page_title: Early Modern Romania
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Early Modern Romania / Background
context_page_description: The Early Modern Times in Romania started after the death of Michael the Brave, who ruled in a personal union, Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldavia – three principalities in the lands that now form Romania – for three months, in 1600. The three principalities were subjected to the Ottoman Empire, and paid a yearly tribute to the Ottoman Sultans, but they preserved their internal autonomy. In contrast, Dobruja and the Banat were fully incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.
  The Orthodox princes of Wallachia and Moldavia ruled their realms with absolute power, but the boyars took control of state administration in the 1660s and 1670s. The growing influence of Greeks caused bitter conflicts in both principalities. Due to extensive taxation, the peasants often rebelled against their lords. The long reign of Matthew Basarab in Wallachia and of Vasile Lupu in Moldavia contributed to the development of local economy. Most princes of Wallachia and Moldavia also paid tribute to the princes of Transylvania.
context_section_description: The lands that now form Romania were divided among various polities in the Middle Ages. Banat, Crişana, Maramureş and Transylvania were integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary. Wallachia and Moldavia developed into independent principalities in the 14th century. Dobruja emerged as an autonomous realm after the disintegration of Bulgaria in the 1340s.
  In accordance with the Byzantine political traditions, the princes of Wallachia and Moldavia were autocrats who ruled with absolute power. Any male member of the royal families could be elected prince, which caused internal strives, giving pretext to the neighboring powers for intervention. Most princes of Wallachia accepted the suzerainty of the Kings of Hungary; the Moldavian monarchs preferred to yield to the kings of Poland. Royal councils – which consisted of the logofăt, the vornic, and other high officials – assisted the monarchs, but the princes could also discuss the most important matters at the assembly of the Orthodox clergy, the boyars and the army. The Orthodox Church, especially the monasteries, held extensive domains in both principalities. The boyars were landowners who enjoyed administrative and judicial immunities. A group of free peasants (known as răzeşi in Wallachia and moşneni in Moldavia) existed in each principality, but the princes' most subjects were serfs – the rumâni in Wallachia, and the vecini in Moldavia – who paid tithes or provided specific services to their lords. Gypsy slaves also played an eminent role in the economy, especially as black-smiths, basket-makers, and goldwashers.
  The Kingdom of Hungary were divided into counties. The heads of most counties were directly subordinated to the sovereign, with the exception of the seven Transylvanian counties which were under the authority of a higher royal official, the voivode. Assemblies of noblemen were the most important administrative bodies in the counties; in Transylvania, the voivodes held joint assemblies. In theory, all noblemen enjoyed the same privileges, for instance, they were exempted of taxes. However, the so-called conditional nobles – including the Romanian cneazes and the nobles of the Church – did not have the same liberties: they paid taxes or rendered specific services either to the monarch or to their lords. The Transylvanian Saxons, whose territories were divided into seats, formed an autonomous community which remained independent of the authority of the voivodes. The Hungarian-speaking Székelys, who lived in the easternmost part of Transylvania, were also organized into seats. On 16 September 1437 the Transylvanian noblemen and the heads of the Saxon and Székely communities concluded an alliance – the Union of the Three Nations – against the Hungarian and Romanian peasants who had risen up in open rebellion. This Union developed into the constitutional framework of the administration of Transylvania in the next decades. Within the peasantry, Romanians had a special position, for instance, they did not pay the ecclesiastic tithe, payable by all Catholic peasants.
  The expansion of the Ottoman Empire reached the Danube around 1390. The Ottomans invaded Wallachia in 1390 and occupied Dobruja in 1395. Wallachia paid tribute to the Ottomans for the first time in 1417, Moldavia in 1456. However, the two principalities were not annexed, their princes were only required to assist the Ottomans in their military campaigns. The most outstanding 15th-century Romanian monarchs – Vlad the Impaler of Moldavia and Stephen the Great of Moldavia – were even able to defeat the Ottomans in major battles. In Dobruja, which was included in the Silistra Eyalet, Nogai Tatars settled and the local Gypsy tribes converted to Islam.
  The disintegration of the Kingdom of Hungary started with the Battle of Mohács on 29 August 1526. The Ottomans annihilated the royal army and Louis II of Hungary perished. Rivalries between the partisans of the two newly elected kings – John Zápolya and Ferdinand of Habsburg – caused a civil war. Ferdinand I's attempt to reunite the country after Zápolya's death provoked
caption: Seal of Michael the Brave used when he ruled Wallachia, Transylvania and Moldavia
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