Moldavia

**Moldavia,**officially **Principality of Moldavia,**was a historical principality in the Balkans,defending themselves against muslims on their own in a dangerous neighbourhood.

Their neighbours are Hungary to the north,Poland and Crimean Tatars to the east,Wallachia to the west,Bulgaria to the south and soon later surrounded by Ottoman Empire.

## **History**

The medieval Principality of Moldavia was established in 1359 and covered the so-called Carpathian–Danube–Dniester area, stretching from Transylvania in the west to the Dniester River in the east.[6] Its territory comprised the present-day territory of the Republic of Moldova, the eastern 8 of the 41 counties of Romania (a region still called  Moldova by the local population), the Chernivtsi oblast and Budjak region of Ukraine. Its nucleus was in the northwestern part, the Țara de Sus ("Upper Land"), part of which later became known as Bukovina. The name of the principality originates from the Moldova River.

## Moldavia and the modern boundaries

The foundation of Moldavia is attributed to the Vlach(an old exonym for Romanian) noblemen Dragoş of Bedeu, from Maramureş, who had been ordered in 1343 (1285 after other sources [7]) by the Hungarian king to establish a defense for the historic Kingdom of Hungaryagainst the Tatars, and Bogdan I of Cuhea, another vlach/Romanian from Maramureș, who became the first independent prince of Moldavia, when he rejected Hungarian authority in 1359. Bogdan I left his lands from Maramures with his army and part of the vlach/Romanian population, by crossing the mountains to the east, after entering in conflict with the Hungarian rulers. The greatest Moldavian personality was prince Stephen the Great, who ruled from 1457 to 1504. He fought the Hungarian Kingdom, the Polish Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire, with success, for the most part of his rule.

Stefan III was succeeded by increasingly weaker princes, and in 1538 Moldavia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, to which it owed a percentage of the internal revenue, that in time rose to 10%. Moldavia was forbidden to have foreign relations to the detriment of the Ottoman Empire (although at times the country managed to circumvent this interdiction), but was allowed internal autonomy, including sole authority over foreign trade. Turks were legally forbidden to own land or build religious establishments in Moldavia. Prince Vasile Lupuhad secured the Moldavian throne in 1634 after a series of complicated intrigues, and managed to hold it for twenty years. Lupu was a capable administrator and a brilliant financier, and soon was the richest man in the Christian East. Judiciously placed gifts kept him on good terms with the Ottoman authorities.

## Early 18th Century

In the 18th century, the territory of Moldavia often became a transit or war zone during conflicts between the Ottomans, Austrians, and Russians. In 1774, following a victory in a war against the Ottomans, Russia became a protector of the Christian Moldavia, still a vassal of the Ottoman Empire at the time.[10] In 1775, the Habsburg Monarchy annexed ca 11% of the territory of Moldavia, which became known as Bukovina. By the Treaty of Bucharest following the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812), Russia had annexed further 50% of its territory, which became known as Bessarabia.