Foundation of Wallachia - Aftermath of The Battle of Posada

Aftermath of The Battle of Posada

The international prestige of Wallachia increased considerably after Basarab’s victory over King Charles I. Only a few months after his great victory, in February 1331, Basarab contributed to the establishment of his son-in-law, Ivan Alexander (1331–1371) on the throne of the tzars of Bulgaria in Tirnovo.

As a way of solemnizing his secession from the Kingdom of Hungary, Basarab’s son, Nicolae Alexandru also sought Byzantine approval for the creation of an Orthodox see for his territories. In 1359 Byzantium acceded to his request that the displaced metropolitan of Vicina, Hyakinthos – whom Nicolae Alexander had been hosting at his court for some time – should became the “legitimate pastor of all Oungrovlachia for the blessing and spiritual direction of himself, his children and all his lordship”. At the same time, Byzantium also agreed to the creation of a metropolitan see, after Hyakinthos’ death, for “all Oungrovlachia”.

The new state was denoted as Oungrovlachia (Οὐγγροβλαχία) in Byzantine sources which reflects that it bordered on the Kingdom of Hungary. This name is first encountered in a Greek diploma issued by the synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1370. In the diploma, the ruler of Wallachia, Nicolae Alexandru is styled “great voivode and master of all Oungrovlachia”.

Latin documents used the term Wallachia or Wallachia maior (‘Greater Wallachia’) for Muntenia (which first appeared in 1373), and Wallachia minor (‘Lesser Wallachia’) for Oltenia (first recorded in 1377). The new country was identified as terra transalpina (‘land beyond the mountains’) or partes transalpinae (‘parts beyond the mountains’) in documents issued by the Royal Chancellery of Hungary in the entire 14th century. The terminology of the Hungarian chancellery was also used in the Latin documents of the Wallachian voivodes.

The Romanian rulers chose the Byzantine model of government, and Wallachia was from the start an absolute monarchy. The princes' absolute power was held to be divinely ordained. Their correspondence and records used the expression "By the Grace of God" from the 14th century. Wallachian sovereigns were host commanders and supreme judges, they patronized the church and made decisions that became laws. In theory, the voivodes were considered proprietors of all the lands in the country, but in fact they were devoid of extensive personal land holdings.

The monarchy was also dynastic: the princes were to be elected by boyars from among the members of the ruling family, the Basarabs. The boyars were the members of the privileged landed aristocracy. However, the origin of the Romanian boyar class is problematic: it may have evolved naturally from the heads of the Vlach villages and communities, but it is also possible that the princes created it by granting privileges to certain favored persons.

Multiple vassalage became an important aspect of Romanian diplomacy after the Christian Balkan states (Bulgaria, Serbia) one by one fell to the Ottoman Empire in the course the second half of the 14th century. For example, Mircea the Elder (1386–1418) accepted the suzerainty of Poland in 1387 and that of Hungary in 1395, and Wallachia was paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire from 1417. When accepting Hungarian suzerainty, the princes of Wallachia usually also received the district of Făgăraş in Transylvania from the Hungarian monarchs, for example in 1366 King Louis I of Hungary (1342–1382) granted the region to Prince Vladislav I of Wallachia (1364–1377), with the title of duke, and Prince Mircea the Elder received it from King Sigismund (1387–1437).

During the reign of Mircea the Elder, Dobruja also became part of Wallachia before it was annexed to the Ottoman Empire.