Alexandru Ioan Cuza was Prince of Moldavia, Prince of Wallachia, and later Domnitor (Ruler) of the Romanian Principalities. He was a prominent figure of the Revolution of 1848 in Moldavia. He initiated a series of reforms that contributed to the modernization of Romanian society and of state structures.
Carol I, born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to 1914. He was elected Ruling Prince (Domnitor) of the Romanian United Principalities on 20 April 1866 after the overthrow of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by a palace coup d'état. In May 1877, he proclaimed Romania an independent and sovereign nation. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire (1878) in the Russo-Turkish War secured Romanian independence, and he was proclaimed King of Romania on 26 March [O.S. 14 March] 1881. He was the first ruler of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty, which ruled the country until the proclamation of a republic in 1947.
Lascăr Catargiu was a Romanian conservative statesman born in Moldavia. He belonged to an ancient Wallachian family, one of whose members had been banished in the 17th century by Prince Matei Basarab, and had settled in Moldavia.
In the Romantic era, the concept of a national state emerged among the Romanians, as among many other peoples of Europe and a "national awakening" began. Defining their nation against the nearby Slavs, Germans, and Hungarians, the nationalist Romanians looked for models of nationality in the other Latin countries, notably France.
Bârlad is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the Bârlad River, which waters the high plains of Moldavia.
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 (1859). Alongside Transylvania, the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia became the basis for the Kingdom of Romania, and by extension the modern Romanian nation-state.
Grigore Alexandru Ghica or Ghika was a Prince of Moldavia between 14 October 1849, and June 1853, and again between 30 October 1854, and 3 June 1856. His wife was Helena, a member of the Sturdza family and daughter of Ioan Sturdza, who had been Prince of Moldavia from 1822 to 1828.
The coat of arms of Bucharest is the heraldic symbol of the capital city of Romania. The present-day coat of arms was adopted by Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza, and changed under the Communist regime. In 1994, it was renewed again with minor alterations.
The flag and coat of arms of Moldavia, one of the two Danubian Principalities, together with Wallachia, which formed the basis for the Romanian state, were subject to numerous changes throughout their history.
Ioan M. Manu, also known as Iancu Manu, was a Romanian boyar and politician.
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 Racoviţă was a family of Moldavian and Wallachian boyars which gave the Danubian Principalities several hospodars, becoming influential within the Ottoman Empire and the Phanariote kinship network. Their ancestors became boyars under Alexandru Lăpușneanu. A member of the family was mentioned in a chrysobull dated 7 October 1487. The name is Slavic. The family was partially Hellenized. One of its branches remained present inside Romania. By the 17th century, the family was one of the leading families in the region. It later managed to penetrate into the Phanariote nucleus in Constantinople, which facilitated and increased their chances to occupy the thrones in their native country, and later to successfully maintain their positions. It remained influential in the Kingdom of Romania.
The colors of the national flag of Romania have a long history, though the association of the three colors only dates to the 18th century. Red, yellow and blue were found on late 16th-century royal grants of Michael the Brave, as well as shields and banners. Thus, the late 13th century Wijbergen armorial shows the coat of arms of the Wallachian ruler Litovoi as consisting of a shield of ten vertically alternating gold-and-red bands, which were the colors of the coat of arms of the Second Bulgarian Empire, of which Wallachia was part. The same two colors, gules and or, also appeared on the late 15th century flag and coat of arms of Moldavia, during the reign of Stephen the Great. Then, from the late 16th century until the mid-17th century, the historical coat of arms of Transylvania gradually developed as a shield party per fess, consisting of a black eagle on blue background in the upper field, a dividing red band in the middle, and seven red towers on golden background in the lower field. Finally, in the last quarter of the 18th century, Bukovina gets its own coat of arms from the Habsburg Empire, a blue-and-red shield party per pale with a black aurochs' head in the middle, and three golden six-pointed stars surrounding it. During the Wallachian uprising of 1821, they were present, along others, on the canvas of the revolutionaries' flag and its fringes; for the first time a meaning was attributed to them: "Liberty (sky-blue), Justice, Fraternity ".
The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia was the official name of the personal union which later became Romania, adopted in 1859 when Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected as the Domnitor of both territories, which were still vassals of the Ottoman Empire.
Alexandru Al. Ioan Cuza was a Romanian aristocrat and politician. He was the eldest son of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza, by his mistress Maria Catargi-Obrenović, and adopted by Cuza's wife Elena Rosetti-Cuza. His father's rule was the earliest political union between the two Danubian Principalities, which was to form the Kingdom of Romania in 1881. When Alexandru Ioan was ousted and replaced with Carol of Hohenzollern (1866), Alexandru Al. Ioan followed him into exile. He settled back in Romania after his father's death, attempting to create a current of opinion against Carol. He later helped journalists Alexandru Beldiman and Grigore Ventura in founding the anti-Carlist newspaper Adevărul.
The two Ad hoc Divans were legislative and consultative assemblies of the Danubian Principalities, vassals of the Ottoman Empire. They were established by the Great Powers under the Treaty of Paris. By then, the Crimean War had taken the two states out of Russia's sphere of influence, and had nullified the Moldo-Wallachian Regulamentul Organic regime. Officially, the two assemblies were provisional replacements for the traditional assemblies, the Sfaturi. The term "divan", is derived from the Ottoman rule, being the name of a high governmental body in a number of Islamic states.
Dimitrie Lecca was a Moldavian-born Romanian soldier and politician.
Ion Cuza or Cuzea, commonly known as Ioniță Cuza, was a Moldavian statesman and political conspirator, remembered as one of the first Romanian nationalists and Freemasons. His paternal family, the Cuzas (Cuzeas), were landowners of uncertain origin who, by the time of Ioniță's birth, had been established into the boyardom, being under the patronage of Doukas and Sturdza aristocrats. Ioniță's mother was a direct descendant of the statesman-chronicler Miron Costin; his father, Miron Cuza, had been involved in the pro-Habsburg conspiracy headed by François Ernaut, while his grandfather, Dumitrașco Cuzea, had been hanged during the clampdown. As boyars, both the Cuzas and the Costins opposed the Phanariote regime and devised other schemes to emancipate Moldavia from the Ottoman Empire.
