De la Argeș la Târgoviște. Aspecte controversate ale mutării reședinței domnești
From Argeș to Târgoviște. Controversial aspects concerning the Relocation of the Princely Residence

Summary/Abstract: The move of the princely residence from Argeș to Târgoviște remains a historiographical problem, but for which few solutions have been proposed. The analysis of the testimony of the squire Johann Schiltberger, who crossed Wallachia in two moments and two completely different contexts, represents only a starting point with wide ramifications, both historically and archaeologically. In the file of displacement, the princely residences, arguments that can be extracted from later events, such as the conflict that raged the 15th century, between the Danes and Dracules parties, were easily overlooked. Equally, other lines of research were only mentioned, not explored. We focused on the observation that in the first centuries after the emergence of Wallachia, the attribute of a princely seat is used only sporadically, the documents thus tilting the balance in favor of Argeș. The reign of Alexandru Aldea represents, from our point of view, the turning point. The documents preserved from his reign are written, for the most part, from Târgoviște, starting with the one of November 17, 1431 and ending with the one of June 25, 1436, where an edifying mention appears in the eschatocol, namely that the document was written in this royal court, Târgoviște. Obviously, we cannot declare such research finished as long as there are still enough pieces to be placed in this veritable puzzle. This is the reason why we considered that a short fragment of historian P.P. Panaitescu can play the role of conclusion: ‘These movements of the royal courts made some historians conclude that we did not have stable capitals, that our lords, just like the patriarchal kings, moved from place to place. However, it was not noticed that among the princely courts, only one was the real centre of the reign’.

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