History of Romania

Europe's Great Survivor - Romania fits this description very well as it as been overrun so many times in it's history. Today's population is largely made up of Romanians, Hungarians, Germans and Roma. Today's Romania did not include areas such as Wallachia or Moldavia until 1859 and Transylvania remained part of the Austro-Hungarian empire until 1918.

650 BC - Dacians are recorded in the area now known as Transylvania due to their trade with the Greeks and established settlements at Callatis, Tomis (now Constanța) and Histria. Dacians had earlier occupied lands south of the Danube and north of the mountains, and those lands under a Roman province which eventually included wider territories both to the north and to the east. The Dacians came from Thracian groups.

Ad 106 - Dacia became a Roman province which lasted for 175 years until the Goths forced Emperor Aurelian to withdraw to below the River Danube. The Carpathian Mountains were a favourable environment for the Dacians’ economically, due to the seasonal migration of livestock from the lower hills to the mountains, a practice called "transhumance", the Dacians’ as the main occupation for them was sheep herding.

896 - The Magyars move and settle into the Carpathian Basin merging Transylvania with Hungary. Magyars were the main inhabitants of Hungary that existed through most of the second millennium. They were of Turkic origin, and due to Hungary's location between East and West Europe, the Magyars were the bridge different cultures and people.

1000 - A number of historical records from the Byzantine, Slavic, Hungarian and Oriental groups mention the existence of Romanians under the name of Vlachs. The Vlachs are from the Balkan Romance-speaking peoples who live south of the River Danube.

1241 - After the invasion by the Tatars of Transylvania, King Béla IV of Hungary offers land to entice German Saxons to help with the defence of the region. He was the ruler who attempted to resist the onslaught of the Mongols in 1241–1242. In one battle on the banks of the Sajó River in 1241 he lost the main forces along with many of the important members of his administration including allies he could rely on. He himself was forced to flee to Dalmatia. After the retreat of the Mongols, when King Béla IV returned to the country, he found it destroyed and desolate.He contributed significantly to the modernization of Hungary in the second half of the thirteenth century.

1330 - 1400 - The Battle of Posada is the name of a military conflict between the Kingdom of Hungary and Wallachia, which took place in the autumn of 1330. This battle marked the emancipation of Wallachia from the tutelage of the Hungarian crown. Prince Basarab I (the Basarabs, also Bazarabs or Bazaraads, were a family of likely Cuman origin, which had an important role in the establishing the Principality of Wallachia, giving the country its first line of Princes, one closely related with the Mușatin rulers of Moldavia.) establishes the first Romanian principality of Wallachia. The region is known as Țara Românească meaning Romanian Land. Wallachia existed between the 14th and 19th centuries.

1431 - Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler was born. He was the second son of Vlad Dracul, who became the ruler of Wallachia in 1436. During his eight years of power he became known for terrorising and slaughtering the invading Turks. He is often considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian history and a national hero of Romania.

 

Name Author ISBN Description
Romania Lucian Boia 1-86189-103-2 What is Romania? - First published in 2001
       
       

 

 

 

History of Romania
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