“Den Flammen blieb nichts vorenthalten”. Fires in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Transylvania as Reflected in Contemporary Sources

Abstract

The study focuses on fire prevention and firefighting as well as on the perception, interpretation and impact of urban fires and in Transylvania in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries based on chronicles and administrative documents. In order to achieve these objectives, the study will attempt to answer the following key work questions: (1) How were fires perceived and interpreted in pre-Habsburg Transylvania? (2) What type of fire-prevention and firefighting methods were adopted? and (3) What impact did these fires have on communities and on architectural approaches?
The study will focus on four major fires that occurred in four important cities in early modern Transylvania: Sibiu 1570, Bistrița 1602, Sighișoara 1676 and Brașov 1689. In addition, the study will discuss other fires that occurred in places such as Sebeș, Codlea and Prejmer, among others, due to their relevance to understanding the perception, interpretation and management of this type of disaster.
Until the establishment of Habsburg rule in Transylvania, fires – just like epidemics, floods, earthquakes and extreme temperatures – had been largely perceived as disasters that were part of everyday life. In addition, they were interpreted as divine punishments for sins and as signs that the affected town’s inhabitants had to repent and return to a righteous lifestyle. They were interpreted from a religious perspective whether or not they were human- or nature-caused.