Nicolae Iorga și școala ardeleană. Gheorghe Șincai, reevaluarea unui portret

Nicolae Iorga’s research on Transilvania, published in the second volume of Istoriei literaturii române, sugestively titled Epoca lui Petru Maior (The epoch of Petru Maior) is a landmark for the theme of Școala Ardeleană, opening new investigation paths. The historiography of the Romanian Enlightenment in Transylvania or the history of books and printing are topics that have the first edition of Istoria literaturii române în secolul al XVIII-lea as mandatory bibliographic reference even now, more than 100 years after its publication. Within the work, the research dedicated to Gheorghe Şincai resulted in a portrait combining the general analysis of the life path and historical work from the positions and with the instruments of the literary historian. Nicolae Iorga’s study played the role of a model, its form and background being invoked in many subsequent pieces of research. One of the images of Gheorghe Șincai, perpetuated in the pages of historiography, we also owe to Nicolae Iorga: „a different nature than the gentle monk of Blaj, a fiery, stubborn, harsh temperament. An apostle other than the preacher with the spirit of meekness, a warrior who proclaims the new truth in the hearing of all, a prophet by the sword, who has come to bring war”. Regarding the contribution to the development of the Romanian historical writing, Șincai is considered by Nicolae Iorga a compiler, and his representative work, Hronica românilor, a compilation. In the light of the progress of the methods of text analysis, of the inclination towards the detailed research of the manuscript collections of the Transylvanian Enlightenment, the present study proposes a re-evaluation of Gheorghe Șincai’s scientific profile and a reconsideration of the role of his historical writing on the road to modernity.