Attila (A.D. 406453), also known as Attila the Hun, was the Emperor of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He
was leader of the Hunnic Empire which stretched from Germany to the Ural River and from the River Danube to the Baltic Sea . During his rule, he was one of the most fearsome of the Western and Eastern Roman
Empires. He invaded the Balkans twice and marched through Gaul (modern France) as far as Orleans before being defeated at the Battle of Chalons. He refrained from attacking either Constantinople or Rome. His story, that the Sword of Attila had come to his hand by miraculous means, was reported by the Roman Priscus.
In much of Western Europe, he is remembered as a great and noble king.

The Hungarians, who call themselves Magyar, have an ancient traditional pre-christian account of their origins according to which they were the descendents of Nimrod (also spelled as Nimrud), son of Cush; Nimrod and Eneth had two sons,

Magor and Hunor; Magor was the ancestor of the Magyars, and Hunor was the ancestor of the Huns, thus symbolizing
the common origins of the Huns and of the Magyars.

The Székely have historically claimed descent from Attila's Huns, and feel that they played a special role in shaping
Hungary. When the Magyar tribes came into Pannonia, they believed that they had special rights to that land as an
inheritance from Attila, since the Huns and Magyars were related tribes. Székely people adhere proudly to their
Hungarian identity.

The Székely were considered the finest warriors of medieval Transylvania. They were part of the Unio Trium Nationum ("Union of Three Nations") a coalition of the three Transylvanian Estates, the other two nations being the (also predominantly Hungarian) nobility and the Saxon (that is, ethnic German) burghers. These three nations ruled Transylvania, usually in harmony though sometimes in conflict with one another. Romanians (known then as Vlachs) constituted the fourth major ethnic group in Transylvania, but were generally excluded from political power (as were Magyar serfs, and Saxons living outside the Universitas) at that time. The Vlach peasantry nonetheless lived in relative peace with the Székely until the Romantic nationalist movements swept 19th century Europe. (less info)