Diaconescu, Marius (szerk.): Mediaevalia Transilvanica 1998 (2. évfolyam, 1. szám)
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The Political Relations between Wallachia and Hungary 19 Along with the independence movement, the Romanian voivode went on with his activity of expanding the state beyond the Southern Carpathian territories. This is how one can explain why he occupied the Severin region at a certain moment. This moment can be identified somewhere closer to the year 1330, when it is proved that Severin belonged to Basarab87. In 1327 we still find a castle owner serving the king at Mehadia, the same Szécsi Dénes88. As this dignitary position is not mentioned during the interval that goes from the last mention in 1324 and the first one in 1327 may generate any hypothesis. It is possible that Basarab could have occupied the land of Severin and the citadel of Mehadia at a certain moment. It is a possibility but no one can definitely assert that things happened precisely within this interval. It is also likely that the Romanian voivode could have conquered Severin after 1237, too, or not very long before 1330. The importance of the citadel present in the region, Mehadia (the citadel of Severin was not raised yet), derives also from the fact that the author of Chronicon Pictum from Vienna, which describes the episode of the conflict from 1330, mentions the conquest of the citadel by the royal army distinguishing it from the Severin region89. The conquest of the Severin region by Basarab frustrated Szécsi Dénes, great royal official who had also had the attributes of castle owner of Mehadia. One can thus explain the fact that this official was one of the movers of the military campaign, by the side of the voivode of Transylvannia90. The climax of the conflict was recorded in 1330, when Carol Robert personally led a military campaign against Voivode Basarab I. Ulterior documents and medieval chronicles offer details about this campaign. It is not impossible that the resolution concerning this campaign could have been taken in the circumstance in which the Romanian voivode’s alliance system with the Bulgarian czar, the Tartars and the Cumans collapsed as a consequence of their being defeated by the Serbian king, Uros III, at Velbujd91. Chronicon Pictum from Vienna is the main narrative source, which generated various interpretations in the historiography. No matter what the context in which this particular episode was recorded, sometimes towards the year 1370, the text contains fundamental information apart from the narrative structure and the "literary" style of the author. The main inspirational source was of course the tradition, which considering the short time passed from the date of the event (almost 40 years) is virtually identical with the reality. In short, the king entered Wallachia through Severin around September, aiming at banishing the Romanian voivode, Basarab, as this was illegitimately ruling the country and had refused to pay the rightful tribute to the king. After the conquest of Severin and of the citadel, Szécsi Dénes was the one to receive them along with the banus dignity. 87 Gy. Györffy, Adatok, p. 546, admits the impossibility of precisely determining the date and connects it with the political constellation around the year 1330. 88 P. Engel. Archontológia, I, p. 367. AO, XI, nr. 302. 89 Scriptores Rerum Hungaricarum (following up: SRH), ed. E. Szentpétery, I, Budapestini, 1937, p. 497. 90 Ibidem, loc. cit. 91 Gy. Kristó, Az Anjou-kor, p. 82.
