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Sepsiszentkirály (Sancrai) - a brief history |
| The boundaries of Sepsiszentkirály lie to the south of Szemerja, a suburb of Sepsiszentgyörgy, on the hills and plains stretching west to east between the Olt River valley and the Székföld district. |
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| The village is mentioned in writing as early as 1334 in the register of papal tithes, under the name “sacerdos de Sancto Rege” (priest of the holy king). The register mentions that the local priest, named Dominic, pays tithes. The place name alludes to the fact that its church was built in honour of the first king of Hungary, Saint Stephen. It is probably on the site of that church that the present-day Unitarian church was built. During the Reformation, the local population converted to Unitarianism, and to this day the original inhabitants, who constitute two-thirds of the village’s residents, are Unitarian, while the remaining third are Reformed. The Reformed church was built in 1879. |
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The history of the village follows that of the population of the Háromszék district. Settled from the beginning by completely free Seklers, the village preserved that status till 1848, and the few serf and cottar families who had lived in the village over the centuries were for the most part immigrants.
After the emancipation of the serfs and the beginning of capitalist development, Szentkirály retained its agricultural character. In 1879 the first small weaving factory was set up with a few workers. After the First but especially after the Second World War, residents began to leave the village: initially, in the inter-war period, a small number moved to neighbouring towns, and then farther afield. The houses of the emigrant families were bought by residents of Sepsiszentgyörgy and elsewhere as weekend and holiday homes.
(Jenő Janitsek – Gyula Hári) |
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