Romania

=== Middle Ages ===

{{Main|Romania in the Early Middle Ages|Romania in the Middle Ages|Founding of Wallachia|Founding of Moldavia}}
[[File:Gutthiuda.jpg|thumb|left|Gutthiuda, or the land of the [[Gothic language|Gothic]]-speaking [[Thervingi]], and the neighbouring tribes (370s AD)]]

The Goths were expanding towards the Lower Danube from the&nbsp;230s, forcing the native peoples to flee to the Roman Empire or to accept their [[suzerainty]].{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=16}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=116–117, 165}}{{sfn|Opreanu|2005|pp=117–118}} The Goths' rule ended abruptly when the [[Huns]] invaded their territory in&nbsp;376, causing new waves of migrations.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=16}}{{sfn|Opreanu|2005|pp=117–118}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|p=151}} The Huns forced the remnants of the local population into submission, but their empire collapsed in&nbsp;454.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=16}}{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=151, 207–208}} The [[Gepids]] took possession of the former Dacia province.{{sfn|Bóna|1994|pp=66–67}}{{sfn|Curta|2006|p=54}} Place names that are of [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] origin abound in Romania, indicating that a significant Slavic-speaking population lived in the territory.{{sfn|Opreanu|2005|p=131}} The first [[Early Slavs|Slavic]] groups settled in Moldavia and Wallachia in the 6th&nbsp;century,{{sfn|Heather|2010|pp=395–397}} in Transylvania around&nbsp;600.{{sfn|Bóna|1994|pp=97–99}} The nomadic [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] defeated the Gepids and established a powerful empire around&nbsp;570.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=16}}{{sfn|Curta|2006|pp=62–63}} The [[Bulgars]], who also came from the European [[Pontic steppe]], occupied the Lower Danube region in&nbsp;680.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=16}}

[[File:Balkans850.png|thumb| [[First Bulgarian Empire]] (681–1018) around 850]]
After the [[Avar Khaganate]] collapsed in the&nbsp;790s, the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] became the dominant power of the region, occupying lands as far as the river [[Tisa]].{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=16}} The [[First Bulgarian Empire]] had a mixed population consisting of the Bulgar conquerors, [[Slavs]] and [[Vlachs]] (or Romanians) but the [[Slavicisation]] of the Bulgar elite had already begun in the 9th century. Following the conquest of southern [[Transylvania]] around 830, people from the Bulgar Empire mined salt at the local salt mines.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bóna |first=István |editor1-last=Köpeczi |editor1-first=Béla |editor2-last=Barta |editor2-first=Gábor |editor3-last=Bóna |editor3-first=István |editor4-last=Makkai |editor4-first=László |editor5-last=Szász |editor5-first=Zoltán |editor6-last=Borus |editor6-first=Judit |title=History of Transylvania |publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó |year=2001 |chapter=Southern Transylvania under Bulgar Rule |isbn=0-88033-479-7 |url=https://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/49.html}}</ref> The [[Council of Preslav]] declared [[Old Church Slavonic]] the language of liturgy in the country in&nbsp;893.{{sfn|Curta|2006|pp=168, 177}} The Vlachs also adopted Old Church Slavonic as their liturgical language.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=37}}

The [[Hungarians|Magyars]] (or Hungarians) took control of the steppes north of the Lower Danube in the&nbsp;830s, but the Bulgarians and the [[Pechenegs]] jointly forced them to abandon this region for the [[Great Hungarian Plain|lowlands along the Middle Danube]] around&nbsp;894.{{sfn|Curta|2006|pp=123, 178}} Centuries later, the ''[[Gesta Hungarorum]]'' wrote of the invading Magyars' wars against three dukes—[[Glad (duke)|Glad]], [[Menumorut]] and the Vlach [[Gelou]]—for Banat, Crișana and Transylvania.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=20}}{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|pp=14–15}} The ''Gesta'' also listed many peoples—Slavs, Bulgarians, Vlachs, [[Khazars]], and [[Székelys]]—inhabiting the same regions.{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|p=140}}{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=36}} The reliability of the ''Gesta'' is debated. Some scholars regard it as a basically accurate account, others describe it as a literary work filled with invented details.{{sfn|Curta|2006|pp=15–16 (note 41)}}{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|pp=140–141}}{{sfn|Bóna|1994|p=111}} The Pechenegs seized the lowlands abandoned by the Hungarians to the east of the Carpathians.{{sfn|Curta|2006|pp=182–183}}

[[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] missionaries proselytised in the lands east of the Tisa from the&nbsp;940s{{sfn|Curta|2006|pp=189–190}} and Byzantine troops occupied Dobruja in the&nbsp;970s.{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|p=152}} The first [[king of Hungary]], [[Stephen I of Hungary|Stephen&nbsp;I]], who supported Western European missionaries, defeated the local chieftains and established [[Catholic Church in Romania|Roman Catholic bishoprics]] (office of a bishop) in Transylvania and Banat in the early 11th&nbsp;century.{{sfn|Curta|2006|pp=248–250}}{{sfn|Pop|1999|pp=40–41}} Significant Pecheneg groups fled to the Byzantine Empire in the&nbsp;1040s; the [[Oghuz Turks]] followed them, and the nomadic [[Cumans]] became the dominant power of the steppes in the&nbsp;1060s.{{sfn|Curta|2006|pp=304–305}} Cooperation between the Cumans and the Vlachs against the Byzantine Empire is well documented from the end of the 11th&nbsp;century.{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|p=157}} Scholars who reject the Daco-Roman continuity theory say that the first Vlach groups left their [[Balkan Peninsula|Balkan]] homeland for the mountain pastures of the eastern and southern Carpathians in the 11th&nbsp;century, establishing the Romanians' presence in the lands to the north of the Lower Danube.{{sfn|Bóna|1994|p=183}}

[[File:Vlad_Tepes_002.jpg|thumb|[[Vlad III of Wallachia]] (also known as Vlad the Impaler), medieval ruler of Wallachia]]

Exposed to nomadic incursions, Transylvania developed into an important border province of the [[Kingdom of Hungary]].{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|pp=158–159}}{{sfn|Bóna|1994|pp=144–145}} The Székelys—a community of free warriors—settled in central Transylvania around&nbsp;1100 and moved to the easternmost regions around&nbsp;1200.{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=43}} Colonists from the [[Holy Roman Empire]]—the [[Transylvanian Saxons]]' ancestors—came to the province in the&nbsp;1150s.{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=43}}{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=21}} A high-ranking royal official, styled [[Voivode of Transylvania|voivode]], ruled the Transylvanian [[Counties of Hungary (before 1920)|counties]] from the&nbsp;1170s, but the Székely and Saxon [[Seat (territorial administrative unit)|seats]] (or districts) were not subject to the voivodes' authority.{{sfn|Pop|1999|pp=41–43}} Royal charters wrote of the "[[Vlachs]]' land" in southern Transylvania in the early 13th&nbsp;century, indicating the existence of [[Romanian district|autonomous Romanian communities]].{{sfn|Bóna|1994|p=189}} Papal correspondence mentions the activities of Orthodox prelates among the Romanians in Muntenia in the&nbsp;1230s.{{sfn|Curta|2006|p=408}} Also in the 13th&nbsp;century, the [[Republic of Genoa]] started establishing [[Genoese colonies|colonies]] on the Black Sea, including [[Calafat]], and [[Constanța]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Heyd|first=Guglielmo|title=Le Colonie Commerciali Degli Italiani in Oriente Nel Medio Evo|publisher=HardPress Publishing|pages=97|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Iliescu|first=Octavian|title=Revue Roumaine d'Histoire (Contributions à l'histoire des colonies génoises en Roumanie aux XIIIe – XVe siècles)|publisher=Editions de l'Académie de la République socialiste de Roumanie|pages=25–52}}</ref>

The Mongols destroyed large territories during [[Mongol invasion of Europe|their invasion of Eastern and Central Europe]] in&nbsp;1241 and&nbsp;1242.{{sfn|Pop|1999|pp=43–44}} The Mongols' [[Golden Horde]] emerged as the dominant power of Eastern Europe, but [[Béla&nbsp;IV]] of Hungary's land grant to the [[Knights Hospitallers]] in Oltenia and Muntenia shows that the local [[Vlach]] rulers were subject to the king's authority in&nbsp;1247.{{sfn|Curta|2006|pp=407, 414}}{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=44}} [[Basarab&nbsp;I of Wallachia]] united the Romanian polities between the southern Carpathians and the Lower Danube in the&nbsp;1310s.{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=45}} He defeated the Hungarian royal army in the [[Battle of Posada]] and secured the independence of [[Principality of Wallachia|Wallachia]] in&nbsp;1330.{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=46}}{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|p=17}} The second Romanian principality, [[Principality of Moldavia|Moldavia]], achieved full autonomy during the reign of [[Bogdan I of Moldavia|Bogdan&nbsp;I]] around&nbsp;1360.{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|p=17}} A local dynasty ruled the [[Despotate of Dobruja]] in the second half of the 14th&nbsp;century, but the [[Ottoman Empire]] took possession of the territory after&nbsp;1388.{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|p=202}}

Princes [[Mircea I of Wallachia|Mircea&nbsp;I]] and [[Vlad the Impaler|Vlad&nbsp;III of Wallachia]], and [[Stephen the Great|Stephen&nbsp;III of Moldavia]] defended their countries' independence against the Ottomans. Most Wallachian and Moldavian princes paid a regular tribute to the Ottoman sultans from&nbsp;1417 and&nbsp;1456, respectively.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|pp=26–29}}{{sfn|Pop|1999|pp=60–61, 63–66}} A military commander of Romanian origin, [[John Hunyadi]], organised the defence of the Kingdom of Hungary until his death in&nbsp;1456.{{sfn|Pop|1999|pp=61–62}} Increasing taxes outraged the Transylvanian peasants, and [[Transylvanian peasant revolt|they rose up in an open rebellion]] in&nbsp;1437, but the Hungarian nobles and the heads of the Saxon and Székely communities jointly suppressed their revolt.{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|pp=30–31}} The formal alliance of the Hungarian, Saxon, and Székely leaders, known as the [[Unio Trium Nationum|Union of the Three Nations]], became an important element of the self-government of Transylvania.{{sfn|Pop|1999|pp=52–53}} The Orthodox Romanian ''[[Knez (Vlach leader)|knezes]]'' ("chiefs") were excluded from the Union.{{sfn|Pop|1999|pp=52–53}}