1606. Roma are prohibited by Henry IV of France from any gathering of more than three or four. Roma are punished as "vagabonds and evil-doers."

1611. Spanish legislation orders that all Gitano occupations must be connected to the land.

1619. Philip III declares all Gitanos are to be banished from the kingdom of Spain within six months, or to settle in a locality with over 1,000 inhabitants. The dress, name and language of the Gitanos is banned. The punishment is death.

1637. The first anti-Gypsy law in Sweden is enacted. All Roma should be expelled from the country within one year. If any Roma are found in Sweden after that date the men will be hanged and the women and children will be driven out from the country.

1646. An ordinance passed in Berne gives anyone the right "personally to kill or liquidate by bastinado or firearms" Roma or Heiden (heathen) malefactors.

1647. Roma are punished by the Louis XIV regency of France for being "Bohemians." Punishment is the galleys.

1652. Matiasz Korolewicz is conferred the title "King of the Gypsies" by the Polish Royal Chancery.

1650s. Last known execution for being Gypsies, in Suffolk, England. Others are banished to America.

1660. Roma are prohibited from residence in France by Louis XIV. Punishment is banishment. A second offense results in the galleys or corporal punishment.

1660-1800. The identity of the English Gypsy Romanichal group has been formed. They survive by working for local people who know them.

1661. Johann Georg II, elector of Saxony, imposes the death penalty to any Roma caught in his territory.

1666. Punished by Louis XIV of France for being "Bohemians." Men are sent to the galleys. Women and girls are flogged, branded and banished.

1682. Louis XIV reiterates his previous policy: punishment for being "Bohemian." Men are sentenced to the galleys for life on the first offence. Women's heads are shaved and children are sent to the poor house. For a second offence, women are branded and banished.

1685. Portugal deports Roma to Brasil, and makes it a crime to speak Romani.

1686. Frederick William, elector of Brandenburg, decrees that Roma are not to be allowed trade or shelter.

There is a sudden and radical change in the attitude of the Swedish Lutheran Church. Roma are now accepted and their children may be christened.

1710. In Prague, Joseph I issues an edict that all adult Roma men will be hanged without trial and that boys and women be mutilated. In Bohemia, the left ear is to be cut off. In Moravia the right ear is to be cut off. Lodging or otherwise aiding Roma is punishable by up to six months forced labour.

Prince Adolf Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz issues orders that all Roma can be flogged, branded, expelled, or executed if they return. Children under ten are to be removed and raised by Christian families.

1711. Elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony authorizes shooting of Roma if they resist arrest.

1711-1772. Cinka Panna is one of the most popular musicians in Slovakia and eastern Europe. A maestro violinist, she tours with her own Romani musical ensemble.

1714. British merchants and planters apply to the Privy Council to ship Gypsies to the Caribbean, avowedly to be used as slaves.

In Mainz, all Roma are to be executed without trial on the grounds that their way of life is outlawed.

Romani music bands are recorded to travel in the Austro-Hungarian court of Esterháza. They accompany the dancing of soldiers playing verbunkos, in recruiting efforts for Nicolas the Magnificent's military operations.

1715. Ten Gypsies in Scotland are recorded deported to Virginia in the Americas.

1717. Forty-one localities are set out in Spain as places of residence for Gitanos.

1719 and other years. In France, sentencing for being Roma is altered from the galleys to deportation to French colonies.

1721. Emperor Karl VI of the Austro-Hungarian empire orders the extermination of Roma throughout his domain.

1723. Roma are prohibited from residence in the Lorraine, gathering in the woods or main roads. Punishment is banishment. Communities are encouraged "to gather, march in formation and open fire on them."

1724. All vagabonds and vagrants are prohibited by Louis XV of France from residence and nomadism and gathering of more than four adults in a house. Adult men are sentenced to the galleys for five years. All others are flogged and sent to the poor house.

1725. Frederick William I condemns any Roma over eighteen caught in his territory, man or woman, to be hanged without trial.

1726. Gitanos in Spain are forbidden to appeal against the sentences of the courts.

Charles VI passes a law that any Rom found in the country are to be killed instantly. Romani women and children are to have their ears cut off and whipped all the way to the border.

1727. Berne decree no.13 reiterates that Roma are forbidden to stay. "Gypsy men and women of more than fifteen years of age shall have one ear cut off the first time they are caught ... but if they are caught a second time they shall be sentenced to death."

1728. The town council of Aachen passes an ordinance condemning Roma to death. "Captured Gypsies, whether they resist or not, shall be put to death immediately. However, those seized who do not resort to counter-attack shall be granted no more than a half an hour to kneel, if they so wish, beg God almighty to forgive them their sins and to prepare themselves for death."

1733. Empress Anna Ioannovna of Russia decrees Roma are forbidden to travel and must settle down as serfs of the land.

1734. Frederick William I decrees that any Roma caught in his territory, man or woman, will be hanged without trial. A reward is offered.

1740. The Guild of Locksmiths at Miskolc in Hungary canvas successfully for an order to stop Roma from doing any metalwork outside their tents.

Charles VI issues an edict that anyone caught aiding Roma will be punished.

1745. Gitanos in Spain must settle in assigned places within two weeks. The punishment for failure is execution. "It is legal to fire upon them to take their life." The Churches no longer provide asylum. Armed troops are ordered to comb the countryside.

1748. All Swedish laws concerning Gypsies are integrated into one law, intending to prevent further immigration and to force Roma to settle.

1749. The year of the "Great Gypsy Round-up" in Spain. Gitanos are separated from "the bad and the good" through inquiries and witnesses reports. For the "bad," punishment is forced public works. Escapees are hanged. Motherless girls are sent to poor houses or into service for "honest" people. Older girls and wives of sentenced men with children under seven are "educated in Christian doctrine and the holy fear of God" and sent to factories.

1759. Roma are banned from Saint Petersburg, Russia.

1761. Maria Theresa, Empress of Hungary, passes first laws in Europe trying to settle and reform, or assimilate, Roma, calling them the "New Hungarians."

1763. In the Austro-Hungarian empire, Székely Von Doba first brings Pastor Stephan Valyi's findings about the Indian origins of the Roma to academic attention in the November 6 edition of The Vienna Gazette.

1764. All vagabonds and vagrants are denied residence in France with renewed legislation. Adult men are sentenced to the galleys for three years. All others are confined to the poor house for three years, and are then given a choice of domicile and a trade. Repeated offences by men result in the galleys for nine years, and in several repeat offences, in perpetuity.

1764-1827. János Bihari, Rom composer and bandleader, popularises "Hungarian dance" music.

1773. In December, Maria Theresa, Empress of Hungary, orders all Romani children over five in the Palatinate of Pressburg and at Fahlendorf to be taken from their parents. They are transported to distant villages and assigned to peasants to bring them up for a stipend of 12-18 florins a year. Most of the children run away to rejoin their families, who take refuge in the mountains or disappear in the plains.

1776. Constantin, Prince of Moldavia, prohibits marriages to Roma.

1780. English anti-Gypsy laws are gradually repealed, though not totally, from this date on.

1782. Joseph II of Hungary, son of Empress Maria Theresa, issues a 59-point edict reiterating his policy: schooling for children and compulsory attendance at religious services; Romani language, clothing and music are forbidden.

In Hungary, two hundred Roma are accused and charged with cannibalism.

1783. Spanish legislation reiterates previous orders. Gitano dress, way of life, language is forbidden, and settlement is compulsory within ninety days. The name Gitano is forbidden and is to be removed from all official documents. Restrictions on trade and place of residence of Gitanos is lifted. Punishment for failure to observe restrictions is branding. Repeat offenders are sentenced to "death, with no appeal."

Heinrich Grellman of Göttingen University writes Die Zigeuner. Drawing on the works of previous writers, he links India as the original homeland of the Gypsies through their language.

Late 18th century. Count Orlov of Russia organises the first Romani chorus, headed by Ivan Sokolov. The chorus members are selected from his Romani serfs.

1802. The prefect of the department of Basses Pyrenees in France issues an order "to purge the country of Gypsies."

1803. Napolean Bonaparte prohibits residence of Roma in France. Children, women and the aged are sentenced to the poor house. Young men are given their choice of joining the navy or army. Adult men are sent to forced labour.

1807. Count Orlov of Russia frees the artists of his Romani chorus and they become the first professional chorus in Russia. The group includes the famous Stepanida Soldatova.

1811. Trinity Cooper, a Gypsy girl aged thirteen, demands to be let into a charity school for "ragged children" in Clapham, near London, with her two brothers. They are finally admitted.

1816. John Hoyland, a Quaker, writes the first serious book calling for better treatment for Gypsies in England. Several charitable projects follow; but many Gypsies are transported as criminals to Australia.

1822. In the United Kingdom, the Turnpike Act is introduced. Gypsies found camping on the roadside are fined.

1830s. First wooden horse-drawn covered waggons for Gypsies are developed in England.

1830. Authorities in Nordhausen, Germany remove Roma children from their families for fostering with non-Roma.

1834. The governour of Wallachia, Alexander Ghica, frees all state slaves.

1837. George Borrow translates Saint Luke's Gospel into Romani.

1842. The hospodar of Moldavia, Mihail Sturdza, emancipates all state slaves; however, in Wallachia and Moldavia private ownership of Romani slaves is still legally permitted.

1844. The Moldavian Church liberates its Romani slaves.

1847. The Wallachian Church liberates its Romani slaves.

1848. Emancipation of serfs (including Roma) in Transylvania.

A decree issued in the Duchy of Baden warns the citizens that "in recent times, Gypsies, especially from Alsace, have frequently been re-entering and travelling about with their families, purportedly to engage in trade but mostly for the purposes of begging or other illegal activities."

1856. The Slobuzenja. Abolition of slavery in Romania; large-scale emigrations of Roma to western Europe and America begin.

1864. Complete legal freedom for Roma in the united Balkan states is granted by Prince Ioan Alexandru Couza.

1868. In Holland, Richard Liebich's work on Roma introduces the phrase "lives unworthy of life" with specific reference to them, and later used as a racial category against Roma in Nazi Germany.

1870. Imperial Chancellor Otto von Bismarck circulates a letter dated November 18th demanding the "complete prohibition of foreign Gypsies crossing the German border," and that "they will be transported by the closest route to their country of origin." He also states that Roma in Germany be asked to show documentary proof of citizenship, and that if this is not forthcoming, they be denied travelling passes.

1874. Muslim Roma are given equal rights with other Muslims in the Ottoman Empire.

A decree is issued in Bavaria which calls for the strictest examination of documentation held by Roma, both at the borders and inland, and the confiscation of their work permits wherever the slightest reason warrants. Their horses are also to be examined and confiscated if deemed unhealthy. The movements of those Gypsies who are allowed to remain are still to be carefully monitored.

1879. A national conference of Roma is convened in Kisfalu, Hungary.

Nomadism is banned in Serbia.

1880s. Agricultural depression in England brings poverty to many Gypsies, who move to squatter areas near towns.

Argentina forbids Roma entry into country.

1884. Dr. Sonya Kavalevsky, a Romni, is appointed professor of mathematics at Stockholm University becoming the first female professor in Scandinavia.

1885-95. Unsuccessful attempts in England to introduce the Moveable Dwellings Bills in Parliament to regulate Gypsy life.

1885. Roma are excluded by United States immigration policy; many are returned to Europe.

1886. Chancellor von Bismarck issues a directive to the governments of all regions of Germany alerting them to "complaints about the mischief caused by bands of Gypsies travelling in the Reich, and their increasing molestation of the population," and states that foreign Roma are to be dealt with in particular. This leads to the creation of many regional policies designed to deport non-German-born Roma.

Nomadism is banned in Bulgaria.

1889. The Showmen's Guild formed to oppose the Moveable Dwellings Bills. Showmen begin to become a distinct group from other Travellers or Gypsies.

1890. The Swabian parliament organizes a conference on the "Gypsy Scum" (Das Zigeunergeschmeiß), and suggests means by which the presence of Roma could be signalled from village to village by ringing church bells. The military is empowered to apprehend and move Roma on.

1899. An Information Agency, the Central Office for Fighting the Gypsy Nuisance (Nachrichtendienst in Bezug auf die Zigeuner), is established in Munich under the direction of Alfred Dillmann to collate reports on Roma movement throughout German lands, and a register of all Gypsies over the age of six is begun. This includes obtaining photographs, fingerprints and other genealogical data, and particularly information relating to "criminality." This leads to two initiatives: Dillmann's Zigeuner-Buch (1905), and the December 1911 conference. This agency does not officially close down until 1970.

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Cronologia degli zingari dal 400 al 1600 | dal 1600 al 1899 | dal 1900 ad oggi