The Romani, October 17, 2021
The Romani People, also known as the Roma are the largest ethnic group in all of Europe. In addition, they are also the most misunderstood and mistreated. In this entry, I'm going to be giving out background information to understand their past and their present.
Who are the Roma and their Early Modern History
As stated above, the Romani or the Roma are an ethnic group that originates from the Punjab region of northern India. They entered Europe between the 8th and 10th centuries as a nomadic group. During that time, Europeans referred to them as gypsies because most believed they came from Egypt. The term gypsy is considered pejorative by the Roma for its connotations of illegality and its use in history as a racial slur. I did not know that the term above was considered derogatory, so the more you know when researching history! Also, according to a 2012 genomic study, the Roma reached the Balkans (Southeast Europe) as early as the 12th century. The Roma sure knew how to travel and this can be seen with their vast appearances all around Europe. However, even though the Romani's were all spread out in Europe their early history is shown to have mixed receptions. Examples include the first slave transactions of the Roma in 1385 in Wallachia, Romania, and being issued the safe-conduct by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund in 1417, which is when one is officially allowed to travel. Different countries showed different reactions but most showed uncertainty and prejudice against them.
Then starting in 1416 to 1536, they were expelled from the Meissen region of Germany, Lucerne, Milan, France, Catalonia, Sweden, England, and Denmark. Overall, the Romani were not welcomed at all in many countries and were vastly persecuted or abused, such as in the Franco-Dutch war when France and Holland needed men to fight and found the solution of using up the Romani. Around the 18th century, after the Franco-Dutch war, the Romani were being slaughtered throughout Holland. That's when the term Heidenjachten translated as "heathen hunt," came to life in an attempt to eradicate the Roma. Not only were they persecuted, but they were also used as slaves in Wallachia and Moldovia, subjected to ethnic cleansing, forced upon labor, and victims of hangings and types of branding all around Europe. Consequently, the Roma moved to safer parts of Europe towards Poland and Russia. The Romani were treated just like the Jews in the 15th century when they were forced out of Spain.
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An 1852 Wallachian poster advertising an auction of Romani slaves in Bucharest. |
Roma Society
In the Roma society's the virginity of women was and still is considered sacred. Many Romani's consider virginity an essential characteristic for unmarried women to have. The Romani law establishes that the husband's family must pay a bride price to the bride's parents, however, only traditional families still follow this. While this practice was common before, I still can't imagine how the brides feel, seeing that they're being "bought" by their future husbands. Still, as I stated earlier, the practice was established when different ideals were considered the "norm." In addition, once married, the bride's main job is to become a housewife and tend to her children and husband's needs. This statement made me remember "On Marriage," a book of Martin Luther's words where he also stated that a women's job is to tend to the children and "solace her husband." A woman starts to gain power in the family as soon as she has children and increases the older she gets; nonetheless, the men, especially the oldest ones, have the highest hierarchal position. Their societal structure can be compared to the Republic of Rome since their paterfamilias were also the ones with the most power in a family.
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| Romani with their wagon, was photographed in Germany in 1935. |
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ReplyDeleteHey Ansa! Thanks for commenting on my blog; it was insightful to read how women in the 17th century were treated like prizes for men. Like you stated, fashion was forced onto women to make them look pretty for men; however, I think today's fashion is used to empower rather than restrain women in the world. Also, since you were inquiring about the role of the men, they were usually the breadwinners of the family, and the oldest male got to decide their family's futures regarding marriage, economic decisions, etc.
DeleteHey Aimee! I really enjoyed reading your post about the Romani people. I never knew of the Romani people before I read your blog. I could not help but notice the propinquity between the Romani people and the Algerians (from my post regarding the Paris Massacre of 1961). Algerians were suppressed in a similar way to the Romani. Both were once used as slave labor for other powers (in the case of Algeria, France used Algerian slaves to work farms and endure harsh labor). I thought that the Romani people were unique in the sense that women were given a high status in society, rivaling that of men. The tenet of the Romani culture that surprised me the most was that the husband's family usually must pay a bride price to the bride's parents. In cultures around the world, this is usually not the case. In most cases, there either dowries or no payments at all.
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