Търговията между Брашов и Видин през XIV–XV век
Trade between Brasov and Vidin in the 14th -15th C

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the trade relations between Brasov and Vidin in the transitional period between the second half of the 14th and the 15th century. The documents, which were used for this paper, can be found in the State Archive in Brasov and include letters and charters dating from the above mentioned period. The article makes a brief presentation of the history of the exploration of this archive by scholars from different countries during the last 120 years. Then it focuses on the first charters for free trade given by the Hungarian and Wallachian rulers to the Brasov merchants (1368, 1413) and compares them to the similar Bulgarian privilege – the letter of the Vidin Tsar Sratsimir (dated circa 1369) – the only document of this kind that has survived. The paper offers also a description of the trade exchange between the areas north and south of the Danube and directed towards the town of Vidin. To this end a comparison is made with the time of Ottoman rule, which was established about the middle of the 15th century. Brasov’s trade with Vidin, as we see it through the perspective of the official documents of the rulers’ chancelleries, was well established and very intensive, and its study is of a particular interest for scholars today. The detailed analysis of the documents gives an opportunity to build up concrete perceptions about what really was taking place along the banks of the Danube river in the distant 15th century, and the attached, translated into Bulgarian language, documents issued by the rulers’ chancelleries will undoubtedly enrich the sources of Bulgarian historiography.

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