Wallachia

• 1. Etymology And Naming Conventions

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  The name Wallachia is an exonym, generally not used by Romanians themselves. They preferred the denomination țara Românească, meaning Romanian Country or Romanian Land. This term appears in some Romanian texts as Valahia or Vlahia. The word derives from walhaz, a term used by Germanic peoples and Early Slavs to refer to Romans and other speakers of foreign languages. It designated Gaulic-speakers like those in Wales and Cornwall. Later it described Romance-speakers such as those in Wallonia and Megálē Vlachía. Eventually, the association shifted to shepherds and pastoralists due to the survival of Romance-speaking communities in eastern parts. Hellenes, Magyars, and Serbo-Croats made this connection.

  In Slavonic texts of the Early Middle Ages, the name Ungrovalahia was also used as a designation for the region. This term remained in use up to the modern era in a religious context. It referred to the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan seat of Hungaro-Wallachia. This stood in contrast to Thessalian or Great Vlachia in Greece. It also distinguished itself from Small Wallachia, known as Mala Vlaška, in Serbia. Dinu C. Giurescu documented these variations in his 1981 work Istoria ilustrată a românilor published by Editura Sport-Turism in Bucharest.

  For long periods after the 14th century, Wallachia was referred to differently across cultures. Bulgarian sources called it something distinct. Serbian sources used another variation. Ukrainian sources had their own name. German-speaking sources, most notably Transylvanian Saxons, used yet another form. The traditional Hungarian name meant Snowy lowlands. Its older form translated to Land beyond the snowy mountains. These snowy mountains refer to the Southern Carpathians, also known as the Transylvanian Alps. Kristó Gyula discussed these medieval roots in Tiszatáj journal in November 2001. In Ottoman Turkish, the term appeared simply as Eflak. Old Albanian speakers called it Gogënia, which denoted non-Albanian speakers.

• 2. Medieval State Formation

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  Wallachia began to form as a principality around the 13th century following the gradual unification of several smaller Romanian political entities. By 1330, the state had consolidated after Basarab I's victory in the Battle of Posada against the Kingdom of Hungary. This battle ushered in a period of relative independence for the region. One of the first written pieces of evidence concerning local Vlach voivodes concerns the ruler Litovoi. He was first mentioned in the Diploma of the Joannites in 1247. Litvoi ruled over țara Litua, corresponding to modern day northern Oltenia.

  By 1272, Litvoi had gained control over more land on each side of the Carpathians. He specifically controlled further along the northern Wallachian Plain and Hațeg Country in Transylvania. Litvoi refused to pay tribute to King Ladislaus IV of Hungary. War broke out with the Hungarians in 1277 before he died in battle sometime before 1280. His successor was his brother Bărbat, who ruled until 1288. The continuing weakening of the Hungarian state by further Mongol invasions paved the way for the assertion of independence from Hungarian rule.

  Wallachia's creation is held by local traditions and folk tale to have been the work of Radu Negru. According to tradition, he crossed the Carpathians from Transylvania to the Wallachian Plain in 1290 alongside a large following of fellow Vlachs. Basarab I was first mentioned in a Hungarian charter in 1324 as a voivode holding lands south of the Carpathians. Throughout the rest of the 1320s, Basarab expanded his influence. He seized control of the Banate of Severin and launched raids into Transylvania. By 1330, Basarab had established his rule over both sides of the river Olt. He established his residence in Câmpulung as the first ruler of the House of Basarab.

• 3. Ottoman Suzerainty And Resistance

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  In 1417, Wallachia was forced to accept the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire for the first time. This suzerainty lasted until the mid-19th century. However, Wallachia generally preserved autonomy within the Empire. It also experienced interruptions to Ottoman rule brought about by local rulers such as Vlad the Impaler and Michael the Brave. Mircea the Elder initially defeated the Ottomans in several battles including the Battle of Rovine in 1394. He drove them away from Dobruja and briefly extended his rule to the Danube Delta.

  Vlad III the Impaler demonstrated his intolerance for criminals by utilizing impalement as a form of execution. He fiercely resisted Ottoman rule having both repelled the Ottomans and been pushed back several times. In 1462, Vlad III was defeated by Mehmed the Conqueror during his offensive at the Night Attack at Târgovişte. He retreated to Târgoviște and accepted to pay an increased tribute. The Transylvanian Saxons were furious with him for strengthening the borders of Wallachia. They 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 particularly Germany. They inspired the main character in the 1897 Gothic novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Michael the Brave ascended to the throne in 1593 attacking troops north and south of the Danube. He soon placed himself under the suzerainty of Rudolf II, the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1599, 1600 he intervened in Transylvania against Poland's king Sigismund III Vasa placing the region under his authority.

• 4. The Phanariote Era

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  Immediately following the deposition of Prince Ștefan Cantacuzino in 1716, the Ottomans renounced the purely nominal elective system. Princes of the two Danubian Principalities were appointed from the Phanariotes of Constantinople. Phanariote rule was brought to Wallachia in 1715 by Nicholas Mavrocordatos. This tense relations between boyars and princes brought a decrease in the number of taxed people. It also caused a subsequent increase in total taxes and enlarged powers of a boyar circle in the Divan.

  Prince Constantine Mavrocordatos oversaw new changes in borders after the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739. He was responsible for the effective abolition of serfdom in 1746. This put a stop to the exodus of peasants into Transylvania. The ban of Oltenia moved his residence from Craiova to Bucharest signaling a move towards centralism. In 1768 during the Fifth Russo-Turkish War, Wallachia was placed under its first Russian occupation. The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774 allowed Russia to intervene in favour of Eastern Orthodox Ottoman subjects.

  Habsburg troops entered the country again 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. These raids even caused Prince Constantine Hangerli to lose his life on suspicion of treason in 1799. Alexander Mourousis renounced his throne in 1801.

• 5. Revolution And Union

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  The death of prince Alexander Soutzos in 1821 coincided with the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence. This established a boyar regency which attempted to block the arrival of Scarlat Callimachi to his throne in Bucharest. On the 21st of March 1821 Tudor Vladimirescu entered Bucharest carrying out an uprising in Oltenia. He aimed at overthrowing the ascendancy of Greeks but compromised with the Greek revolutionaries in the Filiki Eteria. His alliance with the Ottomans led to his execution by Alexander Ypsilantis who had established himself in Moldavia and northern Wallachia after May.

  Frăția, a clandestine movement created in 1843, began planning a revolution to overthrow Bibescu and repeal Regulamentul Organic in 1848. Their pan-Wallachian coup d'état was initially successful only near Turnu Măgurele where crowds cheered the Islaz Proclamation on the 9th of June. The document called for political freedoms independence land reform and the creation of a national guard. On 11, the 12th of June the movement succeeded in deposing Bibescu and establishing a Provisional Government. Dreptate Frăție became the national motto meaning Justice Brotherhood.

  Elections for the Ad hoc Divans of 1859 profited from a legal ambiguity specifying two thrones but not preventing any single person from simultaneously taking part in both elections. Alexander John Cuza won the elections in Moldavia on the 5th of January. Wallachia returned a majority of anti-unionists to its divan until those elected changed their allegiance after a mass protest of Bucharest crowds. Cuza was voted prince of Wallachia on the 5th of February effectively uniting both principalities.

• 6. Social Structure And Demographics

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  Slavery was part of the social order from before the founding of the Principality of Wallachia until it was abolished in stages during the 1840s and 1850s. Most of the slaves were of Roma ethnicity. The very first document attesting the presence of Roma people in Wallachia dates back to 1385 referring to the group as ațigani. This term comes from the Greek athinganoi which is the origin of the Romanian term țigani synonymous with Gypsy.

  Traditionally, Roma slaves were divided into three categories. The smallest category was owned by the hospodars and went by the name țigani domnești meaning Gypsies belonging to the lord. The other two categories comprised țigani mănăstirești who were property of monasteries and țigani boierești enslaved by landowners. The abolition of slavery followed a campaign by young revolutionaries embracing liberal ideas of the Enlightenment. The earliest law freeing a category of slaves appeared in March 1843 transferring control of state slaves to local authorities.

  Contemporary historians estimate the population of Wallachia in the 15th century at 500,000 people. In 1859 the population reached 2,400,921 with 1,586,596 in Muntenia and 814,325 in Oltenia. By the 1850s the movement gained support from almost the whole of Romanian society. A law from February 1856 emancipated all slaves to the status of taxpayers or citizens.