Origen

RUSSIAN ORIGIN

Though until now we have not been able to find evidences confirming that Orobitg has a foreign origin, the family legend has make us being interested in the Russian and Tartar surnames. Please note that Catalan people from the Middle Ages said ‘Tartar’ to mean those people coming from Oriental Europe and Russia.

The Horowitz family

Some years ago, we paid attention to the surname of a famous pianist of Russian origin, Mr Vladimir Horowitz. With a lot of imagination but no scientific reasoning, we tried to find links between the ‘Horowitz’ and the ‘Orobitg’ families as follows:

As ‘H’ is not pronounced in Catalan, Horowitz could have evolved as (Horowitz --> Orowitz)
As ‘W’ is a letter rarely used in Catalan, notary public could have easily transformed (Orowitz into --> Orovitz)
The end of the Orobitg surname in Catalan is still nowadays difficult to pronounce, thus getting into confusion quite frequently when writing it. Moreover, the ‘z’ in small letters can easily be read in Catalan as ‘g’ (Orovitz --> Orovitg)

Horowitz – Orobitg, non – verified development of the surname

Internet allowed us to find a wide developed web – site (www.geocities.com/horowitzassociation/) that has confirmed that there are no origin links between the Horowitz and the Orobitg families.

It explains that the Horowitz is a Jewish family of Czech origin. They say that one of the families thrown out of Spain at the end of the XV century settled in a Czech village called Horevice. When years later it moved to Prague, they decided to use the name of the village as a surname.

Should the Orobitg from Catalonia had been Jewish, this fact would have been registered in the ancient documents we have been gathering. We can confirm however, that in those documents there is no mention of this fact. Moreover, if the origin of the Horowitz surname is dated on the XV century and we have been able to find a document registering Mr Arnaldi Orvig (Cervera) in 1249, we are able to confirm that ‘Horowitz’ and ‘Orobitg’ do not share the same origin.

Nowadays, ‘Horowitz’ is a common surname in Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Israel and the USA. This fact is quite understandable considering that Jewish people are characterised by their high mobility.

Logo of the Horowitz Association

The Tartar people

People coming from a wide range of destinations arrived in Catalonia from the XIII century onwards. Some came as slaves, whereas others due to trade relationships or other reasons. Some slaves of wealthy families were known as Tartar. Please note that at that time in Catalonia any person known as Tartar meant that he – she came from any country of a wide Asian area (from the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean) that was either governed by Tartarian people or whose inhabitants came from Tartaria.

Map of Europe in the XV century. Published in 1905. It specifies the 'Tartar' denomination under 'Russia'. The area located on the East side of the Black Sea (marked within a cycle) was considered Tartar.

Ancient map of Europe indicating Tartaria

Strange though it may seem, during the Middle Ages some people travelled to distant countries. They had different reasons to do so: Christian process in the Middle East and North African countries, trade of exotic products (saffron, species, silk, tints, gold, …), immigration in order to search a new country to settle in or to escape from wars or fighting conflicts, ...

Though until now we have not been able to find any document certifying the existence of some Orobitg of foreign origin, the fact of the migratory movements of Tartarian people towards the Western European countries provide the legend of our family with a certain degree of credibility.

In any case, we should not forget that the most ancient Orobitg found until now (Mr Arnaldi Orvig, Cervera, 1249) belongs to a period when the migratory movements and the expansion over the Mediterranean had just started. Mr Arnaldi Orvig (1249) was the owner of a piece of land, therefore he was not a slave. However, we should bear in mind as well that in some cases slaves were allowed to get their freedom and be owners of land properties.

Nowadays, there is a Russian Republic called Tartarstan, which is located in the central area of this country. It has 3,873,600 inhabitants, 44% Russian and 48% Tartarian.

Map detailing the localisation of Tatarstan (2003)

RUSSIAN ORIGIN
	Though until now we have not been able to find evidences confirming that Orobitg has a foreign origin, the family legend has make us being interested in the Russian and Tartar surnames. Please note that Catalan people from the Middle Ages said ‘Tartar’ to mean those people coming from Oriental Europe and Russia.
	The Horowitz family Some years ago, we paid attention to the surname of a famous pianist of Russian origin, Mr Vladimir Horowitz. With a lot of imagination but no scientific reasoning, we tried to find links between the ‘Horowitz’ and the ‘Orobitg’ families as follows:
	As ‘H’ is not pronounced in Catalan, Horowitz could have evolved as (Horowitz --> Orowitz) As ‘W’ is a letter rarely used in Catalan, notary public could have easily transformed (Orowitz into --> Orovitz) The end of the Orobitg surname in Catalan is still nowadays difficult to pronounce, thus getting into confusion quite frequently when writing it. Moreover, the ‘z’ in small letters can easily be read in Catalan as ‘g’ (Orovitz --> Orovitg)
			Horowitz – Orobitg, non – verified development of the surname
	Internet allowed us to find a wide developed web – site (www.geocities.com/horowitzassociation/) that has confirmed that there are no origin links between the Horowitz and the Orobitg families. It explains that the Horowitz is a Jewish family of Czech origin. They say that one of the families thrown out of Spain at the end of the XV century settled in a Czech village called Horevice. When years later it moved to Prague, they decided to use the name of the village as a surname. Should the Orobitg from Catalonia had been Jewish, this fact would have been registered in the ancient documents we have been gathering. We can confirm however, that in those documents there is no mention of this fact. Moreover, if the origin of the Horowitz surname is dated on the XV century and we have been able to find a document registering Mr Arnaldi Orvig (Cervera) in 1249, we are able to confirm that ‘Horowitz’ and ‘Orobitg’ do not share the same origin. Nowadays, ‘Horowitz’ is a common surname in Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Israel and the USA. This fact is quite understandable considering that Jewish people are characterised by their high mobility.
			Logo of the Horowitz Association
	The Tartar people People coming from a wide range of destinations arrived in Catalonia from the XIII century onwards. Some came as slaves, whereas others due to trade relationships or other reasons. Some slaves of wealthy families were known as Tartar. Please note that at that time in Catalonia any person known as Tartar meant that he – she came from any country of a wide Asian area (from the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean) that was either governed by Tartarian people or whose inhabitants came from Tartaria.

	Map of Europe in the XV century. Published in 1905. It specifies the 'Tartar' denomination under 'Russia'. The area located on the East side of the Black Sea (marked within a cycle) was considered Tartar.	Ancient map of Europe indicating Tartaria
	Strange though it may seem, during the Middle Ages some people travelled to distant countries. They had different reasons to do so: Christian process in the Middle East and North African countries, trade of exotic products (saffron, species, silk, tints, gold, …), immigration in order to search a new country to settle in or to escape from wars or fighting conflicts, ...
	Though until now we have not been able to find any document certifying the existence of some Orobitg of foreign origin, the fact of the migratory movements of Tartarian people towards the Western European countries provide the legend of our family with a certain degree of credibility. In any case, we should not forget that the most ancient Orobitg found until now (Mr Arnaldi Orvig, Cervera, 1249) belongs to a period when the migratory movements and the expansion over the Mediterranean had just started. Mr Arnaldi Orvig (1249) was the owner of a piece of land, therefore he was not a slave. However, we should bear in mind as well that in some cases slaves were allowed to get their freedom and be owners of land properties. Nowadays, there is a Russian Republic called Tartarstan, which is located in the central area of this country. It has 3,873,600 inhabitants, 44% Russian and 48% Tartarian.

	Map detailing the localisation of Tatarstan (2003)