Diaconescu, Marius (szerk.): Mediaevalia Transilvanica 1998 (2. évfolyam, 2. szám)
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278 Marius Diaconescu suzerainty was not exerted only over the properties in question but on Wallachia as well. The claims of suzerainty had been inherited from the Angevines and went back as far as the XIIIlh century. The offering of feudal properties in Transylvania as a kind of supplement was common practice at the time. Mircea the Old did not maintain his control over these domains during all the years of his rule in Wallachia. His authority depended on the evolution of the relations with the suzerain. He acknowledged the revocable nature of his rights in a document referring to the Land of Făgăraş. A question almost impossible to solve is the moment when Mircea came into possession of the Lands of Făgăraş and Amlaş, territories situated in the south of Transylvania, at the borders of Wallachia. P. P. Panaitescu claimed that what Mircea did was to cross the mountains and settle his rule over Făgăraş but he admitted that the moment and the circumstances of this action remained uncertain178. However, the year proposed by the historian, i.e. 1388, was subsequently adopted by Romanian historiographers. In spite of the internal difficulties Sigismund of Luxemburg had to face during the first years of his rule, the Wallachian voivode could not simply have started a campaign aimed at conquering the territories in the south of Transylvania. First, the high peaks of the Făgăraş Mountains separate Wallachia and Transylvania. In the second place, a Saxon and Hungarian population inhabited the regions along the roads of access guarded by the two fortresses at the border, Bran and Tumu. Moreover, since 1389 the king and the royal army had been present close to the Romanian borders - in the Timişoara region - before and after the campaigns in Serbia. And to conclude, we have to admit that Mircea could have exerted the right of possession over the Transylvanian fiefs only with the Hungarian authorities' agreement. But this agreement could be reached only as a consequence of the pledge of fidelity. The first mention of his authority over the territories situated "beyond the mountains" is made in a document written in late 1389179. If his prerogatives were real and not formal, the first exchange of messages between the Wallachian voivode and the Hungarian king may have taken place on the occasion of the king's first stay in the region of Timişoara, i.e. during that spring. So it is only as a consequence of these alleged contacts and of at least one promise of homage (as it took longer to prepare the sovereigns' meeting) that Sigismund granted to Mircea the authority over the Transylvanian feuds. We have already mentioned that the relations between the two rulers had certainly improved by the beginning of 1390180. Indeed, the only acceptable reason for this improvement could have been the acceptance of the Hungarian suzerainty. Still, there must have been a certain delay between the moment of the formal acceptance (following the exchange of envoys) and the actual acknowledgement of vassalage. 178 P. P. Panaitescu, Mircea cel Bătrân (see note 15), p. 190,192. m DRH, B, 1, no. 10, p. 28-30. 180 The king's interest for Wallachia during his stay at Timişoara is further confirmed by the commercial privileges granted to Transylvanian merchants for their trade in the regions situated to the south of the Carpathians: DRH, D, I, p. 120-121.
