Romania in the Middle Ages The Middle Ages in Romania began with the withdrawal of the Mongols , the last of the migrating populations to invade the territory of modern Romania , after their attack of 1241 – 1242 . It came to an end with the reign of Michael the Brave ( 1593 – 1601 ) who managed , for a short time in 1600 , to rule Wallachia , Moldavia and Transylvania , the three principalities whose territories were to be united some three centuries later to form Romania . Over most of this period , Banat , Crişana , Maramureş and Transylvania – now regions in Romania to the west of the Carpathian Mountains – were part of the Kingdom of Hungary . They were divided into several types of administrative units , such as " counties " and " seats " . The heads of the Transylvanian counties or " counts " were subordinated to a special royal official called " voivode " , but the province was seldom treated as a single unit , since the Székely and Saxon seats were administered separately . In the kingdom , Romanian peasants , being Orthodox , were exempt from the tithe , an ecclesiastical tax payable by all Roman Catholic commoners . However , Romanian noblemen slowly lost the ability to participate in political life , as the 14th - century monarchs pursued a zealous pro - Catholic policy . Their position became even worse after 1437 when the so - called " Union of Three Nations " , an alliance of the Hungarian noblemen , the Székelys , and the Saxons , was formed in order to crush the Bobâlna peasant uprising . Wallachia , the first independent medieval state between the Carpathians and the lower Danube was created when Basarab I ( " c . " 1310 – 1352 ) terminated the suzerainty of the king of Hungary with his victory in the battle of Posada in 1330 . The independence of Moldavia , to the east of the Carpathians , was achieved by Bogdan I ( 1359 – 1365 ) , a nobleman from Maramureş , who led a revolt against the former ruler who was appointed by the Hungarian monarch . The independence of the two principalities , however , was rarely secure , and vassalage to multiple states became an important aspect of their diplomacy . Although Wallachia paid tribute to the Ottoman Empire from 1417 , and Moldavia from 1456 , their two medieval monarchs , Mircea the Old of Wallachia ( 1386 – 1418 ) and Stephen the Great of Moldavia ( 1457 – 1504 ) conducted successful military operations against the Ottoman Turks . The two principalities ' trade with other parts of Europe began to decrease after the last decades of the 15th century . Before this the sale of hides , grain , honey , and wax to the Holy Roman Empire , Venice and Poland , and the import of silk , weapons and other manufactured goods from these areas had been widespread , but by the end of the 16th century the Ottoman Empire became the main market for Romanian products . Transylvania , together with the neighboring counties , gained the status of an autonomous state under Ottoman suzerainty after the central territories of the Kingdom of Hungary had been annexed by the Ottomans in 1541 . The fall of the kingdom also deprived Wallachia and Moldavia of their main ally in the struggle against the Ottoman Empire . In 1594 Michael the Brave of Wallachia joined an anti - Ottoman alliance initiated by Pope Clement VIII . After a series of victory over the Ottomans , he turned against Transylvania and Moldavia where pro - Polish and pro - Ottoman princes were reigning . He invaded and occupied Transylvania in 1599 , and Moldavia in 1600 . Although the union of the three countries collapsed in four months , it served as an ideal for later generations working for the unification of the lands that now form Romania . Background . At the end of the 8th century the establishment of the Khazar Khaganate north of the Caucasus Mountains created an obstacle in the path of nomadic people moving westward . In the following period , the local population of the Carpathian – Danubian area profited from the peaceful political climate and a unitary material culture , called " Dridu " , that developed in the region . Finds from the " Dridu " settlements , such as coulters and sickles , confirm the role of agriculture in their economy . In the 9th century centrifugal movements commenced in the Khazar Kaghanate . One of the subject peoples , the Hungarians left its dominion and settled in the region between the rivers Don and Dniester . They abandoned the steppes and crossed the Carpathians around 896 . According to the 13th - century " Gesta Hungarorum " ( " Deeds of the Hungarians " ) , at the time of the Hungarian invasion Transylvania was inhabited by Romanians and Slavs and ruled by Gelou , " a certain Romanian " , while Crişana was inhabited by several peoples , among them Székelys . Whether the author of the " Gesta " had any knowledge of the real conditions of the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries remains debated by historians . In 953 the " gyula " , the second leader in rank of the Hungarian tribal federation , converted to Christianity in Constantinople . Around that time , according to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII , the Hungarians controlled the region on the border of modern Romania and Hungary along the rivers Timiş , Mureş , Criş , Tisa and " Toutis " . In 1003 , as the " Annals of Hildesheim " narrates , Stephen I , the first crowned monarch of Hungary ( " c . " 1000 – 1038 ) " led an army against his maternal uncle , King Gyula " , and occupied Gyula ' s country . Stephen I granted privileges to the Roman Catholic Church , for example by ordering the general imposition of the tithe upon the population . Burials in most local pre - Christian cemeteries , for example at Hunedoara , only ceased around 1100 . Stephen I also divided his kingdom , including the territories of modern Romania he had occupied , into counties , that is administrative units around royal fortresses , each administered by a royal official called count . In time the " voivode " , a higher royal official first attested in 1176 , became the principal of all the counts in Transylvania . In contrast with Transylvania , the counts in modern Banat and Crişana remained in direct contact with the king who appointed and replaced them at will . From the end of the 9th century the Pechenegs controlled the territories to the east and south of the Carpathians . According to the " Eymund ' s saga " , they fought together with the " Blökkumen " ( " Romanians " ) in the Kievan Rus ' in the 1010s . The Pechenegs were swept aside from their territories by the Cumans between 1064 and 1078 . A late variant of the oldest Turkish chronicle , the " Oghuz - name " relates that the Cumans defeated many nations , including the " Ulâq " ( " Romanians " ) . Some of the Pechenegs fled into the Kingdom of Hungary where they were employed to guard the border districts , for instance in Transylvania . The 11th - century settlements in Transylvania are characterized by small huts with ceramic assemblages marked by clay cauldrons . The increasing number of coin finds suggests that the province experienced economic growth in the late 11th century . The first document pertaining to the province is a royal charter of 1075 referring to taxes on salt levied at Turda . The earliest precious metal mine in medieval Transylvania , the silver mine at Rodna was first mentioned in 1235 . In the 12th and 13th centuries " hospites " ( " guest settlers " ) arrived in Transylvania from Germany and from the French - speaking regions on the river Rhine who in time became collectively known as " Saxons " . In 1224 Andrew II of Hungary ( 1205 – 1235 ) granted special liberties to the Saxons who had settled in southern Transylvania . For instance , they were authorized to choose their local leaders ; only the head of the entire community , the count of Sibiu , was appointed by the king . They were also granted the right to use " the forest of the Romanians and the Pechenegs " . The first references to viniculture in Transylvania are connected to the vineyards of the " hospites " of Cricău , Ighiu , and Romos . As a result of the Saxon immigration , the Székelys – Hungarian - speaking free warriors cultivating communal lands – were transferred to the southeast of the province . From the 13th century they were governed independently from the " voivode " by a royal official , the count of the Székelys . Besides the Saxons , the Cistercians became the agents of expansion in Transylvania . When their abbey at Cârţa was established in the early 13th century , Andrew II ordered that the strip of land running up to the mountains between the rivers Olt , Cârţişoara and Arpaş be transferred from the Romanians to the new monastery . Following the defeat of the Cumans by the Mongols on the river Kalka in 1223 , some chieftains of the western Cuman tribes accepted the authority of the king of Hungary . Their conversion led to the creation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania to the east of the Carpathians . However , the Orthodox Romanian population of the territory received the sacraments from " some pseudo - bishops of the Greek rite " , according to a papal bull of 1234 . In 1233 Oltenia was organized into a military frontier zone of the Kingdom of Hungary , called the Banate of Severin . The expansion across the Carpathians was stopped by the invasion of the Mongols that lasted from March 31 , 1241 to April , 1242 . It was a major watershed in the medieval history of the region : although the number of casualties is disputed , even the most prudent estimates do not go below 15 percent of the total population . High Middle Ages ( 1242 – 1396 ) . Outer - Carpathian regions . After the withdrawal from the Kingdom of Hungary , the Mongol forces halted at Sarai ( now Russia ) on the Volga River where their leader , Batu Khan set up his own capital . Henceforth , the steppes between the rivers Dnieper and Danube were under the influence of the Mongols of the Volga , known as the Golden Horde . From the 1260s , a relative of Batu , Nogai Khan settled at Isaccea on the Lower Danube and became the absolute master of the neighboring regions . He made himself independent of the Golden Horde around 1280 , but was killed in a battle in 1299 . By the middle of the 14th century , the westernmost Mongol territories had become subject to frequent Polish and Hungarian military offensives . Grand Prince Olgierd of Lithuania penetrated farther into the territories controlled by the Golden Horde than any European army had hitherto done . He won a major victory over the united Mongol troops on the Dnieper near the Black Sea in 1363 . Intra - Carpathian regions . Having been raided twice by the Mongols within a single year , Transylvania felt the consequences of the invasion of 1241 – 1242 for more than two decades . The administrative centers of the province , such as Alba Iulia and Cetatea de Baltă , had been destroyed . Due to the severe depopulation , a process of organized colonization commenced that lasted for several decades . For example , a new wave of colonization resulted in the establishment of the Saxon seats of Sighişoara and Mediaş ; and the lord of Ilia received , in 1292 , royal permission to settle Romanians in the lands he owned . Since only castles built of stone and walled towns had been able to resist Mongol attacks , following the withdrawal of the Mongols the kings encouraged both the landowners and the townspeople to build stone fortifications . New stone fortresses were built , for example , at Codlea , Rimetea , and Unguraş . The process of urbanization was characterized by the predominance of the Saxon towns : out of the eight towns in Transylvania , only Alba Iulia and Dej were situated in the counties . A charter referring to inns , bakeries , and bathhouses in Rodna proves the city - like way of life of its inhabitants . Salt was still the most important item of trade in this period , but trading with oxen , maidservants , and wine is also documented in royal charters . In 1257 , Béla IV of Hungary ( 1235 – 1270 ) appointed his eldest son , the future Stephen V ( 1270 – 1272 ) to govern the kingdom ' s territories to the east of the Danube . Here the younger king ceded a significant part of his royal domains to noblemen . The first years of the reign of Ladislaus IV of Hungary ( 1272 – 1290 ) , were characterized by civil wars throughout the entire kingdom . In Transylvania , the Saxons engaged in a local conflict with the bishop , took Alba Iulia and set fire to the cathedral . The series of wars continued in 1285 with a second Mongol invasion . During its initial stage , the Székelys , the Romanians and the Saxons successfully blocked the Mongols ' access and later organized a series of ambushes provoking panic among the retreating invaders . By that time , the Romanians ' military role had expanded from their original task of defending the kingdom ' s frontiers . They participated in several military campaigns , for example against Bohemia in 1260 and against Austria in 1291 . Their economic role became also recognized , since their pastoral activities connected to cloth production of the Saxon settlements . To the monarchs , they paid a special tax in sheep , called the " fiftieth " . Andrew III of Hungary ( 1290 – 1301 ) even ordered , in 1293 , that all the Romanians who had been settled without royal permission on noble domains be returned to the royal estate of Armeni . In the last decades of the 13th century , " congregatio generalis " ( " general assembly " ) convoked by the monarchs or their representatives became an important organ of court system . For instance , the general assembly convoked in 1279 by Ladislaus IV for seven counties – among them Bihor , Crasna , Sătmar , and Zărand in the territory what is now Romania – ended with sentencing a despotic person to death . The first charter referring to a general assembly of the Transylvanian counties was recorded in 1288 . A general assembly of the Transylvanian nobles , Saxons , Székelys and Romanians was convoked personally by the monarch in 1291 . When Andrew III died in 1301 , the entire kingdom was in the hands of a dozen powerful noblemen . Among them , Roland Borsa ruled Crişana , Theodore of Vejteh gained the upper hand in the Banat , and Ladislaus Kán governed Transylvania . The latter ' s authority was also recognized by the Saxons and the Székelys . He even assumed royal prerogatives , such as taking over lands lacking rightful owners . After 1310 , he acknowledged Charles I of Hungary ( 1301 – 1342 ) as his sovereign , but in fact continued to rule independently . The king who transferred his residence to Timişoara in 1315 could only strengthen his authority after a long series of confrontations . For instance , Ciceu , the last stronghold of Ladislaus Kán ' s sons surrendered in 1321 . After the king ' s victory , one of his loyal adherents , Thomas Szécsényi was appointed " voivode " who suppressed a Saxon revolt in 1324 . At that time , the autonomous Saxon province was divided into seats , each administered by a judge appointed by the king . In appreciation of the Transylvanian noblemen ' s services in the crushing of the revolt , Charles I exempted them from the taxes they had so far paid to the " voivode " s . In this period , one of the major incentives for the growth of Transylvanian towns was the trade with Wallachia and Moldavia . For instance , Braşov was granted a staple right in 1369 with respect to the trade in cloth from Poland or Germany . Thereafter , foreign merchants had to sell their most sought - after merchandise , broadcloth to the tradesmen of Braşov who resold it in Wallachia in exchange for animals , cotton , wax and honey . In the 14th century , the name " district " was generalized for the forms of territorial organizations of the Romanians , but only few of them , for instance their district in Bereg County ( now in Hungary and Ukraine ) , achieved official recognition . Maramureş , where Romanians were first mentioned in 1326 , was the only district that transformed , around 1380 , into a county . Louis I of Hungary ( 1342 – 1382 ) issued a royal decree in 1366 which prescribed firm judicial measures against " the malefactors of any nation , especially Romanians " . Louis I ' s decree also regulated the legal status of the " cneaz es " , the Romanians ' local leaders , by establishing a distinction between " cneazes " " brought to " their lands by royal writ whose testimony in court weighed like that of nobles ( " noble " cneazes " " ) , and others whose evidence counted for less ( " commoner " cneazes " " ) . This distinction , however , did not mean real nobility and grant them exemption from royal taxes , even for the noble " cneazes " . Their status corresponded to that of the Hungarian " conditional noble s " whose nobility depended on the specified military services they were to render . According to a royal decree of 1428 , Louis I had also ordered that only Catholics be granted land in the Sebeş district of Timiş county . As a result of official pressure , many Romanian noblemen converted to Catholicism . For example , the members of the powerful Drágffy family turned Catholic in the 15th century . The Ottomans raided Transylvania for the first time in 1394 . Sigismund I of Hungary ( 1387 – 1437 ) organized a crusade against them , but the battle of Nicopolis ( now Nikopol , Bulgaria ) ended in disaster for the Christian forces in 1396 . Establishment of Wallachia . According to a charter issued by Béla IV of Hungary for the Knights Hospitallers in 1247 , at that time at least four polities existed in the area to the south of the Carpathians . Two of them , the " cnezat " s of John and Farcaş were granted to the knights , but the lands ruled by Litovoi and Seneslau were left " to the " Olati " " ( " Romanians " ) " just as they have owned it " . In the 1270s , Litovoi extended his territory and stopped paying tribute to the king , but his army was defeated by the royal forces , and he was killed in the battle . Romanian historical tradition associates the foundation of Wallachia with the " dismounting of Radu Negru " who crossed the Carpathians from Transylvania accompanied by " Romanians , papist s , Saxons , and all kind of men " around 1290 . The first sovereign of Wallachia recorded in contemporary sources was Basarab I who obtained international recognition for the independence of the principality by his victory over Charles I of Hungary in the battle of Posada on November 12 , 1330 . The princes of Wallachia were chosen from among his descendants – either legitimate , or not – by an assembly of the " boyars " until the 16th century . The " boyars " , members of the landed nobility , formed the most important social group in the principality . The vast majority of the population was formed by peasants who were called several names , such as " vecini " ( " neighbors " ) or " rumâni " ( " Romanians " ) , in medieval documents . In this period , animals , especially sheep , remained the main item of export , but from the Wallachian Plain great quantities of grain were transported to the Mediterranean area . The basis of the peasants ' diet was formed by millet eaten as porridge , while the " boyars " also used wheat . The Orthodox Metropolitan See of Wallachia was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in 1359 . Wallachia issued its own currency under Vladislav I ( 1364 – " c . " 1377 ) . The earliest written information about Gypsies in modern Romania , a deed issued by Dan I of Wallachia ( " c . " 1383 – 1386 ) refers to Vladislav I ' s former donation of Gypsies to the Vodiţa monastery . Later on , all the important monasteries and " boyars " owned Gipsy slaves . The Ottomans entered for the first time into Wallachia in 1395 . Although the invading troops were defeated somewhere in a " rovină " ( " ragged marshland " ) in Oltenia , the chaos created by the threat of attacks allowed a group of " boyars " to put Vlad I the Usurper ( 1395 – 1397 ) on the throne . Thus Mircea I was forced to take refuge in Transylvania , where he agreed to be Sigismund I of Hungary ' s vassal . He was restored to the throne and participated in the disastrous crusade of Nicopolis organized by Sigismund I . Establishment of Moldavia . After 1241 the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester was controlled by the Golden Horde . Nevertheless , the contemporary Thomas Tuscus ' s reference to the Romanians ' conflict with the Ruthenians in 1277 suggests that Romanian political entities existed in northern Moldavia at that time . In 1345 Andrew Lackfi , the count of the Székelys led an army over the Carpathians and occupied this region where a border province was organized by Louis I of Hungary . Romanian historical tradition links the foundation of Moldavia to the " dismounting of Dragoş " , a Romanian " voivode " from Maramureş . Although Dragoş was succeeded by his son , Sas , his line did not last long . His descendants were soon expelled by Bogdan , a former " voivode " of Maramureş who fled to Moldavia and joined with local " boyars " in a revolt . In Moldavia , agriculture and animal raising remained the principal economic activities . Similarly to Wallachia , wooden plow remained the main agricultural tool throughout the Middle Ages . The constant clearing of land shows that finding new land was still preferred to crop rotation . The establishment of the principality enhanced the security of travel , thus Moldavia could also profit from the transit trade between Poland and the Black Sea ports . The first local coins were minted in 1377 , under Peter I Muşat ( " c . " 1375 – 1391 ) . The succession to the throne , similarly to Wallachia , was governed by the hereditary - elective principle . Thus either a legitimate or an illegitimate member of the Muşatin family could be proclaimed prince by an assembly of the " boyars " . In 1387 Peter I Muşat recognized Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland as his suzerain , but Hungary also maintained its claim of suzerainty over the principality . Therefore the princes of Moldavia could counterbalance the influence of Poland and Hungary by playing one off against the other . Dobruja . After 1242 most of the territory between the Danube and the Black Sea was included in the area dominated by the Mongols . Although the Byzantine Empire reestablished control over the Danube Delta in the 1260s , it fell again under the direct rule of the Golden Horde sometime before 1337 . By the end of the 13th century , flourishing communities of Genoese merchants had settled in the towns of Vicina , Chilia and Licostomo . Towards the middle of the 14th century a state dependent of the Byzantine Empire , known as " the country of Cavarna " , developed in the region . Its first known ruler was Balica . He was succeeded by his brother , Dobrotitsa , for whom part of his holdings , Dobruja , received its name . In about 1385 Ivanco became the ruler of the territory , but he soon disappeared during an Ottoman expedition . Dobruja was occupied by Mircea I of Wallachia in 1390 and by the Ottomans in 1395 . Towards Ottoman domination ( 1397 – 1529 ) . Intra - Carpathian regions . In order to establish a zone of buffer states , Sigismund I of Hungary tried to draw the neighboring Orthodox rulers under his own suzerainty by granting them estates in his kingdom . For example , Stefan Lazarević of Serbia received Satu Mare , Baia Mare and Baia Sprie in modern Romania , and Mircea I of Wallachia was granted Făgăraş . Sigismund I was also the first monarch who recognized , in 1419 , the legislative competence of the Estates in Transylvania . On his initiative , their assembly declared that in case of an Ottoman attack , every third nobleman and every tenth serf would take up arms . Indeed , from 1420 Ottoman attacks occurred on an annual basis . In this period many Saxon churches , and later the Székely churches of the Ciuc region , were fortified , which gave local architecture a distinctive appearance . The increasing defense costs fell primarily on the serfs : the rent on the land was raised and extraordinary taxes were imposed . The first peasant revolt in the territory of modern Romania broke out due to the efforts taken by the bishop of Transylvania to collect the church taxes . Led by Anton Budai Nagy , the rebellious peasants , who called themselves " the commune of the rightful Hungarian and Romanian inhabitants of this part of Transylvania " , established a fortified camp on the Bobâlna hill early in 1437 . They fought two important battles against the noblemen ; the first one , at Bobâlna , was won by the peasants , and the second one , near the Apatiu River , had no clear winner . The leaders of the noblemen , the Saxons and the Székelys , however , set up a " brotherly union " in order to join forces and crushed the peasants ' resistance by the end of January 1438 . The Ottomans ' attempt to conquer new territories led to a better organized policy against them . The temporary union of the Eastern and Western Churches proclaimed by the Council of Florence in 1439 also created a favorable background for the concentration of Christian forces . Christendom found its champion in John Hunyadi who gained a series of victories over the Ottomans after 1441 . For instance , in 1442 he routed an Ottoman army that had been devastating Transylvania . Through his last victory over Mehmed II at the siege of Belgrade ( in modern Serbia ) in 1456 , he saved the kingdom from Ottoman occupation for several decades . During the reign of his son , Matthias I of Hungary ( 1458 – 1490 ) , the Ottomans launched only one serious attack against Transylvania in 1479 when they were defeated at Câmpul Pâinii . Matthias I used his officials to assert royal prerogatives that had already fallen into disuse . The noblemen found it particularly irksome that the " lucrum camarae " , a tax from which they had been exempted was replaced with a new tax . In Transylvania , the " Three Nations " entered into a formal alliance against the king in 1467 , but he quickly intervened and took the disorganized rebels by surprise . By that time , the land once held in common by the Székely community had gradually become divided into smaller and smaller units ; thus a vast number of the free warrior - peasants had to enter the service of their more prosperous fellow Székelys . This social stratification was formally recognized by a royal decree in 1473 . Thereafter those who performed mounted military service were differentiated from those who fought as foot - soldiers ; those who were unable to finance themselves even as foot - soldiers were legally reduced to servitude . The prominence of the German element in the towns sometimes led to conflicts along ethnic lines . Thus the struggle for leadership in Cluj ( now Cluj - Napoca ) between Hungarians and Saxons only came to an end in 1458 by establishing a rule that municipal offices must be shared equally between the two groups . In 1486 , Matthias I united all the Saxon districts in Transylvania in the " University of the Saxons " under the leadership of the elected mayor of Sibiu . After Matthias I ' s death , the assembly of the Estates , called Diet , began to function as a regular organ of power . The peasantry suffered most from the rule of the Estates , for instance , by the limitation of their right to free movement . In 1514 thousands of peasants who had been summoned to Buda ( now Budapest , in modern Hungary ) to join the crusade proclaimed by Pope Leo X against the Ottomans turned the weapons against their masters . The rebels , led by the Székely George Dózsa , occupied several towns , such as Oradea and Şoimoş , but on July 15 John Szapolyai , the " voivode " defeated them at Timişoara . As a retaliation , the Diet decreed that peasants were to be tied to the land " perpetually " . The downfall of the Kingdom of Hungary was marked by the battle of Mohács ( Hungary ) where the royal army was annihilated by the Ottomans on August 29 , 1526 . Thereafter the noblemen ' s political factions engaged in conflict and elected two kings . One of them , John I Szapolyai ( 1526 – 1540 ) was supported by the lesser nobility , while Ferdinand I of Habsburg ( 1526 – 1564 ) was recognized mainly in the kingdom ' s western counties , but the Transylvanian Saxons also supported him . Seeking the assistance of the Ottomans , John I had to pay homage to the sultan at Mohács in 1529 . Wallachia . After the battle of Nicopolis , the Ottomans occupied Bulgaria and could attack Wallachia more easily . Mircea I the Old , however , could reoccupy Dobruja in 1402 by taking advantage of the Ottomans ' difficulties after their defeat by the Mongols in the battle of Ankara . He even intervened in the Ottoman civil war and supported the struggle of Musa and Mustafa against their brother , Mehmed I . After the two pretenders had been defeated , the Ottomans annexed again Dobruja and occupied Giurgiu , and Mircea I was forced to pay an annual tribute to the sultan . Under Mircea I iron mines were opened at Baia de Fier and copper mining began at Baia de Aramă . In addition , sulfur and amber were extracted in the region of Buzău . After Mircea I ' s death , princes succeeded one another on the throne with devastating frequency . For instance , Michael I ( 1418 – 1420 ) was overthrown by his cousin , Dan II ( 1420 – 1431 ) , and in the next decade the throne was occupied with frequent changes either by Dan II or by his cousin , Radu II the Bald ( 1421 – 1427 ) , the former being supported by Sigismund I of Hungary and the latter by the Ottomans . Alexander I Aldea ( 1431 – 1436 ) was the first Romanian ruler to be forced to render military service to the Ottomans . Two decades later , Vlad III the Impaler ( 1448 , 1456 – 1462 , 1476 ) , notorious as the model for the Dracula legend , turned against the Ottoman Empire . He carried out a series of attacks across the Danube in the winter of 1461 – 1462 . The response was a massive invasion led by Mehmed II who drove Vlad III from the throne and replaced him with his brother , Radu III the Fair ( 1462 – 1475 ) . Due to the frequent military operations , the Wallachian Plain was heavily depopulated after the end of the 14th century . On the other hand , Wallachia received a steady flow of immigrants , mostly from the Balkans . After 1462 Wallachia preserved its autonomy mainly through the intervention of Stephen the Great of Moldavia . At the end of the century , however , Radu IV the Great ( 1495 – 1508 ) became an obedient subject of the sultan and visited Istanbul annually to personally offer the tribute . Even so , he could only stay in power by collaborating with the powerful Craioveşti family , strongly connected to the Ottomans by trading . In 1512 a member of this family , Neagoe ( 1512 – 1521 ) rose to throne , but he adopted the dynastic name of Basarab in order to legitimize his rule . He wrote the first original work of Romanian literature , titled " Teachings " , to his son , Teodosius on moral , political , and military questions . Under Theodosius I ( 1521 – 1522 ) the Ottoman governor of Nicopolis take advantage of the internal fights among the " boyar " parties , and thus dominated the political life of Wallachia . Due to the imminent danger of annexation , the " boyars " grouped around Radu V of Afumaţi ( 1522 – 1529 ) who fought about 20 battles against the Ottomans . Finally , he was , in 1525 , forced to accept Ottoman suzerainty and the rise of the tribute . Moldavia . The Orthodox Metropolitan See of Moldavia was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch during the reign of Alexander I the Good ( 1400 – 1432 ) . He reinforced Moldavia ' s traditional pro - Polish orientation and declared himself a vassal of Władysław II of Poland in 1406 . Thenceforth , the Moldavian armies fought together with the Poles against the Teutonic Knights . The first Ottoman attack on Moldavia in 1420 was also repulsed by him . Alexander I ' s death was followed by a long period of political instability , characterized by frequent fights for the throne . For instance , the struggle of his sons , Iliaş I ( 1432 – 1442 ) and Stephen II ( 1433 – 1447 ) ended in 1435 by the division of the country . Although cottage industries , both in " boyar " and peasant households , were still the main source of clothing , food and construction , specialized production , such as weaving and pottery , started to develop by the middle of the 15th century . The first oil wells went into production in 1440 , but their oil was also only for household use . In Moldavia , Gypsy slaves were first mentioned in 1428 when Alexander I awarded 31 Gypsy families to the Bistriţa Monastery . In time Gypsies became specialized in several crafts : for example , throughout the Middle Ages the working of iron was an occupation reserved almost exclusively for them . Peter III Aaron ( 1451 – 1457 ) was the first prince who agreed to pay tribute to the Ottomans in 1456 . He was ousted by his nephew , Stephen , with the support of Vlad the Impaler of Wallachia . Stephen III the Great was to be the most important medieval Romanian monarch who managed to uphold Moldavia ' s autonomy against Hungary , Poland and the Ottoman Empire . In the early years of his reign , he remained allied with Poland and the Ottoman Empire , and even joined the Ottomans in attacking Wallachia . He also supported the rebellion of 1467 of the Transylvanian Estates ; therefore Matthias I of Hungary launched an expedition against Moldavia , but the royal army was defeated in the battle of Baia . He came to view the Ottoman Empire as his chief enemy in the 1470s , and in 1474 he refused to pay tribute . He soon received the ultimatum of Mehmed II who demanded the surrender of Chilia , a fortress recently captured from Wallachia . Upon Stephen III ' s refusal , a large Ottoman army was sent against Moldavia . He called on Pope Sixtus IV , pleading for a crusade . Although the pope acknowledged his merits , by naming him " the Athlete of Christ " , no anti - Ottoman coalition materialized . Even without external military support , Stephen the Great led his troops to victory in the battle of Vaslui on January 10 , 1475 . Following the battle , he addressed a letter to the Christian princes , expressing the idea that the two Romanian principalities were the " gateway to the Christian world " , and if they fell " all Christendom would be in danger " . He also recognized Matthias I of Hungary as his suzerain and received , in return , Ciceu and Cetatea de Baltă in Transylvania . The following year , however , he found himself alone when Mehmed II invaded Moldavia . The Moldavian army was defeated in the Battle of Valea Albă , but the Ottomans , suffering from a lack of provisions and an outbreak of the plague , were forced to retreat . Stephen the Great suffered the greatest setback of his carrier in 1484 when the Ottomans captured Chilia and Cetatea Alba ( now Bilhorod - Dnistrovskyi , Ukraine ) on the Black Sea . Having tried unsuccessfully to regain the fortresses in 1485 , he concluded a peace with the sultan and agreed to pay tribute to him . He was succeeded by his son , Bogdan III the One - Eyed ( 1504 – 1517 ) whose reign was troubled by a long series of military conflicts with Poland and Wallachia . The good relations with Poland were reestablished under the reign of Stephen IV the Younger ( 1517 – 1527 ) . His successor , Peter IV Rareş ( 1527 – 1538 , 1541 – 1546 ) intervened in the struggle for the crown of the Kingdom of Hungary : on the order of the sultan , in 1529 he invaded the Székely Land and defeated the army of Ferdinand I ' s partisans . Ottoman suzerainty ( 1530 – 1594 ) . Establishment of Principality of Transylvania . After 1529 , resistance to John I in Transylvania was broken in a series of small campaigns . For instance , the last Transylvanian magnate to side with Ferdinánd I , Stephen Majláth went over to John I in early 1532 , and Sibiu was occupied in 1536 . On February 24 , 1538 , a secret pact was signed in Oradea by the representatives of the two kings of Hungary . According to the treaty , both rulers were allowed to retain the territories which they then held , but the childless John I promised to recognize the Habsburgs ' succession . However , John I married a daughter of Sigismund I of Poland , Isabella , who in 1540 bore him a son . Already dying , the king took an oath from his barons to evade the treaty of Oradea , and his counselor , George Martinuzzi , had the infant John II Sigismund elected as king ( 1540 – 1571 ) . Ferdinand I sent troops to take Buda , but they withdrew upon the advance of the Ottoman army . On August 29 , 1541 Suleiman I summoned the Hungarian lords to his camp , and while the reception was taking place , his troops occupied the capital of the kingdom . At the same time the sultan assigned the territories of the kingdom east of the Tisa to Queen Isabella and her son in return for an annual tribute . On October 18 , the kingdom ' s eastern territories , including Transylvania , swore allegiance to the infant king at the Diet of Debrecen ( Hungary ) . Thus a separate country started to emerge , although George Martinuzzi was still negotiating with Ferdinand I on the reunification of the kingdom . For this purpose , in 1551 Ferdinand I sent an army into Transylvania where he was recognized as sole ruler by the Diet . The Ottomans , however , occupied a great part of Banat in 1552 , and neither could Ferdinand I consolidate his rule over the kingdom ' s eastern territories . Finally , the Diet , meeting in Sebeş on March 12 , 1556 , swore again allegiance to " the son of King John " , thus the young king and his mother returned to Transylvania . The 16th century also brought about major religious changes : the Saxons converted to Lutheranism , while most of the Hungarians converted to Calvinism or Unitarianism ; only the Székelys remained more than the other " nations " Catholic . In 1568 , the Transylvanian Diet at Torda decreed the free worship of these four " received denominations " , but Orthodoxy still continued to be only tolerated . The Romanians ' status worsened in this period . The Diets of 1554 and 1555 decided that a Catholic or Protestant peasant could not be accused of a crime except there were seven Catholic or Protestant witnesses against him , while an Orthodox peasant could be accused if there were three Catholic or Protestant or seven Orthodox witnesses . The Diet of 1559 also decreed that Romanians who had settled on lands abandoned by Catholic serfs were obliged to pay the tithe . From the Székelys , continuing warfare demanded increased military service , and the royal administration imposed special taxes on them . Although the leaders of the Székely community were exempted from taxation in 1554 , but all the foot soldiers continued to be taxed , resulting in a double burden of military and monetary obligations for them . In 1562 many Székelys took up arms against John II Sigismund , but they were defeated . The Saxon towns continued to develop even in the years of upheaval . Their population , however , increased slowly , mainly as a consequence of the Saxons ' traditional desire for segregation : even Hungarian craftsmen and merchants were prohibited from settling in their towns . In the Treaty of Speyer of August 16 , 1570 , John II Sigismund acknowledged his rival , Maximilian I ( 1564 – 1576 ) as the lawful king of Hungary and adopted the title of " prince of Transylvania and parts of the Kingdom of Hungary " . The treaty also marked out the borders of the new principality , which included not only the historical province of Transylvania , but also some neighboring counties , such as Bihor and Maramureş , thenceforward collectively known as Partium . The death of John II Sigismund in 1571 threatened to throw the country again into the hands of the Habsburgs whose officers supported the Unitarian Gáspár Bekes . Now the sultan appointed Stephen Báthory , a Catholic politician , " voivode " . The decisive battle between the two candidates was won by Stephen Báthory at Sânpaul on July 8 , 1575 . In the same year , he was elected king of Poland , thus a personal union was formed between the two countries that lasted until his death in 1586 . He left the administration of the principality first to his brother , Christopher Báthory ( 1575 – 1581 ) , and then to his brother ' s minor son , Sigismund Báthory ( 1581 – 1602 ) , bestowing on them the title of " voivode " , while he himself took the title of prince . In February , 1594 Sigismund Báthory announced that his country would join the anti - Ottoman alliance formed by the Holy Roman Emperor , Rudolf II , Philip II of Spain and many smaller Italian and German states . Although the Estates twice refused to endorse the declaration of war , Transylvania joined the alliance on January 28 , 1595 after the leaders of the opposition had been executed on the order of the monarch . In return Rudolph II recognized Sigismund ' s title of prince . Wallachia . The short and unworthy reigns of Radu V ’ s successors only increased the crisis of Wallachia . Starting with Mircea the Shepherd ( 1545 – 1559 ) , the first prince placed on the throne by the sultan , the crown became negotiable , according to the largest tribute offered . Even Michael the Brave who in time would turn against the Ottomans ascended the throne with the support of some people who had influence with the Sublime Porte , among them Sir Edward Barton , the English ambassador to Istanbul . He soon embarked upon a program to strengthen the central authority by replacing the members of the " sfatul domnesc " , an advisory body consisting of " boyars " , with " dregători " , that is officials personally loyal to him . Michael the Brave also adopted an anti - Ottoman policy , and upon his initiative Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania and Aaron the Tyrant of Moldavia ( 1591 – 1595 ) signed a treaty to form an anti - Ottoman alliance . The rebellion started by the massacre of all the Ottomans in Wallachia on November 13 , 1594 . Moldavia . In 1531 Peter IV Rareş invaded Poland in order to reoccupy the Pocuţia region ( in modern Ukraine ) , but his army was defeated . Now he concluded a secret treaty with Ferdinand I of Hungary , but soon had to seek refugee in Transylvania when Suleiman I led an army against him . This was the first occasion when a prince , Stephen V Lăcustă ( 1538 – 1540 ) was appointed by the sultan . At the same time , the sultan occupied Brăila and Tighina ( now in Moldova ) , and the Budjak region ( now in Ukraine ) . Peter IV Rareş recovered his throne in exchange for a large sum of money in 1541 . His death was followed by a period characterized by fights between pretenders to the throne and among the " boyar " parties . The idea of anti - Ottoman struggle was revived by John III the Terrible ( 1572 – 1574 ) who refused to pay the tribute to the sultan . As a result Ottoman and Wallachian troops invaded Moldavia , but they were defeated by John III in a surprise attack near Jilişte . Now the sultan sent a large army against Moldavia , and the prince was captured and quartered . Next Aaron the Tyrant joined the anti - Ottoman coalition of Transylvania and Wallachia , and started a rebellion on November 13 , 1594 , simultaneously with Michael the Brave of Wallachia . The 16th century was characterized by the flourishing of ecclesiastical mural painting whose technique have remained a secret until today . For example , the interior and exterior frescoes of the Voroneţ Monastery represent this " Moldavian style " . Age of Michael the Brave ( 1595 – 1601 ) . Following their coordinated uprising , Michael the Brave attacked Ottoman strongholds along the Danube and recovered Giurgiu and Brăila , while Aaron the Tyrant seized Ismail ( now in Ukraine ) . In response , the sultan ordered the Grand Vizier , Sinan Pasha to invade Wallachia . The two princes needed the support of Sigismund Báthory who took advantage of the situation to make himself suzerain of Wallachia and Moldavia . When Aaron the Tyrant refused Sigismund Báthory ' s conditions , he was replaced by the latter ' s protégé , Ştefan Răzvan ( 1595 ) on the throne . According to the treaty signed by Michael the Brave on May 20 , 1595 in Alba Iulia , Sigismund Báthory became the ruler of the three principalities and adopted the title of " prince of Transylvania , Moldavia and Transalpine Wallachia " . The treaty stipulated , that the taxes would be established in Wallachia by the Transylvanian Diet , together with a council of 12 Wallachian " boyars " . Around that time , the peasants were bound to the land both in Wallachia and Moldavia . Ottoman troops entered Wallachia in the summer , but they were defeated by Michael the Brave at Călugăreni and by the united armies of the three principalities at Giurgiu . In the meantime , however , the Poles had invaded Moldavia and replaced Ştefan Răzvan by Ieremia Movilă ( 1595 – 1606 ) . In June 1598 Michael the Brave recognized the suzerainty of Emperor Rudolph II , who had promised to grant subsidies to him to finance his mercenaries . On March 30 , 1599 Sigismund Báthory abdicated the throne in favor of his cousin , Andrew Báthory ( 1599 ) . The new prince was loyal to the Poles and promptly demanded that Michael the Brave accept his suzerainty . The latter secured the emperor ' s approval for an invasion of Transylvania and attacked the principality where the Székelys also joined him . He defeated his opponent at Şelimbar on October 28 , 1599 and entered Alba Iulia . Here the Diet recognized him as imperial governor . He respected the traditional organization of Transylvania , and even crushed a revolt of the Romanian peasants , but forced the Diet to relieve the Orthodox priests of feudal obligations . In the spring of 1600 , he invaded Moldavia in the name of the emperor and established control over it . In July he even proclaimed himself " prince of Wallachia , Transylvania , and all of Moldavia " in Iaşi , thus bringing about the union of the three principalities . However , the Hungarian noblemen , dissatisfied with the disorder , rebelled against his rule , and defeated him at Mirăslău on September 18 , 1600 . At the same time , the Poles invaded Moldavia and restored Ieremia Movilă to the throne ; then they entered Wallachia , where Simion Movilă defeated Michael the Brave at Buzău . In this moment of crisis , Michael the Brave left for Prague to appeal to the emperor for support . He returned to Transylvania in July 1601 at the head of an imperial army . Cooperating with the imperial general , Giorgio Basta , he defeated the Transylvanian troops at Guruslău on August 3 , but on August 19 he was assassinated on the order of his former ally , Giorgio Basta . After the first union . After Michael the Brave ' s death , Transylvania was ruled by an imperial military commission , but under Stephen Bocskay ( 1604 – 1606 ) the principality voluntarily accepted Ottoman suzerainty . In the next decades , the princes of Transylvania , among them Gabriel Bethlen ( 1613 – 1629 ) , made several unsuccessful attempts to unify Transylvania , Wallachia and Moldavia . Wallachia and Moldavia fell back under the control of the Ottoman Empire after Michael the Brave ' s death . Radu Mihnea , prince of Wallachia ( 1611 – 1616 , 1623 – 1626 ) and of Moldavia ( 1616 – 1623 ) , was the first ruler to appoint Greeks from the Phanar district of Istanbul to high government posts . This started a trend that ultimately led to the so - called " Phanariot period " in Romania ’ s history .