Editing Hunedoara (section)

==History==
[[Stone Age]] tools were discovered in the Sânpetru (Saint Peter) hill near the castle and in the surrounding villages. The region was very rich in iron, which had been extracted in the area since the [[Iron Age]] by [[Thracian]] tribes. The [[Dacians|Dacian]] fortresses of [[Orăștie]] mountains, most notably [[Sarmizegetusa Regia|Sarmiszegetusa]], which became the most important religious and political center of [[Dacia]], was located close to Hunedoara and was supplied by the iron produced here. The remains of eight [[Dacia]]n iron furnaces have been found at the Sânpetru Hill near the castle. The discovery of important monetary treasures of Dacian coins and Roman imperial coins testifies to the importance of the site.

After Dacia was conquered around 106 AD and turned into a Roman province, the iron-rich region attracted the attention of the Romans, who began to exploit it by building furnaces. A "Villa Rustica" emerged in Teliuc, a Roman fortification on Sanpetru hill, outpost of the famous [[Roman legion|legio XIII Gemina]] whose main [[castrum]] was at [[Alba Iulia|Apullum]] in Dacia. Other Roman artifacts were discovered in the city area, and also in Pestis, where the remains of a Roman village were discovered. The new capital city of the Roman province of Dacia, [[Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa]], was also situated in the proximity.  Whether a Romanized population remained in this region after the retreat of the Roman legions, which took place around 271-274 AD, is debated in the theories on the [[origin of the Romanians]].

After the Roman military and administrative retreat during the [[Migration Period]], the region had no significant historic sites, although it may be possible that the iron activity continued. The ethnic structure of the region changed significantly, most notably with [[Goths]], [[Huns]], [[Slavs]], [[Pechenegs]], [[Magyars]] (Hungarians), and [[Cumans]].

Starting from the year 1003 Transylvania became part of the [[Hungarian Kingdom]]. The ''[[Gesta Hungarorum]]'', the first historical Hungarian chronicle, written around the year 1200, claims that Transylvania was inhabited by [[Vlachs]] (Romanians) and Slavs upon Hungarians' arrival.<ref>{{Cite journal |last= |first= |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/18975/1/18975.pdf |date=2009 |title=The Gesta Hungarorum of Anonymus, the Anonymous Notary of King Béla: A Translation |journal=Slavonic and East European Review |volume=87 |issue=4 |translator-last=Rady |translator-first=Martyn}}</ref> However, the reliability of this work is contested by some scholars.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Magocsi |first1=Paul Robert |last2=Pop |first2=Ivan |year=2002 |title=Encyclopedia of Rusyn History and Culture |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=0-8020-3566-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofru0000mago |pages=170, 265}}</ref> In this area small political feuds grew ruled by the so called [[Knez (Vlach leader)|Knezes]]. South of the Carpathians the [[Pechenegs]] and [[Cumans]] held political power, and Hunedoara acted as a buffer zone for the Hungarian Crown. In time, the Vlach (Romanian) populations in the mountains nearby developed an original highlander culture. Their land is called "Țara Pădurenilor" (Woodlanders Country) and they began to dominate the area demographically. The region also had a sizable population of German [[Saxons]], colonizers brought by the Hungarian Crown after the [[Mongol invasion of Europe|Mongol Invasion]].

The first recorded evidence of the city was made in 1265 under the name ''Hungnod'' as a hub for [[leather tanning]] and [[Wool#Processing|wool processing]]. The city of Hunedoara became an important iron extracting and processing center in Transylvania. "Corpus Inscriptiorum Latinorum" refers to a local inhabitant as "natas ibi, ubi ferum nascitur", that is, "born where the iron was born". As the backbone for the manufacture of weapons and tools, the town industry was vital for the region.

The city has been known since the 14th century mainly as the residence of the [[Hungarian nobility|Hungarian noble]] [[Hunyadi family]], the origins of the Hunyadi family are a topic of debate among historians. On 18 October 1409, [[Hunyadi family#Notable members|Voyk]] (Vajk in Hungarian, Voicu in Romanian), was rewarded for military bravery by [[Sigismund of Luxembourg]], and received the domain of Hunedoara. The same document that recorded Voyk's reward for military bravery by [[Sigismund of Luxembourg]] also mentions his three sons: Mogoș, Radol, and [[John Hunyadi]] (Hungarian: János Hunyadi; Romanian: Ioan de Hunedoara). Hunedoara received town privileges in 1448 from the King of Hungary. John Hunyadi consolidated the citadel on top of an ancient fortress, creating the two main halls, for Diet and Knights. A [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] abbey was built nearby the castle in 1448 and [[John of Capistrano]], a famous Italian monk, was sent by the Pope to organize a crusade against the Turks, and lived in the castle. John of Capistrano became instrumental later in inciting the peasantry to crusade, starting from Frankfurt and marching towards Belgrade.

John Hunyadi was a leading military leader in the growing confrontation with the [[Ottoman Empire]]. He fought in the service of [[Sigismund of Luxembourg|Sigismund]], mastering military tactics in the Hussite Wars, and became the most skillful warrior of Hungary. He was elevated and named Voivode (Prince) of Transylvania, which was at the time an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Elected regent of Hungary, he formed a coalition with the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia and engaged in [[crusade]]s against the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]] to free Serbia and Bulgaria. The crusade, for a brief period, united the diverging forces of the Balkans, and the victories gained in battles managed to secure the Kingdom of Hungary from Ottoman occupation for over a century. Although he died in a military camp, his son Mátyás ([[Matthias Corvinus of Hungary|Matthias Corvinus]]) later became the most famous of Hungarian kings. Pope [[Pope Pius II]] called him [[Athleta Christi]] ("Christ's Champion") and The White Knight of Wallachia.<ref>[http://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/hunyadi.html The White Knight of Wallachia]</ref>

In 1457 Matthias gave permission to the Wallachian serfs to build an Orthodox church, beautifully decorated with paintings and preserved until today. He continued to consolidate the castle and the feudal domain of Hunedoara. The castle of Hunedoara became one of the biggest in the medieval world, standing as a witness to the greatness of his family of noble warriors and statesmen, in an era of war and despair for the region, as the Ottoman Empire approached Central Europe. In the times of Hunyadi rule, Hunedoara became a market (opiddum) for iron. Matthias Corvinus named the city a tax-free area, and this privilege lasted until the 17th century. The population varied between 784 people in 1512 and 896 people in the 17th century. After Matthias died, Hunedoara passed to his son, [[János Corvinus|John]] (Hungarian: János; Romanian: Ioan), but he too died young. His wife, Beatrice de Frangepan, married [[Georg of Hohenzollern]], Marquis of Brandenburg in 1509. But Georg de Brandenburg would not reside in Hunedoara, instead appointed a representative, György Stolcz.
[[File:Hunedora.jpg|thumb|Hunedoara as depicted by Ludwig Rohbock (1820−1883)]]
In 1514, during the peasant revolt of [[György Dózsa]], some were imprisoned in the castle and probably tortured. The town numbered 184 houses, a considerable size for the time, and was ruled by an appointed [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] priest. In 1528 a fire destroyed 124 houses. In 1534 as the Kingdom of Hungary was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, the castle was besieged during the rebellion of [[Czibak Imre]], the bishop of [[Oradea]] and two years later John Zápolya donated the castle along with other possessions to [[Bálint Török|Török Bálint]] making him the richest nobleman of Hungary. In 1557 Török János, a proselytizer of Reformation is mentioned to have killed his unfaithful wife [[Kendi Anna]] in the castle. In 1601 the castle was besieged by the Wallachian army of [[Michael the Brave]] in his campaign  – while ruling Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania – against the [[Ottoman Empire]], and to switch the Ottoman vassalage to the [[Habsburg]]s.

The town and the castle survived relatively unharmed by the Counter-Reformation of [[Giorgio Basta]], general of the Habsburg Empire. By 1618, ownership of the castle passed to the Bethlen family. [[Gabriel Bethlen]] Voivode of Transylvania consolidated and enlarged the castle, and gave it to his nephew [[Stephen Bethlen]] who lived here with his wife [[Mary Széchy]], famed for her beauty.

The [[Reformed Church in Hungary|Reformed Church of Hungary]] was established in Hunedoara in 1634 and [[Imre Thököly]], one of the leaders of the [[Protestant]] anti-Habsburg uprising and later Prince of Transylvania owned the castle and spent much time living in it. By 1685, the castle passed into the possession of [[Michael I Apafi|Michael Apafi]], the pro-Habsburg Prince of Transylvania. In 1710, the old church was returned to the Franciscans, and in 1725 it reacquired its monastic rank. By this time, the majority of population was Romanian.

Most of current Hunedoara was at that time a lush plain through which the Cerna river was meandering. The first blast furnace was built by 1603,{{citation needed|date=March 2012}} followed by another four. The modern iron operations began at the foot of Saint Peter hill (Sanpetru), close to the most distant tower of the castle called Nebojša, (Serbian for "have no fear", a tower that was the furthest away from the castle in medieval times, to provide last refuge in the case of a siege; [[cf.]] [[Nebojša Tower]]). The mine shaft can still be viewed. Iron manufactures were also situated nearby.

In 1667 there was already a steel mill on the Cerna river producing 490 tons of pig iron and 66 tons of iron by 1699. In 1714 Georg Steinhilbert made a second one and a third was made in 1727. In 1743 the operations were handled directly by the Treasury. Of the mills mentioned, one was located under the main bridge and its walls are now in ruins.

The first tall industrial furnace in the world for iron extracting, it has been argued,{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} was built in 1750 in [[Topliţa]] near Hunedoara, and [[Govăjdia Blast Furnace|a later one]] in [[Govăşdia]] in 1806. Both furnaces can be visited today. To reach it by road could only be through [[Teliucu Inferior]] (Alsótelek then) and [[Teliucu Superior]] (Felsőtelek then). Until 2001, there was a [[Transylvanian mining railway|system of narrow-gauge railway]] built in the 19th and 20th centuries that ran from Hunedoara [[castle]], near Zlaşti through a 747 and a 42 meter long [[tunnel]] through the mountain, and the breathtaking landscape of "Ţara Pădurenilor" (Woodlanders' country) before arriving to Govăjdia. It was dismantled and scrapped from Zlaşti to Govăjdia and [[Crăciuneasa]] by the last owner the Talc-Dolomită Zlaşti company. The last remaining {{convert|2.3|km|2|abbr=on}} long narrow-gauge rail system from the Hunedoara castle to [[Zlaşti]] was in use by the [[Talc-Dolomită Zlaşti]] company till 2007. In the summer of 2009 they have removed this last remaining section of this line. There are efforts now for restoring the train line for tourism purposes.

In the 18th and part of the 19th century, as the town of Hunedoara became more and more industrialized, peasants from regions nearby began to move to the city and the population increased. Only the German, Hungarian and Székelys of Transylvania were represented in the Diet (see [[Unio Trium Nationum]]). The Romanians who at the time formed about approx. 50% of the population felt exploited and revolted on several occasions. The peasants of Hunedoara county supported the [[Revolt of Horea, Cloşca and Crişan]] in 1784, when they unsuccessfully besieged the nearby fortress of Deva.

The castle in Hunedoara gave refuge to the local nobility, and it was its last function as military defense. Later representatives from the region were sent to the Romanian national assemblies held in Blaj during the [[1848 Revolution]] where Romanians decided to demand equal rights and resist the attempt of Hungary of gaining independence from the Habsburg House. This started a small scale insurrection across Transylvania that was quickly quieted by the Hungarian army, except for the [[Apuseni Mountains]], on the north of Hunedoara, where the tribune [[Avram Iancu]] struggled to keep the Hungarian forces away from controlling the gold mines. The subsequent failures of the later Austro-Hungarian monarchy to fulfill to the demands of the Romanians together with the [[Magyarization]] campaigns further exacerbated and alienated the Romanian population of Hunedoara.

During [[World War I]] the Romanians from Hunedoara county actively supported the Romanian Army and the Romanian National Assembly declared the [[Union of Transylvania with Romania]] in 1918. After the ending of the war Transylvania became part of Romania. The Romanian populations in and around the city quickly earned political rights and representation, and industrial development continued at an ever-increasing rate.

During [[World War II]] the steel works were part of the war effort for the Axis. The Romanian Army lost 700,000 soldiers on the Eastern Front and the Allies, an additional 400,000 soldiers fighting against the Axis.

After the Soviet occupation and the subsequent communist regime, industry was favored, and Hunedoara had for a time the biggest steel-producing plant in Romania and the [[Balkans]]. The city grew larger, and the factories extended so much that they equaled or exceeded the size of the city. The population also increased to over 87,000. The football team, Corvinul Hunedoara, was for a very long time one of the highest-rated football teams in Romania, rivaling [[FC Steaua București|Steaua]] or [[FC Dinamo București|Dinamo]]. A large stadium was built along with other sports facilities such as covered swimming pools and a skating ring. Besides the Corvinul sports club, two other sport clubs were constructed, Constructorul and Siderurgistul, each offering different sport facilities. Other notable constructions included a theater house, several large cinemas, many schools and high-schools and an engineering faculty.

[[File:Castelul Corvinilor din Hunedoara in 10 Decembrie 2012. Fotografie realizata de catre Marian Lucian.jpg|thumb|200px|The castle in winter]]

The [[Romanian Revolution of 1989|communist collapse]] meant that the old markets for steel vanished, and many enterprises had to be closed or abandoned. However, investment from Romanian and foreign capital ventures started offering new job opportunities for the people. Currently [[Arcelor Mittal|Arcelor-Mittal]] runs what is left of the steel works. The steel mill now operates the No. 2 Electric Steel Mill, Continuous Caster and the rolling mills. Production is scheduled to rise above 500,000 tons of steel in 2007 and beyond. The rest of the production facilities have been demolished or have been sold to private investors.