Statuta Valachorum

Statuta Valachorum ("Vlach Statute(s)", Serbo-Croatian: Vlaški statut(i)) was a decree issued by Emperor Ferdinand II of the Habsburg Monarchy on 5 October 1630 that defined the rights of "Vlachs" (a term used for a community of mostly Orthodox refugees, mainly Serbs) in the Military Frontier, in a way that it placed them under direct rule by Vienna, removing the jurisdiction of the Croatian parliament. This was one of three major laws enacted in the early 17th century on the taxation and tenancy rights of the Vlachs, together with the earlier 1608 decree by Emperor Rudolf II and a 1627 decree by Ferdinand.

In the mid-16th century, the Military Frontier was established as a buffer against the Ottoman Empire. Balkan refugees, including Serbs, crossed into Habsburg lands. Military colonists were exempted from some obligations and granted small land tracts, and allowed to elect their own captains (vojvode) and magistrates (knezovi). Slavonia (including the Varaždin Generalate) was continuously settled by Serbs from various regions since the 15th century. A large migration of Serbs (called "people of Rascians or Vlachs") into Croatia and Slavonia from Ottoman territory took place in 1600. Freedom of religion was promised to all Orthodox settlers. The Habsburg Monarchy was effectively divided into separate civil and military parts with Emperor Ferdinand's granting full civil and military authority of the Military Frontier to a general officer in 1553. This displeased the Hungarian Diet and Croatian nobility, stripped of their authority in the Frontier. The Croatians tried to reduce the Frontier's autonomy; the incorporation of the Frontier into Croatia would mean the loss of status and prerogative of the Grenzers (Frontiersmen).

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