Rascians

Rascians (Latin: Rasciani, Natio Rasciana) was an exonym in the early modern period that designated Serbs of the Habsburg Monarchy, and in a wider perspective other related South Slavic ethnic groups of the Monarchy, such as the Catholic Bunjevci and Šokci (designated "Catholic Rascians"). The term was derived from the "Raška" (Rascia), a medieval Serbian region and exonym of the medieval Serbian state in Western sources. Because of the large concentration of Serbs in the southern Pannonian Plain, this region was called Rascia, today encompassing territories of Croatia (Slavonia), Serbia (Vojvodina), Hungary and Romania.

Etymology

The demonym Latin: Rasciani, Natio Rasciana''; Serbian: Раци/Raci, Расцијани/Rascijani; Hungarian: Rác, (pl.) Rácok; German: Ratzen, Raize, (pl.) Raizen, anglicized as "Rascians". The name, primarily used by Hungarians and Germans, derived from the pars pro toto "Raška" (Rascia), a medieval Serbian region. The territory inhabited primarily by the Serbs in the Habsburg Monarchy was called Latin: Rascia; Serbian: Raška/Рашка; Hungarian: Ráczság, Ráczország, rácz tartomány,; German: Ratzenland, Rezenland.