Wallachia
:
This article is about the region in what is now Southern Romania. There are other regions called Wallachia, such as the Moravian Wallachia and the Thessaly Wallachia; See: Vlachs#Wallachia.Wallachia (also spelled
Walachia; known as
Ţara Românească, "the Romanian Land" in
Romanian, it is also referred to as
Muntenia - through identification with the larger of its two traditional sections) is a
historical and geographical region of
Romania; it was a
principality founded by
Basarab I in the late
Middle Ages and it united with the principality of
Moldavia to form the state of
Romania in the
19th century.
The name
Wallachia, usually not used by
Romanians themselves (but present in some contexts as
Valahia or
Vlahia), is derived from the
Valachs - a word of
German origin also present as the
Slavic Vlachs - used by foreigners in reference to Romanians (
see also: History of the term Vlach).
For long periods before the 14th century, Wallachia was referred to as
Vlashko by
Bulgarian sources (and
Vlashka by
Serbian sources). The traditional
Hungarian name for Wallachia is
Havasalföld, or literally "Snowy Lowlands". (Its older form is
Havaselve, which means "Land beyond the snowy mountains") The name
Ungrovlahia ("Hungarian Wallachia"), mostly used in an
Orthodox Church context to refer to the
Metropolitan seat, denotes the neighbourhood position in regard to the
Hungarian Kingdom, meaning "Wallachia near Hungarian Kingdom". In
Ottoman Turkish and
Turkish,
Eflak, a word derived from "Vlach" is used.
 |
Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. |
Wallachia was situated north of the
Danube and south of the
Carpathian Mountains.
Its neighbors were
Bulgaria, after that the
Ottoman Empire to the south,
Transylvania to the north-west and
Moldavia to the north-east.
The capital city changed over time, from
Câmpulung to
Curtea de ArgeÅŸ,then to
Târgovişte and finally
Bucharest.
Pre-history: Period of Roman rule
In the second
Dacian war (
105 AD) the west of
Oltenia became part of the
Roman province of
Dacia with the rest of Wallachia included in the
Moesia Inferior province. The Roman fortification
Limes (patrol road with wooden lookout towers and forts at intervals) were initially along the
Olt (
119 AD) and later in the 2nd century moved slightly east, from the
Danube up to
Rucar in the Carpathians mountains. The Roman line fell back to the
Olt in
245 AD, and in
271 AD the Romans pulled out of the region.
Post Roman period of migrations
Much of the area of modern Romania had post Roman populations with elements of
Goths,
Dacians, and
Sarmatian peoples know as the
MureÅŸ-Cerneahov culture followed by waves of migratory tribes. In
328 the
Romans built a bridge between
Sucidava (
Celei) and
Oescus (
Gigen) which indicates that there was a significant trade with the peoples north of the Danube.
The Goths attacked the Roman Empire south of the Danube in
332 AD, settling north of the Danube then later to the south. The period of Goth rule ended when the
Huns arrived in the area of modern
Hungary and under
Attila they attacked and destroyed some 170 settlements on both sides of the Danube.
Byzantine influence is evident during the 5th to 6th century, such as the site at
Ipoteşti-Cândeşti, but from the second half of the
6th century and in the
7th century Slavic peoples crossed the territory of Wallachia and settled in it, on their way to Byzantium, occupying the southern bank of the Danube.
Wallachia was under the control of the First Bulgarian State from its formation in 681 until approximately the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian basin at the end of the 10th century. With the decline and subsequent fall of the First Bulgarian Empire to Byzantium (in the second half of the 10th century up to 1018), Wallachia came under the control of the
Pechenegs (a
Turkic people) who extended their rule west through the 10th and 11th century, until defeated around 1091, when the
Cumans of southern Russia took control of the lands of Moldavia and Wallachia.
Beginning with the
10th century, Byzantine,
Bulgarian,
Hungarian sources, and later Western ones, mention the existence of small states populated possibly also by Romanians under leaders known as
knyazes (Slavonic: prince, ruler) and
voievods (Slavonic: military leader) - at first in Transylvania, then in the
12th-
13th centuries in the territories east and south of the Carpathian Mountains. A specific characteristic of Romanian history from the Middle Ages to
modern times is that Romanians lived in three adjacent principalities - Wallachia,
Moldavia and
Transylvania, separated by the Carpathian mountains.
In 1241 known as the
Mongol Khanate of the
Golden Horde destroyed the Cuman rule and attacked
Poland,
Bohemia, Hungary, and
Bulgaria. The Mongols had control of Moldavia, most of Wallachia remaining outside their authority, while Transylvania was subjected to many attacks. The removal of pressure exerted from Hungary and Bulgaria no doubt helped the assertion of the Romanian feudal states.
Formation of the Vlach feudal state known as Wallachia
One of the first items of documentary evidence of Romanian voivodes is of
Litovoi in
1272 who ruled over land each side of the Carpathians, including
Făgăraş in Transylvania, and refused to pay tribute to the Hungarian King
Ladislaus IV. His successor was his brother
Bărbat (1285-1288). The continuing weakening of the
Hungarian state by further Mongol invasions (
1285) and internal disputes opened the way for the process of unification of the Romanian political formations independent of the Hungarian kings.
The formation of the Romanian state happened when
Basarab I (
1310-
1352), son of
Tihomir, united the Romanian voivodes either side of the
Olt, creating a feudal state based at
Câmpulung. He extended his lands to comprise those to be known as Wallachia together with the
Banat of Severin,
Făgăraş, southern Moldavia, the
Danube Delta, and the lands between the
Prut and
Dniester which were to be later known as
Basarabia . After Basarab's death his son
Nicolae Alexandru ruled Wallachia (1352-
1361), followed by his son
Vladislav I (
1364â€"
1377).
Although nominally vassals to the king of Hungary, the princes of Wallachia refused to give up their trans-Carpathian
feuds, such as
Făgăraş,
AmlaÅŸ and
Severin or to quietly surrender to the
Anjou dynasty expansion plans in the
Balkans, a situation that led to tensions and frequent clashes, notably during the reigns of
Charles Robert of Hungary and
Louis I of Hungary.
* 1324 Basarab I consented to Hungarian suzerainty in return of his acknowledgment as the effective ruler of the Banat of Severin.
* 1330 King
Charles Robert of Hungary marched without resistance through Banat of Severin and moved through
Oltenia as far as the Cetatea ArgeÅŸului, but he was forced to withdraw. He suffered a humiliating defeat, probably at
LoviÅŸtea on the way back through the Carpathians (see
Battle of Posada). Most of his army is destroyed and the Grand Royal Seal is lost. King Charles had to disguise himself in order to flee, with few of his bodyguards. This victory by Basarab I gave independence to Wallachia.
* 1355 Nicolae Alexandru and King of Hungary reached agreement in return for Severin.
* 1368
Louis I, King of Hungary, had a campaign against Wallachia, but he failed and he had to retreat. He attacked on two fronts, but both armies were defeated.
* 1369 Vladislav I subdued
Vidin and accepted Hungarian suzerainty in return for Severin, Amlaş, and Făgăraş.
* 1373 Louis I took Severin again. The Romanians took it back in 1376-1377.
Battles with the Turks
In the second half of the 14th century, a new threat appeared - the
Ottoman Empire. After having first gained a foothold in Europe in
1354, the
Ottoman Turks defeated the weakened Bulgarian states of Tarnovo, Vidin and the principality of
Dobrogea, and in
1396 reached the south bank of the
Danube. The whole
Balkan Peninsula south of the
Danube would soon become integral Turkish territory, a process which was concluded with the
fall of Constantinople to Sultan
Mehmed II in
1453.
After the reign of
Mircea the Elder, Wallachia became a battleground in the Ottoman-Hungarian fight for control in
Central-Eastern Europe, progressively losing its sovereignty, especially due to the violent rivalry between upper nobility families.
* In 1369 first raid by Ottomans north of Danube.
* 1386-1418 Reign of Mircea the Elder (Mircea cel Bâtrân), son of Radu I. He defeated the Turks in several battles, driving away the Turks from
Dobrogea and extending its rule to the mouths of
Danube around 1400 to include
Dobrogea and
Silistra.
* 1393 Turks took back Dobrogea and Silistra, only to lose them again in 1404 to Wallachia.
* 1415 Mircea the Elder agreed to pay tribute to the Ottomans in return for ceasing their plundering of Wallachia, but refused to pay in 1415 supporting a rival to the Sultan. The Turks took Dobrogea,
Giurgiu and Turnu forcing Mircea to pay tribute.
* 1418-1420 Mihai I, son of Mircea, defeated Turks at Severin fortress.
* 1420 The Turks invaded Wallachia and killed the king, but in 1422 Dan II defeats the Turks.
* 1456 Vlad Tepes penetrated Wallachia, killed King Vladislav II and takes the throne, and the 1458 Turkish invasion into Wallachia defeated by
Vlad Tepes and in 1462 Vlad frees Giurgiu from the Turks.
* 1462 Campaign by the Turks against Wallachia to replace Vlad with his brother Radu cel Frumos. Vlad was initially successful then retreated to Transylvania where he was later imprisoned by the Hungarians.
* 1476 Campaign by Stefan of Moldavia and Stefan Bathory reinstated Vlad Tepes on the throne of Wallachia in place of Laiota Basarab. Laiota returns with Turkish help and kills Vlad Tepes.
* 1477 Stefan cel Mare succeeds in removing Laiota and replaced him with Basarab cel Tinar.
* 1509 Wallachian nobility who supported the Turks chased out Mihnea cel Rau and he was replaced by Vladut, only to be killed 3 years later by the powerful nobility.
* 1522-1529 Radu de la Afumati scored several victories against the Turks and prevented Wallachia being turned into a Turkish pashalik, only to be killed by some of the nobility.
Turkish Domination
By the middle 16th century the Ottoman Empire was the only dominant force in the region and Wallachia had to accept its full suzerainty for more than three centuries, though there were a few attempts to regain independence, most importantly during the reign
Michael the Brave who in
1600 managed to unite for a short period of time the three principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania. Also in the late 16th century Greek influence began to take roots in Wallachia, initially being met with hostility by the local nobility.
As the Ottoman supremacy was increasingly challenged by
Austria and
Russia in the early 18th century the Wallachian elite tried to reorient itself towards these powers, so that in
1716 the Ottomans decided to cease choosing the
voivod from among the Romanian
boyars and established the
Phanariote regime (the rulers were to be appointed from the influential Greeks of the Phanar neighborhood of Istanbul, considered more trustable).The Phanariote regime was characterized by a severe loss of autonomy and over taxation, but brought about several important improvements,such as the abolition of
serfdom,clear judicial norms and some modernization of the agriculture. As the same regime was applied to Moldavia ,another very important consequence was that the institutions and mentalities of both principalities became rather similar ,paving the way for the next century's unification.
* Radu Paisie's (1535-1545) rule was threatened by boyers and the Craiovescu family. These were repelled with help of the Turks, but the Turkish domination of Wallachia gradually took hold. They controlled the election of the voivode and demanded payment in money and goods. Mircea Ciobanul (1545-1554 and 1558-1559) ordered many troublesome boyers to be killed, or expelled. Petru cel Tanar (1559-1589) defeated armies of the fugitive boyers with help of the Turks and during the 1590's Turks settled in Wallachia.
* In 1593 Mihai Viteazul reorganized Wallachia to regain its independence and tried to create a union with the other Romanian lands of Moldavia and Transylvania, but in 1595 The Turks took control of most of Wallachia again, only to be forced out again by the Wallachian army advancing on Sofia.
* 1599 Andrei Bathory of Transylvania asked Mihai Viteazul to leave Wallachia, but Mihai defeated Andrei's army with Andrei being killed by Szekeler peasants. Mihai Viteazul took the title of voivode of Transylvania, and in the following year he also took the title of voivode of Moldavia. After Mihai and General Basta (of Vienna) defeated Sigismund Bathory, Basta ordered the murder of Mihai.
* 1611 The Turks installed Radu Mihnea as voivode with an increasing number of Greek officials. Some of the Greeks, such as the Cantacuzino, later took an important role in the country.
* 1632 The boyars forced the voivode to make changes in their favour, such as the removal of Greek officials, exemption from taxes, prevention of orders to kill boyars, but the voivode was replaced by Matei Basarab. During the 1650s many boyars were killed in uprisings, more being killed in 1658 when Mihai Radu took voivode and set about defeating the Turks and he killed some 30 boyars that opposed this struggle.
* 1663 Grigore Ghica (1660-1664) had Cantacuzino murdered which unleashed a struggle for power between the Baleanu and Cantacuzino boyars. The reign of Constantine Brancoveanu (1688-1714) was a period of stability and recognition by the Ottoman Porte. However, the Cantacuzino family succeeds in having him banished, taken to Constantinople and beheaded in 1714.
* 1718 The Treaty of Passarowitz gave the Banat and Oltenia to the Habsburg Empire which lasted until the Russian-Austrian-Turkish war which returned Oltenia to Wallachia in 1739.
From Wallachia to Romania
After the overthrow of the Phanariote regime in
1821 by
Tudor Vladimirescu's uprising, and especially after the
Treaty of Adrianople in
1829, which ended the Ottoman monopoly on Wallachian trade, the principality experienced substantial economic and urban growth, in the same time its existence being seriously menaced by the ambitions of Russia and Austria.In
1831 an act resembling a constitution ("Regulamentul Organic") was adopted.
In June
1848 a revolutionary movement overthrew the monarchy and embarked on radical reforms in order to modernize the state, but was dissolved by a Turkish attack in September the same year.On January 24th
1859 the Parliament of Wallachia voted to recognize
Alexander John Cuza, already the ruler of Moldavia, as prince of Wallachia, the first step to creating modern Romania.
*
Litovoi, on the west side of the
Olt river,
1247-
1277,
*
Seneslau, on the east side of the Olt river, at
ArgeÅŸ, ca.1247
*
Bărbat, ca.1277-ca.
1290*
Tihomir, ca.1290-ca.
1310*
Basarab I, about
1310 -
1352*
Vladislav I or Vlaicu-Vodă,
1364-ca.
1377*
Mircea cel Bătrân (Mircea the Elder),
1386-
1418*
Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad the Impaler),
1448,
1456-
1462,
1476*
Neagoe Basarab,
1512-
1521 *
Mihai Viteazul (Michael the Brave),
1593 -
1601*
Constantin Brâncoveanu 1688 -
1714*
Alexander John Cuza,
1859 -
1866See also the complete
List of Wallachian rulers.
Wallachia is represented by an
eagle in the
Coat of Arms of Romania.
Wallachia is used in many of the
Castlevania series of
video games as the starting spot for legendary vampire hunter
Simon Belmont to begin his quest to vanquish
Count Dracula, who constantly plagues the countryside.
*
The Romanian Group for an Alternative History Website - provides monument information, original documents, books, studies and other info concerning the Romanian Middle Ages
