on the road, or because they had been reinforced by others of the same tribe during the year, a troop of fifty men, accompanied by a number of hideous women and filthy children, made their appearance in the neighbourhood of Augsburg. These vagabonds gave out that they were exiles from Lower Egypt, and pretended to know the art of predicting coming events.

Augsberg, a city of wars

This curiosity which greeted the first gypsies arriving in Europe who pretended to be a nation which was doing penance for their sins against the Christian commandments wore off quickly  As “penitents” they were welcome everywhere; local populations were helping them and they would even be invited to the palaces of princes. They excited the curiosity of other people by their different clothes and their strange way of life, by their fortune-telling, and by trained animal shows.

As history shows, and as this tale proceeds, the genteel entertainments provided by the Roma conflicted with the ever increasing oppression of governments and religious bodies of this period. Sad, but true, the Roma would continue to know hardship and homelessness as they continued to seek a bonds with the residing people of the countries they visited. Ever unwelcome, treated as oddities, the Christian charity as espoused by the religious leaders in Europe of this age failed to present itself. I can only ask the question, is Christian Charity just for Christians?

And now, for a bit of entertainment!

Tags: 15th century, Ausberg, british isles, christian pilgrims, Christian Repression, Duke of Egypt, fascists, gypsy, gypsy woman, little egypt, Middle Ages, nationalists, Renaissance History, repressive law, slaves, Stpehen the Great, The Rom, The Roma