page_title: History of Christianity in Romania
section_title: Orthodox Church in the intra-Carpathian regions
hierarchical_section_title: History of Christianity in Romania / Middle Ages / Orthodox Church in the intra-Carpathian regions
caption_attribution_description: Română: Densuş, Hunedoara: biserica de piatra medievală. Exteriorul bisericii, vedere dinspre sud-est. This is a photo of a historic monument in județul Hunedoara, classified with number HD-II-m-A-03307
context_page_description: The history of Christianity in Romania began within the Roman province of Lower Moesia, where many Christians were martyred at the end of the 3rd century. Evidence of Christian communities has been found in the territory of modern Romania at over a hundred archaeological sites from the 3rd and 4th centuries. However, sources from the 7th and 10th centuries are so scarce that Christianity seems to have diminished during this period.
  The vast majority of Romanians are adherent to the Orthodox Church, while most other populations that speak Romance languages follow the Catholic Church. The basic Christian terminology in Romanian is of Latin origin, though the Romanians, referred to as Vlachs in medieval sources, borrowed numerous South Slavic terms due to the adoption of the liturgy officiated in Old Church Slavonic. The earliest Romanian translations of religious texts appeared in the 15th century, and the first complete translation of the Bible was published in 1688.
  The oldest proof that an Orthodox church hierarchy existed among the Romanians north of the river Danube is a papal bull of 1234.
context_section_description: Although the Council of Buda prohibited the Eastern schism from erecting churches in 1279, numerous Orthodox churches were built in the period starting in the late 13th century. These churches were mainly made of wood, though some landowners erected stone churches on their estates. Most of these churches were built on the plan of a Greek cross. Some churches also display elements of Romanesque or Gothic architecture. Many churches were painted with votive portraits illustrating the church founders.
  Local Orthodox hierarchies were often under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Sees of Wallachia and Moldavia by the late 14th century. For instance, the Metropolitan of Wallachia also styled himself "Exarch of all Hungary and the borderlands" in 1401. Orthodox monasteries in Romania, including Șcheii Brașovului, were centers of Slavonic writing. The Bible was first translated into Romanian by monks in Maramureș during the 15th century.
  Treatment of Orthodox Christians worsened under Louis I of Hungary, who ordered the arrest of Eastern Orthodox priests in Cuvin and Caraș in 1366. He also decreed that only those who "loyally follow the faith of the Roman Church may keep and own properties" in Hațeg, Caransebeș, and Mehadia. However, conversion was infrequent in this period; the Franciscan Bartholomew of Alverna complained in 1379 that "some stupid and indifferent people" disapprove of the conversion of "the Slavs and Romanians". Both Romanians and Catholic landowners objected to this command. Romanian chapels and stone churches built on the estates of Catholic noblemen and bishops  were frequently mentioned in documents from the late 14th century.
  A special inquisitor sent against the Hussites by the pope also took forcible measures against "schismatics" in 1436. Following the union of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches at the Council of Florence in 1439, the local Romanian Church was considered to be united with Rome. Those who opposed the Church union, such as John of Caffa, were imprisoned.
  Although the monarchs only insisted on the conversion of the Romanians living in the southern borderlands, many Romanian noblemen converted to Catholicism in the 15th century. Transylvanian authorities made systematic efforts to convert Romanians to Calvinism in the second half of the 16th century, and the expulsion of priests who did not convert to the "true faith" was ordered in 1566. Orthodox hierarchy was only restored under Stephen Báthory in the late 16th century.
caption: The church at Densuș (13th century)[132]
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