Stefan the Great of Moldavia witnessed on 17Oct 1451 (when he was only 13-15yrs old) the assassination of his father Bogdan II (ruled 1449-1451). He barely escaped the melee &, with the help of his maternal uncle Vlaicul, made into exile for the next 5-6years. Vlaicul will remain one of the closest collaborators in the Princely Council (Sfatul Domnesc) & also as "Pârcălab" (Hung - porkolab, from Germ Burggraf) in important fortresses - Cetatea Albă(Asprokastron)=main source of treasury income then 1457-63,Hotin 1467-81 & Orhei 1481-84.

The death in Dec 1437 of Sigismund of Luxemburg, king of Hungary, Bohemia & Holy Roman Emperor threw SE Europe in a period of instability & encouraged sultan Murad II decision to launch a new offensive on a wide front along & across the Danube. First move was a campaign launched in Aug 1438 from Vidin area toward Hungary but quickly switched toward Transylvania. Vlad II Dracul, voievode of Wallachia (1436-1442 & 1444-1447) had been forced to joined after the prior year Ottoman raid against his country.

Dracula house:

The origin of the name of the city of Craiova (for centuries the 2nd city of Wallachia & capital of semi-autonomous region of Oltenia) remains a mistery...

Some claim is from "kral" (like Serbian city Kraljevo) & some others link it with "krajna" (border area). There is no other corroborating historical document, the only thing that we know is that the name came about as residence of the Craiovești boyar family who got a deed for in 1475. The family seems to have moved sometime in 1450s from the town of Strehaia.

Almost everybody knows about Vlad III Dracula, but very few know about his milder, wiser 1/2 bro Vlad IV the Monk that together with his son Radu IV the Great have ruled Wallachia for 26 calm & prosperous years.

👇Radu IV with his wife Catalina de Zeta ( @ Govora monastery). Vlad the Monk (1481-1495) had been put in power by Stefan the Great but as his 5 other predecessors in the same situation since 1473, had to find support with the Ottomans.

Monicker the monk comes from the fact that in his youth he had been one to protect his life.

While not often emphasized the first instance of economic globalization came into being after 1241 Mongol raid on Eastern Europe that devastated Russian principalities, Hungary, Serbia-Bosnia & Bulgaria but subsequently allowed & encouraged...

Genghis Khan trade between China, Middle East & Europe. Marco Polo's remarkable journey was made possible by the Pax Mongolica that was reaching through tributaries from Baltic & Adriatic Sea to Sea of Japan & Indian Ocean.

Banate of Lugoj & Caransebeș was a political territorial unit created after Hungarian defeat at the Battle of Mohacs in order to defend SW approach into Transylvania & direct successor of the Banate of Severin that had been an Hungarian frontier region since 1230s. It's fighting force was formed by Vlachs (their 7 military districts), Serbians, Carashovans (1 military district) & Hungarians.

This Banate entered dual Ottoman & Transylvanian suzerainty in 1552 when Temesvar (Timișoara) was conquered by the former.

Petru II Cercel (=earring) of Wallachia was the first Westerniser ruler in modern Orthodox world, a fore-bearer of Peter the Great of Russia. He was a descendant of the Drăculești clan, polyglot, writer & first to bring French culture to his country (en vogue only after 1820). He was born in 1545, legitimate son of prince Pătrașcu the Good and boyaress Voica, a wealthy & beautiful widow before re-marrying Petru's father.

He was only 12yrs old when his father died and fled with his mother to Brașov when his father's rivals took power in Dec 1557.

Dan II of Wallachia is one of the most overlooked figures in Romanian history. His deeds would make for a great novel.
He appears first in the records leading a contingent sent by his uncle Mircea I to assist Musa in taking Adrianople during the Ottoman civil war in 1411. He reappears in Doukas' history in summer 1422 when defected from Ottoman camp sieging C-tinople & is entrusted by emperor Manuel II with a ship and few money to take the throne of Wallachia from Radu II who had been put in power by the Ottomans in 1420.