The Middle Ages in Romania began with the withdrawal of the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
, the last of the migrating populations to invade the territory of modern
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, after
their attack of 1241–1242. It came to an end with the reign of
Michael the Brave
Michael the Brave ( ro, Mihai Viteazul or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593 – 1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Transylvania (1599 – 1600). ...
(1593–1601) who managed, for a short time in 1600, to rule
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...
,
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...
, and
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
, the three principalities whose territories were to be united some three centuries later to form Romania.
Over most of this period,
Banat
Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...
,
Crișana
Crișana ( hu, Körösvidék, german: Kreischgebiet) is a geographical and historical region in north-western Romania, named after the Criș (Körös) River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru, and Crișul Repede. In Roma ...
,
Maramureș
Maramureș or Marmaroshchyna ( ro, Maramureș ; uk, Мармарощина, Marmaroshchyna; hu, Máramaros) is a geographical, historical and cultural region in northern Romania and western Ukraine. It is situated in the northeastern Carpath ...
, and Transylvania – now
regions in Romania to the west of the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
– were part of the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
. They were divided into several types of administrative units, such as "
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
" and "
seats
A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense.
Types of seat
The following are examples of different kinds of seat:
* Armchair, a chair equ ...
". The heads of the Transylvanian counties or "
counts
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty'' ...
" were subordinated to a special royal official called ''
voivode
Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...
'', but the province was seldom treated as a single unit, since the
Székely and
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
seats were administered separately. In the kingdom,
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
peasants, being
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
, were exempt from the
tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...
, an ecclesiastical tax payable by all
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
commoners. However, Romanian noblemen slowly lost the ability to participate in political life, as the 14th-century monarchs pursued a zealous pro-Catholic policy. Their position became even worse after 1437 when the so-called "
Union of Three Nations
Unio Trium Nationum (Latin for "Union of the Three Nations") was a pact of mutual aid codified in 1438 by three Estates of the realm, Estates of Voivodeship of Transylvania, Transylvania: the (largely Hungarians, Hungarian) nobility, the Transylva ...
", an alliance of the Hungarian noblemen, the Székelys, and the Saxons, was formed in order to crush the
Bobâlna peasant uprising.
Wallachia, the first independent
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
state between the Carpathians and the
lower Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
was created when
Basarab I
Basarab I (), also known as Basarab the Founder ( ro, Basarab Întemeietorul; c. 1270 – 1351/1352), was a ''voivode'' and later the first independent ruler of Wallachia who lived in the first half of the . Many details of his life are uncerta ...
(' 1310–1352) terminated the
suzerainty
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...
of the
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...
with his victory in the
battle of Posada
The Battle of Posada (9–12 November 1330)Djuvara, pp. 19– "''... marea bătălie zisă de la Posada (9–12 noiembrie 1330)''". was fought between Basarab I of Wallachia and Charles I of Hungary (also known as Charles Robert).
The small Wall ...
in 1330. The independence of Moldavia, to the east of the Carpathians, was achieved by
Bogdan I (1359–1365), a nobleman from the
Voivodeship of Maramureș
The Voivodeship of Maramureș ( ro, Voievodatul Maramureșului, or ), was a Romanian voivodeship centered in the region of the same name. It was the most powerful Romanian entity in or around Transylvania during its time. The Voivodeship of Mar ...
, who led a revolt against the former ruler who was appointed by the Hungarian monarch. The independence of the two principalities, however, was rarely secure, and
vassalage
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...
to multiple states became an important aspect of their diplomacy. Although Wallachia paid tribute to the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
from 1417, and Moldavia from 1456, their two medieval monarchs,
Mircea the Old of Wallachia (1386–1418) and
Stephen the Great of Moldavia (1457–1504) conducted successful military operations against the
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
. The two principalities' trade with other parts of Europe began to decrease after the last decades of the 15th century. Before this the sale of
hides, grain, honey, and wax to the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
,
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, and Poland, and the import of silk, weapons and other manufactured goods from these areas had been widespread, but by the end of the 16th century the Ottoman Empire became the main market for Romanian products.
Transylvania, together with the neighboring counties, gained the status of an autonomous state under Ottoman suzerainty after the central territories of the Kingdom of Hungary had been annexed by the Ottomans in 1541. The fall of the kingdom also deprived Wallachia and Moldavia of their main ally in the struggle against the Ottoman Empire. In 1594, Michael the Brave of Wallachia joined the anti-Ottoman alliance initiated by
Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605.
Born ...
. After a series of victory over the Ottomans, he turned against Transylvania and Moldavia where pro-Polish and pro-Ottoman princes were reigning. He invaded and occupied Transylvania in 1599, and Moldavia in 1600. Although the personal union of the three countries collapsed four months later, it served as an ideal for later generations working for the unification of the lands that now form Romania.
Early Middle Ages
At the end of the 8th century the establishment of the
Khazar Khaganate
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
north of the
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains,
: pronounced
* hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ,
: pronounced
* az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced
* rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ
* tr, Kafkas Dağla ...
created an obstacle in the path of nomadic people moving westward.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 52.] In the following period, the local population of the Carpathian–Danubian area profited from the peaceful political climate and a unitary
material culture
Material culture is the aspect of social reality grounded in the objects and architecture that surround people. It includes the usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects as well as the behaviors, norms, and rituals that the objects creat ...
, called "
Dridu", that developed in the region.
[Spinei 2009, p. 50.] Finds from the ''Dridu'' settlements, such as
coulters and
sickle
A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, ei ...
s, confirm the role of agriculture in their economy.
In the 9th century centrifugal movements commenced in the Khazar Kaghanate.
One of the subject peoples, the
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
left its dominion and settled in the region between the rivers
Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
and
Dniester
The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...
.
They abandoned the
steppes
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
and crossed the Carpathians around 896. According to the 13th-century ''
Gesta Hungarorum
''Gesta Hungarorum'', or ''The Deeds of the Hungarians'', is the earliest book about Hungarian history which has survived for posterity. Its genre is not chronicle, but ''gesta'', meaning "deeds" or "acts", which is a medieval entertaining li ...
'' ("Deeds of the Hungarians"), at the time of the Hungarian invasion Transylvania was inhabited by Romanians and
Slavs
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
and ruled by
Gelou
Gelou ( ro, Gelu; hu, Gyalu) was the Vlach ruler of Transylvania at the time of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin around 900 AD, according to the ''Gesta Hungarorum''. Although the ''Gesta Hungarorum'', which was written after 115 ...
, "a certain Romanian", while Crișana was inhabited by several peoples, among them Székelys. Whether the author of the ''Gesta'' had any knowledge of the real conditions of the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries remains debated by historians.
In 953 the ''
gyula'', the second leader in rank of the
Hungarian tribal federation, converted to Christianity in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
. Around that time, according to the
Byzantine Emperor
This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
Constantine VII
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Kar ...
, the Hungarians controlled the region on the border of modern Romania and Hungary along the rivers
Timiș,
Mureș,
Criș, Tisa and ''Toutis''. In 1003, as the ''Annals of Hildesheim'' narrates,
Stephen I, the first crowned monarch of Hungary (''c.'' 1000–1038) "led an army against his maternal uncle,
King Gyula", and occupied Gyula's country.
Stephen I granted privileges to the Roman Catholic Church, for example by ordering the general imposition of the tithe upon the population. Burials in most local pre-Christian cemeteries, for example at
Hunedoara
Hunedoara (; german: Eisenmarkt; hu, Vajdahunyad ) is a municipiu, city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southwestern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boș (''Bós''), Groș ...
, only ceased around 1100. Stephen I also divided his kingdom, including the territories of modern Romania he had occupied, into counties, that is administrative units around royal fortresses, each administered by a royal official called count.
[Sedlar 1994, p. 275.] In time the ''voivode'', a higher royal official first attested in 1176, became the principal of all the counts in Transylvania. In contrast with Transylvania, the counts in modern Banat and Crișana remained in direct contact with the king who appointed and replaced them at will.
From the end of the 9th century the
Pechenegs
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა ...
controlled the territories to the east and south of the Carpathians. According to the ''
Eymund's saga'', they fought together with the ''
Blökkumen'' ("Romanians") in the
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
in the 1010s. The Pechenegs were swept aside from their territories by the
Cumans
The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...
between 1064 and 1078. A late variant of the oldest
Turkish chronicle, the ''
Oghuz-name'' relates that the Cumans defeated many nations, including the ''Ulâq'' ("Romanians"). Some of the Pechenegs fled into the Kingdom of Hungary where they were employed to guard the border districts, for instance in Transylvania.
The 11th-century settlements in Transylvania are characterized by small
huts
A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...
with ceramic assemblages marked by clay
cauldrons
A cauldron (or caldron) is a large pot (kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in religion, mythology, and f ...
. The increasing number of coin finds suggests that the province experienced economic growth in the late 11th century. The first document pertaining to the province is a royal charter of 1075 referring to taxes on salt levied at
Turda
Turda (; hu, Torda, ; german: link=no, Thorenburg; la, Potaissa) is a city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the Europe ...
. The earliest precious metal mine in medieval Transylvania, the silver mine at
Rodna
Rodna (formerly ''Rodna Veche''; hu, Óradna, Radna; german: Altrodenau) is a commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Rodna and Valea Vinului (''Radnaborberek'').
Its name is derived from a Sl ...
was first mentioned in 1235.
In the 12th and 13th centuries ''hospites'' ("guest settlers") arrived in Transylvania from Germany and from the
French-speaking
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
regions on the river
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
who in time became collectively known as "Saxons". In 1224
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II ( hu, II. András, hr, Andrija II., sk, Ondrej II., uk, Андрій II; 117721 September 1235), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 1188 ...
(1205–1235) granted special liberties to the Saxons who had settled in southern Transylvania. For instance, they were authorized to choose their local leaders; only the head of the entire community, the count of Sibiu, was appointed by the king. They were also granted the right to use "the forest of the Romanians and the Pechenegs". The first references to
viniculture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ra ...
in Transylvania are connected to the vineyards of the ''hospites'' of
Cricău
Cricău ( hu, Boroskrakkó; german: Krakau) is a commune located in the central part of Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 2,097 and is composed of three villages: Craiva (''Királypataka''), Cricău and Tibru (''Tibor'') ...
,
Ighiu
Ighiu ( hu, Magyarigen; german: Grabendorf) is a commune located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The commune is composed of five villages: Bucerdea Vinoasă (''Borosbocsárd''), Ighiel (''Igenpataka''), Ighiu, Șard (''Sárd'') and Țelna ...
, and
Romos
Romos (german: Rumes; hu, Romosz) is a commune in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, ...
.
As a result of the Saxon immigration, the Székelys – Hungarian-speaking free warriors cultivating communal lands – were transferred to the southeast of the province. From the 13th century they were governed independently from the ''voivode'' by a royal official, the
count of the Székelys
The Count of the Székelys ( hu, székelyispán, la, comes Sicolorum) was the leader of the Hungarian-speaking Székelys in Transylvania, in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. First mentioned in royal charters of the 13th century, the counts wer ...
. Besides the Saxons, the
Cistercians
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
became the agents of expansion in Transylvania. When their
abbey at Cârța was established in the early 13th century, Andrew II ordered that the strip of land running up to the mountains between the rivers
Olt
Olt or OLT may refer to:
People:
* Károly Olt (1904–1985), Hungarian politician
* Mike Olt (born 1988), American baseball player
Places:
* Olt County, a county (județ) of Romania
* Olt (river), a river in Romania
** Olt Defile, a defile that ...
,
Cârțișoara
Cârțișoara (also ''Cârța Românească''; german: Oberkerz; hu, Kercisóra) is a commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Cârțișoara. Bâlea Lake is located on the territory of Cârțișoara.
Th ...
and
Arpaș be transferred from the Romanians to the new monastery.
Following
the defeat of the Cumans by the Mongols on the river Kalka in 1223, some chieftains of the western Cuman tribes accepted the authority of the king of Hungary. Their conversion led to the creation of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania was a Latin-rite bishopric west of the Siret River (in present-day Romania) from 1228 to 1241. The lands incorporated into the diocese had been dominated by the nomadic Cumans since about 1100. Catholic missi ...
to the east of the Carpathians. However, the Orthodox Romanian population of the territory received the sacraments from "some pseudo-bishops of the Greek rite", according to a
papal bull of 1234. In 1233
Oltenia
Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...
was organized into a military frontier zone of the Kingdom of Hungary, called the
Banate of Severin
The Banate of Severin or Banate of Szörény ( hu, Szörényi bánság; ro, Banatul Severinului; la, Banatus Zewrinensis; bg, Северинско банство, ; sr, Северинска бановина, ) was a Hungarian political, mili ...
.
The expansion across the Carpathians was stopped by the invasion of the Mongols that lasted from March 31, 1241 to April, 1242. It was a major watershed in the medieval history of the region: although the number of casualties is disputed, even the most prudent estimates do not go below 15 percent of the total population.
High Middle Ages (1242–1396)
Outer-Carpathian regions
After the withdrawal from the Kingdom of Hungary, the Mongol forces halted at
Sarai (now Russia) on the
Volga River
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
where their leader,
Batu Khan
Batu Khan ( – 1255),, ''Bat haan'', tt-Cyrl, Бату хан; ; russian: хан Баты́й was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde, a constituent of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi, thus a grandson of Genghis Khan. ...
set up his own capital. Henceforth, the steppes between the rivers
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
and
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
were under the influence of the Mongols of the Volga, known as the Golden Horde. From the 1260s, a relative of Batu,
Nogai Khan
Nogai, or Noğay (; also spelled Nogay, Nogaj, Nohai, Nokhai, Noqai, Ngoche, Noche, Kara Nokhai, and Isa Nogai; died 1299/1300) was a general and kingmaker of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Bo'al/ ...
settled at
Isaccea
Isaccea (; tr, İshakçı) is a small town in Tulcea County, in Northern Dobruja, Romania, on the right bank of the Danube, 35 km north-west of Tulcea. According to the 2011 census, it has a population of 4,955.
The town has been inhabite ...
on the Lower Danube and became the absolute master of the neighboring regions. He made himself independent of the Golden Horde around 1280, but was killed in a battle in 1299.
By the middle of the 14th century, the westernmost Mongol territories had become subject to frequent Polish and Hungarian military offensives. Grand Prince
Olgierd of Lithuania penetrated farther into the territories controlled by the Golden Horde than any European army had hitherto done.
[Sedlar 1994, p. 380.] He won
a major victory over the united Mongol troops on the Dnieper near the Black Sea in 1363.
[Vásáry 2005, p. 164.]
Intra-Carpathian regions
![Oligarchs in the Kingdom of Hungary](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Oligarchs_in_the_Kingdom_of_Hungary.png)
Having been raided twice by the Mongols within a single year, Transylvania felt the consequences of the invasion of 1241–1242 for more than two decades. The administrative centers of the province, such as
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia (; german: Karlsburg or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; hu, Gyulafehérvár; la, Apulum) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the Mureș River in the historical ...
and
Cetatea de Baltă
Cetatea de Baltă ( hu, Küküllővár; german: Kokelburg) is a commune in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The commune is composed of four villages: Cetatea de Baltă, Crăciunelu de Sus (''Christendorf''; ''Felsőkarácsonyfalva''), Sântăm ...
, had been destroyed. Due to the severe depopulation, a process of organized colonization commenced that lasted for several decades. For example, a new wave of colonization resulted in the establishment of the Saxon seats of
Sighișoara
Sighișoara (; hu, Segesvár ; german: Schäßburg ; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Schäsbrich''; yi, שעסבורג, Shesburg; la, Castrum Sex) is a city on the Târnava Mare River in Mureș County, Romania. Located in the historic region of Transy ...
and
Mediaș
Mediaș (; german: Mediasch, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Medwesch''/''Medveš'', hu, Medgyes) is the second largest town in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania.
Geographic location
Mediaș is located in the middle basin of Târnava Mare River, ...
; and the lord of
Ilia received, in 1292, royal permission to settle Romanians in the lands he owned.
Since only castles built of stone and walled towns had been able to resist Mongol attacks, following the withdrawal of the Mongols the kings encouraged both the landowners and the townspeople to build stone fortifications. New stone fortresses were built, for example, at
Codlea
Codlea (; german: Zeiden; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Zäöeden''; hu, Feketehalom) is a municipiu, city in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania.
History
During the 13th century, the Teutonic Order built a fortress known as ''Schwarzburg'' ...
,
Rimetea
Rimetea or Torockó (until 1925 ''Trascău''; hu, Torockó; german: Eisenmarkt) is a commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-ter ...
, and
Unguraș
Unguraș ( hu, Bálványosváralja) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Batin (''Bátony''), Daroț (''Daróc''), Sicfa (''Székfa''), Unguraș, and Valea Ungurașului (''Csabaújfalu'').
Geograph ...
. The process of urbanization was characterized by the predominance of the Saxon towns: out of the eight towns in Transylvania, only Alba Iulia and
Dej
Dej (; hu, Dés; german: Desch, Burglos; yi, דעעש ''Desh'') is a municipality in Transylvania, Romania, north of Cluj-Napoca, in Cluj County. It lies where the river Someșul Mic meets the river Someșul Mare. The city administers four vill ...
were situated in the counties. A charter referring to inns, bakeries, and bathhouses in Rodna proves the city-like way of life of its inhabitants. Salt was still the most important item of trade in this period, but trading with oxen, maidservants, and wine is also documented in royal charters.
In 1257,
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his father ...
(1235–1270) appointed his eldest son, the future
Stephen V Stephen V may refer to:
*Pope Stephen IV, aka Stephen V, Pope from 816 to 817
*Pope Stephen V (885–891)
*Stephen V of Hungary (born before 1239 – 1272), King of Hungary and Croatia, Duke of Styria
*Stephen V Báthory
Stephen Báthory of Ecs ...
(1270–1272) to govern the kingdom's territories to the east of the Danube. Here the younger king ceded a significant part of his royal domains to
noblemen
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...
. The first years of the reign of
Ladislaus IV of Hungary
Ladislaus IV ( hu, IV. (Kun) László, hr, Ladislav IV. Kumanac, sk, Ladislav IV. Kumánsky; 5 August 1262 – 10 July 1290), also known as Ladislaus the Cuman, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1272 to 1290. His mother, Elizabeth, was ...
(1272–1290), were characterized by civil wars throughout the entire kingdom. In Transylvania, the Saxons engaged in a local conflict with the bishop, took Alba Iulia and set fire to the cathedral. The series of wars continued in 1285 with a second Mongol invasion. During its initial stage, the Székelys, the Romanians and the Saxons successfully blocked the Mongols' access and later organized a series of ambushes provoking panic among the retreating invaders.
By that time, the Romanians' military role had expanded from their original task of defending the kingdom's frontiers. They participated in several military campaigns, for example against
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
in 1260 and against
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in 1291. Their economic role became also recognized, since their pastoral activities connected to cloth production of the Saxon settlements. To the monarchs, they paid a special tax in sheep, called the "fiftieth".
Andrew III of Hungary
Andrew III the Venetian ( hu, III. Velencei András, hr, Andrija III. Mlečanin, sk, Ondrej III.; 1265 – 14 January 1301) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1290 and 1301. His father, Stephen the Posthumous, was the posthumous son of ...
(1290–1301) even ordered, in 1293, that all the Romanians who had been settled without royal permission on noble domains be returned to the royal estate of Armeni.
In the last decades of the 13th century, ''congregatio generalis'' ("general assembly") convoked by the monarchs or their representatives became an important organ of
court system
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance w ...
. For instance, the general assembly convoked in 1279 by Ladislaus IV for seven counties – among them
Bihor, Crasna,
Sătmar, and Zărand in the territory what is now Romania – ended with sentencing a despotic person to death. The first charter referring to a general assembly of the Transylvanian counties was recorded in 1288. A general assembly of the Transylvanian nobles, Saxons, Székelys and Romanians was convoked personally by the monarch in 1291.
When Andrew III died in 1301, the entire kingdom was in the hands of a
dozen powerful noblemen. Among them,
Roland Borsa Roland Borsa (; ro, Roland Borşa ; died 1301) was voivode of Transylvania for 3 periods in the late 13th century. He was known for battling the Mongol invasions and, later, for rebelling against King Charles I's attempts to control his territory. ...
ruled Crișana,
Theodore Vejtehi
Theodore Vejtehi ( hu, Vejtehi Tivadar, ro, Teodor Voitici; died 1327), also Theodore Csanád, was an influential lord in the Kingdom of Hungary at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, who ruled the Banate of Severin ( hu, Szörénység) ''de ...
gained the upper hand in the Banat, and
Ladislaus Kán
Ladislaus ( or according to the case) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin.
It may refer to:
* Ladislaus of Hungary (disambiguation)
* Ladislaus I (disambiguation)
* Ladislaus II (disambiguation)
* Ladislaus III (disambiguation)
* Ladi ...
governed Transylvania.
[Vásáry 2005, p. 149.] The latter's authority was also recognized by the Saxons and the Székelys. He even assumed royal prerogatives, such as taking over lands lacking rightful owners. After 1310, he acknowledged
Charles I of Hungary
Charles I, also known as Charles Robert ( hu, Károly Róbert; hr, Karlo Robert; sk, Karol Róbert; 128816 July 1342) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of ...
(1301–1342) as his sovereign, but in fact continued to rule independently. The king who transferred his residence to
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
in 1315 could only strengthen his authority after a long series of confrontations. For instance,
Ciceu
Ciceu ( hu, Csíkcsicsó , or colloquially ) is a commune in Romania, located in Harghita County. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. The commune is composed of two villages:
*Ciaracio / Csaracsó
*Cic ...
, the last stronghold of Ladislaus Kán's sons surrendered in 1321.
After the king's victory, one of his loyal adherents,
Thomas Szécsényi
Thomas (I) Szécsényi ( hu, Szécsényi (I.) Tamás; died 1354) was a Hungarian powerful baron and soldier, who rose to prominence during King Charles I's war against the oligarchs. He belonged to the so-called "new aristocracy", who supported th ...
was appointed ''voivode'' who suppressed a Saxon revolt in 1324. At that time, the autonomous Saxon province was divided into seats, each administered by a judge appointed by the king. In appreciation of the Transylvanian noblemen's services in the crushing of the revolt, Charles I exempted them from the taxes they had so far paid to the ''voivode''s.
In this period, one of the major incentives for the growth of Transylvanian towns was the trade with Wallachia and Moldavia. For instance, Brașov was granted a
staple right
The staple right, also translated stacking right or storage right, both from the Dutch ''stapelrecht'', was a medieval right accorded to certain ports, the staple ports. It required merchant barges or ships to unload their goods at the port and to ...
in 1369 with respect to the trade in cloth from Poland or Germany.
[Sedlar 1994, p. 356.] Thereafter, foreign merchants had to sell their most sought-after merchandise,
broadcloth
Broadcloth is a dense, plain woven cloth, historically made of wool. The defining characteristic of broadcloth is not its finished width but the fact that it was woven much wider (typically 50 to 75% wider than its finished width) and then hea ...
to the tradesmen of Brașov who resold it in Wallachia in exchange for animals, cotton, wax and honey.
In the 14th century, the name "
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
" was generalized for the forms of territorial organizations of the Romanians, but only few of them, for instance their district in
Bereg County
Bereg ( rue, Береґ; ) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now mostly in western Ukraine and a smaller part in northeastern Hungary. The capital of the county was Beregszász ("Berehove" in Ukra ...
(now in Hungary and Ukraine), achieved official recognition.
Maramureș
Maramureș or Marmaroshchyna ( ro, Maramureș ; uk, Мармарощина, Marmaroshchyna; hu, Máramaros) is a geographical, historical and cultural region in northern Romania and western Ukraine. It is situated in the northeastern Carpath ...
, where Romanians were first mentioned in 1326, was the only district that transformed, around 1380, into a county.
Louis I of Hungary
Louis I, also Louis the Great ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 ...
(1342–1382) issued
a royal decree in 1366 which prescribed firm judicial measures against "the malefactors of any nation, especially Romanians".
Louis I's decree also regulated the legal status of the ''
knezes'', the Romanians' local leaders, by establishing a distinction between ''knezes'' "brought to" their lands by royal writ whose testimony in court weighed like that of nobles ("noble ''knezes''"), and others whose evidence counted for less ("commoner ''knezes''"). This distinction, however, did not mean real nobility and grant them exemption from royal taxes, even for the noble ''knezes''. Their status corresponded to that of the Hungarian "
conditional noble
A conditional noble or predialistSegeš 2002, p. 286. ( hu, prédiális nemes; la, nobilis praedialis; hr, predijalci) was a landowner in the Kingdom of Hungary who was obliged to render specific services to his lord in return for his landholding ...
s" whose nobility depended on the specified military services they were to render.
According to a royal decree of 1428, Louis I had also ordered that only Catholics be granted land in the
Sebeș
Sebeș (; German: ''Mühlbach''; Hungarian: ''Szászsebes''; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Melnbach'') is a city in Alba County, central Romania, southern Transylvania.
Geography
The city lies in the Mureș River valley and straddles the rive ...
district of
Timiș county
Timiș () is a county ('' județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Romania in terms of land area. T ...
. As a result of official pressure, many Romanian noblemen converted to Catholicism.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 77.] For example, the members of the powerful Drágffy family turned Catholic in the 15th century. The Ottomans raided Transylvania for the first time in 1394.
Sigismund I of Hungary (1387–1437) organized a
crusade against them, but the
battle of Nicopolis
The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 and resulted in the rout of an allied crusader army of Hungarian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, French, Burgundian, German, and assorted troops (assisted by the Venetian navy) at ...
(now
Nikopol, Bulgaria
Nikopol ( bg, Никопол ; historically el, Νικόπολις, Nikópolis, la, Nicopolis, tr, Niğbolu) is a town in northern Bulgaria, the administrative center of Nikopol Municipality, part of Pleven Province, on the right bank of ...
) ended in disaster for the Christian forces in 1396.
[Treptow, Popa 1996, p. 148.]
Establishment of Wallachia
According to a charter issued by Béla IV of Hungary for the
Knights Hospitallers
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
in 1247, at that time at least four polities existed in the area to the south of the Carpathians. Two of them, the ''cnezat''s of
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
and
Farcaș
Farcaș, also Farkas, Farkaș or Farcas, was a ''cneaz'' (local chieftain or ruler) mentioned in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by king Béla IV of Hungary (1235–1270) on 2 July 1247; the diploma granted territories to the Knights Hospitalle ...
were granted to the knights, but the lands ruled by
Litovoi
Litovoi, also Litvoy, was a Vlach/Romanian ''voivode'' in the 13th century whose territory comprised northern Oltenia in today's Romania.
He is mentioned for the first time in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by king Béla IV of Hungary (1235 ...
and
Seneslau Seneslau, also Seneslav or Stănislau, was a Vlach ''voivode'' mentioned in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by king Béla IV of Hungary (1235–1270) on 2 July 1247. The diploma granted territories to the Knights Hospitaller in the Banate of Sev ...
were left "to the ''Olati''" ("Romanians") "just as they have owned it". In the 1270s, Litovoi extended his territory and stopped paying tribute to the king, but his army was defeated by the royal forces, and he was killed in the battle.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 65.]
Romanian historical tradition associates the foundation of Wallachia with the
"dismounting of Radu Negru" who crossed the Carpathians from Transylvania accompanied by "Romanians,
papist
The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...
s, Saxons, and all kind of men" around 1290.
The first sovereign of Wallachia recorded in contemporary sources was Basarab I who obtained international recognition for the independence of the principality by his victory over Charles I of Hungary in the battle of Posada on November 12, 1330.
The princes of Wallachia were chosen from among his descendants – either legitimate, or not – by an assembly of the ''boyars'' until the 16th century.
[Sedlar 1994, p. 32.]
The ''boyars'', members of the landed nobility, formed the most important social group in the principality. The vast majority of the population was formed by peasants who were called several names, such as ''vecini'' ("neighbors") or ''rumâni'' ("Romanians"), in medieval documents.
In this period, animals, especially sheep, remained the main item of export, but from the
Wallachian Plain
The Romanian Plain ( ro, Câmpia Română) is located in southern Romania and the easternmost tip of Serbia, where it is known as the Wallachian Plain ( sr, Vlaška nizija/Влашка низија). Part of the historical region of Wallachia, it ...
great quantities of grain were transported to the Mediterranean area. The basis of the peasants' diet was formed by
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
eaten as
porridge
Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...
, while the ''boyars'' also used
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
.
The Orthodox Metropolitan See of Wallachia was recognized by the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...
in 1359. Wallachia issued its own currency under
Vladislav I (1364–''c.'' 1377). The earliest written information about
Gypsies
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
in modern Romania, a deed issued by
Dan I of Wallachia
Dan I (1354 – 23 September 1386) was the ruler of Wallachia from 1383 to 1386. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and the step-brother of Mircea I of Wallachia.
The circumstances surrounding his death are unclear. Laonikos Chalkokondyles c ...
(''c.'' 1383–1386) refers to Vladislav I's former donation of Gypsies to the Vodița monastery. Later on, all the important monasteries and ''boyars'' owned
Gipsy slaves.
The Ottomans entered for the first time into Wallachia in 1395.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 99.] Although the invading troops
were defeated somewhere in a ''rovină'' ("ragged marshland") in Oltenia, the chaos created by the threat of attacks allowed a group of ''boyars'' to put
Vlad I the Usurper (1395–1397) on the throne.
Thus Mircea I was forced to take refuge in Transylvania, where he agreed to be Sigismund I of Hungary's vassal. He was restored to the throne and participated in the disastrous crusade of Nicopolis organized by Sigismund I.
Establishment of Moldavia
After 1241 the territory between the
Eastern Carpathians
Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system.
Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya Sy ...
and the Dniester was controlled by the Golden Horde.
Nevertheless, the contemporary
Thomas Tuscus Thomas Tuscus or Thomas of PaviaLatin: ''Thomas de Papia'' (c. 1212 – c. 1282)Pierre Péano, "Thomas de Pavie", ''Dictionnaire de spiritualité ascetique e mystique'' XV (Paris: Beauchenes, 1991), col. 867–68. was a Franciscan friar and historia ...
's reference to the Romanians' conflict with the
Ruthenians
Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sourc ...
in 1277 suggests that Romanian political entities existed in northern Moldavia at that time.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 69.] In 1345
Andrew Lackfi Andrew Lackfi ( hu, Lackfi András; 1310October 1359) was an influential nobleman and a successful military leader in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was Count of the Székelys between 1343 and 1350, Ban of Macsó from 1355 to 1356, and Voivode of Trans ...
, the count of the Székelys led an army over the Carpathians and occupied this region where a border province was organized by Louis I of Hungary.
![Ceatatea Neamtului 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Ceatatea_Neamtului_01.JPG)
Romanian historical tradition links the foundation of Moldavia to
the "dismounting of Dragoș", a Romanian ''voivode'' of the
Voivodeship of Maramureș
The Voivodeship of Maramureș ( ro, Voievodatul Maramureșului, or ), was a Romanian voivodeship centered in the region of the same name. It was the most powerful Romanian entity in or around Transylvania during its time. The Voivodeship of Mar ...
. Although
Dragoș was succeeded by his son,
Sas, his line did not last long. His descendants were soon expelled by Bogdan, a former ''voivode'' of Maramureș who fled to Moldavia and joined with local ''boyars'' in a revolt.
In Moldavia, agriculture and animal raising remained the principal economic activities. Similarly to Wallachia, wooden
plow
A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
remained the main agricultural tool throughout the Middle Ages. The constant clearing of land shows that finding new land was still preferred to
crop rotation
Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. It reduces reliance on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, and the probability of developing resistant ...
. The establishment of the principality enhanced the security of travel, thus Moldavia could also profit from the transit trade between Poland and the Black Sea ports.
The first local coins were minted in 1377, under
Peter I Mușat (''c.'' 1375–1391).
The succession to the throne, similarly to Wallachia, was governed by the hereditary-elective principle.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 83.] Thus either a legitimate or an illegitimate member of the
Mușatin family could be proclaimed prince by an assembly of the ''boyars''.
In 1387 Peter I Mușat recognized
Władysław II Jagiełło
Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło ()He is known under a number of names: lt, Jogaila Algirdaitis; pl, Władysław II Jagiełło; be, Jahajła (Ягайла). See also: Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło. w ...
of Poland as his suzerain, but Hungary also maintained its claim of suzerainty over the principality.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 70.] Therefore, the princes of Moldavia could counterbalance the influence of Poland and Hungary by playing one off against the other.
Dobruja
After 1242 most of the territory between the Danube and the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
was included in the area dominated by the Mongols. Although the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
reestablished control over the Danube Delta in the 1260s, it fell again under the direct rule of the Golden Horde sometime before 1337.
[Vásáry 2005, p. 161.] By the end of the 13th century, flourishing communities of
Genoese merchants had settled in the towns of
Vicina,
Chilia and
Licostomo
Chilia Veche (Romanian pronunciation: /kiˈlija ˈveˈke/; meaning ''Old Chilia''; uk, Стара Кілія, translit=Stara Kiliia) is a commune in Tulcea County, Northern Dobruja, Romania, in the Danube Delta. It gave its name to the Chilia ...
.
Towards the middle of the 14th century a state dependent of the Byzantine Empire, known as "
the country of Cavarna", developed in the region. Its first known ruler was Balica. He was succeeded by his brother,
Dobrotitsa
Dobrotitsa ( bg, Добротица, ; ro, Dobrotici or ; in contemporaneous Byzantine documents; ''Dobrodicie'' in contemporaneous Genoese documentsM. Balard, ''Actes de Kilia du notaire Antonio di Ponzo, 1360'' in ''Genes et l'Outre-Mer'', II ...
, for whom part of his holdings, Dobruja, received its name. In about 1385 Ivanco became the ruler of the territory, but he soon disappeared during an Ottoman expedition. Dobruja was occupied by Mircea I of Wallachia in 1390 and by the Ottomans in 1395.
Towards Ottoman domination (1397–1529)
Intra-Carpathian regions
![CristianSB (36)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/CristianSB_%2836%29.jpg)
In order to establish a zone of buffer states, Sigismund I of Hungary tried to draw the neighboring Orthodox rulers under his own suzerainty by granting them estates in his kingdom. For example,
Stefan Lazarević
Stefan Lazarević ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Лазаревић, 1377 – 19 July 1427), also known as Stefan the Tall ( sr, Стефан Високи / ''Stefan Visoki''), was the ruler of Serbia as prince (1389–1402) and despot (1402–1427), ...
of Serbia received
Satu Mare
Satu Mare (; hu, Szatmárnémeti ; german: Sathmar; yi, סאטמאר or ) is a city with a population of 102,400 (2011). It is the capital of Satu Mare County, Romania, as well as the centre of the Satu Mare metropolitan area. It lies in the ...
,
Baia Mare
Baia Mare ( , ; hu, Nagybánya; german: Frauenbach or Groß-Neustadt; la, Rivulus Dominarum) is a municipality along the Săsar River, in northwestern Romania; it is the capital of Maramureș County. The city lies in the region of Maramureș ...
and
Baia Sprie
Baia Sprie (; hu, Felsőbánya, german: Mittelstadt) is a town in Maramureș County, northern Romania. Baia Sprie is situated at a distance of from Baia Mare.
The town administers three villages: Chiuzbaia (''Kisbánya''), Satu Nou de Sus (''F ...
in modern Romania, and Mircea I of Wallachia was granted
Făgăraș
Făgăraș (; german: Fogarasch, Fugreschmarkt, hu, Fogaras) is a municipiu, city in central Romania, located in Brașov County. It lies on the Olt (river), Olt River and has a population of 28,330 as of 2011. It is situated in the historical regi ...
. Sigismund I was also the first monarch who recognized, in 1419, the legislative competence of the
Estates in Transylvania. On his initiative, their assembly declared that in case of an Ottoman attack, every third nobleman and every tenth serf would take up arms. Indeed, from 1420 Ottoman attacks occurred on an annual basis. In this period many Saxon churches, and later the Székely churches of the
Ciuc region, were fortified, which
gave local architecture a distinctive appearance.
The increasing defense costs fell primarily on the serfs: the rent on the land was raised and extraordinary taxes were imposed. The first peasant revolt in the territory of modern Romania broke out due to the efforts taken by the bishop of Transylvania to collect the church taxes.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 79.] Led by Anton Budai Nagy, the rebellious peasants, who called themselves "the commune of the rightful Hungarian and Romanian inhabitants of this part of Transylvania", established a fortified camp on the
Bobâlna
Bobâlna (''Olpret'' until 1957; hu, Alparét; german: Krautfeld) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania, having a population of 1,888. It is composed of eleven villages: Antăș (''Antos''), Băbdiu (''Zápróc''), Blidărești (''T ...
hill early in 1437.
[Treptow, Popa 1996, p. 44.] They fought two important battles against the noblemen; the first one, at Bobâlna, was won by the peasants, and the second one, near the
Apatiu River, had no clear winner. The leaders of the noblemen, the Saxons and the Székelys, however, set up a "brotherly union" in order to join forces and crushed the peasants' resistance by the end of January 1438.
The Ottomans' attempt to conquer new territories led to a better organized policy against them. The temporary union of the Eastern and Western Churches proclaimed by the
Council of Florence
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
in 1439 also created a favorable background for the concentration of Christian forces. Christendom found its champion in
John Hunyadi
John Hunyadi (, , , ; 1406 – 11 August 1456) was a leading Hungarian military and political figure in Central and Southeastern Europe during the 15th century. According to most contemporary sources, he was the member of a noble family of ...
who gained a series of victories over the Ottomans after 1441. For instance, in 1442 he routed an Ottoman army that had been devastating Transylvania. Through his last victory over
Mehmed II
Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
at the
siege of Belgrade (in modern Serbia) in 1456, he saved the kingdom from Ottoman occupation for several decades. During the reign of his son,
Matthias I of Hungary
Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...
(1458–1490), the Ottomans launched only one serious attack against Transylvania in 1479 when they were defeated at
Câmpul Pâinii.
Matthias I used his officials to assert royal prerogatives that had already fallen into disuse. The noblemen found it particularly irksome that the ''lucrum camarae'', a tax from which they had been exempted was replaced with a new tax. In Transylvania, the "Three Nations" entered into a formal alliance against the king in 1467, but he quickly intervened and took the disorganized rebels by surprise.
By that time, the land once held in common by the Székely community had gradually become divided into smaller and smaller units; thus a vast number of the free warrior-peasants had to enter the service of their more prosperous fellow Székelys. This social stratification was formally recognized by a royal decree in 1473. Thereafter those who performed mounted military service were differentiated from those who fought as foot-soldiers; those who were unable to finance themselves even as foot-soldiers were legally reduced to servitude.
The prominence of the German element in the towns sometimes led to conflicts along ethnic lines.
[Sedlar 1994, p. 410.] Thus the struggle for leadership in Cluj (now
Cluj-Napoca
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
) between Hungarians and Saxons only came to an end in 1458 by establishing a rule that municipal offices must be shared equally between the two groups.
In 1486, Matthias I united all the Saxon districts in Transylvania in the "University of the Saxons" under the leadership of the elected mayor of
Sibiu
Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...
.
After Matthias I's death, the assembly of the Estates, called Diet, began to function as a regular organ of power. The peasantry suffered most from the rule of the Estates, for instance, by the limitation of their right to free movement. In 1514 thousands of peasants who had been summoned to
Buda
Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...
(now
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, in modern Hungary) to join the crusade proclaimed by
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521.
Born into the prominent political an ...
against the Ottomans turned the weapons against their masters. The rebels, led by the Székely
George Dózsa, occupied several towns, such as Oradea and Șoimoș, but on July 15
John Szapolyai
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, the ''voivode'' defeated them at
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
. As a retaliation, the Diet decreed that peasants were to be tied to the land "perpetually".
The downfall of the Kingdom of Hungary was marked by the
battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács (; hu, mohácsi csata, tr, Mohaç Muharebesi or Mohaç Savaşı) was fought on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, Kingdom of Hungary, between the forces of the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies, led by Louis II, and thos ...
(Hungary) where the royal army was annihilated by the Ottomans on August 29, 1526. Thereafter the noblemen's political factions engaged in conflict and elected two kings. One of them, John I Szapolyai (1526–1540) was supported by the lesser nobility, while
Ferdinand I of Habsburg
Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog sabo ...
(1526–1564) was recognized mainly in the kingdom's western counties, but the Transylvanian Saxons also supported him. Seeking the assistance of the Ottomans, John I had to pay homage to the sultan at
Mohács
Mohács (; Croatian and Bunjevac: ''Mohač''; german: Mohatsch; sr, Мохач; tr, Mohaç) is a town in Baranya County, Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube.
Etymology
The name probably comes from the Slavic ''*Mъchačь'',''*Mocháč'': ...
in 1529.
Wallachia
After the battle of Nicopolis, the Ottomans occupied Bulgaria and could attack Wallachia more easily. Mircea I the Old, however, could reoccupy Dobruja in 1402 by taking advantage of the Ottomans' difficulties after their defeat by Timur Lenk in the
battle of Ankara
The Battle of Ankara or Angora was fought on 20 July 1402 at the Çubuk plain near Ankara, between the forces of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and the Emir of the Timurid Empire, Timur. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to the ...
. He even intervened in the
Ottoman civil war and supported the struggle of Musa and Mustafa against their brother,
Mehmed I
Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayezid ...
. After the two pretenders had been defeated, the Ottomans annexed again Dobruja and occupied
Giurgiu
Giurgiu (; bg, Гюргево) is a city in southern Romania. The seat of Giurgiu County, it lies in the historical region of Muntenia. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city ...
, and Mircea I was forced to pay an annual tribute to the sultan. Under Mircea I iron mines were opened at
Baia de Fier
Baia de Fier is a commune in Gorj County, Oltenia, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Baia de Fier and Cernădia. It is traversed by the river Pârâul Galben; to the east flows the river Olteț. Peștera Muierilor (''women's cave'') is loc ...
and copper mining began at
Baia de Aramă
Baia de Aramă is a small Romanian town located in Mehedinți County, in the historical region of Oltenia, with a population of 5,349. The river Brebina runs through the town. Some Dacian ruins can be found in the town, as well as the 17th cent ...
. In addition,
sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
and
amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...
were extracted in the region of
Buzău
The city of Buzău (formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu''; ) is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Car ...
.
After Mircea I's death, princes succeeded one another on the throne with devastating frequency.
For instance,
Michael I Michael I may refer to:
* Pope Michael I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 743–767
* Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor (died in 844)
* Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch Michael I of Constantinopl ...
(1418–1420) was overthrown by his cousin,
Dan II (1420–1431), and in the next decade the throne was occupied with frequent changes either by Dan II or by his cousin,
Radu II the Bald (1421–1427), the former being supported by Sigismund I of Hungary and the latter by the Ottomans.
Alexander I Aldea
Alexander I Aldea (1397 – December 1436) was a Voivode of Wallachia (1431–1436) from the House of Basarab, son of Mircea the Elder. He came to rule Wallachia during an extremely turbulent time when rule of the country changed hands by violence ...
(1431–1436) was the first Romanian ruler to be forced to render military service to the Ottomans. Two decades later,
Vlad III the Impaler
Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ro, Vlad Țepeș ) or Vlad Dracula (; ro, Vlad Drăculea ; 1428/311476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most imp ...
(1448, 1456–1462, 1476), notorious as the model for the
Dracula legend, turned against the Ottoman Empire. He carried out a series of attacks across the Danube in the winter of 1461–1462. The response was a massive invasion led by Mehmed II who drove Vlad III from the throne and replaced him with his brother,
Radu III the Fair
Radu III of Wallachia, commonly called Radu the Handsome or Radu the Fair ( ro, Radu cel Frumos; tr, Radu Bey; 1437/1439 — January 1475), was the younger brother of Vlad III and Prince of the principality of Wallachia. They were both sons of ...
(1462–1475). Due to the frequent military operations, the Wallachian Plain was heavily depopulated after the end of the 14th century. On the other hand, Wallachia received a steady flow of immigrants, mostly from the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
After 1462 Wallachia preserved its autonomy mainly through the intervention of Stephen the Great of Moldavia. At the end of the century, however,
Radu IV the Great
Radu IV the Great ( ro, Radu cel Mare), (1467 – 23 April 1508) was a Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia from September 1495 to April 1508. He succeeded his father, Vlad Călugărul, who was one of the three brothers to Vlad III the Impaler ( ro, Vla ...
(1495–1508) became an obedient subject of the sultan and visited
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
annually to personally offer the tribute. Even so, he could only stay in power by collaborating with the powerful
Craiovești
The House of Craiovești (), later House of Brâncovenești (), was a boyar family in Wallachia who gave the country several of its Princes and held the title of Ban of Oltenia (whether of Strehaia or Craiova) for ca. 60 years.
History
The first ...
family, strongly connected to the Ottomans by trading. In 1512 a member of this family,
Neagoe (1512–1521) rose to throne, but he adopted the dynastic name of Basarab in order to legitimize his rule.
[Treptow, Popa 1996, p. 147.] He wrote the first original work of
Romanian literature
Romanian literature () is literature written by Romanian authors, although the term may also be used to refer to all literature written in the Romanian language.
History
The development of the Romanian literature took place in parallel with tha ...
, titled ''Teachings'', to his son, Teodosius on moral, political, and military questions.
Under Theodosius I (1521–1522) the Ottoman governor of Nicopolis take advantage of the internal fights among the ''boyar'' parties, and thus dominated the political life of Wallachia. Due to the imminent danger of annexation, the ''boyars'' grouped around
Radu V of Afumați (1522–1529) who fought about 20 battles against the Ottomans. Finally, he was, in 1525, forced to accept Ottoman suzerainty and the rise of the tribute.
Moldavia
The Orthodox Metropolitan See of Moldavia was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch during the reign of
Alexander I the Good (1400–1432).
[Treptow, Popa 1996, p. 24.] He reinforced Moldavia's traditional pro-Polish orientation and declared himself a vassal of Władysław II of Poland in 1406. Thenceforth, the Moldavian armies fought together with the Poles against the
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
. The first Ottoman attack on Moldavia in 1420 was also repulsed by him.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 109.] Alexander I's death was followed by a long period of political instability, characterized by frequent fights for the throne.
For instance, the struggle of his sons,
Iliaș I (1432–1442) and
Stephen II (1433–1447) ended in 1435 by the division of the country.
[Treptow, Popa 1996, p. lii.]
Although
cottage industries
The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the project via remote ...
, both in ''boyar'' and peasant households, were still the main source of clothing, food and construction, specialized production, such as
weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...
and pottery, started to develop by the middle of the 15th century. The first
oil well
An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas may ...
s went into production in 1440, but their oil was also only for household use. In Moldavia, Gypsy slaves were first mentioned in 1428 when Alexander I awarded 31 Gypsy families to the
Bistrița Monastery
The Bistrița Monastery ( ro, Mănăstirea Bistrița, ) is a Romanian Orthodox monastery located 8 km west of Piatra Neamț. It was dedicated in 1402, having as original ctitor the Moldavian Voivode Alexandru cel Bun whose remains are buri ...
. In time Gypsies became specialized in several crafts: for example, throughout the Middle Ages the working of iron was an occupation reserved almost exclusively for them.
Peter III Aaron
Peter III Aaron ( ro, Petru Aron; died 1467), bastard son of Alexandru cel Bun, was a Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia on three occasions: October 1451 to February 1452, August 1454 to February 1455, and May 1455 to April 1457. The first two were d ...
(1451–1457) was the first prince who agreed to pay tribute to the Ottomans in 1456.
He was ousted by his nephew, Stephen, with the support of Vlad the Impaler of Wallachia.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 115.] Stephen III the Great was to be the most important medieval Romanian monarch who managed to uphold Moldavia's autonomy against Hungary, Poland and the Ottoman Empire.
[Sedlar 1994, p. 396.]
In the early years of his reign, he remained allied with Poland and the Ottoman Empire,
and even joined the Ottomans in attacking Wallachia.
He also supported the rebellion of 1467 of the Transylvanian Estates; therefore Matthias I of Hungary launched an expedition against Moldavia, but the royal army was defeated in the
battle of Baia
The Battle of Baia ( ro, Bătălia de la Baia; hu, moldvabányai csata) was fought on December 15, 1467, between Moldavian prince Stephen the Great and the Hungarian king, Matthias Corvinus. The battle was the last Hungarian attempt to subdue ...
.
He came to view the Ottoman Empire as his chief enemy in the 1470s, and in 1474 he refused to pay tribute.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 116.] He soon received the ultimatum of Mehmed II who demanded the surrender of Chilia, a fortress recently captured from Wallachia.
Upon Stephen III's refusal, a large Ottoman army was sent against Moldavia.
He called on
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV ( it, Sisto IV: 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 to his death in August 1484. His accomplishments as pope include ...
, pleading for a crusade. Although the pope acknowledged his merits, by naming him "the Athlete of Christ", no anti-Ottoman coalition materialized. Even without external military support, Stephen the Great led his troops to victory in the
battle of Vaslui
The Battle of Vaslui (also referred to as the Battle of Podul Înalt or the Battle of Racova) was fought on 10 January 1475, between Stephen III of Moldavia and the Ottoman governor of Rumelia, Hadım Suleiman Pasha. The battle took place at P ...
on January 10, 1475.
Following the battle, he addressed a letter to the Christian princes, expressing the idea that the two Romanian principalities were the "gateway to the Christian world", and if they fell "all Christendom would be in danger".
He also recognized Matthias I of Hungary as his suzerain and received, in return, Ciceu and Cetatea de Baltă in Transylvania.
The following year, however, he found himself alone when Mehmed II invaded Moldavia. The Moldavian army was defeated in the
Battle of Valea Albă
The Battle of Valea Albă, also known as the Battle of Războieni or the Battle of Akdere, was an important event in the medieval history of Moldavia. It took place at Războieni, also known as ''Valea Albă'', on July 26, 1476, between the Mold ...
, but the Ottomans, suffering from a lack of provisions and an outbreak of the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
, were forced to retreat. Stephen the Great suffered the greatest setback of his reign in 1484 when the Ottomans captured Chilia and
Cetatea Alba (now Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine) on the Black Sea.
Having tried unsuccessfully to regain the fortresses in 1485, he concluded a peace with the sultan and agreed to pay tribute to him.
He was succeeded by his son,
Bogdan III the One-Eyed
Bogdan III the One-Eyed ( ro, Bogdan al III-lea cel Chior) or Bogdan III the Blind () (March 18, 1479 – April 20, 1517) was Voivode of Moldavia from July 2, 1504, to 1517.
Family
Bogdan was born in Huşi as the son of Voivode Ştefan cel Mar ...
(1504–1517) whose reign was troubled by a long series of military conflicts with Poland and Wallachia. The good relations with Poland were reestablished under the reign of Stephen IV the Younger (1517–1527). His successor,
Peter IV Rareș
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
(1527–1538, 1541–1546) intervened in the struggle for the crown of the Kingdom of Hungary: on the order of the sultan, in 1529 he invaded the
Székely Land
The Székely Land or Szeklerland ( hu, Székelyföld, ; ro, Ținutul Secuiesc and sometimes ; german: Szeklerland; la, Terra Siculorum) is a historic and ethnographic area in Romania, inhabited mainly by Székelys, a subgroup of Hungarians. ...
and defeated the army of Ferdinand I's partisans.
Ottoman suzerainty (1530–1594)
Establishment of Principality of Transylvania
After 1529, resistance to John I in Transylvania was broken in a series of small campaigns. For instance, the last Transylvanian magnate to side with Ferdinánd I, Stephen Majláth went over to John I in early 1532, and Sibiu was occupied in 1536. On February 24, 1538,
a secret pact was signed in Oradea by the representatives of the two kings of Hungary. According to the treaty, both rulers were allowed to retain the territories which they then held, but the childless John I promised to recognize the
Habsburgs
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
' succession.
![Suleiman receiving Isabella and her son Sigismund circa 1540](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Suleiman_receiving_Isabella_and_her_son_Sigismund_circa_1540.jpg)
However, John I married a daughter of
Sigismund I of Poland
Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the ...
,
Isabella
Isabella may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Isabella (surname), including a list of people
Places
United States
* Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...
, who in 1540 bore him a son. Already dying, the king took an oath from his barons to evade the treaty of Oradea, and his counselor,
George Martinuzzi
George Martinuzzi, O.S.P. (born Juraj Utješenović, also known as György Martinuzzi, Brother György, Georg Utiessenovicz-Martinuzzi or György Fráter, hu, Fráter György; 1482 – 16 December 1551), was a Croatian nobleman, Pauline m ...
, had the infant
John II Sigismund elected as king (1540–1571). Ferdinand I sent troops to take Buda, but they withdrew upon the advance of the Ottoman army. On August 29, 1541
Suleiman I summoned the Hungarian lords to his camp, and while the reception was taking place,
his troops occupied the capital of the kingdom. At the same time the sultan assigned the territories of the kingdom east of the Tisa to Queen Isabella and her son in return for an annual tribute.
On October 18, the kingdom's eastern territories, including Transylvania, swore allegiance to the infant king at the Diet of
Debrecen
Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...
(Hungary). Thus a separate country started to emerge, although George Martinuzzi was still negotiating with Ferdinand I on the reunification of the kingdom. For this purpose, in 1551 Ferdinand I sent an army into Transylvania where he was recognized as sole ruler by the Diet. The Ottomans, however, occupied a great part of Banat in 1552, and neither could Ferdinand I consolidate his rule over the kingdom's eastern territories. Finally, the Diet, meeting in Sebeș on March 12, 1556, swore again allegiance to "the son of King John", thus the young king and his mother returned to Transylvania.
The 16th century also brought about major religious changes: the Saxons converted to
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
, while most of the Hungarians converted to
Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
or
Unitarianism
Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...
; only the Székelys remained more than the other "nations" Catholic. In 1568, the Transylvanian Diet at Torda decreed the free worship of these four "received denominations", but Orthodoxy still continued to be only tolerated. The Romanians' status worsened in this period.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 134.] The Diets of 1554 and 1555 decided that a Catholic or Protestant peasant could not be accused of a crime except there were seven Catholic or Protestant witnesses against him, while an Orthodox peasant could be accused if there were three Catholic or Protestant or seven Orthodox witnesses.
The Diet of 1559 also decreed that Romanians who had settled on lands abandoned by Catholic serfs were obliged to pay the tithe.
![RO SB Saint Mary Lutheran church 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/RO_SB_Saint_Mary_Lutheran_church_1.jpg)
From the Székelys, continuing warfare demanded increased military service, and the royal administration imposed special taxes on them. Although the leaders of the Székely community were exempted from taxation in 1554, but all the foot soldiers continued to be taxed, resulting in a double burden of military and monetary obligations for them. In 1562 many Székelys took up arms against John II Sigismund, but they were defeated. The Saxon towns continued to develop even in the years of upheaval.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 128.] Their population, however, increased slowly, mainly as a consequence of the Saxons' traditional desire for segregation: even Hungarian craftsmen and merchants were prohibited from settling in their towns.
In the Treaty of Speyer of August 16, 1570, John II Sigismund acknowledged his rival,
Maximilian I (1564–1576) as the lawful king of Hungary and adopted the title of "prince of Transylvania and parts of the Kingdom of Hungary". The treaty also marked out the borders of the new principality, which included not only the historical province of Transylvania, but also some neighboring counties, such as Bihor and Maramureș, thenceforward collectively known as
Partium
Partium (from Latin ''partium'', the genitive of '' pars'' "part, portion") or ''Részek'' (in Hungarian) was a historical and geographical region in the Kingdom of Hungary during the early modern and modern periods. It consisted of the eastern a ...
. The death of John II Sigismund in 1571 threatened to throw the country again into the hands of the Habsburgs whose officers supported the Unitarian
Gáspár Bekes
Gáspár Bekes de Kornyát (also ''Gáspár de Corniath Bekes'', ''Kornyáti Bekes Gáspár'', or ''Kaspar Bekes'', ''Caspar Bekesh''; 1520 – 7 November 1579) was a Hungarian nobleman who fought Stephen Báthory for the throne of Transylvania af ...
. Now the sultan appointed
Stephen Báthory
Stephen Báthory ( hu, Báthory István; pl, Stefan Batory; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576), Prince of Transylvania (1576–1586), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) ...
, a Catholic politician, ''voivode''.
The decisive battle between the two candidates was won by Stephen Báthory at
Sânpaul on July 8, 1575. In the same year, he was elected king of Poland, thus a personal union was formed between the two countries that lasted until his death in 1586. He left the administration of the principality first to his brother,
Christopher Báthory
Christopher Báthory ( hu, Báthory Kristóf; 1530 – 27 May 1581) was voivode of Transylvania from 1576 to 1581. He was a younger son of Stephen Báthory of Somlyó. Christopher's career began during the reign of Queen Isabella Jagiellon, who ...
(1575–1581), and then to his brother's minor son,
Sigismund Báthory
Sigismund Báthory ( hu, Báthory Zsigmond; 1573 – 27 March 1613) was Prince of Transylvania several times between 1586 and 1602, and Duke of Racibórz and Opole in Silesia in 1598. His father, Christopher Báthory, ruled Transylvania as voi ...
(1581–1602), bestowing on them the title of ''voivode'', while he himself took the title of prince.
In February, 1594 Sigismund Báthory announced that his country would join the anti-Ottoman alliance formed by the
Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II,
Philip II of Spain
Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
and many smaller Italian and German states. Although the Estates twice refused to endorse the declaration of war, Transylvania joined the alliance on January 28, 1595 after the leaders of the opposition had been executed on the order of the monarch. In return Rudolph II recognized Sigismund's title of prince.
Wallachia
The short and unworthy reigns of Radu V's successors only increased the crisis of Wallachia. Starting with
Mircea the Shepherd
Mircea the Shepherd ( ro, Mircea Ciobanul, d. 25 September 1559), was the Voivode (or Prince) of Wallachia three times: January 1545 (he entered Bucharest on 17 March)–16 November 1552; May 1553–28 February 1554 (leaving Bucharest t ...
(1545–1559), the first prince placed on the throne by the sultan, the crown became negotiable, according to the largest tribute offered. Even Michael the Brave who in time would turn against the Ottomans ascended the throne with the support of some people who had influence with the
Sublime Porte
The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire.
History
The nam ...
, among them
Sir Edward Barton
Sir Edward Barton (c. 1562 – 28 February 1598) was an English diplomat who was Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, appointed by Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Barton went to Constantinople in 1578, in the pay of the Levant Company, as secretary to ...
, the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
ambassador to Istanbul.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 143.]
He soon embarked upon a program to strengthen the central authority by replacing the members of the ''sfatul domnesc'', an advisory body consisting of ''boyars'', with ''dregători'', that is officials personally loyal to him. Michael the Brave also adopted an anti-Ottoman policy, and upon his initiative Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania and
Aaron the Tyrant
Aaron the Tyrant ( ro, Aron Tiranul) or Aron Vodă ("Aron the Voivode"; Church Slavonic: Apѡн вода), sometimes credited as Aron Emanoil or Emanuel Aaron (german: Aaron Waida, it, Aaron Vaivoda, tr, ArvanMaxim (1994), p. 23 or ''Zalim'';Kohe ...
of Moldavia (1591–1595) signed a treaty to form an anti-Ottoman alliance. The rebellion started by the massacre of all the Ottomans in Wallachia on November 13, 1594.
Moldavia
In 1531 Peter IV Rareș invaded Poland in order to reoccupy the
Pocuția region (in modern Ukraine), but his army was defeated.
Now he concluded a secret treaty with Ferdinand I of Hungary, but soon had to seek refugee in Transylvania when Suleiman I led an army against him. This was the first occasion when a prince, Stephen V Lăcustă (1538–1540) was appointed by the sultan. At the same time, the sultan occupied
Brăila
Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila.
According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 180,302 pe ...
and
Tighina
Bender (, Moldovan Cyrillic: Бендер) or Bendery (russian: Бендеры, , uk, Бендери), also known as Tighina ( ro, Tighina), is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under ''de facto'' control of the un ...
(now in
Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
), and the
Budjak
Budjak or Budzhak (Bulgarian and Ukrainian: Буджак; ro, Bugeac; Gagauz and Turkish: ''Bucak''), historically part of Bessarabia until 1812, is a historical region in Ukraine and Moldova. Lying along the Black Sea between the Danube ...
region (now in Ukraine). Peter IV Rareș recovered his throne in exchange for a large sum of money in 1541. His death was followed by a period characterized by fights between pretenders to the throne and among the ''boyar'' parties.
The idea of anti-Ottoman struggle was revived by
John III the Terrible
John III the Terrible ( ro, Ioan cel Cumplit), also John III the Brave ( ro, Ioan cel Viteaz) (1521 – June 14, 1574) was Voivode of Moldavia between February 1572 and June 1574.
He was the grandson of Bogdan III and the son of Stephen IV and ...
(1572–1574) who refused to pay the tribute to the sultan.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 130.] As a result, Ottoman and Wallachian troops invaded Moldavia, but they were defeated by John III in a surprise attack near Jiliște.
Now the sultan sent a large army against Moldavia, and the prince was captured and quartered. Next Aaron the Tyrant joined the anti-Ottoman coalition of Transylvania and Wallachia, and started a rebellion on November 13, 1594, simultaneously with Michael the Brave of Wallachia.
The 16th century was characterized by the flourishing of ecclesiastical
mural painting
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...
whose technique have remained a secret until today. For example, the interior and exterior frescoes of the
Voroneț Monastery represent this "
Moldavian style".
Age of Michael the Brave (1595–1601)
Following their coordinated uprising, Michael the Brave attacked Ottoman strongholds along the Danube and recovered Giurgiu and Brăila, while Aaron the Tyrant seized
Ismail
Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...
(now in Ukraine). In response, the sultan ordered the
Grand Vizier
Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...
,
Sinan Pasha
Koca Sinan Pasha ( tr, Koca Sinan Paşa, "Sinan the Great"; c. 1506 - 3 April 1596) was an Albanian-born Ottoman Grand Vizier, military figure, and statesman. From 1580 until his death he served five times as Grand Vizier. In a Ragusan documen ...
to invade Wallachia.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 144.] The two princes needed the support of Sigismund Báthory who took advantage of the situation to make himself suzerain of Wallachia and Moldavia. When Aaron the Tyrant refused Sigismund Báthory's conditions, he was replaced by the latter's protégé,
Ștefan Răzvan
Ștefan Răzvan (died December 1595) was a Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia (between 24 April 1595 and August 1595) of Romani descent from the historical state of Wallachia.
Biography
The father of Ștefan Răzvan was a Muslim Roma from the Ottoman ...
(1595) on the throne.
According to the treaty signed by Michael the Brave on May 20, 1595 in Alba Iulia, Sigismund Báthory became the ruler of the three principalities and adopted the title of "prince of Transylvania, Moldavia and Transalpine Wallachia". The treaty stipulated, that the taxes would be established in Wallachia by the Transylvanian Diet, together with a council of 12 Wallachian ''boyars''.
Around that time, the peasants were bound to the land both in Wallachia and Moldavia.
Ottoman troops entered Wallachia in the summer, but they were defeated by Michael the Brave at
Călugăreni and by the united armies of the three principalities at Giurgiu. In the meantime, however, the Poles had invaded Moldavia and replaced Ștefan Răzvan by
Ieremia Movilă
Ieremia Movilă ( pl, Jeremi Mohyła uk, Єремія Могила), (c. 1555 – 10 July 1606) was a Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia between August 1595 and May 1600, and again between September 1600 and July 10, 1606.
Rule
A boyar of the Movile ...
(1595–1606). In June 1598 Michael the Brave recognized the suzerainty of Emperor Rudolph II, who had promised to grant subsidies to him to finance his mercenaries.
On March 30, 1599 Sigismund Báthory abdicated the throne in favor of his cousin,
Andrew Báthory
Andrew Báthory ( hu, Báthory András; pl, Andrzej Batory; 1562 or 1563 – 3 November 1599) was the Cardinal-deacon of Sant'Adriano al Foro from 1584 to 1599, Prince-Bishop of Warmia from 1589 to 1599, and Prince of Transylvania in 1599. His ...
(1599).
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 147.] The new prince was loyal to the Poles and promptly demanded that Michael the Brave accept his suzerainty.
The latter secured the emperor's approval for an invasion of Transylvania and attacked the principality where the Székelys also joined him.
He
defeated his opponent at Șelimbăr on October 28, 1599 and entered Alba Iulia. Here the Diet recognized him as imperial governor. He respected the traditional organization of Transylvania, and even crushed a revolt of the Romanian peasants, but forced the Diet to relieve the Orthodox priests of feudal obligations. In the spring of 1600, he invaded Moldavia in the name of the emperor and established control over it. In July he even proclaimed himself "prince of Wallachia, Transylvania, and all of Moldavia" in
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
, thus bringing about the union of the three principalities.
However, the Hungarian noblemen, dissatisfied with the disorder, rebelled against his rule, and
defeated him at Mirăslău on September 18, 1600. At the same time, the Poles invaded Moldavia and restored Ieremia Movilă to the throne; then they entered Wallachia, where
Simion Movilă
Simion Movilă (after 1559 14 September 1607), a boyar of the Movileşti family, was twice Prince of Wallachia (November 1600 – June 1601; October 1601 – July 1602) and Prince of Moldavia from July 1606 until his death. Family
He was the gra ...
defeated Michael the Brave at Buzău. In this moment of crisis, Michael the Brave left for
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
to appeal to the emperor for support.
[Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 151.] He returned to Transylvania in July 1601 at the head of an imperial army.
Cooperating with the imperial general,
Giorgio Basta
Giorgio Basta, Count of Huszt, Gjergj Basta or Gheorghe Basta (1550 – 1607) was an Italian general, diplomat, and writer of Arbëreshë origin, employed by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to command Habsburg forces in the Long War of 1591– ...
, he
defeated the Transylvanian troops at Guruslău on August 3, but on August 19 he was assassinated on the order of his former ally, Giorgio Basta.
After the first union
After Michael the Brave's death, Transylvania was ruled by an imperial military commission, but under
Stephen Bocskay
Stephen Bocskai or Bocskay ( hu, Bocskai István; 1 January 155729 December 1606) was Prince of Transylvania and Hungary from 1605 to 1606. He was born to a Hungarian noble family. His father's estates were located in the eastern regions of th ...
(1604–1606) the principality voluntarily accepted Ottoman suzerainty. In the next decades, the princes of Transylvania, among them
Gabriel Bethlen
Gabriel Bethlen ( hu, Bethlen Gábor; 15 November 1580 – 15 November 1629) was Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of th ...
(1613–1629), made several unsuccessful attempts to unify Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia.
[Klepper 2002, pp. 84–85.]
Wallachia and Moldavia fell back under the control of the Ottoman Empire after Michael the Brave's death.
[Klepper 2002, p. 89.] Radu Mihnea
Radu Mihnea (1586 – 13 January 1626) was Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia between September 1601 and March 1602, and again between March and May 1611, September 1611 and August 1616, August 1620 and August 1623, and Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia ...
, prince of Wallachia (1611–1616, 1623–1626) and of Moldavia (1616–1623), was the first ruler to appoint
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
from the
Phanar
Fener (; Greek: Φανάρι, ''Phanári''; in English also: Phanar) is a quarter midway up the Golden Horn in the district of Fatih in Istanbul, Turkey. Its name is a Turkish transliteration of the word "phanarion" (Medieval Greek: Φανάρι ...
district of Istanbul to high government posts.
This started a trend that ultimately led to the so-called "
Phanariot period" in Romania's history.
See also
*
Banat in the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages in the Banat (a historical region in Central Europe which is now divided among Romania, Serbia and Hungary) started around 900. Around that time, Duke Glad ruled Banat, according to the ''Gesta Hungarorum'' (a chronicle of debated ...
*
List of Wallachian rulers
This is a list of rulers of Wallachia, from the first mention of a medieval polity situated between the Southern Carpathians and the Danube until the union with Moldavia in 1859, which led to the creation of Romania.
Notes
Dynastic rule is hard t ...
(up to 1859)
*
List of Moldavian rulers
This is a list of rulers of Moldavia, from the first mention of the medieval polity east of the Carpathians and until its disestablishment in 1862, when it united with Wallachia, the other Danubian Principality, to form the modern-day state of Ro ...
(up to 1859)
*
List of Transylvanian rulers
List of rulers of Transylvania, from the 10th century, until 1867.
Overview
Before 1556, the administration of the eastern parts of the Hungarian Kingdom, referred as ''Partes Transsylvana'' (Latin for "parts beyond the forests"), was in the ...
(up to 1918)
Footnotes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Klepper, Nicolae (2002). ''Romania: An Illustrated History''. Hippocrene Books. .
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Sedlar, Jean W. (1994). ''East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500''. University of Washington Press. .
*Spinei, Victor (2009). ''The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the Danube Delta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth Century''. Brill. 978-90-04-17536-5.
*Treptow, Kurt W.; Popa, Marcel (1996). ''Historical Dictionary of Romania''. Scarecrow Press. .
*Treptow, Kurt W.; Bolovan, Ioan; Constantiniu, Florin; Michelson, Paul E.; Pop, Ioan Aurel; Popa, Cristian; Popa, Marcel; Scurtu, Ioan; Vultur, Marcela; Watts, Larry L. (1997). ''A History of Romania''. The Center for Romanian Studies. .
*Vásáry, István (2005). ''Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365''. Cambridge University Press. .
Further reading
*Castellan, Georges (1989). ''A History of the Romanians.'' The University of Michigan Press. .
*Durandin, Catherine (1995). ''Historie des Roumains'' (The History of the Romanians). Librairie Artheme Fayard. .
External links
*Köpeczi, Béla; Makkai, László; Mócsy, András; Szász, Zoltán; Barta, Gábor
"History of Transylvania"
*Nicolae, Adrian
"Cum au uitat românii un mileniu de istorie I"*Nicolae, Adrian
"Cum au uitat românii un mileniu de istorie II"*Samuelson, James (1882)
<
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
,
History of Romania
This article covers the history and bibliography of Romania and links to specialized articles.
Prehistory
34,950-year-old remains of modern humans with a possible Neanderthalian trait were discovered in present-day Romania when the '' Pe ...
,
Early Modern Times >
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romania In The Middle Ages
01
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
Romanian principalities