Moldavia in «Dark Ages»: Materials for Understanding Cultural and Historical Processes Cover Image

Молдавия в «темные века»: материалы к осмыслению культурно- исторических процессов
Moldavia in «Dark Ages»: Materials for Understanding Cultural and Historical Processes

Author(s): Nicolaj D. Russev
Subject(s): History, Middle Ages, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century
Published by: Издательский дом Stratum, Университет «Высшая антропологическая школа»

Summary/Abstract: The article provides an analysis of some vague pages of history of Carpathian-Dniester lands on basis of archaeological, numismatic and written sources. An analysis of messages given by various written records of Tatar domination epoch concludes that a «Country of Vlachs and Russians», an ethno-political formation genetically connected with the medieval Moldavian state existed in the Eastern Carpathian region already in the second half XIII century. A newly emerged large political centre under a powerful Mongol commander Nogay in the Low Danube region enabled constitution of a rather independent and advanced in its cultural and historical development Golden Horde province. It managed to preserve its characteristic features in XIV too, in spite of changes in the internal political situation in Djuchi’s Ulus. Nomads’ steppes coexisted here with towns and regions of settled life, merging traditions of Europe and Asia into a complicated structure. After dismantle of the Horde State, Moldavia emerged to the international stage and during a quite long period of time continued integrating «the Upper Country», «the Lower Country» and «Bessarabia» into one whole historic space. The beginning of exploitation of lands between Prut and Dniester (in the time of Bogdan I) and the first break-through of the Moldavians to the Lower Danube (in the time of Petru Muşat) were of a great importance for a successful development of Moldavian statehood. These acquisitions, happened to be short-term ones at a time, were made on the background of a large ethno-cultural variation of the population. Medieval records perfectly showed a close Roman, Slavic and Turk interaction which laid down the basis for a peculiar Moldavian civilisation of XIII-XV centuries.

  • Issue Year: 1999
  • Issue No: 5
  • Page Range: 379-407
  • Page Count: 29
  • Language: Russian