Diaconescu, Marius (szerk.): Mediaevalia Transilvanica 1998 (2. évfolyam, 2. szám)
Relaţii internaţionale
The Relations of Vassalage 279 Similar but not identical is the situation of the Banat of Severin, a region situated to the far west of Wallachia. Unfortunately, the exact extent of this geographical area has not been determined yet. Still, it is known that it comprised the territories surrounding the fortresses of Severin, Orşova and Mehadia. Hungarian bans of Severin are attested up to 1393. Romanian historians have claimed that their mission in the Banat was to regain these territories181 and that they ruled effectively only the region of Timişoara182. The county of Timişoara was a medieval administrative institution in the region, which only in modern times came to be called the Banat!!! Early in 1390 the king made a donation in favour of a Romanian knezes who lived near the fortress of Mehadia and ordered the banus of Severin - who was Hungarian - to investigate the status of the respective property183. So, while Mircea had the title of banus of Severin, a Hungarian official exerted his authority there! This situation can be interpreted in the sense that at that moment Mircea had not come yet into possession. On the other hand, sharing authority over this not very large territory seems improbable. So, the presence of the Hungarian banus of Severin in 1392 could be explained by the fact that there had been several stages of coming into possession: initially, Mircea was promised the territory as a result of the first exchange of envoys in 1389 (in his turn, he sent his promise of paying homage) and he assumed the title of ban; then, from February-March 1391, when he acknowledged his vassalage, to 1392 when he came effectively into possession of the Banat, there is a delay during which Mircea the Old met certain oppositions. The remark noted by Pera in June 1392 on the good relations between the Wallachian voivode and Hungary may refer to an exchange of emissaries that clarified the status of the promised territory. The delay could also be explained by the resistance of the old Hungarian ban184. Only during the period of Mircea's relative independence (1408-1411) was the Banat to be administered again by a Hungarian ban185. At some other time, Mircea the Old was given the domain of the fortress of Bologa (Huedin) in Transylvania. This happened, as it has been seen, in 1398186 187. The fortress was meant to serve as a refuge in case the voivode had to face a situation similar to that of 1394-1397, when he had been driven by the Turks'87. At that time, the danger of a new Ottoman incursion seemed imminent, so Mircea would insist on getting Sigismund's support warning him that otherwise he would 181 I. Minea, op. cit. (see note 10), p. 16-17; I. A. Pop, Stăpânirile lui Mircea (see note 24), p. 686. 182 P. P. Panaitescu, Mircea cel Bătrân (see note 15), p. 193. 183 DRH. D, I, p. 124. 184 A similar situation was to hapen after circa a century when king Mathia gave the domain and the fortress of Ciceu to Steven the Great but the new beneficiary came into possession only around 1500, after the old ruler had been offered a compensation. 185 A Hungarian banus is attested between 1408 and 1409: P. Engel, Magyarország világi archontológiája 1301-1457,1, p. 33. 1861. Pataki, op. cit. (see note 17), pp. 424-425; A. A. Rusu, începuturile cetăţii feudale de la Bologa, in Acta Musei Porolissensis, 1980, IV, p. 413; I. A. Pop, Stăpânirile lui Mircea (see note 24), p. 691. 187 1. A. Pop, Stăpânirile lui Mircea (see note 24), p. 692, correlates Mircea's coming into possession of this fortress with his matrimonial relation with a Hungarian noblewoman.
