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Roma in Europe

“Gypsy” Myth and Romani Reality—New Evidence for Romani History

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“Gypsies” in European Literature and Culture

Part of the book series: Studies in European Culture and History ((SECH))

Abstract

The Romani people arrived in the Balkans from Anatolia by the thirteenth century and in the Kingdom of Hungary around 1400 at the earliest. They were in Spain by 1425 and most countries of Continental Western Europe around this date, and in the British Isles by at least 1500. Their history prior to this, according to established “histories of the Gypsies,” is vague, except for some Byzantine references to a people called Athinggánoi1 or Atsingáni who were originally a sect of Persian mystics who appeared in Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire in the ninth century. Apparently, their name was later applied to the proto-Roma who appeared in this area in the latter eleventh century or early twelfth century because both groups were nomadic and practiced “occult arts .”2

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Authors
  1. Ronald Lee
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Valentina Glajar Domnica Radulescu

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© 2008 Valentina Glajar and Domnica Radulescu

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Lee, R. (2008). Roma in Europe. In: Glajar, V., Radulescu, D. (eds) “Gypsies” in European Literature and Culture. Studies in European Culture and History. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230611634_1

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