The Great Banate of Craiova or Banship of Craiova was in the Middle Ages one of the most important political institutions of Wallachia. It was established during the last decades of the 15th century, after the movement of the seat from Strehaia (1491).
The Great Ban of Craiova was the Viceroy of Lesser Wallachia and he was, as hierarchic order, the greatest Wallachian high official. His authority was extended to the area of Oltenia. Having the consent of the Wallachian ruler, the ban of Craiova could confiscate the fortune of one who made himself guilty of "betrayal". The ban of Craiova could punish by death the guilty persons.
Since 1512, when the reign of Neagoe Basarab began, the Ban got similar powers to the hospodar in the territory on the right of Olt river. The title was held most by members of the Craioveşti family (from 1492 to 1532).
The last headquarters of the Banate
In the second half of 16th century, the institution met a moment of crisis, mainly due to aggressive attempts of the Turks to establish dominance over Wallachia. Oltenia had a high level of administrative, judicial and military independence, without any relation to central leadership of the country, except to pay tribute to the Wallachian ruler, who, in turn, sent it on to the Ottomans. The rôle of the institution increased during the rule of Michael the Brave. In 1761 the permanent residence of the ban was moved to Bucharest. Up until 1831, the Ban was the deputy of the voivode (Prince of Wallachia) in Oltenia.
The headquarters of the Banate (Băniei House) is the oldest non-religious building that exists in Craiova, dating from 1699. Today it hosts the Museum of Ethnography and Folk Art.
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia is traditionally divided into two sections, Muntenia and Oltenia. 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 the two traditional sections.
Basarab I, also known as Basarab the Founder, was a voivode and later the first independent ruler of Wallachia who lived in the first half of the 14th century. Many details of his life are uncertain. Although his name is of Turkic origin, 14th-century sources unanimously state that he was a Vlach (Romanian). According to two popular theories, Basarab either came into power between 1304 and 1324 by dethroning or peacefully succeeding the legendary founder of Wallachia, Radu Negru, or in 1310 by succeeding his father, Thocomerius.
Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river.
Craiova, is Romania's 7th largest city and capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximately equal distances from the Southern Carpathians (north) and the River Danube (south). Craiova is the chief commercial city west of Bucharest and the most important city of Oltenia. The city prospered as a regional trading centre despite an earthquake in 1790, a plague in 1795, and a Turkish assault in 1802 during which it was burned.
Drobeta-Turnu Severin, colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern town of Turnu Severin received the additional name of Drobeta during Nicolae Ceaușescu's national-communist dictatorship as part of his myth-making efforts.
Radu I was a Voivode of Wallachia. His year of birth is unattested in any primary source. He was the son of Nicolae Alexandru and half-brother and successor to Vladislav I. He is identified by many historians as the legendary Radu Negru, a mythical voievode of the early medieval state Wallachia, founder of the state's institutions and ruler.
Tudor Vladimirescu was a Romanian revolutionary hero, the leader of the Wallachian uprising of 1821 and of the Pandur militia. He is also known as Tudor din Vladimiri or, occasionally, as Domnul Tudor.
Strehaia is a town in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania. It is situated on the Motru River valley, in the eastern part of the county. Forests in the vicinity are home to the largest Hermann's tortoise colonies in Oltenia.
The Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common geopolitical situation. The term was largely used then by foreign political circles and public opinion until the union of the two principalities in 1859. Alongside Transylvania, the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia became the basis for the Kingdom of Romania, and by extension the modern nation-state of Romania.
Michael the Brave, born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia, Prince of Moldavia (1600) and de facto ruler of Transylvania. He is considered one of Romania's greatest national heroes. Since the 19th century, Michael 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.
Constantine Mavrocordatos was a Greek noble who served as Prince of Wallachia and Prince of Moldavia at several intervals between 1730 and 1769. As a ruler he issued reforms in the laws of each of the two Danubian Principalities, ensuring a more adequate taxation and a series of measures amounting to the emancipation of serfs and a more humane treatment of slaves.
The Romanian government is the armiger in Romania. It exercises this right under the mandatory advice of the National Committee of Heraldry, Genealogy and Sigillography. The committee is subordinate to the Romanian Academy. All the coats of arms of Romanian institutions must be approved by this committee with two exceptions. The Romanian military is subject to the Ministry of National Defense Heraldric Committee, and Romanian law enforcement institutions are subject to the Ministry of Administration and Interior Heraldric Committee. Both of these committees may share members with the National Committee of Heraldry, Genealogy and Sigillography.
The founding of Wallachia, that is the establishment of the first independent Romanian principality, was achieved at the beginning of the 14th century, through the unification of smaller political units that had existed between the Carpathian Mountains, and the Rivers Danube, Siret and Milcov.
The Banate of Severin or Banate of Szörény was a Hungarian political, military and administrative unit with a special role in the initially anti-Bulgarian, latterly anti-Ottoman defensive system of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. It was founded by Prince Béla in 1228.
The Archdiocese of Râmnic is a Romanian Orthodox archdiocese based in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania, in the historic region of Oltenia, and covering Vâlcea County. Established in 1503-1504, although with a bishop residing there from the previous century, it is a continuation of the medieval Metropolis of Severin. Initially covering all of Oltenia, it saw a flourishing cultural and religious output during the 16th to 18th centuries, both in the see and in the monasteries of the region. The area of the diocese began to fall in 1939, reaching its current proportions in 2008, a year before it became an archdiocese.
Andronikos Kantakouzenos, also known as Mihaloğlu Derviş, was an Ottoman Greek entrepreneur and political figure, primarily active in Wallachia and Moldavia. He was the son of Michael Kantakouzenos Şeytanoğlu, a powerful merchant of the Ottoman Empire, executed by Murad III in 1578. Forced to honor his father's outstanding debt, and briefly imprisoned as a galley slave, he rebuilt the fortune through commerce and political intrigues. In the 1590s, he was continuing his father's involvement as kingmaker for both Wallachia and Moldavia, acting as patron for a succession of Hospodars: Stephen the Deaf, Petru Cercel, Aaron the Tyrant and Peter the Lame all benefited from his financing. From 1591, he involved himself directly in the administration of both countries. Integrated within Moldo–Wallachian boyardom, he was Vistier, and then the first-ever Ban of Oltenia to be appointed directly by the Ottomans.
Banul Mărăcine or Mărăcină, common rendition of Barbu III Craiovescu, Barbu Mărăcine or Barbu Basarab, was a historical figure in Wallachia, who claimed the title of Prince. He was one of several Craiovești pretenders to the throne, a category which also included his father, Preda Craiovescu. Mărăcine himself entered historical record in 1532, when, as an opponent of Prince Vlad VI, he had his estate confiscated. He returned to favor later that year, with the crowning of Vlad Vintilă de la Slatina. Like Preda before him, Mărăcine served as Ban of Oltenia, becoming the last of his family to hold that title. According to various accounts, he turned against his new lord, from organizing armed resistance in Oltenia to involving himself in Vlad Vintilă's assassination. He was able to maintain his position following the crowning of Radu Paisie, but was eventually toppled by the latter in mid-1535.
The medieval fortress of Turnu is located in the southern part of Turnu Măgurele at a distance of 3 km from the city and 1 km from the confluence of the Olt and Danube rivers in today's Romania. The fortress is documented during the reign of Mircea the Elder (1394) and was built on the Danube line for the defense of Wallachia against the Turkish peril. At the end of the reign of Mircea the Elder, under unclear circumstances, it came under Ottoman occupation to return to the possession of Wallachia only in 1829 when it was burned and demolished.
The Banat of Craiova or Banat of Krajowa, also known as Cisalutanian Wallachian Principality and Imperial Wallachia, was a Romanian-inhabited province of the Habsburg monarchy. It emerged from the western third of Wallachia, now commonly known as Oltenia, which the Habsburgs took in a preceding war with the Ottoman Empire—in tandem with the Banat of Temeswar and Serbia. It was a legal successor to the Great Banship of Craiova, with the Wallachian Gheorghe Cantacuzino as its native leader, or Ban. Over the following years, native rule was phased out, and gave way to a direct administration. This provided the setting for Germanization of the bureaucratic elite, introducing the governing methods of enlightened absolutism and colonialism.
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