Șchei

Șchei (Bulgarian: шкеи, shkei) was an old Romanian exonym referring to the Bulgarians, especially in Transylvania and northern Wallachia. As a name, it has been preserved in the names of towns colonized in the 14th century by Bulgarians, in toponyms (Dealu Schiaului near Rășinari), hydronyms (Schiau River, tributary to the Argeş River), surnames (Schiau, Șchiau).^[1] The word is thought to derive from Latin sclavis, a popular designation for the South Slavs (Bulgarians and Serbs in particular) that was also used in Albanian (in the form shqa and various dialectal variants^[2]) until the 20th century.^[3]

Șchei villages in Transylvania

Among the towns or neighbourhoods bearing that trace of Bulgarian settlement are:^[1]

• Șcheii Braşovului in Brașov (Hungarian: Bolgárszeg, German: Belgerei, traditional Romanian name: Bulgărimea)
• Cergău Mic in Alba County (archaic Romanian: Cergău Șcheiesc, archaic Hungarian: Bolgárcserged)

Other villages in Transylvania that used to be inhabited by various waves of Bulgarians were Cergău Mare, Bungard, Sibiu, Vințu de Jos, Deva, Rusciori, Sibiu, Râșnov.^[4]

Șchei villages in Wallachia

• Șchei, a quarter and former independent settlement in Câmpulung settled by Bogomil Bulgarians.^[5]
• Schiau village in the Bascov commune, Argeș County
• Schiau (Urlaţi) and Schiau (Valea Călugărească) in Prahova County.

References

1. Mușlea, Șcheii de la Cergău…
2. Demiraj, Bardhyl (12 January 2009). "Sclavus "Slawe" im Albanischen: Sprach- und Kulturkontakt im Spiegel der Geschichte eines Ethnikons" (PDF). VideoOnline (in German). Munich: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
3. Гюзелев, Боян (2004). Албанци в Източните Балкани (PDF) (in Bulgarian). София: Международен център за изследване на малцинствата и културните взаимодействия. p. 13. ISBN 954-8872-45-5.
4. Балкански, Трансилванските (седмиградските) българи…
5. Rădvan, Laurențiu (2010). At Europe's Borders: Medieval Towns in the Romanian Principalities. Translated by Valentin Cîrdei. Brill. p. 267. ISBN 9789004180109.

• Ion Mușlea, Șcheii de la Cergău şi folclorul lor, Cluj 1928.
• Милетич, Любомир (1987). "В Чергед". Изследвания за българите в Седмиградско и Банат (in Bulgarian). София: Наука и изкуство. p. 71.
• Балкански, Т. (1996). Трансилванските (седмиградските) българи. Етнос. Език. Етнонимия. Ономастика. Просопографии (in Bulgarian). Велико Търново: ИК “Знак ‘94”.