Losonczi family of Transilvania

[M.Sjostrom]

The family called Losonczi, held occasionally the
great governorship (vajd, princedom) of Transilvania
in 1400s and 1500s, in between several other families.
It seems to me that one of their ancestral castles,
possibly even their seat in some periods, was castle
of Cetatea Ciceu.
This leads me to presume that the family was from that
region (northern Transilvania), region near Harghita,
which appears to have mostly been populated by Szekler
people, that of make-believe Hun origin, but anyway of
a Magyar flavor.

There seems to be some genealogical features of the
Losonczi given in the text:
http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetatea_Ci ... 3s%C4%83ud
(which possibly is more or less direct text from some
publication that treated Romanian medieval castles).

What would be Losonczi or Losoncz, if a place name, in
Romanian language?

I am curious whether the later family "Csomortany de
Losoncz" and family "Banffy de Losoncz" descend from
these late medieval Losonczi.

And, of course, I would be interested in seeing fuller
genealogy of the Losonczi, and if someone finds some
points to correct or to augment, in the referred
material and my speculations.




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[Leticia Cluff]

On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 06:31:08 -0800 (PST), "M.Sjostrom" <[email protected]>
wrote:

The family called Losonczi, held occasionally the
great governorship (vajd, princedom) of Transilvania
in 1400s and 1500s, in between several other families.
It seems to me that one of their ancestral castles,
possibly even their seat in some periods, was castle
of Cetatea Ciceu.
This leads me to presume that the family was from that
region (northern Transilvania), region near Harghita,
which appears to have mostly been populated by Szekler
people, that of make-believe Hun origin, but anyway of
a Magyar flavor.

There seems to be some genealogical features of the
Losonczi given in the text:
http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetatea_Ci ... 3s%C4%83ud
(which possibly is more or less direct text from some
publication that treated Romanian medieval castles).

What would be Losonczi or Losoncz, if a place name, in
Romanian language?

The Romanian Wikipedia does not seem to know of a Romanian name, but
it gives the Slovak, German and Hungarian forms of this town, now in
Slovakia:
http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu%C4%8Denec

At the town's website
http://www.lucenec.sk/?id_menu=21965&fi ... ska_flag=0
there is a list of spellings recorded in the past:

Losunc (1262), Lusunch (1271, 1277, 1280, 1299, 1335, 1385, 1696),
Losunch (1275, 1386), Lochonch (1302, 1373, 1405, 1437), Luchunoch
(1326, 1369), Lucens (1332), Luchonch (1336, 1395, 1373, 1405),
Lochanch (1338), Lochunch (1340), Luchnunch (1342), Lwchwnch (1352),
Losonch (1357, 1373, 1387), Lochonuch (1361), Luchench (1367),
Lochnich (1376), Lochuch (1380), Lossoncz (1383, 1674, 1710), Lossunch
(1387), Lochon (1393), Lwnoch (1405), Lossonch (1405), Losancz (1427),
Loshunch (1440), Losonc (1440), Losoncz (1451, 1502, 1671, 1850, 1869,
1880), Lossoncz (1451, 1467, 1596), Losontz (1528, 1742), Lucz^enecz
(1773), Luc^enec (1786), Lucsenecz (1837)

In Latin texts it was called Lossonczium and Lossontzinum.

I am curious whether the later family "Csomortany de
Losoncz" and family "Banffy de Losoncz" descend from
these late medieval Losonczi.

And, of course, I would be interested in seeing fuller
genealogy of the Losonczi, and if someone finds some
points to correct or to augment, in the referred
material and my speculations.

At the bottom of the latter link above there is a short paragraph
about the (Banffy de) Losoncz family, but I'm afraid I can't translate
it for you. Are there any Slavicists here?

Tish

[Renia]

M.Sjostrom wrote:

What would be Losonczi or Losoncz, if a place name, in
Romanian language?

It sounds Polish. The Hungarian language is nearer to Finnish.

[Matthew Hovius]

Neither Romanian nor Slovakian resources are the most germane to this
question, but rather Hungarian ones. Transylvania was culturally and
ethnically in the sphere of the Kingdom of Hungary, until it was
overrun by the Turks in 1526. For a time, Transylvania was the largest
surviving 'free' area occupied by Hungarian peoples.

Searching Google for 'Losonczy Csalad' (Losonczy Family) seems to
yield a lot of results in Hungarian corresponding to this family and
the related ones you mention. 'Losonczi Csalad' should also be tried.
A family of the rank indicated should in theory have their surname
ending in Y to indicate nobility, but this convention (like all) was
never perfectly observed.

I hope this helps locate some relevant material in Hungarian.