Diaconescu, Marius (szerk.): Mediaevalia Transilvanica 1998 (2. évfolyam, 1. szám)
Relaţii internaţionale
The Political Relations between Wallachia and Hungary 17 Hungary. The Hungarian historian Györffy György states that after the king conquered the Mehadia citadel, event he considers to have taken place in 1316, at the same time with his castle owner's investment, he would have also invested Basarab as voivode of Wallachia77. There is no proof to support such a statement. One cannot take yet into consideration any claim of the Hungarian kings to invest Romanian voivodes south of the Carpathians. The Romanian leader could at the most accept to pay the tax requested by the king, which meant that he acknowledged the suzerainty. Wallachia was founded by means of a gradual unification of the Southern Carpathian territories. As we mentioned above, Voivode Litovoi took the first steps around 1270 during the political crisis in Hungary. His failure delayed the process only for a few decades (probably the difference of one generation). The unification developed, of course, under the pressure of the strongest ruler. One can only presume things concerning the stages fulfilled towards the constitution of the Romanian State. The fact that, at the beginning of the 14th century, the Mehadia citadel in the centre of the Severin Banate was governed by a Hungarian nobleman, and the last known banus of Severin is certified around 129178 does not imply that the Hungarian suzerainty was not, one way or another, exerted here during this interval. One of the rebels, Theodore, was called under the banus title. Also, the document does not specify the Banate in which he was a dignitary. The former banus who lost their position, as well as other civil servants, used to preserve their titles, honorarily. The Mehadia citadel was located on the territory belonging to the Banate of Severin, a citadel governed by banus Theodore and his son John at the beginning of the 14,h century. Taking into account that it is not impossible Ihat this banus title to have been related to the Banate of Severin so that he could have been the last banus of Severin before the starting of the political crisis in Hungary. This is only an assumption with a high level of probability! It is possible that during the civil wars developed at the beginning of Carol Robert's reign the Bulgarians from Vidin to have occupied the Southern side of the Severin Banate, on the Danube bank. Anyway, a possible reign of Basarab over this territory before 132579, or even over a part of it80 * is out of the question. The castle owner of Mehadia is certified even from 1324. The historiography interpreted the fact that Basarab was called our Wallachian voivode in a royal document from 1324 as a proof that he would have accepted the Hungarian suzerainty so that the king would acknowledge his reign over the Eastern regions of the Severin Banate*'! The castle owner of Mehadia does not vanish from the papers before the issuing of this document. Still in 77 Györffy György, Adatok, p. 541. Hurmuzaki, Documente, 1/1, pp. 511-512. The contestation of the validity of this document by Maria Hóiban, op. cit., p. 126. the note 1, is not justified Maria Hóiban, op. cit., p. 106, ascribes to Basarab the ruling over Severin, which would have escaped the Hungaiian suzerainty during the political crisis under Ladislau IV the Cuman [sic!] ’ Ibidem, p. 130. The author claims that the Eastern side was ruled by Basarab. M Ibidem, p. 130. P. Engel, Gy. Kristó, A. Kubinyi, Magyarország története 1301-1526, Budapest, 1998, p. 77.
