Editing Walloons (section)

====Walloons in Transylvania====
In the 13th century, the medieval German colonization of [[Transylvania]], then part of the [[Kingdom of Hungary]], now central and north-western Romania, also included numerous Walloons. Place names such as ''Wallendorf'' (Walloon Village) and family names such as ''Valendorfean'' (Wallon peasant) can be found among the [[Romanians|Romanian]] citizens of Transylvania.<ref>Konrad Gündisch ''Without a doubt, among the settlers were not only Germans, be they Teutonici from Southern Germany or Saxons from Middle and Northern Germany but also Romanic people from the western regions of the then German Empire. One of the earliest documents on Transylvanian Saxons points at Flandrenses who had at least two independent settler groups. These came from an economically highly developed region of the empire, where during the 11th and 12th centuries shortage of land was overcome through intensive planning and building of dike systems. Cities were developed through the textile industry and trade. Many knights of the first crusade came from here. It is undisputed that Flandrenses played an important role in the German East-Migration.  Latins, settlers of Romanic-Walloon origin, were also represented. For example, Johannes Latinus, who arrived as knight but also as one of the first Transylvanian merchants; Gräf Gyan from Salzburg who frightened the bishop of Weißenburg; and Magister Gocelinus, who presented Michelsberg to the Cistercian abbey Kerz. Also to be mentioned is the name of the town Walldorf (villa Latina, "Wallonendorf", town of Walloons) and villa Barbant or Barbantina, a name which brings to mind Brabant in Belgium. Based on the described and often contradictory research results, answers to the question of the origin of Transylvanian Saxons cannot be considered as final. An incontestable clarification cannot be expected since it is probable that the colonists of different religions and ethnic background came in small groups from all regions of the then empire and grew, once in Transylvania, into a group with its own distinct identity, with German language and culture. In any event, their number was negligibly small and has been estimated at 520 families, approximately 2600 persons.'' in  ''Siebenbürgen und die Siebenbürger Sachsen'', Taschenbuch - 304 Seiten (1998) Langen-Müller, München.; {{ISBN|3-7844-2685-9}}. English translation [http://www.sibiweb.de/geschi/7b-history.htm ''The History of Transylvania and the Transylvanian Saxons''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040707001956/http://www.sibiweb.de/geschi/7b-history.htm |date=7 July 2004 }}</ref>