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Transylvania was somewhat of an anomaly in the Europe of the Middle Ages. A land penned in by the Carpathians, it was nevertheless home to many different peoples and religions, all of whom struggled against each other, and their external enemies, not least the Wallachians and fearsome Ottoman Turks to the South.

The devastation of the Mongol invasions of 1241-2 and 1285 had slaughtered a significant proportion of the ethnic Vlach (Romanian) population of Transylvania, leading to the colonisation of certain regions, particularly the borders, by other ethnic groups, primarily Slavs, Saxons, Armenians, Hungarians and the Székelys, a Magyar people distinct from other Hungarians.

In the aftermath of the Mongol devastation, Transylvania was organised into a system of four 'Estates'. These were as follows: the Universis Nobilis (Noble Estate), the Universis Saxonibus (Saxon Estate), the Universitas Valachorum (Vlach Estate) and the Universitas Syculis et Olachis (Székely Estate). The Universis Nobilis represented the interests of both the lay and the ecclesiastical aristocracy, and although initially ethnically heterogenous, it gradually became dominated by Hungarian lords. The other estates represented the interests of their respective ethnic groups, and occasionally convened in the Congregatio Generalis (General Assembly). Whilst the Congregatio had little in the way of legislative power, it did at times take action to restore order, and as a mechanism for presenting the interests of major powers in Transylvanian society, only an unwise ruler would ignore the Congregatio and its separate estates.

In 1366, Louis I Anjou of Hungary enacted the Decree of Turda, which undermined to a significant degree the power of the Universitas Valachorum. The Decree imposed a series of standards for nobility, primarily the possession of a royal certificate of donation for any owned land, and affiliation to the Roman Catholic Church. The decree explicitly discriminated against the Eastern Orthodox Vlachs, and was in response to the perceived threat of the voivodeships of Wallachia and Moldavia, as well as the proclamation of the Orthodox Romanian Metropolitan Church, which was seen as a spiritual threat to the attempted Catholicisation of Transylvania. The Decree of Turda had a key effect on the development of Transylvanian society, and in essence summarises the attitude of other groups towards the Orthodox Vlach peasants and serfs, who formed the largest group in the country. Due to this marginalisation, the Universitas Valachorum ceased to exist.

Throughout the 14th and early 15th centuries, the Turks increased their reach and power in the Balkans, and in 1421, mounted their first invasion into the Transylvanian part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Although the Saxons and Székelys resisted valiantly, they were overrun by the invading Ottoman armies. There hadn't been any Congregatio for decades, and the native Transylvanian power structures were unable to rebuff the invaders. Furthermore, King Sigismund was unable to react strongly, being bogged down in the Hussite Wars of Bohemia. Saxon Burzenland and the Székely seat of Háromszék were ravaged, and although Sigismund sent armies years later to campaign in Wallachia, the Turks and forces of the Wallachian Voivode returned in 1432, again damaging Southern Transylvania.

These external threats coincided with internal dangers. To recover from the expense of his military campaigns, King Sigismund put into circulation lower value silver coins. The Bishop of Transylvania, György Lépes, decided not to collect taxes during this period, but to demand the arrears of the tithes in a single payment three years later, in 1437. However, in 1437, gold coins of a higher value were again circulated in the Kingdom of Hungary. This devalued the payments that the peasants had received in the silver period, leaving them unable to pay the bishop. In response, the bishop excommunicated them. The bishop also demanded payment from petty nobles and Orthodox Vlach peasants. Anger resulting from this (and the other grievances of the Vlach peasantry towards their Magyar overlords, such as the nobles' unwillingness to respect their right of movement) led to a significant rebellion in Northern Transylvania, led by petty nobleman Antal Nagy de Buda. In the June of 1437, Vlach and Hungarian peasants built a camp at Bábolna where they were joined by petty nobleman and priests. The rebels demanded an estate of their own, known as the "Universitas Hungarorum et Valachorum". The rebels sent envoys to Transylvanian Voivode László Csák, who promptly executed them. Despite this showing of arrogance, Voivode Csák signed a contract on July 6th which acceded many of the rebels' demands after the rebels scored a victory against his forces.

The Voivode still failed to call together the Diet, which prompted the nobles to initiate a meeting, the first in half a century. On the 16th of September, the Transylvanian nobility, the Saxon burghers and the Székely Free Guards forged a mutual alliance termed the Union of Kápolna (or the Brotherly Union/Fraterna Unio). The nobles promised to assist the Saxons and Székelys against Ottoman and Tatar incursions, whilst the burghers and Székelys promised to assist the aristocracy against peasant revolts in the Comitates (Noble Counties). On October 6th, a new treaty was signed with the rebels, repealing some aspects of the previous agreement. Most notably, the new treaty exempt petty nobles from paying taxes, which isolated the peasant rebels from most of their finances and quality troops. After the death of King Sigismund in December, the Fraternal forces attacked the rebels in open combat. They defeated the peasant forces, killing Antal Nagy de Buda and besieged Kolozsvár, where the remaining rebels hid. They took the town in January 1438. The leaders were executed and the inhabitants of Kolozsvár declared peasants.

On February 2, 1438 the alliance between the three groups was formalised by the "Union of Three Nations" agreement, or Unio Trium Nationum". This alliance was remarkably long-lived, and laid the foundation of the structure of Transylvanian society for years to come, as well as distancing it culturally from the Vlach Voivodeships to the East and South.

This post is a preamble for the actual TL. So far I've just put forward background, and this TL has yet to reach its POD.
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