189-502: Michael the Brave ( Romanian : Mihai Viteazul [miˈhaj viˈte̯azul] or Mihai Bravu [ˈbravu] ; 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). He is considered one of Romania's greatest national heroes. Since the 19th century, Michael
378-558: A kaymakam -led internal administration. The emerging movement for a union of the Danubian Principalities (a demand first voiced in 1848, and a cause cemented by the return of revolutionary exiles) was advocated by the French and their Sardinian allies, supported by Russia and Prussia, but was rejected or suspicioned by all other overseers. After an intense campaign, a formal union was ultimately granted: nevertheless, elections for
567-606: A tax reform (which nonetheless confirmed tax exemptions for the privileged ), as well as major urban works in Bucharest and other cities. In 1834, Wallachia's throne was occupied by Alexandru II Ghica —a move in contradiction with the Adrianople treaty, as he had not been elected by the new Legislative Assembly ; he was removed by the suzerains in 1842 and replaced with an elected prince, Gheorghe Bibescu . Opposition to Ghica's arbitrary and highly conservative rule, together with
756-487: A unifier towards the middle of the 19th century. Such an interpretation is completely lacking in the historiography of the 17th-century chroniclers, and even in that of the Transylvanian School around 1800. What they emphasized, apart from the exceptional personality of Michael himself, were the idea of Christendom and his close relations with Emperor Rudolf. The conqueror's ambition is likewise frequently cited as
945-609: A "regional language" alongside Ukrainian as per the 2012 legislation on languages in Ukraine . Romanian is an official or administrative language in various communities and organisations, such as the Latin Union and the European Union . Romanian is also one of the five languages in which religious services are performed in the autonomous monastic state of Mount Athos , spoken in the monastic communities of Prodromos and Lakkoskiti . In
1134-469: A Provisional Government, which made Dreptate, Frăție ("Justice, Brotherhood") the national motto . Although sympathetic to the anti-Russian goals of the revolution, the Ottomans were pressured by Russia into repressing it: Ottoman troops entered Bucharest on 13 September. Russian and Turkish troops, present until 1851, brought Barbu Dimitrie Știrbei to the throne, during which interval most participants in
1323-636: A change of 'ownership'. Historian Nicolae Iorga associated the Roma people's arrival with the 1241 Mongol invasion of Europe and considered their slavery as a vestige of that era, the Romanians taking the Roma from the Mongols as slaves and preserving their status. Other historians consider that they were enslaved while captured during the battles with the Tatars. The practice of enslaving prisoners may also have been taken from
1512-562: A circular arc separating the Wallachian coat from the rest of the heraldic composition, " I ML BJE MLRDIE ", could be translated " Through The Very Grace of God ". Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian ; endonym : limba română [ˈlimba roˈmɨnə] , or românește [romɨˈneʃte] , lit. ' in Romanian ' ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova . Romanian
1701-470: A defeat on Murad II with the help of Pippo Spano . The peace signed in 1428 inaugurated a period of internal crisis, as Dan had to defend himself against Radu II , who led the first in a series of boyar coalitions against established princes. Victorious in 1431 (the year when the boyar-backed Alexander I Aldea took the throne), boyars were dealt successive blows by Vlad II Dracul (1436–1442; 1443–1447), who nevertheless attempted to compromise between
1890-719: A foreign language, for example the Nicolae Bălcescu High-school in Gyula , Hungary. Romanian is taught as a foreign language in tertiary institutions, mostly in European countries such as Germany, France and Italy, and the Netherlands, as well as in the United States. Overall, it is taught as a foreign language in 43 countries around the world. Romanian has become popular in other countries through movies and songs performed in
2079-425: A full-scale war against the remaining Ottoman forces. He subsequently joined forces with Sigismund Báthory's 40,000-man army (led by Stephen Bocskai ) and counterattacked the Ottomans, freeing the towns of Târgoviște (8 October), Bucharest (12 October) and Brăila , temporarily removing Wallachia from Ottoman suzerainty. The fight against the Ottomans continued in 1596 when Michael made several incursions south of
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#17328836218272268-483: A high degree of lexical permeability, reflecting contact with Thraco-Dacian , Slavic languages (including Old Slavic , Serbian , Bulgarian , Ukrainian , and Russian ), Greek , Hungarian , German , Turkish , and to languages that served as cultural models during and after the Age of Enlightenment , in particular French . This lexical permeability is continuing today with the introduction of English words. Yet while
2457-688: A member of the Greek noble family Kantakouzenoi , present in Wallachia and Moldavia, and allegedly descended from the Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos . She was born in the Greek region of Epirus and she may have been the sister of the famous Greek magnate Michael Kantakouzenos Şeytanoğlu , as well as the cousin of Iane Cantacuzino [ ro ] . Michael could probably speak Greek too, besides Romanian. Michael's political rise
2646-523: A motivation for his action, occupying in the interpretative schema the place that was later to be occupied by the Romanian idea . In the writings of the Moldavian chronicler Miron Costin , Michael the Brave appears in the role of conqueror of Transylvania and Moldavia, "the cause of much spilling of blood among Christians", and not even highly appreciated by his own Wallachians : "The Wallachians became tired of
2835-465: A name that was extended to the literature and writers around this time such as Vasile Alecsandri , Grigore Alexandrescu , Nicolae Bălcescu , Timotei Cipariu . Between 1830 and 1860 "transitional alphabets" were used, adding Latin letters to the Romanian Cyrillic alphabet . The Latin alphabet became official at different dates in Wallachia and Transylvania - 1860, and Moldova -1862. Following
3024-567: A prince without any claim to noble heritage, was imposed on the throne and consequently agreed to a decrease in autonomy (increasing taxes and carrying out an armed intervention in Transylvania – supporting the pro-Turkish John Zápolya ). Conflicts between boyar families became stringent after the rule of Pătrașcu the Good , and boyar ascendancy over rulers was obvious under Petru the Younger (1559–1568;
3213-594: A princely burial in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Gyulafehérvár . With his enemy dead, Michael entered the Transylvanian capital at Gyulafehérvár and received the keys to the fortress from Bishop Demeter Naprágyi , later depicted as a seminal event in Romanian historiography . Historian István Szamosközy , keeper of the Archives at the time, recorded the event in great detail. He also wrote that two days before
3402-426: A reign dominated by Doamna Chiajna and marked by huge increases in taxes), Mihnea Turcitul , and Petru Cercel . The Ottoman Empire increasingly relied on Wallachia and Moldavia for the supply and maintenance of its military forces ; the local army , however, soon disappeared due to the increased costs and the much more obvious efficiency of mercenary troops. Initially profiting from Ottoman support, Michael
3591-499: A request of several European powers), and sanction the end of Phanariote rules: in Wallachia, the first prince to be considered a local one after 1715 was Grigore IV Ghica . Although the new system was confirmed for the rest of Wallachia's existence as a state, Ghica's rule was abruptly ended by the devastating Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829 . The 1829 Treaty of Adrianople placed Wallachia and Moldavia under Russian military rule, without overturning Ottoman suzerainty , awarding them
3780-572: A significant share of the local population (districts in Chernivtsi , Odesa and Zakarpattia oblasts ) Romanian is taught in schools as a primary language and there are Romanian-language newspapers, TV, and radio broadcasting. The University of Chernivtsi in western Ukraine trains teachers for Romanian schools in the fields of Romanian philology, mathematics and physics. In Hertsa Raion of Ukraine as well as in other villages of Chernivtsi Oblast and Zakarpattia Oblast , Romanian has been declared
3969-482: A turn of linguistic luck utterly in favor of the Wallachians' eastward posterity, this toponym, at least according to the phonotactics of modern Turkish, is homophonous with another word, افلاك , meaning "heavens" or "skies".). In old Albanian, the name was " Gogënia ", which was used to denote non-Albanian speakers. Arabic chronicles from the 13th century had used the name of Wallachia instead of Bulgaria . They gave
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#17328836218274158-574: A year and a half. Peace was again reached in late 1599, when Michael was unable to continue the war due to lack of support from his allies. In 1599, Michael won the Battle of Șelimbăr against Andrew Báthory and soon entered Gyulafehérvár (today Alba Iulia, Romania), becoming the imperial governor (i.e. de facto ruler) of Transylvania, under Habsburg suzerainty. A few months later, Michael's troops invaded Moldavia and reached its capital, Iași . The Moldavian leader Ieremia Movilă fled to Poland and Michael
4347-621: Is Havasalföld , literally "Snowy lowlands", the older form of which is Havaselve , meaning "Land beyond the snowy mountains" ("snowy mountains" refers to the Southern Carpathians (the Transylvanian Alps) ); its translation into Latin, Transalpina was used in the official royal documents of the Kingdom of Hungary. In Ottoman Turkish , the term Eflâk Prensliği , or simply Eflâk افلاق , appears. (Note that in
4536-642: Is Romanian". On 16 March 2023, the Moldovan Parliament approved a law on referring to the national language as Romanian in all legislative texts and the constitution. On 22 March, the president of Moldova, Maia Sandu , promulgated the law. The history of the Romanian language started in the Roman provinces north of the Jireček Line in Classical antiquity but there are 3 main hypotheses about its exact territory:
4725-519: Is also spoken as a minority language by stable communities in the countries surrounding Romania ( Bulgaria , Hungary , Serbia and Ukraine ), and by the large Romanian diaspora . In total, it is spoken by 25 million people as a first language . Romanian was also known as Moldovan in Moldova, although the Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled in 2013 that "the official language of Moldova
4914-424: Is also spoken within communities of Romanian and Moldovan immigrants in the United States, Canada and Australia, although they do not make up a large homogeneous community statewide. Many are Moldavians who were deported Data only for the districts on the right bank of Dniester (without Transnistria and the city of Tighina). In Moldova, it is sometimes referred to as the " Moldovan language " In Transnistria, it
5103-477: Is distinguished by the activity of Romanian literature classics in its early decades: Mihai Eminescu , Ion Luca Caragiale , Ion Creangă , Ioan Slavici . The current orthography, with minor reforms to this day and using Latin letters, was fully implemented in 1881, regulated by the Romanian Academy on a fundamentally phonological principle, with few morpho-syntactic exceptions. The first Romanian grammar
5292-593: Is official only in the villages of Vojvodinci ( Voivodinț ), Markovac ( Marcovăț ), Straža ( Straja ), Mali Žam ( Jamu Mic ), Malo Središte ( Srediștea Mică ), Mesić ( Mesici ), Jablanka ( Iablanca ), Sočica ( Sălcița ), Ritiševo ( Râtișor ), Orešac ( Oreșaț ) and Kuštilj ( Coștei ). In the 2002 Census, the last carried out in Serbia, 1.5% of Vojvodinians stated Romanian as their native language. The Vlachs of Serbia are considered to speak Romanian as well. In parts of Ukraine where Romanians constitute
5481-639: Is officially called " Moldovan language " and is written in Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet . Officially divided into Vlachs and Romanians Most in Northern Bukovina and Southern Bessarabia; according to a Moldova Noastră study (based on the latest Ukrainian census). According to the Constitution of Romania of 1991, as revised in 2003, Romanian is the official language of the Republic. Romania mandates
5670-637: Is part of the Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages , a linguistic group that evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin which separated from the Western Romance languages in the course of the period from the 5th to the 8th centuries. To distinguish it within the Eastern Romance languages, in comparative linguistics it is called Daco-Romanian as opposed to its closest relatives, Aromanian , Megleno-Romanian , and Istro-Romanian . It
5859-459: Is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians . Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Muntenia (Greater Wallachia) and Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia). Dobruja could sometimes be considered a third section due to its proximity and brief rule over it. Wallachia as a whole is sometimes referred to as Muntenia through identification with the larger of
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6048-508: The Ad hoc Divans of 1859 profited from a legal ambiguity (the text of the final agreement specified two thrones, but did not prevent any single person from simultaneously taking part in and winning elections in both Bucharest and Iași ). Alexander John Cuza , who ran for the unionist Partida Națională , won the elections in Moldavia on 5 January; Wallachia, which was expected by the unionists to carry
6237-406: The seimeni rebellion of 1655). Furthermore, the growing importance of appointment to high office in front of land ownership brought about an influx of Greek and Levantine families, a process already resented by locals during the rules of Radu Mihnea in the early 17th century. Matei Basarab , a boyar appointee, brought a long period of relative peace (1632–1654), with the noted exception of
6426-643: The Banate of Buzău and Brăila in July 1598 and the new ban was charged of keeping an alert eye on Moldavian, Tatar , and Cossack moves, although Michael had been planning a Moldavian campaign for several years. On 28 February 1600 Michael met with Polish envoys in Brassó. He was willing to recognise the Polish King as his sovereign in exchange for the crown of Moldavia and the recognition of his male heirs' hereditary right over
6615-587: The Battle of Mirăslău , forcing the prince to leave Transylvania and retreat to Wallachia with his remaining troops, while the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth entered Moldavia and defeated the forces loyal to Michael the Brave, restoring Ieremia Movilă on the throne. The Polish army led by Jan Zamoyski also advanced in eastern Wallachia and established Simion Movilă as ruler. Forces loyal to Michael remained only in Oltenia . Michael
6804-525: The Battle of Nicopolis ), and accepted a peace treaty with the Ottomans in 1417, after Mehmed I took control of Turnu Măgurele and Giurgiu . The two ports remained part of the Ottoman state, with brief interruptions, until 1829. In 1418–1420, Michael I defeated the Ottomans in Severin, only to be killed in battle by the counter-offensive; in 1422, the danger was averted for a short while when Dan II inflicted
6993-544: The Cannes Film Festival ). Also some artists wrote songs dedicated to the Romanian language. The multi-platinum pop trio O-Zone (originally from Moldova) released a song called "Nu mă las de limba noastră" ("I won't forsake our language"). The final verse of this song, "Eu nu mă las de limba noastră, de limba noastră cea română" , is translated in English as "I won't forsake our language, our Romanian language". Also,
7182-514: The Danube , conceded to recognize him as overlord in 1368, but rebelled again in the same year; his rule also witnessed the first confrontation between Wallachia and the Ottoman Empire (a battle in which Vladislav was allied with Ivan Shishman ). As the entire Balkans became an integral part of the growing Ottoman Empire (a process that concluded with the fall of Constantinople to Sultan Mehmed
7371-639: The Dâmboviţa River bridge to collect tax following the law. The presence of Bulgarian customs officers at the Carpathians indicates a Bulgarian suzerainty over those lands, though Radu's imperative tone hints at a strong and increasing Wallachian autonomy. Under Radu I and his successor Dan I , the realms in Transylvania and Severin continued to be disputed with Hungary. Basarab was succeeded by Nicholas Alexander , followed by Vladislav I . Vladislav attacked Transylvania after Louis I occupied lands south of
7560-508: The European rebellions of the same year ). Their pan-Wallachian coup d'état was initially successful only near Turnu Măgurele , where crowds cheered the Islaz Proclamation (9 June); among others, the document called for political freedoms , independence, land reform , and the creation of a national guard. On 11–12 June the movement was successful in deposing Bibescu and establishing
7749-751: The Ghicas , backed their own choice of princes ( Antonie Vodă din Popești and George Ducas ) before promoting themselves—with the ascension of Șerban Cantacuzino (1678–1688). Wallachia became a target for Habsburg incursions during the last stages of the Great Turkish War around 1690, when the ruler Constantin Brâncoveanu secretly and unsuccessfully negotiated an anti-Ottoman coalition. Brâncoveanu's reign (1688–1714), noted for its late Renaissance cultural achievements (see Brâncovenesc style ), also coincided with
Michael the Brave - Misplaced Pages Continue
7938-639: The Growth of the Ottoman Empire brought increased pressures on Wallachia: political control was accompanied by Ottoman economical hegemony, the discarding of the capital in Târgoviște in favour of Bucharest (closer to the Ottoman border, and a rapidly growing trade center), the establishment of serfdom under Michael the Brave as a measure to increase manorial revenues, and the decrease in importance of low-ranking boyars (threatened with extinction, they took part in
8127-558: The Kantakouzenos – Asen branch of Asen dinasty : two meeting, standing lions supporting a sword, treading on seven mountains. The Moldavian shield is held by two crowned figures. There are two inscriptions on the seal. First, circular, in Slavonic using Romanian Cyrillic alphabet " IO MIHAILI UGROVLAHISCOI VOEVOD ARDEALSCOI MOLD ZEMLI ", meaning " Io Michael Wallachian Voivode of Transylvanian and Moldavian Lands ". Second, placed along
8316-481: The Mihai Viteazul National College (Ploiești) [ ro ] , the Mihai Viteazul National College (Slobozia) and Mihai Viteazul National College (Galați) The seal comprises the coats of arms of Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania: in the middle, on a shield the Moldavian urus , above Wallachian eagle between sun and moon holding cross in beak, below Byzantine coat of arms, belonging to
8505-765: The Moesia Inferior province. The Roman limes was initially built along the Olt River in 119 before being moved slightly to the east in the second century, during which time it stretched from the Danube up to Rucăr in the Carpathians. The Roman line fell back to the Olt in 245 and, in 271, the Romans pulled out of the region. The area was subject to Romanization also during the Migration Period , when most of present-day Romania
8694-561: The Mongol invasion of Europe , Cuman domination was ended—a direct Mongol rule over Wallachia was not attested. Part of Wallachia was probably briefly disputed by the Kingdom of Hungary and Bulgarians in the following period, but it appears that the severe weakening of Hungarian authority during the Mongol attacks contributed to the establishment of the new and stronger polities attested in Wallachia for
8883-569: The Oltenian banat , who sought Ottoman support in their rivalry with Mihnea cel Rău (1508–1510) and replaced him with Vlăduț . After the latter proved to be hostile to the bans, the House of Basarab formally ended with the rise of Neagoe Basarab , a Craioveşti. Neagoe's peaceful rule (1512–1521) was noted for its cultural aspects (the building of the Curtea de Argeş Cathedral and Renaissance influences). It
9072-538: The Partium region. Michael was, nevertheless, willing to acknowledge Habsburg overlordship. The Moldavian Prince Ieremia Movilă had been an old enemy of Michael, having incited Andrew Báthory to send Michael the ultimatum demanding his abdication. His brother, Simion Movilă , claimed the Wallachian throne for himself and had used the title of Voivode since 1595. Aware of the threat the Movilăs represented, Michael had created
9261-404: The Peace of Bucharest , the rule of Jean Georges Caradja , although remembered for a major plague epidemic , was notable for its cultural and industrial ventures. During the period, Wallachia increased its strategic importance for most European states interested in supervising Russian expansion; consulates were opened in Bucharest, having an indirect but major impact on Wallachian economy through
9450-449: The Pechenegs , Turkic peoples who extended their rule west through the tenth and 11th century, until they were defeated around 1091, when the Cumans of southern Ruthenia took control of the lands of Wallachia. Beginning with the tenth century, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Hungarian, and later Western sources mention the existence of small polities, possibly peopled by, among others, Vlachs led by knyazes and voivodes . In 1241, during
9639-419: The Polish chancellor and hetman Jan Zamoyski and placed Transylvania under the influence of the King of Poland , Sigismund III Vasa . He was also a trusted ally of the new Moldavian Prince Ieremia Movilă , one of Michael's greatest enemies. Movilă had deposed Ștefan Răzvan with the help of Polish hetman Jan Zamoyski in August 1595. Having to face this new threat, Michael asked Emperor Rudolf to become
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#17328836218279828-401: The Romanian Academy . The third phase of the modern age of Romanian language, starting from 1880 and continuing to this day, is characterized by the prevalence of the supradialectal form of the language, standardized with the express contribution of the school system and Romanian Academy, bringing a close to the process of literary language modernization and development of literary styles. It
10017-400: The Romanian-language name of țigani domnești ("Gypsies belonging to the lord"). The two other categories comprised țigani mănăstirești ("Gypsies belonging to the monasteries"), who were the property of Romanian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox monasteries, and țigani boierești ("Gypsies belonging to the boyars"), who were enslaved by the category of landowners. The abolition of slavery
10206-438: The Russo-Turkish War of 1806–12 was partly instigated by the Porte 's deposition of Constantine Ypsilantis in Bucharest—in tune with the Napoleonic Wars , it was instigated by the French Empire , and also showed the impact of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (with its permissive attitude towards Russian political influence in the Danubian Principalities ); the war brought the invasion of Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich . After
10395-404: The Southern Carpathians , and is traditionally divided between Muntenia in the east (as the political center, Muntenia is often understood as being synonymous with Wallachia), and Oltenia (a former banat ) in the west. The division line between the two is the Olt River . Wallachia's traditional border with Moldavia coincided with the Milcov River for most of its length. To the east, over
10584-404: The Turks in Iași and other parts of Moldavia. Mihai continued his attacks deep within the Ottoman Empire, taking the forts of Nicopolis , Ribnic, and Chilia and even reaching as far as Adrianople . In 1595, Sigismund Báthory staged an elaborate plot and had Aaron the Tyrant, voivode of Moldavia, removed from power. István Jósika (Báthory's chancellor and an ethnic Romanian) masterminded
10773-440: The Vulgar Latin spoken in the Roman provinces of Southeastern Europe north of the Jireček Line (a hypothetical boundary between the dominance of Latin and Greek influences). Most scholars agree that two major dialects developed from Common Romanian by the 10th century. Daco-Romanian (the official language of Romania and Moldova) and Istro-Romanian (a language spoken by no more than 2,000 people in Istria ) descended from
10962-435: The unification of Moldavia and Wallachia further studies on the language were made, culminating with the founding of Societatea Literară Română on 1 April 1866 on the initiative of C. A. Rosetti , an academic society that had the purpose of standardizing the orthography, formalizing the grammar and (via a dictionary) vocabulary of the language, and promoting literary and scientific publications. This institution later became
11151-434: The "liberty to teach in the mother language (Romanian language)". At the same time, Romanian-language newspapers and journals began to appear, such as Basarabia (1906), Viața Basarabiei (1907), Moldovanul (1907), Luminătorul (1908), Cuvînt moldovenesc (1913), Glasul Basarabiei (1913). From 1913, the synod permitted that "the churches in Bessarabia use the Romanian language". Romanian finally became
11340-406: The 12th or 13th century, official documents and religious texts were written in Old Church Slavonic , a language that had a similar role to Medieval Latin in Western Europe. The oldest dated text in Romanian is a letter written in 1521 with Cyrillic letters , and until late 18th century, including during the development of printing, the same alphabet was used. The period after 1780, starting with
11529-436: The 1653 Battle of Finta , fought between Wallachians and the troops of Moldavian prince Vasile Lupu —ending in disaster for the latter, who was replaced with Prince Matei's favourite, Gheorghe Ștefan , on the throne in Iași . A close alliance between Gheorghe Ștefan and Matei's successor Constantin Șerban was maintained by Transylvania's George II Rákóczi , but their designs for independence from Ottoman rule were crushed by
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#173288362182711718-409: The 16th century, by various foreign travelers into the Carpathian Romance-speaking space, as well as in other historical documents written in Romanian at that time such as Cronicile Țării Moldovei [ ro ] ( The Chronicles of the land of Moldova ) by Grigore Ureche . The few allusions to the use of Romanian in writing as well as common words, anthroponyms, and toponyms preserved in
11907-461: The 1840s and 1850s. Most of the slaves were of Roma (Gypsy) ethnicity. The very first document attesting the presence of Roma people in Wallachia dates back to 1385, and refers to the group as ațigani (from the Greek athinganoi , the origin of the Romanian term țigani , which is synonymous with "Gypsy"). Although the Romanian terms robie and sclavie appear to be synonyms, in terms of legal status, there are significant differences: sclavie
12096-429: The 19th century. In 1859, Wallachia united with Moldavia to form the United Principalities , which adopted the name Romania in 1866 and officially became the Kingdom of Romania in 1881. Later, following the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the resolution of the elected representatives of Romanians in 1918, Bukovina , Transylvania and parts of Banat , Crișana , and Maramureș were allocated to
12285-417: The Assembly, the Executive Council and the provincial administrative bodies. The Romanian language and script are officially used in eight municipalities: Alibunar , Bela Crkva ( Biserica Albă ), Žitište ( Sângeorgiu de Bega ), Zrenjanin ( Becicherecu Mare ), Kovačica ( Covăcița ), Kovin ( Cuvin ), Plandište ( Plandiște ) and Sečanj ( Seceani ). In the municipality of Vršac ( Vârșeț ), Romanian
12474-413: The Brave ascended to the throne in 1593, and attacked the troops of Murad III north and south of the Danube in an alliance with Transylvania's Sigismund Báthory and Moldavia's Aron Vodă (see Battle of Călugăreni ). He soon placed himself under the suzerainty of Rudolf II , the Holy Roman Emperor , and, in 1599–1600, intervened in Transylvania against Poland 's king Sigismund III Vasa , placing
12663-414: The Brave , Romania's highest military decoration , was named after Michael. Mihai Viteazul's name and portrait appear on at least two Romanian coins: 5 Lei 1991 (only 3 pieces of this type were minted and the coin was not entered into circulation), and on 100 Lei, which circulated through the 1990s. At least four major high schools in Romania bear his name: the Mihai Viteazul National College (Bucharest)
12852-406: The Brave continued to negotiate his official position in Transylvania, pleading for direct rule instead of being imperial governor. Michael kept the control of all three provinces for less than a year before the Hungarian nobility of Transylvania rose against him in a series of revolts with the support of the Austrian army commanded by the Italian General Giorgio Basta , defeating Michael the Brave at
13041-416: The Brave has been regarded by Romanian nationalists as a symbol of Romanian unity, as his reign marked the first time all principalities inhabited by Romanians were under the same ruler. His rule over Wallachia began in the autumn of 1593. Two years later, war with the Ottomans began, a conflict in which the Prince fought the Battle of Călugăreni , resulting in a victory against an army nearly three times
13230-496: The Brave then left for Prague , seeking audience with Emperor Rudolf II; however, the emperor refused to allow him audience. But General Giorgio Basta 's governance of Transylvania faced significant opposition from the Hungarian nobility, leading to the reinstallation of Sigismund Báthory , who turned his back on Emperor Rudolf II and declared submission to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth after receiving substantial military support. This led to Emperor Rudolf II accepting Michael
13419-446: The Brave's audience and providing him with 100,000 florins to rebuild his army. Meanwhile, forces loyal to Michael in Wallachia led by his son, Nicolae Pătrașcu, drove Simion Movilă out of Moldavia and prepared to reenter Transylvania. Michael the Brave, allied with Giorgio Basta, defeated the Hungarian army at the Battle of Guruslău . A few days later Basta, who sought to control Transylvania himself, assassinated Michael by order of
13608-576: The Conqueror in 1453), Wallachia became engaged in frequent confrontations in the final years of the reign of Mircea I (r. 1386–1418). Mircea initially defeated the Ottomans in several battles, including the Battle of Rovine in 1394, driving them away from Dobruja and briefly extending his rule to the Danube Delta , Dobruja and Silistra (c. 1400–1404). He swung between alliances with Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor , and Jagiellon Poland (taking part in
13797-621: The Cyrillic script, and the Latin script as stipulated by the law, the Croat , Hungarian , Slovak , Romanian and Rusyn languages and their scripts, as well as languages and scripts of other nationalities, shall simultaneously be officially used in the work of the bodies of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in the manner established by the law. The bodies of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina are:
13986-570: The Danube at Vidin , Pleven , Nicopolis , and Babadag , where he was assisted by the local Bulgarians during the First Tarnovo Uprising . During late 1596, Michael was faced with an unexpected attack from the Tatars , who had destroyed the towns of Bucharest and Buzău . By the time Michael gathered his army to counterattack, the Tatars had speedily retreated and so no battle was fought. Michael
14175-442: The Danube north-south bend, Wallachia neighbours Dobruja ( Northern Dobruja ). Over the Carpathians, Wallachia shared a border with Transylvania ; Wallachian princes have for long held possession of areas north of the line ( Amlaș , Ciceu , Făgăraș , and Hațeg ), which are generally not considered part of Wallachia proper. The capital city changed over time, from Câmpulung to Curtea de Argeș , then to Târgoviște and, after
14364-533: The Danube on 4 August 1595. As his army was outnumbered, Michael avoided carrying the battle in open field, and decided to give battle on a marshy field located near the village of Călugăreni on the Neajlov river. The Battle of Călugăreni started on 13 August and Michael defeated the Ottoman army led by Sinan Pasha . Despite the victory, he retreated to his winter camp in Stoienești because he had too few troops to mount
14553-523: The Danube, encountered his troops' strong opposition. From its establishment in 681 to approximately the Hungarians ' conquest of Transylvania at the end of the tenth century, the First Bulgarian Empire controlled the territory of Wallachia. With the decline and subsequent Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria (from the second half of the tenth century up to 1018), Wallachia came under the control of
14742-533: The Diet met on 10 October, Transylvanian nobles elected Michael the voivode as Prince of Transylvania . As the Diet was assembled, Michael demanded that the estates swear loyalty to Emperor Rudolf, then to himself and thirdly to his son. Even if he was recognized by the Transylvanian diet as only imperial governor subject to the Holy Roman Emperor, he was nonetheless ruler of Transylvania. In Transylvania Michael used
14931-600: The Goths (who had settled north of the Danube) in 332. The period of Goth rule ended when the Huns arrived in the Pannonian Basin and, under Attila , attacked and destroyed some 170 settlements on both sides of the Danube. Byzantine influence is evident during the fifth to sixth century, such as the site at Ipotești–Cândești culture , but from the second half of the sixth century and in
15120-635: The Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II. Michael was born in 1558. He claimed to have been the illegitimate son of Wallachian Prince Pătrașcu cel Bun (Pătrașcu the Good), of the Drăculești branch of the House of Basarab ; some historians believe he merely invented his descent in order to justify his rule. His real father was most likely a Greek merchant. His mother was Theodora Kantakouzene [ ro ] ,
15309-491: The Habsburg Emperor; the killing took place near Câmpia Turzii on 9 August 1601. According to Romanian historian Constantin C. Giurescu : Never in Romanian history was a moment of such highness and glory so closely followed by bitter failure. The rule of Michael the Brave, with its break with Ottoman rule, tense relations with other European powers and the leadership of the three states, was considered in later periods as
15498-606: The Habsburg monarchy on the other. Mavrocordatos himself was deposed by a boyar rebellion, and arrested by Habsburg troops during the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18 , as the Ottomans had to concede Oltenia to Charles VI of Austria (the Treaty of Passarowitz ). The region, organized as the Banat of Craiova and subject to an enlightened absolutist rule that soon disenchanted local boyars,
15687-628: The Kingdom of Romania, thereby forming the modern Romanian state. The name Wallachia is an exonym , generally not used by Romanians themselves, who used the denomination "Țara Românească" – Romanian Country or Romanian Land, although it does appear in some Romanian texts as Valahia or Vlahia . It derives from the term walhaz used by Germanic peoples and Early Slavs to refer to Romans and other speakers of foreign languages. In Northwestern Europe , this gave rise to Wales , Cornwall , and Wallonia , among others, while in Southeast Europe it
15876-561: The Moldovan autonomies of Gagauzia and Transnistria . Romanian is also an official language of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia along with five other languages. Romanian minorities are encountered in Serbia ( Timok Valley ), Ukraine ( Chernivtsi and Odesa oblasts ), and Hungary ( Gyula ). Large immigrant communities are found in Italy, Spain, France, and Portugal. In 1995,
16065-449: The Moldovan musicians Doina and Ion Aldea Teodorovici performed a song called "The Romanian language". Romanian is also called Daco-Romanian in comparative linguistics to distinguish from the other dialects of Common Romanian : Aromanian , Megleno-Romanian , and Istro-Romanian . The origin of the term "Daco-Romanian" can be traced back to the first printed book of Romanian grammar in 1780, by Samuil Micu and Gheorghe Șincai . There,
16254-475: The Mongols. While it is possible that some Romani people were slaves or auxiliary troops of the Mongols or Tatars, the bulk of them came from south of the Danube at the end of the 14th century, some time after the foundation of Wallachia . The arrival of the Roma made slavery a widespread practice. Traditionally, Roma slaves were divided into three categories. The smallest was owned by the hospodars , and went by
16443-463: The Old Church Slavonic religious writings and chancellery documents, attested prior to the 16th century, along with the analysis of graphemes show that the writing of Romanian with the Cyrillic alphabet started in the second half of the 15th century. The oldest extant document in Romanian precisely dated is Neacșu's letter (1521) and was written using the Romanian Cyrillic alphabet , which
16632-628: The Ottoman Sultan and the Holy Roman Empire . The following decade was marked by the conflict between the rival houses of Dănești and Drăculești . Faced with both internal and external conflict, Vlad II Dracul reluctantly agreed to pay the tribute demanded of him by the Ottoman Empire, despite his affiliation with the Order of the Dragon , a group of independent noblemen whose creed had been to repel
16821-548: The Ottoman invasion. As part of the tribute, the sons of Vlad II Dracul ( Radu cel Frumos and Vlad III Dracula ) were taken into Ottoman custody. Recognizing the Christian resistance to their invasion, leaders of the Ottoman Empire released Vlad III to rule in 1448 after his father's assassination in 1447. Known as Vlad III the Impaler or Vlad III Dracula, he immediately put to death the boyars who had conspired against his father, and
17010-597: The Ottomans continued until 26 June 1599, when Michael, lacking the resources and support to continue prosecuting the war, signed a peace treaty. In April 1598, Sigismund resigned as Prince of Transylvania in favor of the Holy Roman Emperor , Rudolf II (who was also the King of Hungary ); reversed his decision in October 1598; and then resigned again in favor of Cardinal Andrew Báthory , his cousin. Báthory had strong ties to
17199-538: The Provisional Government included the emancipation ( dezrobire ) of the Roma as one of the main social demands. By the 1850s the movement gained support from almost the whole of Romanian society, and the law from February 1856 emancipated all slaves to the status of taxpayers (citizens). With an area of approximately 77,000 km (30,000 sq mi), Wallachia is situated north of the Danube (and of present-day Bulgaria ), east of Serbia and south of
17388-543: The Romanian dialect spoken north of the Danube is called lingua Daco-Romana to emphasize its origin and its area of use, which includes the former Roman province of Dacia , although it is spoken also south of the Danube, in Dobruja , the Timok Valley and northern Bulgaria. This article deals with the Romanian (i.e. Daco-Romanian) language, and thus only its dialectal variations are discussed here. The differences between
17577-669: The Romanian inhabitants, who were primarily peasants but, nevertheless, constituted a significant proportion of the population. Michael demonstrated his support by upholding the Union of the Three Nations , which recognized only the traditional rights and privileges of the Hungarians, Székelys and Saxons , but he did not recognize the rights of the Romanians. Indeed, while he brought some of his Wallachian aides to Transylvania, he also invited some Székelys and other Transylvanian Hungarians to assist in
17766-770: The Romanian language. Examples of Romanian acts that had a great success in non-Romanophone countries are the bands O-Zone (with their No. 1 single Dragostea Din Tei , also known as Numa Numa , across the world in 2003–2004), Akcent (popular in the Netherlands, Poland and other European countries), Activ (successful in some Eastern European countries), DJ Project (popular as clubbing music) SunStroke Project (known by viral video " Epic Sax Guy ") and Alexandra Stan (worldwide no.1 hit with " Mr. Saxobeat ") and Inna as well as high-rated movies like 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days , The Death of Mr. Lazarescu , 12:08 East of Bucharest or California Dreamin' (all of them with awards at
17955-475: The Romanian neuter became a mixture of masculine and feminine. The verb morphology of Romanian has shown the same move towards a compound perfect and future tense as the other Romance languages. Compared with the other Romance languages , during its evolution, Romanian simplified the original Latin tense system. Romanian is spoken mostly in Central , South-Eastern , and Eastern Europe , although speakers of
18144-504: The Turks, and signed treaties with his neighbours: Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania, Aaron the Tyrant of Moldavia and the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II (see Holy League of Pope Clement VIII ). He started a campaign against the Turks in the autumn of 1594, conquering several citadels near the Danube , including Giurgiu , Brăila , Hârșova , and Silistra , while his Moldavian allies defeated
18333-460: The Wallachian ruler. On 9 June 1598 a formal treaty was reached between Michael and Rudolf II. According to the treaty, the Austrian ruler would give Wallachia sufficient money to maintain a 5,000-man army, as well as armaments and supplies. Shortly after the treaty was signed, the war with the Ottomans resumed and Michael besieged Nicopolis on 10 September 1598 and took control of Vidin . The war with
18522-516: The Wallachians from Moldavia and defeated Michael at Năieni , Ceptura , and Bucov ( Battle of the Teleajăn River ). The Polish army also entered eastern Wallachia and established Simion Movilă as ruler. Forces loyal to Michael remained only in Oltenia . Michael asked again for assistance from Emperor Rudolf II during a visit in Prague between 23 February and 5 March 1601, which was granted when
18711-464: The administration of Wallachia, where he wished to transplant Transylvania's far more advanced feudal system. Michael began negotiating with the Emperor over his official position in Transylvania. The latter wanted the principality under direct Imperial rule with Michael acting as governor. The Wallachian voivode , on the other hand, wanted the title of Prince of Transylvania for himself and equally claimed
18900-521: The alliance as broken—he had Vladimirescu executed, and faced the Ottoman intervention without Pandur or Russian backing, suffering major defeats in Bucharest and Drăgășani (before retreating to Austrian custody in Transylvania ). These violent events, which had seen the majority of Phanariotes siding with Ypsilantis, made Sultan Mahmud II place the Principalities under its occupation (evicted by
19089-586: The ascendancy of Greeks , compromised with the Greek revolutionaries in the Filiki Eteria and allied itself with the regents, while seeking Russian support (see also: Rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire ). On 21 March 1821 Vladimirescu entered Bucharest. For the following weeks, relations between him and his allies worsened, especially after he sought an agreement with the Ottomans; Eteria's leader Alexander Ypsilantis , who had established himself in Moldavia and, after May, in northern Wallachia, viewed
19278-438: The autochthony thesis (it developed in left-Danube Dacia only), the discontinuation thesis (it developed in right-Danube provinces only), and the "as-well-as" thesis that supports the language development on both sides of the Danube. Between the 6th and 8th century, following the accumulated tendencies inherited from the vernacular spoken in this large area and, to a much smaller degree, the influences from native dialects , and in
19467-573: The battle after an agreement between the Craiovești and Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent ; Prince Radu eventually confirmed Süleyman's position as suzerain and agreed to pay an even higher tribute. Ottoman suzerainty remained virtually unchallenged throughout the following 90 years. Radu Paisie , who was deposed by Süleyman in 1545, ceded the port of Brăila to Ottoman administration in the same year. His successor Mircea Ciobanul (1545–1554; 1558–1559),
19656-447: The beginning of devoicing of asyllabic [u] after consonants. Text analysis revealed words that are now lost from modern vocabulary or used only in local varieties. These words were of various provenience for example: Latin ( cure - to run, mâneca - to leave), Old Church Slavonic ( drăghicame - gem, precious stone, prilăsti - to trick, to cheat), Hungarian ( bizăntui - to bear witness). The modern age of Romanian starts in 1780 with
19845-542: The borders of Wallachia, which interfered with their control of trade routes. In retaliation, the Saxons distributed grotesque poems of cruelty and other propaganda, demonizing Vlad III Dracula as a drinker of blood. These tales strongly influenced an eruption of vampiric fiction throughout the West and, in particular, Germany. They also inspired the main character in the 1897 Gothic novel Dracula by Bram Stoker . In 1462, Vlad III
20034-538: The city of Brassó (today Brașov, Romania). Sparing the city, he moved on to Kerc (today Cârța, Romania), where he joined forces with the Székelys . On 18 October Michael won a decisive victory against the army of prince-cardinal Andrew Báthory at the Battle of Șelimbăr , giving him control of Transylvania. As he retreated from the battle, Andrew Báthory was killed by anti-Báthory Székely on 3 November near Csíkszentdomokos (today Sândominic, Romania) and Michael gave him
20223-422: The colloquial speech and writing. Outside the political arena the language is most often called "Romanian". In the breakaway territory of Transnistria, it is co-official with Ukrainian and Russian. In the 2014 census , out of the 2,804,801 people living in Moldova, 24% (652,394) stated Romanian as their most common language, whereas 56% stated Moldovan. While in the urban centers speakers are split evenly between
20412-453: The concept of the Romanian nation and the desire for unification did not yet exist. A. D. Xenopol firmly states the absence of any national element in Michael's politics, holding that Michael's lack of desire to join the principalities' administrations proved his actions were not motivated by any such concept. Several Romanian settlements named after him, such as: Michael is also commemorated by
20601-579: The context of a lessened power of the Roman central authority the language evolved into Common Romanian . This proto-language then came into close contact with the Slavic languages and subsequently divided into Aromanian , Megleno-Romanian , Istro-Romanian , and Daco-Romanian. Due to limited attestation between the 6th and 16th century, entire stages from its history are re-constructed by researchers, often with proposed relative chronologies and loose limits. From
20790-577: The coordinates of Wallachia and specified that Wallachia was named al-Awalak and the dwellers ulaqut or ulagh . The area of Oltenia in Wallachia was also known in Turkish as Kara-Eflak ("Black Wallachia") and Kuçuk-Eflak ("Little Wallachia"), while the former has also been used for Moldavia. In the Second Dacian War (AD 105) western Oltenia became part of the Roman province of Dacia , with parts of later Wallachia included in
20979-540: The country Moldovan . In December 2013, a decision of the Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled that the Declaration of Independence took precedence over the Constitution and the state language should be called Romanian. In 2023, the Moldovan parliament passed a law officially adopting the designation "Romanian" in all legal instruments, implementing the 2013 court decision. Scholars agree that Moldovan and Romanian are
21168-477: The country during the Russo-Turkish-Austrian War , deposing Nicholas Mavrogenes in 1789. A period of crisis followed the Ottoman recovery: Oltenia was devastated by the expeditions of Osman Pazvantoğlu , a powerful rebellious pasha whose raids even caused prince Constantine Hangerli to lose his life on suspicion of treason (1799), and Alexander Mourousis to renounce his throne (1801). In 1806,
21357-641: The country, a move towards centralism . In 1768, during the Fifth Russo-Turkish War , Wallachia was placed under its first Russian occupation (helped along by the rebellion of Pârvu Cantacuzino ). The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) allowed Russia to intervene in favour of Eastern Orthodox Ottoman subjects, curtailing Ottoman pressures—including the decrease in sums owed as tribute —and, in time, relatively increasing internal stability while opening Wallachia to more Russian interventions. Habsburg troops, under Prince Josias of Coburg , again entered
21546-482: The differences as 'accents' or 'speeches' (in Romanian: accent or grai ). Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia ( / w ɒ ˈ l eɪ k i ə / ; Romanian : Țara Românească , lit. 'The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country'; Old Romanian : Țeara Rumânească , Romanian Cyrillic alphabet : Цѣра Рꙋмѫнѣскъ ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania . It
21735-526: The duration of his reign, the union was irreversible after the ascension of Carol I in 1866 (coinciding with the Austro-Prussian War , it came at a time when Austria, the main opponent of the decision, was not in a position to intervene). Slavery ( Romanian : robie ) was part of the social order from before the founding of the Principality of Wallachia, until it was abolished in stages during
21924-566: The emperor heard that General Giorgio Basta had lost control of Transylvania to the Hungarian nobility led by Sigismund Báthory , who accepted Ottoman protection. Meanwhile, forces loyal to Michael in Wallachia led by his son, Nicolae Pătrașcu , drove Simion Movilă out of Wallachia and prepared to reenter Transylvania. Michael, allied with Basta, defeated the Hungarian army in Battle of Guruslău . A few days later, Basta, who sought to control Transylvania himself, assassinated Michael by order of
22113-675: The executive rule of the country. Boyars could no longer be executed without the knowledge and approval of the Transylvanian Prince and, if convicted for treason, their fortunes could no longer be confiscated. Apparently Michael was displeased with the final form of the treaty negotiated by his envoys, but was forced to comply. Prince Michael said in a conversation with the Polish envoy Lubieniecki: ... they did not proceed as stated in their instructions but as their own good required and obtained privileges for themselves. He would try to avoid
22302-659: The expression serves only to confirm the absence of any Romanian idea . Samuil Micu , a member of the Transylvanian School wrote in his work Short Explanation of the History of the Romanians (written in the 1790s): "In the year 1593, Michael, who is called the Brave, succeeded to the lordship of Wallachia. He was a great warrior, who fought the Turks and defeated the Transylvanians. And he took Transylvania and gave it to Emperor Rudolf". Petre P. Panaitescu states that in Mihai's time,
22491-491: The fall of the Árpád dynasty opened the way for the unification of Wallachian polities, and to independence from Hungarian rule. Wallachia's creation, held by local traditions to have been the work of one Radu Negru (Black Radu), is historically connected with Basarab I of Wallachia (1310–1352), who rebelled against Charles I of Hungary and took up rule on either side of the Olt, establishing his residence in Câmpulung as
22680-413: The first Romanian school, and Ion Heliade Rădulescu . The end of this period is marked by the first printing of magazines and newspapers in Romanian, in particular Curierul Românesc and Albina Românească . Starting from 1831 and lasting until 1880 the modern phase is characterized by the development of literary styles: scientific, administrative, and belletristic . It quickly reached a high point with
22869-431: The first common institutions and semblance of a constitution (see Regulamentul Organic ). Wallachia was returned ownership of Brăila , Giurgiu (both of which soon developed into major trading cities on the Danube ), and Turnu Măgurele . The treaty also allowed Moldavia and Wallachia to freely trade with countries other than the Ottoman Empire, which signalled substantial economic and urban growth, as well as improving
23058-455: The first ruler of the House of Basarab . Basarab refused to grant Hungary the lands of Făgăraș , Almaș and the Banate of Severin , defeated Charles in the Battle of Posada (1330), and, according to Romanian historian Ștefan Ștefănescu , extended his lands to the east, to comprise lands as far as Kiliya in the Budjak (reportedly providing the origin of Bessarabia ); the supposed rule over
23247-479: The following decades. One of the first written pieces of evidence of local voivodes is in connection with Litovoi (1272), who ruled over land each side of the Carpathians (including Hațeg Country in Transylvania), and refused to pay tribute to Ladislaus IV of Hungary . His successor was his brother Bărbat (1285–1288). The continuing weakening of the Hungarian state by further Mongol invasions (1285–1319) and
23436-538: The following signature on official documents: Michael Valachiae Transalpinae Woivoda, Sacrae Caesareae Regiae Majestatis Consiliarius per Transylvaniam Locumtenens, cis transylvaniam partium eius super exercitu Generalis Capitaneus". ("Michael, voivode of Wallachia, the councillor of His Majesty the Emperor and the King, his deputy in Transylvania and General Captain of his troops from Transylvania.") When Michael entered Transylvania, he did not immediately free or grant rights to
23625-473: The gradual development of bilingualism . Russian continued to develop as the official language of privilege, whereas Romanian remained the principal vernacular. The period from 1905 to 1917 was one of increasing linguistic conflict spurred by an increase in Romanian nationalism. In 1905 and 1906, the Bessarabian zemstva asked for the re-introduction of Romanian in schools as a "compulsory language", and
23814-492: The influence of the Mukacheve eparchy in Ukraine. The language spoken during this period had a phonological system of seven vowels and twenty-nine consonants. Particular to Old Romanian are the distribution of /z/, as the allophone of /dz/ from Common Romanian , in the Wallachian and south-east Transylvanian varieties, the presence of palatal sonorants /ʎ/ and /ɲ/, nowadays preserved only regionally in Banat and Oltenia , and
24003-460: The language and use of the demonym Romanians ( Români ) for speakers of this language predates the foundation of the modern Romanian state. Romanians always used the general term rumân / român or regional terms like ardeleni (or ungureni ), moldoveni or munteni to designate themselves. Both the name of rumână or rumâniască for the Romanian language and the self-designation rumân/român are attested as early as
24192-556: The language can be found all over the world, mostly due to emigration of Romanian nationals and the return of immigrants to Romania back to their original countries. Romanian speakers account for 0.5% of the world's population, and 4% of the Romance-speaking population of the world. Romanian is the single official and national language in Romania and Moldova, although it shares the official status at regional level with other languages in
24381-531: The language, working together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department for Romanians Abroad. Since 2013, the Romanian Language Day is celebrated on every 31 August . Romanian is the official language of the Republic of Moldova. The 1991 Declaration of Independence named the official language Romanian, and the Constitution of Moldova as originally adopted in 1994 named the state language of
24570-592: The largest Romanian-speaking community in the Middle East was found in Israel, where Romanian was spoken by 5% of the population. Romanian is also spoken as a second language by people from Arabic-speaking countries who have studied in Romania. It is estimated that almost half a million Middle Eastern Arabs studied in Romania during the 1980s. Small Romanian-speaking communities are to be found in Kazakhstan and Russia. Romanian
24759-649: The late 15th century and ended in the early decades of the 18th century, by which time Romanian had begun to be regularly used by the Church. The oldest Romanian texts of a literary nature are religious manuscripts ( Codicele Voronețean , Psaltirea Scheiană ), translations of essential Christian texts. These are considered either propagandistic results of confessional rivalries, for instance between Lutheranism and Calvinism , or as initiatives by Romanian monks stationed at Peri Monastery in Maramureș to distance themselves from
24948-549: The late 17th century, to Bucharest . Contemporary historians estimate the population of Wallachia in the 15th century at 500,000 people. In 1859, the population of Wallachia was 2,400,921 (1,586,596 in Muntenia and 814,325 in Oltenia ). According to the latest 2011 census data, the region has a total population of 8,256,532 inhabitants, distributed among the ethnic groups as follows (as per 2001 census): Romanians (97%), Roma (2.5%), others (0.5%). The largest cities (as per
25137-587: The latter was not preserved by the princes that followed, as Kilia was under the rule of the Nogais c. 1334. There is evidence that the Second Bulgarian Empire ruled at least nominally the Wallachian lands up to the Rucăr– Bran corridor as late as the late 14th century. In a charter by Radu I , the Wallachian voivode requests that tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria order his customs officers at Rucăr and
25326-415: The leadership of the three states, was considered in later periods as the precursor of a modern Romania, a thesis which was argued with noted intensity by Nicolae Bălcescu . Following Michael's downfall, Wallachia was occupied by the Polish–Moldavian army of Simion Movilă (see Moldavian Magnate Wars ), who held the region until 1602, and was subject to Nogai attacks in the same year. The last stage in
25515-408: The media regarding the forgery of the census results. The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia determines that in the regions of the Republic of Serbia inhabited by national minorities, their own languages and scripts shall be officially used as well, in the manner established by law. The Statute of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina determines that, together with the Serbian language and
25704-463: The monks of the Athonite Simonopetra Monastery for his great contributions in the form of land and money to rebuilding the monastery that had been destroyed by a fire. Mihai Viteazul , a film by Sergiu Nicolaescu , a well-known Romanian film director, is a representation of the life of the Wallachian ruler and his will to unite the three Romanian principalities ( Wallachia , Moldavia , and Transylvania ) as one domain. The Order of Michael
25893-409: The northern dialect. Two other languages, Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian , developed from the southern version of Common Romanian. These two languages are now spoken in lands to the south of the Jireček Line . Of the features that individualize Common Romanian, inherited from Latin or subsequently developed, of particular importance are: The use of the denomination Romanian ( română ) for
26082-440: The obligations imposed on him for the rest of his reign. During his reign, Michael relied heavily on the loyalty and support of a group of Oltenian lords, the most important of whom were Buzescu Brothers (Romanian: Frații Buzești ) and his own relatives on his mother's side, the Cantacuzinos. He consequently protected their interests throughout his reign; for example, he passed a law binding serfs to lands owned by aristocrats. From
26271-427: The official language with the Constitution of 1923 . Romanian has preserved a part of the Latin declension , but whereas Latin had six cases , from a morphological viewpoint, Romanian has only three: the nominative / accusative , genitive / dative , and marginally the vocative . Romanian nouns also preserve the neuter gender , although instead of functioning as a separate gender with its own forms in adjectives,
26460-408: The operation. Ștefan Răzvan arrested Aron on charges of treason on the night of 24 April (5 May) and sent him to the Transylvanian capital at Gyulafehérvár with his family and treasure. Aron would die poisoned by the end of May in the castle of Vinc . Sigismund was forced to justify his actions before the European powers, since Aron had played an active role in the anti-Ottoman coalition. Later on, in
26649-439: The overall lexis was enriched with foreign words and internal constructs, in accordance with the history and development of the society and the diversification in semantic fields, the fundamental lexicon—the core vocabulary used in everyday conversation—remains governed by inherited elements from the Latin spoken in the Roman provinces bordering Danube , without which no coherent sentence can be made. Romanian descended from
26838-406: The peasant situation. Many of the provisions had been specified by the 1826 Akkerman Convention between Russia and the Ottomans, but it had never been fully implemented in the three-year interval. The duty of overseeing of the Principalities was left to Russian general Pavel Kiselyov ; this period was marked by a series of major changes, including the reestablishment of a Wallachian Army (1831),
27027-480: The precursor of a modern Romania , a thesis which was argued with noted intensity by Nicolae Bălcescu . This theory became a point of reference for nationalists , as well as a catalyst for various Romanian forces to achieve a single Romanian state. To Romanian Romantic nationalists, he was regarded as one of Romania's greatest national heroes. He is known in Romanian historiography as Mihai Viteazul or, less commonly, Mihai Bravu . The prince began to be perceived as
27216-418: The printing in 1780 of Elementa linguae daco-romanae sive valachicae , the pre-modern phase was characterized by the publishing of school textbooks, appearance of first normative works in Romanian, numerous translations, and the beginning of a conscious stage of re-latinization of the language. Notable contributions, besides that of the Transylvanian School , are the activities of Gheorghe Lazăr , founder of
27405-606: The printing in Vienna of a very important grammar book titled Elementa linguae daco-romanae sive valachicae . The author of the book, Samuil Micu-Klein , and the revisor, Gheorghe Șincai , both members of the Transylvanian School , chose to use Latin as the language of the text and presented the phonetical and grammatical features of Romanian in comparison to its ancestor. The Modern age of Romanian language can be further divided into three phases: pre-modern or modernizing between 1780 and 1830, modern phase between 1831 and 1880, and contemporary from 1880 onwards. Beginning with
27594-465: The printing of Dacia Literară , a journal founded by Mihail Kogălniceanu and representing a literary society, which together with other publications like Propășirea and Gazeta de Transilvania spread the ideas of Romantic nationalism and later contributed to the formation of other societies that took part in the Revolutions of 1848 . Their members and those that shared their views are collectively known in Romania as "of '48"( pașoptiști ),
27783-465: The protection they extended to Sudiți traders (who soon competed successfully against local guilds). The death of prince Alexander Soutzos in 1821, coinciding with the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence , established a boyar regency which attempted to block the arrival of Scarlat Callimachi to his throne in Bucharest. The parallel uprising in Oltenia , carried out by the Pandur leader Tudor Vladimirescu , although aimed at overthrowing
27972-403: The region under his authority; his brief rule also extended to Moldavia later in the following year. For a brief period, Michael the Brave ruled (in a personal, but not formal, union) most of the territories where Romanians lived, rebuilding the base of the ancient Kingdom of Dacia . The rule of Michael the Brave, with its break with Ottoman rule, tense relations with other European powers and
28161-472: The regional varieties are small, limited to regular phonetic changes, few grammar aspects, and lexical particularities. There is a single written and spoken standard (literary) Romanian language used by all speakers, regardless of region. Like most natural languages, Romanian dialects are part of a dialect continuum . The dialects of Romanian are also referred to as 'sub-dialects' and are distinguished primarily by phonetic differences. Romanians themselves speak of
28350-417: The resurgent Vlad III and Basarab Laiotă cel Bătrân during his 11-year reign. Subsequently, Radu IV the Great (Radu cel Mare, who ruled 1495–1508) reached several compromises with the boyars, ensuring a period of internal stability that contrasted his clash with Bogdan III the One-Eyed of Moldavia. The late 15th century saw the ascension of the powerful Craiovești family, virtually independent rulers of
28539-422: The revolution were sent into exile. Briefly under renewed Russian occupation during the Crimean War , Wallachia and Moldavia were given a new status with a neutral Austrian administration (1854–1856) and the Treaty of Paris : a tutelage shared by Ottomans and a Congress of Great Powers (Britain, France, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia , the Austrian Empire, Prussia, and, albeit never again fully, Russia), with
28728-410: The rise of Imperial Russia under Tsar Peter the Great —he was approached by the latter during the Russo-Turkish War of 1710–11 , and lost his throne and life sometime after sultan Ahmed III caught news of the negotiations. Despite his denunciation of Brâncoveanu's policies, Ștefan Cantacuzino attached himself to Habsburg projects and opened the country to the armies of Prince Eugene of Savoy ; he
28917-453: The rise of liberal and radical currents, was first felt with the protests voiced by Ion Câmpineanu (quickly repressed); subsequently, it became increasingly conspiratorial , and centered on those secret societies created by young officers such as Nicolae Bălcescu and Mitică Filipescu . Frăția , a clandestine movement created in 1843, began planning a revolution to overthrow Bibescu and repeal Regulamentul Organic in 1848 (inspired by
29106-407: The same city of Gyulafehérvár, Wallachian boyars signed a treaty with Sigismund on Michael's behalf. From the point of view of Wallachian internal politics, the Treaty of Gyulafehérvár officialized what could be called a boyar regime , reinforcing the already important political power of the noble elite. According to the treaty, a council of 12 great boyars was to take part alongside the voivode in
29295-442: The same language, with the glottonym "Moldovan" used in certain political contexts. It has been the sole official language since the adoption of the Law on State Language of the Moldavian SSR in 1989. This law mandates the use of Moldovan in all the political, economic, cultural and social spheres, as well as asserting the existence of a "linguistic Moldo-Romanian identity". It is also used in schools, mass media, education and in
29484-436: The same vote, returned a majority of anti-unionists to its divan . Those elected changed their allegiance after a mass protest of Bucharest crowds, and Cuza was voted prince of Wallachia on 5 February (24 January Old Style ), consequently confirmed as Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia ( of Romania from 1862) and effectively uniting both principalities . Internationally recognized only for
29673-406: The seventh century, Slavs crossed the territory of Wallachia and settled in it, on their way to Byzantium, occupying the southern bank of the Danube. In 593, the Byzantine commander-in-chief Priscus defeated Slavs, Avars and Gepids on future Wallachian territory, and, in 602, Slavs suffered a crucial defeat in the area; Flavius Mauricius Tiberius , who ordered his army to be deployed north of
29862-411: The size of the army of Michael the Brave, considered one of the most important battles of his reign. Although the Wallachians emerged victorious from the battle, Michael was forced to retreat with his troops and wait for aid from his allies, Prince Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania and Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II . The war continued until a peace finally emerged in January 1597, but this lasted for only
30051-538: The sovereign of Wallachia. On 25 September (5 October) Báthory issued an ultimatum demanding that Michael abandon his throne. Michael decided to attack Andrew Cardinal Báthory immediately to prevent invasion. He would later describe the events: I rose with my country, my children, taking my wife and everything I had and with my army [marched into Transylvania] so that the foe should not crush me here. He left Târgoviște on 2 October, and 9 by October he had reached Prejmer in southern Transylvania, where he met envoys from
30240-429: The standpoint of religious jurisdiction, the Treaty of Gyulafehérvár had another important consequence: it placed all the Eastern Orthodox bishops in Transylvania under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Seat of Târgoviște . During this period, the Ottoman army, based in Ruse , was preparing to cross the Danube and undertake a major attack. Michael was quickly forced to retreat and the Ottoman forces started to cross
30429-714: The state were Muntenia (The Land of Mountains), Țara Rumânească (the Romanian Land), Valahia, and, rarely, România. The spelling variant Țara Românească was adopted in official documents by the mid-19th century; however, the version with u remained common in local dialects until much later. For long periods after the 14th century, Wallachia was referred to as Vlashko ( Bulgarian : Влашко ) by Bulgarian sources, Vlaška ( Serbian : Влашка ) by Serbian sources, Voloschyna ( Ukrainian : Волощина ) by Ukrainian sources, and Walachei or Walachey by German -speaking (most notably Transylvanian Saxon ) sources. The traditional Hungarian name for Wallachia
30618-418: The three principalities, Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia. This did not significantly delay his attack, however; on 14 April 1600 Michael's troops entered Moldavia on multiple routes, the Prince himself leading the main thrust to Trotuș and Roman . He reached the capital of Iași on 6 May. The garrison surrendered the citadel the next day and Michael's forces caught up with the fleeing Ieremia Movilă, who
30807-400: The troops of Mehmed IV in 1658–1659. The reigns of Gheorghe Ghica and Grigore I Ghica , the sultan's favourites, signified attempts to prevent such incidents; however, they were also the onset of a violent clash between the Băleanu and Cantacuzino boyar families, which was to mark Wallachia's history until the 1680s. The Cantacuzinos, threatened by the alliance between the Băleanus and
30996-421: The two names (with the capital Chișinău showing a strong preference for the name "Romanian", i.e. 3:2), in the countryside hardly a quarter of Romanian/Moldovan speakers indicated Romanian as their native language. Unofficial results of this census first showed a stronger preference for the name Romanian, however the initial reports were later dismissed by the Institute for Statistics, which led to speculations in
31185-432: The two traditional sections. Wallachia was founded as a principality in the early 14th century by Basarab I after a rebellion against Charles I of Hungary , although the first mention of the territory of Wallachia west of the river Olt dates to a charter given to the voivode Seneslau in 1246 by Béla IV of Hungary . In 1417, Wallachia was forced to accept the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire ; this lasted until
31374-495: The unrecognised state of Transnistria , Moldovan is one of the official languages. However, unlike all other dialects of Romanian, this variety of Moldovan is written in Cyrillic script . Romanian is taught in some areas that have Romanian minority communities, such as Vojvodina in Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Hungary. The Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) has since 1992 organised summer courses in Romanian for language teachers. There are also non-Romanians who study Romanian as
31563-428: The use of Romanian in official government publications, public education and legal contracts. Advertisements as well as other public messages must bear a translation of foreign words, while trade signs and logos shall be written predominantly in Romanian. The Romanian Language Institute (Institutul Limbii Române), established by the Ministry of Education of Romania, promotes Romanian and supports people willing to study
31752-445: The walls and across the Dniester to hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski 's camp. Neighboring states were alarmed by this upsetting of the balance of power, especially the Hungarian nobility in Transylvania, who rose against Michael in rebellion. With the help of Basta, they defeated Michael at the Battle of Mirăslău , forcing the prince to leave Transylvania together with his remaining loyal troops. A Polish army led by Jan Zamoyski drove
31941-427: The warful rule of Voivode Mihai". The perspective of the Wallachians themselves is to be found in The History of the Princes of Wallachia , attributed to the chronicler Radu Popescu (1655–1729), which bundles together all Michael's adversaries without distinction. Romanians and foreigners alike: "He subjected the Turks, the Moldavians, and the Hungarians to his rule, as if they were his asses." The picturesque flavor of
32130-452: The writing of its first grammar books, represents the modern age of the language, during which time the Latin alphabet became official, the literary language was standardized, and a large number of words from Modern Latin and other Romance languages entered the lexis. In the process of language evolution from fewer than 2500 attested words from Late Antiquity to a lexicon of over 150,000 words in its contemporary form, Romanian showed
32319-408: Was a common practice in Eastern Europe at the time, and there is some debate over whether the Romani people came to Wallachia as free people or as slaves. In the Byzantine Empire , they were slaves of the state and it seems the situation was the same in Bulgaria and Serbia until their social organization was destroyed by the Ottoman conquest, which would suggest that they came as slaves who had
32508-410: Was accompanied by his half-brother Radu Florescu, Radu Buzescu and several other supporters. After spending two weeks at the court of Sigismund Báthory , he left for Constantinople , where with help from his cousin Andronikos Kantakouzenos (the eldest son of Michael "Şeytanoğlu" Kantakouzenos ) and Patriarch Jeremiah II he negotiated Ottoman support for his accession to the Wallachian throne. He
32697-436: Was also a period of increased influence for the Saxon merchants in Brașov and Sibiu , and of Wallachia's alliance with Louis II of Hungary . Under Teodosie , the country was again under a four-month-long Ottoman occupation, a military administration that seemed to be an attempt to create a Wallachian Pashaluk . This danger rallied all boyars in support of Radu de la Afumaţi (four rules between 1522 and 1529), who lost
32886-400: Was also invaded by Goths and Sarmatians known as the Chernyakhov culture , followed by waves of other nomads . In 328, the Romans built a bridge between Sucidava and Oescus (near Gigen ) which indicates that there was a significant trade with the peoples north of the Danube. A short period of Roman rule in the area is attested under Emperor Constantine the Great , after he attacked
33075-410: Was brought to Wallachia in 1715 by the very same ruler. The tense relations between boyars and princes brought a decrease in the number of taxed people (as a privilege gained by the former), a subsequent increase in total taxes, and the enlarged powers of a boyar circle in the Divan. In parallel, Wallachia became the battleground in a succession of wars between the Ottomans on one side and Russia or
33264-405: Was carried out following a campaign by young revolutionaries who embraced the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment . The earliest law which freed a category of slaves was in March 1843, which transferred the control of the state slaves owned by the prison authority to the local authorities, leading to their sedentarizing and becoming peasants. During the Wallachian Revolution of 1848 , the agenda of
33453-496: Was characterized as both a national hero and a cruel tyrant . He was cheered for restoring order to a destabilized principality, yet showed no mercy toward thieves, murderers or anyone who plotted against his rule. Vlad demonstrated his intolerance for criminals by utilizing impalement as a form of execution. Vlad fiercely resisted Ottoman rule, having both repelled the Ottomans and been pushed back several times. The Transylvanian Saxons were also furious with him for strengthening
33642-422: Was declared Prince of Moldavia . During this period, Michael the Brave changed his seal to represent his personal union of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania. The interests of the three neighbouring great powers – the Habsburg monarchy , the Ottoman Empire , and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth – were damaged by Michael the Brave's achievements. Although he acknowledged the suzerainty of Rudolf II, Michael
33831-403: Was defeated by Mehmed the Conqueror during his offensive at the Night Attack at Târgovişte before being forced to retreat to Târgoviște and accepting to pay an increased tribute. Meanwhile, Vlad III faced parallel conflicts with his brother, Radu cel Frumos, (r. 1437/1439–1475), and Basarab Laiotă cel Bătrân . This led to the conquest of Wallachia by Radu, who would face his own struggles with
34020-439: Was determined to continue the war against the Ottomans, but he was prevented because he lacked support from Sigismund Báthory and Rudolf II. On 7 January 1597 Hasan Pasha declared the independence of Wallachia under Michael's rule, but Michael knew that this was only an attempt to divert him from preparing for another future attack. Michael again requested Rudolf II's support and Rudolf finally agreed to send financial assistance to
34209-476: Was himself deposed and executed in 1716. Immediately following the deposition of Prince Ștefan, the Ottomans renounced the purely nominal elective system (which had by then already witnessed the decrease in importance of the Boyar Divan over the sultan's decision), and princes of the two Danubian Principalities were appointed from the Phanariotes of Constantinople . Inaugurated by Nicholas Mavrocordatos in Moldavia after Dimitrie Cantemir , Phanariote rule
34398-425: Was published in Vienna in 1780. Following the annexation of Bessarabia by Russia in 1812, Moldavian was established as an official language in the governmental institutions of Bessarabia , used along with Russian, The publishing works established by Archbishop Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni were able to produce books and liturgical works in Moldavian between 1815 and 1820. Bessarabia during the 1812–1918 era witnessed
34587-403: Was quite spectacular, as he became the Ban of Mehedinți in 1588, stolnic at the court of Mihnea Turcitul by the end of 1588, and Ban of Craiova in 1593 – during the rule of Alexandru cel Rău . The latter had him swear before 12 boyars that he was not of princely descent. Still, in May 1593 conflict did break out between Alexandru and Michael, who was forced to flee to Transylvania. He
34776-516: Was returned to Wallachia in 1739 (the Treaty of Belgrade , upon the close of the Austro-Russian–Turkish War (1735–39) ). Prince Constantine Mavrocordatos , who oversaw the new change in borders, was also responsible for the effective abolition of serfdom in 1746 (which put a stop to the exodus of peasants into Transylvania ); during this period, the ban of Oltenia moved his residence from Craiova to Bucharest , signalling, alongside Mavrocordatos' order to merge his personal treasury with that of
34965-406: Was saved from being captured only by the sacrifice of his rear-guard. Movilă took refuge in the castle of Hotin together with his family, a handful of faithful boyars and the former Transylvanian Prince, Sigismund Báthory. The Moldavian soldiers in the castle deserted, leaving a small Polish contingent as sole defenders. Under the cover of dark, sometime before 11 June, Movilă managed to sneak out of
35154-433: Was supported by the English ambassador in the Ottoman capital, Edward Barton , and aided by a loan of 200,000 florins. Michael was invested Prince by Sultan Murad III in September 1593 and started his effective rule on 11 October. Not long after Michael became Prince of Wallachia, he turned against the Ottoman Empire. The next year he joined the Christian alliance of European powers formed by Pope Clement VIII against
35343-421: Was the term corresponding to the legal institution during the Roman era , where slaves were considered goods instead of human beings and the owners had ius vitae necisque over them (right to end the life of the slave); while robie is the feudal institution where the slaves were legally considered human beings and they had reduced legal capacity. The exact origins of slavery in Wallachia are not known. Slavery
35532-603: Was used to designate Romance -speakers, and subsequently shepherds in general. In Slavonic texts of the Early Middle Ages , the name Zemli Ungro-Vlahiskoi ( Земли Унгро-Влахискои or "Hungaro-Wallachian Land") was also used as a designation for the region. The term, translated in Romanian as "Ungrovalahia", remained in use up to the modern era in a religious context, referring to the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan seat of Hungaro-Wallachia , in contrast to Thessalian or Great Vlachia in Greece or Small Wallachia (Mala Vlaška) in Serbia. The Romanian-language designations of
35721-411: Was used until the late 19th century. The letter is the oldest testimony of Romanian epistolary style and uses a prevalent lexis of Latin origin. However, dating by watermarks has shown the Hurmuzaki Psalter is a copy from around the turn of the 16th century. The slow process of Romanian establishing itself as an official language, used in the public sphere, in literature and ecclesiastically, began in
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