David M. Crowe, professor of history, recently published a lengthy article in the Austrian History Yearbook, “From Persecution to Pragmatism: The Habsburg Roma in the Eighteenth Century.”
Crowe’s article, which is based upon 18th century Hungarian and Austrian records, challenges the traditional view that Habsburg polices of forced assimilation and sedentarization towards the Roma or Gypsies was based on mere prejudice. In fact, Crowe writes, these policies had more to do with the cameralist or mercantilist efforts of rulers such as Charles VI, Maria Theresa, and Joseph II to force the Roma to become stable, settled, tax paying citizens.