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Den | Romania | History | Migration | 13th Century AD

Migration Period
13th Century AD

Topics covered in this section:

Century Overview

The thirteenth century was a century of wars and conflicts.

In the first decade the crusaders refocused their hatred. Originally aimed toward the Muslims of Egypt and Palestine, they redirected it instead toward the Orthodox Christian inhabitants of Constantinople.

The Italians (Dandolo) and the French (Montferrat) led a crusade against Constantinople under the pretext of restoring the deposed Byzantine emperor to his throne. In reality, the crusade had more to do with profit than with altruism.

But the eastern Orthodox world never forgave the crusaders for sacking Constantinople and raping and pillaging its citizens. Out of the ashes of Constantinople there arose three Orthodox states: Bulgaria, Nicea, and Epiros.

In Transylvania the Hungarian kings continued their colonization efforts, inviting even more immigrants into the area. They rewarded loyalty among the immigrants by offering them land grants, but only to Catholics. Often the land was worked by Romanian peasants who refused to convert to Catholicism. The Hungarian king then brought Teutonic Knights into the region and they founded the city of Braşov.

Many Romanians, dissatisfied with their plight in Transylvania, migrated across the Carpathians into Wallachia and Moldavia. There they merged into the indigenous populations.

This century saw the invention of gunpowder, which was used in weaponry throughout Europe. Warfare was changed forever. The cannon soon became the greatest siege weapon available and was used against most fortified cities.

By mid-century the Hungarians had pushed south into Wallachia. Meanwhile, Moldavia was being overrun by Mongol hordes. But far to the south the greatest threat to the Balkans was just beginning to see results. The birth of the future Ottoman Empire, which emerged from the tribes of Seljuk Turks, appeared in Anatolia (Turkey).

Decade: 1200-1209

This Decade's Rulers

AD 1201

Wallachia: Kaloyan

In 1201 Wallachian prince Kaloyan, the youngest of the Asen brothers, signed a peace treaty with Constantinople. He then helped Bulgaria to expand their western borders, after launching a few successful campaigns against Serbia and Hungary.

Recall that the Wallachian aristocracy had assassinated Ivan Asen in 1196 and Peter Asen in 1197. At that time, Wallachia was part of Bulgaria.

AD 1202

Italian-French Crusade

In 1202, after the failed Crusade of 1199, another army did finally answer Pope Innocent's call. Unfortunately, the pope had made a tactical error in judgment.

The pope and the leaders of the Crusade had already contracted (and paid for) ships based on the original estimates of troop size. But the army that gathered in Venice in 1202 was much smaller than expected, resulting in an excess of ships.

Venice: Dandolo's Mariners

Venetian mariners commanded by the Venetian, Doge Enrico Dandolo, came up with a workable solution that increased the Catholic church's coffers and, at the same time, added to Dandolo's own personal wealth.

Dandolo, the central figure of the undertaking, wanted Venice to gain a much greater commercial advantage over Constantinople in the eastern Mediterranean, to whom Venice had long been subordinated.

France: Montferrat's Knights

So Dandolo convinced the French commander, Boniface di Montferrat and his French knights, that they could conveniently defray some of the costs of the Crusade simply by capturing the Hungarian-Croatian port of Zadar on the Adriatic.

Unofficial Reason for Crusade

Of course, Dandolo couldn't tell the world that the unofficial justification for besieging Constantinople was to line his own pockets.

But Dandolo had another ace up his sleeve. The Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos had recently been deposed. So as part of Dandolo's scheme, the officially stated reason for attacking Constantinople, was to restore Angelos to the Byzantine throne.

And Dandolo already had a willing accomplice — Philip of Swabia.

Philip of Swabia

Alexios Angelos, the son of the deposed emperor, Isaac Angelos, appeared outside Zadar bearing letters from Philip of Swabia. As the son-in-law of Isaac and the brother of the late Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, Philip of Swabia was a contender for the Holy Roman imperial throne.

AD 1203

Byzantine Empire: Angelos

In return for restoring him to the throne Isaac Angelos had promised his financial and material support for the crusading effort. So under the pretext of restoring the deposed emperor to the throne, in 1203 the crusaders descended on Constantinople.

March Against Constantinople

The army under Dandolo and Montferrat constituted most of the Fourth Crusade's military forces, augmented by Italian Normans from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Originally destined for battles against Muslim Turks and Arabs of Egypt, and later, in the Holy Lands, the Catholic crusaders now marched toward Orthodox Christian Constantinople.

Hatred of Orthodox Christians

The Crusade's ranks were filled with bitter enemies of the Byzantine Empire and the Orthodox faith. The animosity stretched from the common foot soldier to the pope himself.

AD 1204

Fourth Crusade

In 1204 the cultural animosities that had been engendered since the Great Schism (1054) caused the western crusaders to turn their greed and frustration against the Byzantines, whom they considered to have reneged on their promises of support.

All the bitter hatred by Catholic soldiers toward Muslims in Egypt and Palestine was easily transferred to the Orthodox Christians of Constantinople. It became a crusade of Christian against Christian. And all with the pope's blessing.

Sacking of Constantinople

The crusaders eventually broke through the sea walls protecting the Byzantine capital and, once inside, gave free rein to a venomous cultural hatred. The vicious wholesale pillage, rape, and plunder inflicted by the Catholic warriors upon the stricken capital of the east was unprecedented.

Religious Gulf Widens

The eastern Orthodox Christians never forgot (or forgave) the western Catholic world for the sack of Constantinople, the largest and wealthiest city on the continent at that time. And this one tragic event created a wide gulf between the Eastern and Western European civilizations that has survived virtually unabated into the present day.

After that day the Latin (Catholic) empire founded by the crusaders was only able to plant a few Catholic roots in the now hostile Orthodox East.

Byzantine Empire: Spoils of War

In a purely feudal fashion the western victors divided the conquered Byzantine Empire among themselves.

Dandolo and Venice received most of the Aegean islands, Crete, and several possessions in the Adriatic.

Montferrat was granted the Kingdom of Thessaloniki.

Baldwin of Flanders was proclaimed emperor of Constantinople (r.1204-1205) and the new Latin Empire. And Pier Morosini, a Venetian, was raised to the position of Latin Patriarch of the East.

Latins: Ineffective Rulers

The eastern Latin Empire existed less than 60 years. For its entire existence it was progressively weakened by feudal rivalries among its constituent territorial lords and vassals.

Orthodox States Emerge

Simultaneously, three Orthodox states quickly emerged as the primary contenders for someday reestablishing the stricken Byzantine Empire. The states were Bulgaria, Nicea, and Epiros.

Bulgaria/Romania

Bulgaria, including the Romanian territories of Wallachia and Dobrogea, emerged as a leading advocate for the restoration of an Orthodox empire in the East.

The leader of the Bulgarian state was none other than Prince Kaloyan of Wallachia, the youngest Asen brother.

Empire of Nicea

The Empire of Nicea was established in Anatolia (Turkey). It was founded by refugees from Constantinople and headed by the ejected emperor Alexios V Doukas (1204).

Under their new emperor, Theodore I Laskaris (r.1204-1222), the Niceans effectively prevented the Latin Empire from gaining any sort of permanent foothold in the region.

Epiros

Epiros, founded by Michael Angelos Komnenos (r.1204-1214), expanded along the western Adriatic coastline. Their expansion was at the expense of Latin, Venetian, and Bulgarian losses.

AD 1205

Wallachia: Kaloyan

In 1205 Prince Kaloyan defeated the Latin Emporer Baldwin (of Flanders) and his forces at Adrianople. Baldwin was captured and held in captivity until his death.

Kaloyan toyed with Catholicism, which won him papal recognition of an autonomous Bulgarian church. It also afforded him the title of King of Bulgaria.

Decade: 1210-1219

This Decade's Rulers

Transylvania: Andrew

The efforts begun in the previous century by Hungarian kings to colonize Crişana and Transylvania continued.

The Romanians, who had managed to survive in Transylvania during the many barbarian invasions, had organized themselves into groups of small, independent fiefdoms. They tended their sheep, perfected their agriculture, and kept their language and traditions alive.

By maintaining a low-key existence, they continued to enjoy a somewhat precarious autonomy during the period of Hungarian domination. In general, the Hungarian elite preferred not to even trouble themselves with the plight of the Romanian peasants.

Nobles Must Be Catholic

Hungary's successive kings reinforced the loyalty of chosen immigrants by conditionally conferring nobility upon them and by assigning to them land grants, commercial privileges, and considerable autonomy. Unfortunately, you had to be of the Roman Catholic faith to be elevated to noble status.

Note

This is just one more example of the somewhat heavy-handed tactics often used by the Catholic Church to gain converts throughout history. Whenever the Church failed to gain converts by persuasion, they often resorted to coercion.

Romanians Cling to Orthodox Faith

A smattering of the Romanian upper class did convert to Catholicism in order to preserve their status and privileges. But most of the Orthodox Romanians preferred to become serfs rather than be "purchased" by the Catholic Church.

And, of course, the Hungarian nobility was more than happy to keep them as serfs.

AD 1211

Transylvania: Andrew

In 1211 the king of Hungary sought additional protection of his lands against eastern invaders.

Teutonic Knights Immigrate

To further secure his borders the king gave charters to the legendary German Saxons of the Teutonic Order (Teutonic Knights) to defend Hungary's southeastern frontier.

Braşov Founded

Some of these Teutonic Knights who had just returned from successful campaigns in Palestine moved in and founded the town of Braşov.

Decade: 1220-1229

This Decade's Rulers

Transylvania: Andrew

In the cities during the early Middle Ages, Transylvania's government and economy were dominated by the German-speaking Saxon upper class and in the countryside by the Hungarian nobility.

For the most part Romanians were excluded from public affairs and privileges because they were overwhelmingly of the peasant class. And even more to the point, they were primarily Orthodox believers who lived in a Catholic-dominated region.

Even though they were not in the historic spotlight at the time, we know that a large Romanian peasant population lived in Transylvania during this period. They're actually mentioned tangentially in both Hungarian and German chronicles.

AD 1225

Transylvania: Andrew

In 1225 a conflict between the Hungarian king and the Teutonic Knights of Braşov prompted the hasty departure of the knights, who then relocated in the Baltic region. Today, Braşov is one of the most beautiful cities in Transylvania.

AD 1227

Mongols: Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan, who had ruled his Mongols since about 1167, died in 1227. Early in his reign he had united several feuding Mongol tribes and had built his warriors into an effective and efficient offensive force. The primary strike force of his army was centered around a highly mobile cavalry.

Decade: 1230-1239

This Decade's Rulers

AD 1233

Inquisition: Pope Gregory

In 1233 Pope Gregory IX founded the unholy Inquisition, an organization designed to ensure that the faithful (or the unfaithful, as the case might be) adhered to official religious doctrine (according to their interpretation). And if the people didn't, then torture and death were used to "help" them see the error of their ways.

Sadistic Inquisitors carried their Catholic Bible in one hand and implements of torture in the other. The Inquisition was founded on anything but Christianity.

The Catholic hierarchy of the Inquisition frowned upon scientific study almost as much as they did the practice of black arts, magic, and witchcraft. In the name of their so-called "god," they unleashed the Dark Ages upon Europe.

AD 1238

Kiev Overrun by Mongols

The Russian state of Kiev, which had been weakened by the decline of Byzantium and by the rise in power of the Catholic Polish-Lithuanian state, was overrun (1238-1240) by Mongols.

Only the northern trading republic of Novgorod remained independent.

Decade: 1240-1249

This Decade's Rulers

Transylvania: Béla

In the 1240s the Hungarians pushed southward onto the Wallachian plain to stifle threats to their borders by Vlach (in Wallachia) and Cuman (in Moldavia) marauders. The small Vlach political formations, which were under the authority of local princes (or voivodes), were turned into vassal client districts.

Wallachians Join Forces

By the late thirteenth century, many of these Wallachian Vlach client districts began a gradual process of consolidation. Their efforts to band together were accelerated by events taking place inside Hungary.

Slavic Orthodoxy in Wallachia

Slavic Orthodox Christianity, which was prevalent in Bulgaria, had over the previous centuries also taken a firm hold among the semipastoral Vlachs in Wallachia and southern Moldavia. During the mid-thirteenth century, the Vlachs had adopted a more settled lifestyle.

Wallachians Adopt Cyrillic Alphabet

Since the Vlach's native language was Latin-based, the fact that they accepted the Slavic liturgy and the use of the Cyrillic alphabet in their writing indicated the existence of strong cultural ties with Bulgaria and with the Orthodox societies in general.

AD 1241

Transylvania: Béla

In 1241 Mongol-Tatar hordes led by Batu Khan swarmed through Moldavia and over the eastern Carpathians into Transylvania. They smashed through the Hungarian forces of King Béla IV, laid waste to Transylvania and central Hungary, and slew a large portion of the population.

The Romanian peasants who had been living in the forests of Transylvania took advantage of the Mongol invasions. They migrated from the plateau of Transylvania into the Carpathian foothills where they founded separate villages.

Bulgaria/Romania

Following the death of Wallachian prince Ivan II Asen in 1241 Bulgaria fell into internal political dissolution and vassalge to the Mongol-Tatar tribes.

Any Bulgarian control over the Vlach tribes in Wallachia was obliterated by the devastation resulting from raids by the Mongol-Tatar tribes between 1241-1242.

AD 1242

Transylvania: Béla

When the Mongols withdrew suddenly and unexpectedly from Transylvania in 1242, King Béla IV quickly stepped in and launched a vigorous reconstruction program. He invited even more foreigners to settle in Transylvania as well as in other devastated regions of his kingdom.

Once again he granted land to loyal noblemen and ordered them to build stone fortresses on their holdings.

AD 1243

Mongols Defeat Turks

In 1243 the Mongol-Tatars defeated the Seljuk Turks in the east.

AD 1247

Transylvania: Béla

In 1247, with the reconquest of Transylvania behind him, King Béla IV turned his attention to the regions to the south and east just beyond the Carpathians.

Hospitalers Protect Frontier

Béla formed an alliance with the Knights Hospitalers, who were members of the military and religious Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, sometimes called the Knights of St. John. They had been organized during the 12th century by crusaders to combat the Muslims in the Holy Land.

Béla issued a charter to the Knights Hospitalers to protect the Hungarian kingdom from any further attacks by the Mongol-Tatars. This charter mentions that in return for their services to the king, they would be given the whole land of Severin, as well as the kniezates of Ioan and Farcaş, as far as the Olt River.

These three regions are all in present-day Romania.

Romanian Voivodes

The charter also stipulated that the kniezates of Voivodes Litovoi and Seneslau were to remain with the Romanians "as they have always owned them."

These two voivodes were obviously Romanian nobles who had converted to Catholicism or else their rights wouldn't have concerned the king. The Orthodox Romanians, the peasants, had no say in the matter.

AD 1249

Invention of Gunpowder

In 1249 Roger Bacon mentioned the use of gunpowder (by anagram since the Catholic Inquisition was still in effect and he could have been executed if he had been more forthright). Although Bacon didn't invent gunpowder himself, we know it was invented about this time. Of course, the Chinese, Hindus, Greeks, Arabs, Germans, and English all claim to have also invented it.

Early makers of gunpowder simply pounded fixed quantities of the three ingredients (charcoal, sulphur, and salt peter) into a powder, which they then mixed according to their own particular recipes. Quality was judged by the loudness of the bang and the brightness of its flash.

Early military gunners were well aware of the psychological effects of the sound of guns on an enemy army. Many illiterate and superstitious soldiers saw the guns as the instruments of the devil and the men manning the guns were the devil's henchmen. They also frightened horses in the beginning ... until war horses were bred who didn't turn skittish at the sound of gunfire.

Gunpowder revolutionized warfare by making killing easier and more efficient than it had been in the past. Previously, a refined set of rules had been instilled into the code of chivalry, which formed the most important aspect of the education of a young knight. The knight-in-training was taught honor and valor, to respect human life, to protect women and children, and to observe the right of an enemy to seek sanctuary in the church.

From the Renaissance onward, however, warfare involved paid professionals who had little or no concern for the sanctity of human life. They were taught to kill, not to maim or to disarm. The distinction between soldiers and civilians no longer existed. There was only us and them, friend or foe.

The cannon became the monopoly of the tyrant. It soon became the supreme instrument of destruction. Only the extremely thick walls of a fortress could hope to save the civilian population from its devastating effects.

Decade: 1250-1259

This Decade's Rulers

No information.

Decade: 1260-1269

This Decade's Rulers

No information.

Decade: 1270-1279

This Decade's Rulers

AD 1276

Austria: Habsburg Empire

Beginning in 1276, from among a welter of minor feudal estates, church lands, and independent cities, the Habsburgs assembled a far-flung territory. In the future it will be called the Habsburg Empire, with its headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

AD 1279

Mongols

By 1279 successors to Genghis Khan (who died 1227) had created the largest land-based empire in history. It stretched from the eastern coastline of Asia to the Danube in the west, and from the northern Siberian steppes to the Arabian Sea in the south.

East-west trade had to pass through Khan territory but several middle-men existed. One of the best known, perhaps, was Marco Polo (c.1254-1324).

Decade: 1280-1289

This Decade's Rulers

AD 1281

Ottoman Turks: Osman

Osman I (r.1281-1326), the son of Yaghmurasan, was the original Ottoman tribal leader to enter the Balkans. The term "Ottoman" is a western corruption of his name.

AD 1288

Transylvania: Ladislaus

The citizens of Transylvania begn to notice that their neighboring imperial powers — the Hungarians, Poles, and Mongol-Tatars — had begun a slow decline. This made the Transylvanians all the more anxious to gain their independence.

As early as 1288 Transylvanian noblemen had organized their own political assembly, or Diet (assembly of nobles or boyars).

With Hungary's attentions focused elsewhere — on Mongol invasions, for example — Transylvania attempted to separate itself (at least partially) from Hungary. But it will be a very long time before they achieve any measure of success.

Decade: 1290-1299

This Decade's Rulers

Transylvania: Andrew

During the last decade of the thirteenth century Romanian peasants remained under rapidly increasing economic pressure from unconstrained feudal lords. In addition, they felt an escalation of religious pressure from the overzealous Catholics wanting to convert them by any means.

Emigrate to Wallachia/Moldavia

Rather than fight back, many of the Romanian peasants chose to emigrate from the hostile environment in which they found themselves. They generally fled eastward and southward over the Carpathians, either founding or strengthening the other two principalities — namely, the feudal states of Wallachia and Moldavia.

Wallachia/Moldavia: Boyars

Princes (voivodes) in Wallachia or Moldavia were elected for life by the Diet (assemblies of nobles or boyars) and by high-ranking members of the clergy. The term "boyar" was generally associated with control, not necessarily ownership, of land. In that sense, absentee boyars often possessed vast domains comprising dozens of villages.

They extended their holdings by purchase, by marriage, or through princely donations (in return for favors). They held almost absolute power within their individual realms and they alone had the power to grant land or to confer noble rank.

Seljuk Turks

Meanwhile, Turkic peoples of Central Asian ancestry had been steadily making their presence known near the borders of Romania's historic region. They will play an important role in the future, so I need to digress for a moment to bring my current discussion up to date.

Turkic peoples had been a continual threat to both the Byzantine and Persian empires since the sixth century. After several waves of invasions, during which most of the Turks adopted Islam, the Seljuk Turks captured Baghdad back in 1055. The Seljuk Turks ruled Persia, Iraq, and after 1071, Asia Minor, where massive numbers of Turks settled.

The Turkish empire had been divided during the twelfth century into several smaller "states" ruled by Seljuks, Kurds, and Mamluks (a military caste of former Turkish, Kurdish, and Circassian slaves), which governed Egypt and the Middle East until the Ottoman era (c.1290-1922).

In the near future the Ottoman Turks will dominate this discussion of Romanian history for many, many centuries.

AD 1290

Wallachia: Negru

One Romanian legend claims that in 1290 Radu Negru (Ralph the Black), a leading Romanian prince (voivode), left Făgăraş in southern Transylvania with a group of other nobles. He joined up with another prince (voivode), Seneslau, and headed south across the Carpathians.

Ţara Românească

There Radu and Seneslau founded "Ţara Românească," which means the "Romanian lands," on the plains between the southern Carpathians and the Danube River. It's commonly called Wallachia, though Romanians now prefer to call this region "Muntenia," which means the "land at the foot of the mountains."

Derivation of Wallachia

This is, of course, the area where exists the principality of Wallachia, a name which is derived from the Slavic word "vlach," which is a Slavonic adaptation of a generic term that was applied by the Germans to designate Roman provincials (Latin-speaking peoples) during the 4th and 5th centuries.

By the late 13th century these new immigrants merged with the indigenous Vlachs and other ethnic agricultural groups, including Slavs.

Moldavia

And a similar political entity existed in Moldavia.

AD 1291

Ottoman Turks: Osman

War With Constantinople

Osman I ruled the Seljuk principality located closest to Constantinople in the northwest corner of Anatolia (Turkey). He and succeeding beys (chiefs) united Anatolian Turkish warriors in a militaristic state that waged unrelenting warfare against the Balkan Christians directly across his borders. This included Constantinople.

Islamic Expansion

Osman's efforts soon attracted to him a number of warriors from all parts of the Seljuk world. He organized them into an effective and loyal military force who were eager to expand Islamic territories in the tradition of the jihad (Holy War).

The Ottomans, who had been converted to the fundamentalist teachings of Islam by Turkoman tribes of Asia Minor, were governed in accordance with orthodox Muslim law. Greek, Armenian, and Jewish communities were segregated and ruled by religious leaders. The religious leaders dominated trade and were responsible for collecting taxes. State offices and most of the army's ranks were filled by slaves through a system of child conscription among Christians.

AD 1295

Mongols Convert to Islam

By 1295 the western Mongols had been Islamized. Successor states soon lost their Mongol characteristics through assimilation into native populations.

Pronunciation Help

To help American readers, the following pronunciation guide to Romanian words used above is provided. The sounds shown are only approximations, however.

• Argeş. (Arges) Ahr-jesh.
• Braşov. (Brasov) Brah-shohv.
• Crişana. (Crisana) Kree-shahn-ah.
• Dobrogea. Doh-broh-jyah.
• Făgăraş. (Fagaras) Fuh-guhr-rahsh.
• Farcaş. (Farcas) Fahr-kahsh.
• Ioan. Ywahn.
• Muntenia. Moon-tehn-yah.
• Olt. Ohlt.
• Românească. (Romaneasca) Roh-mihn-yahs-kuh.
• Severin. Seh-vehr-een.
• Ţara. (Tara) Tsahr-rah.
• Wallachia. Vah-lahk-yah.