Founding of Moldavia
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The founding of Moldavia (
Competing cultures in the future region of Moldavia
Moldavia developed in the lands between the
In addition to the dominant Turkic population, medieval chronicles and documents mention other peoples who lived between the Carpathians and the Dniester, including the
The Vlachs—the earliest Romanians—and their neighbors
The Moldavian region—the lands between the
A competing group, the Magyars, left the Pontic steppes for the
Mongol invasion and occupation
According to the Persian historian,
Archaeological finds—kilns to produce pottery and furnaces to puddle iron ore—identify towns that were important economic centers of the Golden Horde.
Weapons and harness pieces from the 13th and 14th centuries that have been found together with agricultural tools at
Decline of the Golden Horde
The earliest contemporary reference to Romanians in Maramureș was recorded in a royal charter in 1326.[34] In that year, Charles I of Hungary granted the "land Zurduky" (now Strâmtura in Romania) in the "district of Maramureș" to a Vlach noble, Stanislau.[35] According to the Moldo-Russian Chronicle, which was preserved in a Russian annals completed in 1505, King Vladislav of Hungary sent envoys to invite the "Old-Romans and the Romanians" to fight against the Mongols and afterwards he rewarded the "Old-Romans" with lands in Maramureș.[36][37] Historians Ionel Cândea and Dumitru Țeicu identify this event with the battle of Hód Lake (1280), Cuman opponents being substituted in the chronicle by tartars.[38] Historians Pavel Parasca and Șerban Papacostea identify "King Vladislaus" with Ladislaus IV of Hungary who reigned between 1270 and 1290.[39] With the disintegration of the Golden Horde after the death of
The founding of Moldavia
Both Poland and Hungary took advantage of the decline of the Golden Horde by starting a new expansion in the 1340s. After a Hungarian army defeated the Mongols in 1345, new forts were built east of the Carpathians. Royal charters, chronicles and place names show that Hungarian and
The dates on coins found in the area indicate the change of status of Moldavia from Mongolian rule to Vlach rule. The minting of Mongol coins continued in Orheiul Vechi until 1367 or 1368, showing that a "late Tatar state" survived in the southern region between the Prut and the Dniester.[47][48] No Mongol coins minted after 1368 or 1369 have been found in the region of the Dniester, showing that the Mongol rulers did not control the territory any more.[49] Moldavia initially included a small territory between the Prut and Siret.[42] Louis exempted the merchants of "Demetrius, Prince of the Tatars" from paying taxes in Hungary in exchange for securing the tax exempt status of the merchants of Brașov in "the country of Lord Demetrius".[48]
Arrival of Dragoș in Moldavia and his "dismounting" there
Romanian histories cite Moldavian chronicles, which credit
According to the early 16th-century[36] Moldo-Russian Chronicle, the Vlachs came to Maramureș during the reign of King Vladislaus of Hungary to fight against the Mongols.[36][37] This document represents Dragoș as one of the Romanians whom "King Vladislav" had granted estates in Maramureș.[54][36] According to the various versions of the legend of his "dismounting", Dragoș left for a hunting, together with his retainers.[54][36] While chasing an aurochs or bison, they reached as far as the Moldova River where they killed the beast.[54][53][55] They liked the place where they stopped and decided to settle on the banks of the river.[54][53] Dragoș went back to Maramureș only to return with all his people "on the fringes of the lands where the Tatars roamed".[54][53][Notes 1][36] Ritual huntings which end with the establishment of a state, a town or a people are popular elements of the folklore of various peoples of Eurasia, including the Hungarians and the Lithuanians.[56]
The "dismounting" by Dragoș took place in 1359, according to most Moldavian chronicles.[57] Except that the Moldo-Polish chronicle which gives 1352 as the date.[57] However, the same chronicles add various years when determining the period between Dragoș's arrival to Moldavia and the first year of the reign of Alexander the Good in 1400.[57] For instance, the Anonymous Chronicle of Moldavia mentioned 44 years, but the Moldo-Russian Chronicle wrote of 48 years.[57] Consequently, the date of the dismounting is debated by modern historians.[57] For instance, Dennis Deletant says that Dragoș came to Moldavia soon after the establishment of the Diocese of Milkovia in 1347.[58] Neagu Djuvara estimates the foundation of Moldavia to around the time of Andrew Lackfi's decisive victory over the Tatars in 1345.[59]
Moldavia emerged as a "defensive border province" of the Kingdom of Hungary.[60] A version of Grigore Ureche's chronicle stated that Dragoș's rule in Moldavia "was like a captaincy", implying that he was a military commander.[61] King Louis I of Hungary mentioned Moldavia as "our Moldavian land".[51] The province initially included the northwestern part of the future principality (it is now known as Bukovina).[62] In 1360, Louis granted estates to a Vlach lord, Dragoș of Giulești, for subjugating the Moldavian Vlachs who had revolted against Louis.[63] The identification of Dragoș of Giulești with the first ruler of Moldavia is debated among scholars.[63][64]
Bogdan the Founder
Most early Moldavian chronicles begin their lists of the rulers of Moldavia with Dragoș and state that he was succeeded by his son, Sas, who ruled for four years.[65] The only exception is the list of the voivodes, which was recorded in the Bistrița Monastery in 1407, which starts with "Bogdan Voivode".[66] Bogdan, who had been the voivode of the Vlachs in Maramureș, gathered the Vlachs in that district and "secretly passed into Moldavia", according to John of Küküllő's chronicle.[67][68] Royal charters recorded that Bogdan had come into a conflict with János Kölcsei, the royal castellan of Visk (now Vyshkovo in Ukraine), in 1343, and with a Vlach lord in Maramureș, Giula of Giulești, in 1349.[69] According to historian Radu Carciumaru, Bogdan's conflict with the royal castellan suggests that he had been opposed to the presence of the representatives of royal authority in Maramureș years before he left for Moldavia.[69]
The dating of Bogdan's departure from Maramureș is uncertain.[70] His estates there were confiscated and granted to the son of Sas, Balc, according to a royal diploma, issued on 2 February 1365.[68][71] Consequently, Bogdan must have come to Moldavia before that date.[72] Historian Pál Engel dates Bogdan's arrival as 1359, taking advantage of the power vacuum that followed the death of Berdi Beg, Khan of the Golden Horde.[73] According to Carciumaru, a lasting conflict between King Louis I of Hungary and Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the Lithuanians' victory over the Tatars in the Battle of Blue Waters in the early 1360s, enabled Bogdan to come to Moldavia and expel Balc in 1363.[74] Sălăgean says that it was only in 1365 that Bogdan seized power in Moldavia with the assistance of local Vlachs.[4]
King Louis I of Hungary attempted to restore his rule in Moldavia, but the chronology of the military actions against Bogdan is uncertain.[73][75] John of Küküllő wrote that Bogdan "was often battled against" by the army of Louis, but the "number of Vlachs inhabiting that land increased, transforming it into a country".[76][48] Although Küküllő stated that Bogdan was finally forced to accept Louis's suzerainty and to pay a yearly tribute to him, modern historians – including Denis Deletant, Tudor Sălăgean, Victor Spinei, and István Vásáry – agree that Bogdan could actually preserve the independence of Moldavia.[68][75][4][77]
Successors to Bogdan
The new state derived its name from the Moldova River.
Lațcu
Bogdan was succeeded by his son, Lațcu, around 1367.
Petru Mușat
Lațcu, who died in 1375, was succeeded by
According to a record in the register of the Genoese colony in
Petru Mușat paid homage to
-
The Carpatho-Danubian-Pontic Space in 1359 AD, another date proposed for the founding of Moldavia by Dragos I, this date also coincides with the foundation of the Metropolis of Ungro-Wallachia.
Growth of the principality
The Principality of Moldavia, grew to include the territory between the
See also
- Founding of Wallachia
- History of Maramureș
- Balkan–Danubian culture
- Bulgarian lands across the Danube
Notes
- ^
In the time of King Vladislav, the Tatars led by their prince, Neymet advanced from the waters of the Prut and the Moldova against the Hungarians. … King Vladislav … sent envoys to the Old-Romans and the Romanians. Thereupon we, Romanians joined forces with the Old-Romans and came to Hungary to help King Vladislav. … Before long, the decisive battle was fought between the Hungarian king, Vladislav, and the Tatar prince, Neymet, along the banks of the Mureșand Tisa at a place called Crij. The Old-Romans gathered and settled there. They married Hungarian women and led them into their own Christian religion. … There was a smart and courageous man, Dragoș, among them. One day, he left with his companions for a hunt and they came across the footprints of a bison. Following it, they crossed the snowy mountains and arrived at a wonderful and even place where they spotted the bison. They killed it under a willow and feasted on it. Then God brought the idea to his mind that he should find a new homeland and settle there. … [T]hey returned home and spoke of the beauty of that country and of its rivers and springs to the other people so that to convince them to move there. The latter also liked the idea and decided to leave for the place where their companions were staying and to search for a new homeland. It was surrounded by deserted lands and the Tatars and their cattle roamed in the borderlands. Thereupon they asked Vladislav, the Hungarian king, to let them leave, and King Vladislav graciously assented. They left Maramureș, together with all their companions and with their wives and children, to cross the high mountains. Many trees were cut down and many cliffs were pushed aside, but they crossed the mountains and arrived at the place where Dragoș had killed the bison. They liked it and dismounted there. They chose an intelligent man named Dragoș of their number and appointed him to be their lord and voivode, and thus the country of Moldavia was founded by the will of God. —Moldo-Russian chronicle (Spinei, 1986)
Footnotes
- ^ Treptow & Popa 1996, p. 135.
- ^ Treptow & Popa 1996, p. 7.
- ^ Spinei 2009, pp. 48–50.
- ^ a b c Sălăgean 2005, p. 135.
- ^ Curta 2006, pp. 124, 157, 185.
- ^ Spinei 2009, p. 85.
- ^ Cross & Sherbowitz-Wetzor 1953, p. 56
- ^ Spinei 2009, p. 82.
- ^ a b Spinei 2009, p. 83.
- ^ a b Spinei 2009, p. 54.
- ^ Sălăgean 2005, p. 153.
- ^ Djuvara 2014, p. 52.
- ^ Spinei 2009, pp. 94, 96.
- ^ a b c Curta 2006, p. 186.
- ^ Al-Dīn & Boyle 1971, p. 70
- ^ a b Andreescu 1998, p. 78.
- ^ a b Spinei 1986, p. 113.
- ^ di Plano Carpini & Hildinger 1996, p. 119
- ^ a b c Spinei 1986, p. 131.
- ^ Georgescu 1991, p. 17.
- ^ a b Sălăgean 2005, p. 196.
- ^ Jackson 2009, p. 139
- ^ Jackson 2009, p. 30
- ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 30.
- ^ Spinei 1986, pp. 148–149.
- ^ Rădvan 2010, p. 521.
- ^ a b Spinei 1986, p. 150.
- ^ Rădvan 2010, pp. 328–329.
- ^ Spinei 1986, p. 152.
- ^ a b Sălăgean 2005, p. 198.
- ^ a b Rădvan 2010, pp. 476–477.
- ^ Sălăgean 2005, p. 197.
- ^ Spinei 1986, pp. 162–163, 226.
- ^ Engel 2001, p. 270.
- ^ Carciumaru 2012, pp. 173–174.
- ^ a b c d e f Spinei 1986, p. 197.
- ^ a b Vékony 2000, p. 11.
- ^ Țeicu & Cândea 2008, p. 280.
- ^ Parasca 2011, p. 7.
- ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 133.
- ^ Spinei 1986, p. 127.
- ^ a b Sedlar 1994, p. 24.
- ^ Spinei 1986, p. 175.
- ^ a b c d Spinei 1986, p. 176.
- ^ a b c Vásáry 2005, p. 156.
- ^ Rădvan 2010, p. 334.
- ^ Rădvan 2010, p. 325.
- ^ a b c d e f Sălăgean 2005, p. 201.
- ^ Spinei 1986, p. 216.
- ^ Treptow & Popa 1996, p. 88.
- ^ a b c Vásáry 2005, p. 157.
- ^ Carciumaru 2012, p. 172.
- ^ a b c d Andreescu 1998, p. 92.
- ^ a b c d e Brătianu 1980, p. 129.
- ^ Brezianu & Spânu 2007, p. 127.
- ^ Spinei 1986, p. 198.
- ^ a b c d e Spinei 1986, p. 200.
- ^ Deletant 1986, p. 190.
- ISBN 978-973-50-5381-9.
- ^ Georgescu 1991, p. 18.
- ^ Carciumaru 2012, pp. 179–180.
- ^ Spinei 1986, p. 203.
- ^ a b Spinei 1986, p. 201.
- ^ Sălăgean 2005, p. 200.
- ^ Spinei 2009, pp. 195, 200.
- ^ Andreescu 1998, p. 94.
- ^ Spinei 1986, p. 206.
- ^ a b c Vásáry 2005, p. 159.
- ^ a b Carciumaru 2012, p. 182.
- ^ Carciumaru 2012, pp. 183–184.
- ^ Spinei 2009, p. 207.
- ^ Spinei 2009, pp. 207–208.
- ^ a b Engel 2001, p. 166.
- ^ Carciumaru 2012, p. 184.
- ^ a b c Deletant 1986, p. 191.
- ^ Spinei 1986, p. 207.
- ^ Spinei 2009, p. 211.
- ^ a b c Vásáry 2005, p. 143.
- ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 160.
- ^ Dobre 2009, p. 39.
- ^ a b Deletant 1986, p. 193.
- ^ Andreescu 1998, p. 95.
- ^ Deletant 1986, pp. 194–195.
- ^ Spinei 1986, pp. 195, 217.
- ^ a b Andreescu 1998, p. 96.
- ^ a b c d Spinei 1986, p. 217.
- ^ Deletant 1986, p. 198.
- ^ Georgescu 1991, p. 27.
- ^ Vásáry 2005, pp. 164–165.
- ^ a b c Spinei 1986, p. 218.
- ^ Spinei 1986, p. 220.
- ^ Brezianu & Spânu 2007, pp. 382–383.
- ^ a b c Papadakis & Meyendorff 1994, p. 264.
- ^ Treptow & Popa 1996, p. 136.
- ^ Sălăgean 2005, p. 202.
- ^ Brezianu & Spânu 2007, p. 303.
- ^ Bolovan et al. 1997, pp. 151–155.
References
Primary sources
- Al-Dīn, Rashīd; Boyle, John Andrew (Translator) (1971). The Successors of Genghis Khan'. Columbia University Press. )
- di Plano Carpini, Giovanni; Hildinger, Erik (Translator) (1996). The Story of the Mongols: Whom We Call the Tartars. Branden Publishing Company. )
- Cross, Samuel Hazard (Translator); Sherbowitz-Wetzor, Olgerd P. (Co-translator) (1953). The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text. Medieval Academy of America. ISBN. )
- Jackson, Peter (Translator) (2009). The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck (His journey to the court of the Great Khan Möngke, 1253–1255). Hackett Publishing Company. )
Secondary sources
- Andreescu, Stefan (1998). "The making of the Romanian principalities". In Giurescu, Dinu C.; Fischer-Galați, Stephen (eds.). Romania: A Historic Perspective. East European Monographs. pp. 77–104. OCLC 237138831.
- Bolovan, Ioan; Constantiniu, Florin; Michelson, Paul E.; Pop, Ioan Aurel; Popa, Cristian; Popa, Marcel; Scurtu, Ioan; Treptow, Kurt W.; Vultur, Marcela; Watts, Larry L. (1997). A History of Romania. The Center for Romanian Studies. ISBN 973-98091-0-3.
- Brătianu, Gheorghe I. (1980). Tradiția istorică despre întemeierea statelor românești [The Historical Tradition of the Founding of the Romanian States] (in Romanian). Editura Eminescu.
- Brezianu, Andrei; Spânu, Vlad (2007). Historical Dictionary of Moldova. Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8108-5607-3.
- Carciumaru, Radu (2012). "The Genesis of the Medieval State on the Romanian Territory: Moldavia". Studia Slavica et Balcanica Petropolitana. 2 (12): 172–188.
- ISBN 978-0-521-89452-4.
- Davis, Sacha (2011). "East–West Discourses in Transylvania: Transitional Erdély, German-Western Siebenbürgen or Latin-Western Ardeal". In Maxwell, Alexander (ed.). The East–West Discourse: Symbolic Geography and its Consequences. Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers. pp. 127–154. ISBN 978-3-0343-0198-5.
- Deletant, Dennis (1986). "Moldavia between Hungary and Poland, 1347–1412". The Slavonic and East European Review. 64 (2): 189–211.
- ISBN 978-973-50-4334-6.
- Dobre, Claudia Florentina (2009). Mendicants in Moldavia: Mission in an Orthodox Land. Aurel Verlag und Handel Gmbh. ISBN 978-3-938759-12-7.
- Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526. I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1-86064-061-3.
- ISBN 0-8142-0511-9.
- Papadakis, Aristeides; Meyendorff, John (1994). The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy: The Church, 1071–1453 AD. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88141-058-7.
- Parasca, Pavel (2011). "Cine a fost "Laslău craiul unguresc" din tradiția medievală despre întemeierea Țării Moldovei [Who was "Laslău, Hungarian king" of the medieval tradition on the founding of Moldavia]" (PDF). Revista de istorie și politică (in Romanian). IV (1). Universitatea Libera Internationala din Moldova: 7–21. ISSN 1857-4076. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
- Rădvan, Laurențiu (2010). At Europe's Borders: Medieval Towns in the Romanian Principalities. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-18010-9.
- Sălăgean, Tudor (2005). "Romanian Society in the Early Middle Ages (9th–14th Centuries AD)". In Pop, Ioan-Aurel; Bolovan, Ioan (eds.). History of Romania: Compendium. Romanian Cultural Institute (Center for Transylvanian Studies). pp. 133–207. ISBN 978-973-7784-12-4.
- Schramm, Gottfried (1997). Ein Damm bricht. Die römische Donaugrenze und die Invasionen des 5-7. Jahrhunderts in Lichte der Namen und Wörter [=A Dam Breaks: The Roman Danube frontier and the Invasions of the 5th-7th Centuries in the Light of Names and Words] (in German). R. Oldenbourg Verlag. ISBN 3-486-56262-2.
- Sedlar, Jean W. (1994). East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97290-4.
- Spinei, Victor (1986). Moldavia in the 11th–14th Centuries. Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste Româna.
- Spinei, Victor (2009). The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the Danube Delta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth century. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-17536-5.
- Treptow, Kurt W.; Popa, Marcel (1996). Historical Dictionary of Romania. Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN 0-8108-3179-1.
- Țeicu, Dumitru; Cândea, Ionel (2008). Românii în Europa medievală (Între Orientul bizantin şi Occidentul latin). Studii în onoarea profesorului Victor Spinei. Istros. ISBN 978-973-1871-17-2.
- Vásáry, István (2005). Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-83756-1.
- Vékony, Gábor (2000). Dacians, Romans, Romanians. Matthias Corvinus Publishing. ISBN 1-882785-13-4.
Further reading
- Bogdan, Ioan (1891). Vechile cronici moldovenești până la Ureche [Old Moldavian Chronicles before Ureche] (in Romanian). Editură Göbl.
- Boldur, Alexandru V. (1992). Istoria Basarabiei [History of Bessarabia] (in Romanian). Editura V. Frunza. ISBN 978-5-85886-027-3.
- Bolovan, Ioan; Constantiniu, Florin; Michelson, Paul E.; Pop, Ioan Aurel; Popa, Cristian; Popa, Marcel; Scurtu, Ioan; Treptow, Kurt W.; Vultur, Marcela; Watts, Larry L. (1997). A History of Romania. The Center for Romanian Studies. ISBN 973-98091-0-3.
- Castellan, Georges (1989). A History of the Romanians. East European Monographs. ISBN 0-88033-154-2.
- Durandin, Catherine (1995). Historie des Roumains [History of the Romanians] (in French). Librairie Artheme Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-59425-5.
- Golden, P. B. (1984). "Cumanica: The Qipčaqs in Georgia". Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi. IV. Harrassowitz Verlag: 45–87. ISBN 978-3-447-08527-4.
- Knoll, Paul W. (1972). The Rise of the Polish Monarchy: Piast Poland in East Central Europe, 1320–1370. The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-44826-6.
- Pop, Ioan Aurel (1999). Romanians and Romania: A Brief History. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-88033-440-1.