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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. 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.
The Middle Ages in Romania began shortly after the withdrawal of the Roman legions from the former Roman province of Dacia in the late 3rd century and with the start of the Early Middle Ages and the Migration Period that followed afterwards respectively. It subsequently came to an end with the reign of Domn Michael the Brave (1593–1601) who managed, for a short time between 1599 and 1600, to rule Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania together, the three principalities whose territories were to be united some three centuries later to form modern and contemporary Romania.
Seneslau, also Seneslav or Stănislau, was a Vlach voivode mentioned in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by king Béla IV of Hungary (1235–1270) on 2 July 1247. The diploma granted territories to the Knights Hospitaller in the Banate of Severin and Cumania. According to the diploma, the king gave the territories east of the Olt River to the knights, with the exception of the territory of voivode Seneslau.
Bărbat was the brother and successor of voivode Litovoi whose territory had comprised northern Oltenia (Romania).
Thocomerius, also Tihomir, was the father of Basarab, who would become the first independent voivode of Wallachia. Many Romanian historians, such as Vlad Georgescu and Marcel Popa, believe that Thocomerius was a voivode in Wallachia who succeeded Bărbat, who ruled around 1278; others, such as Tudor Sălăgean, refer to him as a local potentate whose status cannot be specified.
Glad was the ruler of Banat at the time of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin around 900 AD, according to the Gesta Hungarorum. The Gesta, which was written by an author known in modern scholarship as Anonymus in the second half of the 12th century or in the early 13th century, is the earliest extant Hungarian chronicle. The Gesta did not refer to the enemies of the conquering Hungarians, who had been mentioned in earlier annals and chronicles, but wrote of a dozen persons, including Glad, who are unknown from other primary sources of the Hungarian Conquest. Therefore, modern historians debate whether Glad was an actual enemy of the conquerors or only a "fictitious person" made up by Anonymus. In Romanian historiography, based on the mention by Anonymus some 300 years later, Glad is described as one of the three Romanian dukes who ruled a historical region of present-day Romania in the early 10th century.
Dragoș, also known as Dragoș Vodă, or Dragoș the Founder was the first Voivode of Moldavia, who reigned in the middle of the 14th century, according to the earliest Moldavian chronicles. The same sources say that Dragoș came from Maramureş while chasing an aurochs or zimbru across the Carpathian Mountains. His descălecat, or "dismounting", on the banks of the Moldova River has traditionally been regarded as the symbol of the foundation of the Principality of Moldavia in Romanian historiography. Most details of his life are uncertain. Historians have identified him either with Dragoș of Bedeu or with Dragoș of Giulești, who were Vlach landowners in the Kingdom of Hungary.
Bogdan I, commonly known as Bogdan the Founder, was the first independent ruler, or voivode, of Moldavia in the 1360s. He had initially been the voivode, or head, of the Vlachs in the Voivodeship of Maramureș in the Kingdom of Hungary. However, when the first certain record was made of him in 1343, he was mentioned as a former voivode who had become disloyal to Louis I of Hungary. He invaded the domains of a Vlach landowner who remained loyal to the king in 1349. Four years later, he was again mentioned as voivode in a charter, which was the last record of his presence in Maramureș.
The Prince of Transylvania was the head of state of the Principality of Transylvania from the late-16th century until the mid-18th century. John Sigismund Zápolya was the first to adopt the title in 1570, but its use only became stable from 1576.
The Diploma of the Joannites, or Diploma of the Knights of St. John, was a grant issued in 1247 by King Béla IV of Hungary to Master Rembald of the Knights Hospitaller. It allowed the Knights to settle in Severin, in what is today Romania, where they could defend the Hungarian borders against Cuman invaders. The diploma provides valuable information about the existence of early Vlach (Romanian) polities in Wallachia, led by the Voivodes Litovoi and Seneslau and the Cneazes Ioan and Farcaș, as well as about the economic development of the region, whose inhabitants were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding and fishing.
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 founding of Moldavia began with the arrival of a Vlach (Romanian) voivode, Dragoș, soon followed by his people from Maramureș, then a voivodeship, to the region of the Moldova River. Dragoș established a polity there as a vassal to the Kingdom of Hungary in the 1350s. The independence of the Principality of Moldavia was gained when Bogdan I, another Vlach voivode from Maramureș who had fallen out with the Hungarian king, crossed the Carpathians in 1359 and took control of Moldavia, wresting the region from Hungary. It remained a principality until 1859, when it united with Wallachia, initiating the development of the modern Romanian state.
Farcaș, also Farkas, Farkaș or Farcas, was a cneaz mentioned in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by king Béla IV of Hungary (1235–1270) on 2 July 1247; the diploma granted territories to the Knights Hospitaller in the Banate of Severin and Cumania. Farcaș held a kenazate which was given to the knights by the king. His kenazate lay in the northeast of modern Oltenia.
John, also Joan or Ioan, was a cneaz mentioned in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by King Béla IV of Hungary (1235–1270) on 2 July 1247; the diploma granted territories to the Knights Hospitaller in the Banate of Severin and Cumania. John held a kenazate which was given to the knights by the king. His kenazate lay in southern Oltenia.
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.
Knez or Kenez was one of the titles given to the leader of the Vlach communities in the Kingdom of Hungary and western Balkans during the Middle Ages.
The boyars of Fogaras were a group of Vlach conditional nobles in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary and the Principality of Transylvania.
The Voivodeship of Maramureș, was a Romanian voivodeship centered in the region of the same name within the Kingdom of Hungary. It was the most powerful and well-organized Romanian entity in the broader area of Transylvania during the 14th century. The Voivodeship of Maramureș was established in 1343. It was ultimately disestablished and supplanted with the Hungarian Máramaros County.
Țara Litua was a country from around Severin to the Olt River. The first mention of the country was in 1247, when Litovoi was its voivode. The country existed until 1330 when Basarab I founded Wallachia.
A voivode was a leader of certain Vlach (Romanian) communities in the Kingdom of Hungary and western Balkans, during the Middle Ages.