Basarab I of Wallachia
Encyclopedia
Basarab I the Founder was voivode or prince of Wallachia
(c. 1310/1319–1352). His rise seems to have taken place in the context of the war between the Kingdom of Hungary
and the Orthodox states in the north of the Balkan Peninsula. Around 1324 Basarab became a vassal
of King Charles I of Hungary
(1308–1342), but later the king called him ‘unfaithful’ on the pretext that Basarab had occupied crown territories.
Basarab I's name was originally Basarabai and lost the ending -a when it was borrowed into Romanian
. The name is of Cuman
or Pecheneg origin and most likely meant "father ruler". Basar was the present participle of the verb "to rule", derivatives attested in both old and modern Kypchak language
s. The Romania
n historian Nicolae Iorga
believed the second part of the name, -aba ("father"), to be an honorary title, as recognizable in many Cuman names, such as Terteroba, Arslanapa, and Ursoba.
In 1330 King Charles I launched an expedition into Wallachia to restore his authority over that area. On November 12, after three days of fighting, Basarab defeated the Hungarian forces at the battle of Posada
. The battle marked the end of Hungarian rule and the appearance of the first independent Romanian principality.
Basarab founded the first Romanian ruling dynasty
which was named after him.
From the mid-14th century onwards his name appears in Serbian
, Hungarian
, Moldavia
n and Polish
sources as the name of Wallachia, and from the 15th century as a name for the territory between the lower reaches of the rivers Prut
and Dniester
. Bessarabia
became the name of the whole land between the Prut and the Dniester (i.e., today’s Republic of Moldova) only after the Russian conquest of the area in 1812.
whose status cannot be specified. Several Romanian historians (e.g., Vlad Georgescu
) suggest that Thocomerius followed Bărbat
(the latter had been mentioned in a letter of grant of 8 January 1285 issued by King Ladislaus IV of Hungary as the brother and successor of Litovoi
, a voivode in modern Oltenia
).
Though it cannot be definitely proved, Basarab was probably of Cuman
extraction, since he bore a name of Turkic
origin. His name is composed of two elements: the first element (‘basar-’) is a present participle from the verb
bas- (‘to press, suppress, rule, govern’); the second element (‘-aba’) is identified with the Turkic honorary title aba, oba (‘father, uncle, elder brother’). Nevertheless, Basarab was expressly stated to be a Romanian (Vlach); King Charles I of Hungary speaks of him as ‘our
unfaithful Vlach’.‘Bazarab infidelis Olacus noster’; Vásáry, István op. cit. p. 150.
The linguist Sorin Paliga suggests that - despite many opposite hypotheses - his name may be one of the Thracian
anthroponomical
relics in Romanian
, since the root bas-, bes- is well attested in Thracian (cf. Albanian
besë ‘creed, faith’). He thinks that the name may be the continuation of the similar Thracian names (e.g., Bassaros, Bassos, Bassus) and may be connected to Bassarái (a garment of Bacchus
priestesses).
The Kingdom of Hungary underwent a strong political crisis at the end of the Árpád dynasty
. The Golden Horde
’s domination also decreased in the territories between the Carpathian Mountains
and the river Danube
at the end of the 13th century. These enabled the states in the sub-Carpathian regions to consolidate their autonomy and to progressively extend their authority over the Danube plains.
Basarab was a vassal of King Charles I of Hungary, who called him ‘our voivode of Wallachia’ in a diploma issued on 26 July 1324.‘Bazarab, woyuodam nostrum Transalpinum’; Sălăgean, Tudor op. cit. p. 194. He became the king’s vassal probably after 1321, because it was towards the end of 1321 or the beginning of 1322 when the king personally lead a campaign to the Banat
that resulted in his recapture of the castle of Mehadia
from the rebel Vejteh family. Basarab, however, was already referred to as ‘Basarab of Wallachia, unfaithful to the king’s Holy Crown’ in a diploma issued on 18 June 1325.‘Bazarab Transalpinum sancte regie corone infidelem’; Vásáry, István op. cit. p. 150. The diploma also narrates that a certain Stephen, son of Parabuh, a Cuman count in Hungary, in the course of a dispute, stated that Basarab’s strength exceeded that of the Hungarian king himself.
The Hungarian historian István Vásáry suggests that the king must have referred to him as a rebellious vassal because Basarab had occupied the Banate of Severin
, a province of the Kingdom of Hungary on the territory of modern Oltenia. The Romanian historian Tudor Sălăgean thinks that by 1325 Basarab had already been in possession of the strategic fortress of Severin as a result of a peace treaty between Hungary and Wallachia in 1324. Nevertheless, between 1324 and 1330 no reference can be found in the sources to any ban of Severin, so it must have been during these years that Basarab seized the province.
The fact that Pope John XXII
(1316-1334) addressed Basarab, in 1327, as a ‘devoted Catholic prince’ and praised his actions against the unfaithful seems to show some collaboration between the Romanian voivode and the Catholic world, but the precise details are missing.‘Princeps devotus Catholicus’; Sălăgean, Tudor op. cit. p. 194.
Basarab gave his daughter in marriage to Ivan Alexander
, a nephew of Tzar Michael Shishman of Bulgaria
(1323–1330) who was an enemy of the Hungarian king. In a document issued on 27 March 1329, Basarab was mentioned among King Charles I’s enemies alongside the Bulgarians
, the Serbs
and the Tatars
who constantly attacked the Hungarian confines. In 1330, Basarab took part in the military campaign Tzar Michael Sishman launched against Serbia, which ended on July 18 with the great Serb victory at Velbužd.
Immediately following the Serbian defeat of the Bulgarians and Romanians at Velbužd, King Charles I made an expedition against Basarab. When the Banate of Severin was retaken, Basarab offered to pay yearly tribute and 7,000 silver marks in compensation, and to recognize the king’s sovereignty; but his offers were rejected, and the king advanced into Wallachia as far as Curtea de Argeş
. However, the king was eventually forced to withdraw toward Transylvania
without having engaged the Romanian army in battle, because difficulties rose in the provision of food supplies.
But a large contingent of Wallachian soldiers was waiting for the Hungarians at Posada, and as they were winding their way through a narrow valley, the Hungarians found themselves trapped. On November 12, after three days of fighting, the Hungarians were soundly defeated, the king managing with difficulty to escape with his life.
A new Hungarian offensive took place between 1343 and 1345, after King Charles’ death and the coronation of his son King Louis I. This time, Basarab lost the fortress of Severin and his son, Nicolae Alexandru
, probably associated to the throne, accepted paying the homage of vassalage to the king of Hungary.
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
(c. 1310/1319–1352). His rise seems to have taken place in the context of the war between the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
and the Orthodox states in the north of the Balkan Peninsula. Around 1324 Basarab became a vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
of King Charles I of Hungary
Charles I of Hungary
Charles I , also known as Charles Robert , was the first King of Hungary and Croatia of the House of Anjou. He was also descended from the old Hungarian Árpád dynasty. His claim to the throne of Hungary was contested by several pretenders...
(1308–1342), but later the king called him ‘unfaithful’ on the pretext that Basarab had occupied crown territories.
Basarab I's name was originally Basarabai and lost the ending -a when it was borrowed into Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
. The name is of Cuman
Cuman language
Cuman was a Kipchak Turkic language spoken by the Cumans and Kipchaks; the language was similar to the today's Crimean Tatar language...
or Pecheneg origin and most likely meant "father ruler". Basar was the present participle of the verb "to rule", derivatives attested in both old and modern Kypchak language
Kypchak language
Kypchak language may refer to:*Kipchak languages, a group of Turkic languages*Kipchak language, an extinct language of that group...
s. The Romania
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
n historian Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, poet and playwright. Co-founder of the Democratic Nationalist Party , he served as a member of Parliament, President of the Deputies' Assembly and Senate, cabinet minister and briefly as Prime Minister...
believed the second part of the name, -aba ("father"), to be an honorary title, as recognizable in many Cuman names, such as Terteroba, Arslanapa, and Ursoba.
In 1330 King Charles I launched an expedition into Wallachia to restore his authority over that area. On November 12, after three days of fighting, Basarab defeated the Hungarian forces at the battle of Posada
Battle of Posada
The Battle of Posada was fought between Basarab I of Wallachia and Charles I Robert of Hungary.The small Wallachian army led by Basarab, formed of cavalry, foot archers, as well as local peasants, managed to ambush and defeat the 30,000-strong Hungarian army, in a mountainous region near the...
. The battle marked the end of Hungarian rule and the appearance of the first independent Romanian principality.
Basarab founded the first Romanian ruling dynasty
House of Basarab
The Basarabs were a family which had an important role in the establishing of the Principality of Wallachia, giving the country its first line of Princes, one closely related with the Muşatin rulers of Moldavia...
which was named after him.
From the mid-14th century onwards his name appears in Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
n and Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
sources as the name of Wallachia, and from the 15th century as a name for the territory between the lower reaches of the rivers Prut
Prut
The Prut is a long river in Eastern Europe. In part of its course it forms the border between Romania and Moldova.-Overview:...
and Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
. Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
became the name of the whole land between the Prut and the Dniester (i.e., today’s Republic of Moldova) only after the Russian conquest of the area in 1812.
Descent
Basarab was the son of a local potentate called ThocomeriusThocomerius of Wallachia
Thocomerius, also Tihomir, was the father of Basarab who would become the first independent voivode of Wallachia. Many Romanian historians think that Thocomerius was a voivode in Wallachia who followed Bărbat ; others refer to him as a local potentate whose status cannot be...
whose status cannot be specified. Several Romanian historians (e.g., Vlad Georgescu
Vlad Georgescu
Vlad Georgescu , Romanian historian, was the director of the Romanian-language department of Radio Free Europe between 1983 and 1988.-Biography:...
) suggest that Thocomerius followed Bărbat
Barbat
Bărbat was the brother and successor of voivode Litovoi whose territory had comprised northern Oltenia .In 1277 , Litovoi renounced fealty to king Ladislaus IV of Hungary when the king claimed lands for the crown, but Litovoi refused to pay tribute for them...
(the latter had been mentioned in a letter of grant of 8 January 1285 issued by King Ladislaus IV of Hungary as the brother and successor of Litovoi
Litovoi
Litovoi, also Litvoy, was a Vlach voivode in the 13th century whose territory comprised northern Oltenia .He is mentioned for the first time in a diploma issued by king Béla IV of Hungary on 2 July 1247...
, a voivode in modern Oltenia
Oltenia
Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river ....
).
Though it cannot be definitely proved, Basarab was probably of Cuman
Cumans
The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...
extraction, since he bore a name of Turkic
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
origin. His name is composed of two elements: the first element (‘basar-’) is a present participle from the verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
bas- (‘to press, suppress, rule, govern’); the second element (‘-aba’) is identified with the Turkic honorary title aba, oba (‘father, uncle, elder brother’). Nevertheless, Basarab was expressly stated to be a Romanian (Vlach); King Charles I of Hungary speaks of him as ‘our
Pluralis majestatis
The majestic plural , is the use of a plural pronoun to refer to a single person holding a high office, such as a monarch, bishop, or pope...
unfaithful Vlach’.‘Bazarab infidelis Olacus noster’; Vásáry, István op. cit. p. 150.
The linguist Sorin Paliga suggests that - despite many opposite hypotheses - his name may be one of the Thracian
Thracian language
The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times in Southeastern Europe by the Thracians, the northern neighbors of the Ancient Greeks. The Thracian language exhibits satemization: it either belonged to the Satem group of Indo-European languages or it was strongly...
anthroponomical
Anthroponymy
Anthroponomastics , a branch of onomastics, is the study of anthroponyms Anthroponomastics (or anthroponymy), a branch of onomastics, is the study of anthroponyms Anthroponomastics (or anthroponymy), a branch of onomastics, is the study of anthroponyms (Anthroponomastics (or anthroponymy), a branch...
relics in Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, since the root bas-, bes- is well attested in Thracian (cf. Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
besë ‘creed, faith’). He thinks that the name may be the continuation of the similar Thracian names (e.g., Bassaros, Bassos, Bassus) and may be connected to Bassarái (a garment of Bacchus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
priestesses).
Vassal of the king of Hungary
Toward the middle of the 13th century voivodates dependent on the Kingdom of Hungary began to form on the territories of future Wallachia, but evidence shows that they soon sought independence from the Hungarian crown. The trend toward unification seems to have begun with Litovoi who was at war with the Hungarians in 1277 and was killed in battle.The Kingdom of Hungary underwent a strong political crisis at the end of the Árpád dynasty
Árpád dynasty
The Árpáds or Arpads was the ruling dynasty of the federation of the Hungarian tribes and of the Kingdom of Hungary . The dynasty was named after Grand Prince Árpád who was the head of the tribal federation when the Magyars occupied the Carpathian Basin, circa 895...
. The Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
’s domination also decreased in the territories between the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
and the river Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
at the end of the 13th century. These enabled the states in the sub-Carpathian regions to consolidate their autonomy and to progressively extend their authority over the Danube plains.
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
that resulted in his recapture of the castle of Mehadia
Mehadia
Mehadia is a small market town and commune in Caraş-Severin County, Romania. It lies on the European route E70, in the Cerna River valley. The town is located on the site of the ancient Roman colony Ad Mediam and was noted for its Hercules baths. It had a population of 2,492 in 1900, and of 4,474...
from the rebel Vejteh family. Basarab, however, was already referred to as ‘Basarab of Wallachia, unfaithful to the king’s Holy Crown’ in a diploma issued on 18 June 1325.‘Bazarab Transalpinum sancte regie corone infidelem’; Vásáry, István op. cit. p. 150. The diploma also narrates that a certain Stephen, son of Parabuh, a Cuman count in Hungary, in the course of a dispute, stated that Basarab’s strength exceeded that of the Hungarian king himself.
The Hungarian historian István Vásáry suggests that the king must have referred to him as a rebellious vassal because Basarab had occupied the Banate of Severin
Banate of Severin
-References:*George Popoviciu, Istoria românilor bănăţeni, Lugoj, 1904*Patriciu D., Istoria Banatului Severin, Tipografia Diecezană, Caransebeş, 1899....
, a province of the Kingdom of Hungary on the territory of modern Oltenia. The Romanian historian Tudor Sălăgean thinks that by 1325 Basarab had already been in possession of the strategic fortress of Severin as a result of a peace treaty between Hungary and Wallachia in 1324. Nevertheless, between 1324 and 1330 no reference can be found in the sources to any ban of Severin, so it must have been during these years that Basarab seized the province.
The fact that Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII , born Jacques Duèze , was pope from 1316 to 1334. He was the second Pope of the Avignon Papacy , elected by a conclave in Lyon assembled by Philip V of France...
(1316-1334) addressed Basarab, in 1327, as a ‘devoted Catholic prince’ and praised his actions against the unfaithful seems to show some collaboration between the Romanian voivode and the Catholic world, but the precise details are missing.‘Princeps devotus Catholicus’; Sălăgean, Tudor op. cit. p. 194.
The battle of Posada and its background
Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
Ivan Alexander , also known as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history...
, a nephew of Tzar Michael Shishman of Bulgaria
Michael Shishman of Bulgaria
Michael Asen III ), ruled as emperor of Bulgaria from 1323 to 1330. The exact year of his birth is unknown but it was between 1280 and 1292. He was the founder of the last ruling dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Shishman dynasty...
(1323–1330) who was an enemy of the Hungarian king. In a document issued on 27 March 1329, Basarab was mentioned among King Charles I’s enemies alongside the Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
, the Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and the Tatars
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
who constantly attacked the Hungarian confines. In 1330, Basarab took part in the military campaign Tzar Michael Sishman launched against Serbia, which ended on July 18 with the great Serb victory at Velbužd.
Immediately following the Serbian defeat of the Bulgarians and Romanians at Velbužd, King Charles I made an expedition against Basarab. When the Banate of Severin was retaken, Basarab offered to pay yearly tribute and 7,000 silver marks in compensation, and to recognize the king’s sovereignty; but his offers were rejected, and the king advanced into Wallachia as far as Curtea de Argeş
Curtea de Arges
Curtea de Argeș is a city in Romania on the right bank of the Argeş River, where it flows through a valley of the lower Carpathians , on the railway from Pitești to the Turnu Roşu Pass. It is part of Argeș County. The city administers one village, Noapteș...
. However, the king was eventually forced to withdraw toward Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
without having engaged the Romanian army in battle, because difficulties rose in the provision of food supplies.
But a large contingent of Wallachian soldiers was waiting for the Hungarians at Posada, and as they were winding their way through a narrow valley, the Hungarians found themselves trapped. On November 12, after three days of fighting, the Hungarians were soundly defeated, the king managing with difficulty to escape with his life.
The independent Wallachia
The victory of 1330 sanctioned the independence of Wallachia from the Hungarian crown and also essentially altered its international position. Only a few month after his great victory, in February, 1331, Basarab contributed to the establishment of his son-in-law, Ivan Alexander on the throne of the tsars of Tirnovo. In 1331-32, Wallachian troops supported the Bulgarians in a victorious war against Byzantium. During the same period Basarab seems to have regained the fortress of Severin.A new Hungarian offensive took place between 1343 and 1345, after King Charles’ death and the coronation of his son King Louis I. This time, Basarab lost the fortress of Severin and his son, Nicolae Alexandru
Nicolae Alexandru of Wallachia
Nicholas Alexander was a Prince of Wallachia between 1352 and November 1364, after having been associate ruler to his father Basarab I.In the year 1359, he founded the Wallachian Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan seat....
, probably associated to the throne, accepted paying the homage of vassalage to the king of Hungary.
Marriage and children
#His wife’s name was possibly Anna.- Theodora, the wife of Tzar Ivan Alexander of BulgariaIvan Alexander of BulgariaIvan Alexander , also known as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history...
(? – February 17, 1371) - Voivode Nicolae Alexandru of WallachiaNicolae Alexandru of WallachiaNicholas Alexander was a Prince of Wallachia between 1352 and November 1364, after having been associate ruler to his father Basarab I.In the year 1359, he founded the Wallachian Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan seat....
(? – November, 1364)
See also
- Foundation of WallachiaFoundation of WallachiaThe foundation of Wallachia , that is the establishment of the first independent Romanian principality, was achieved at the beginning of the 14th century, through the unification of smaller political units that had existed between the Carpathian Mountains, and the Rivers Danube, Siret and...
- House of BasarabHouse of BasarabThe Basarabs were a family which had an important role in the establishing of the Principality of Wallachia, giving the country its first line of Princes, one closely related with the Muşatin rulers of Moldavia...
- Cuman people
- CumaniaCumaniaCumania is a name formerly used to designate several distinct lands in Eastern Europe inhabited by and under the military dominance of the Cumans, a nomadic tribe who, with the Kipchaks, created a confederation. The Cumans were also known as the Polovtsians, or Folban...
- Cuman languageCuman languageCuman was a Kipchak Turkic language spoken by the Cumans and Kipchaks; the language was similar to the today's Crimean Tatar language...
Sources
- Georgescu, Vlad (Author) – Calinescu, Matei (Editor) – Bley-Vroman, Alexandra (Translator): The Romanians – A History; Ohio State University Press, 1991, Columbus; ISBN 0-8142-0511-9
- Klepper, Nicolae: Romania: An Illustrated History; Hippocrene Books, 2005, New York; ISBN 0-7818-0935-5
- Sălăgean, Tudor: Romanian Society in the Early Middle Ages (9th-10th Centuries); in: Ioan-Aurel Pop – Ioan Bolovan (Editors): History of Romania: Compendium; Romanian Cultural Institute (Center for Transylvanian Studies), 2006, Cluj-Napoca; ISBN 978-973-7784-12-4
- Treptow, Kurt W. – Popa, Marcel: Historical Dictionary of Romania (entries ‘Basarab I’, ‘Posada, Battle of (9–12 November 1330)’, and ‘Wallachia (Ţara Românească)’); The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1996, Lanham (Maryland, US) & Folkestone (UK); ISBN 0-8108-3179-1
- Vásáry, István: Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185-1365; Cambridge University Press, 2005, Cambridge; ISBN 0-521-83756-1