Gelou

Gelou ("Gelu" in Romanian, "Gyalu" in Hungarian) was the leader of a Vlach-Slavic state in the basin of the Someşul Mic and Almaş rivers, near Cluj in northwestern Transylvania. The Gesta Hungarorum, a Hungarian history written by the historian Anonymus around 1200 C.E., mentions "Gelou, a Vlach" ("Gelou quidam blachus"), and claims he ruled over ("domenium tenebat") a land populated by Vlachs and Slavs ("blasii et slaui"). The possibility that Gelou was named "voievod" cannot be sufficiently proven.

Around 904, Gelou's army was defeated by an expedition of Magyars rebelling against Árpád's rule, led by Árpád's rival in the "hetumoger", Tétény (Latin: "Tuhutum"). Gelou was killed in battle as he attempted to retreat to his fortress on the Someş, likely located either at Gilău or Cluj-Mănăştur. The fortress of Dăbâca was long considered Gelou's residence, but recent scholarship has disproved the assertion; other fortresses like Şirioara, Cuzdrioara and Moldoveneşti were never likely to have belonged to Gelou's domain.

This fragment from the Gesta Hungarorum briefly recounts Gelou's defeat by the Magyars:"Tuhutum, the father of Horca, a cunning man, was informed by the inhabitants of the desirability of the "land beyond the forests," where there ruled a certain Gelou, a Vlach . . . and he fought ferociously and was victorious over the army of Gelou; while many of Gelou's men were killed, still more were captured."

Romanian historian Neagu Djuvara argued that the name of Gelou could be connected with the ancient Thracian toponym "Gelupara" ("para" meaning "town") and with the modern toponym of "Gilău", the name of a village and a river in Cluj.

Hungarian historians contend that Gelou - like other enemies of the Magyar leader Árpád mentioned in the "Gesta" - was probably an invention of the author. The key arguments behind this hypothesis are that:
* There is a lack of supporting evidence (written or archeological) for the existence of Gelou.
* The "Gesta" fails to mention key historical personalities such as Svatopluk I and Simeon I of Bulgaria.
* Other characters in the "Gesta" have been shown to have been invented from toponyms (e.g. Zobor).

Reference

* Tudor Sălăgean, "Ţara lui Gelou. Contribuţii la istoria Transilvaniei de Nord în secolele IX-XI", Cluj-Napoca, Edit. Argonaut, 2006.

External links

* [http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/trans-map/Trans_pre-hungarian.gifMap]