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= History of Romania<br>  =
= History of Romania<br>  =


The Kingdom of Dacia flourished in the territory that is now Romania from the first century B.C. to the first century A.D. By 106 A.D. Dacia was conquered by the Roman armies and integrated into the Roman Empire. Roman colonists joined the Thracian-Greek inhabitants and Rome developed the region, building roads and bridges. Latin, the language of the Romans served as the linguistic base for modern Romanian. Under barbarian pressure, the Roman legions retreated from Dacia (modern Romania) in 271-275. After Rome lost control of the area, the Daco-Roman people were subjected to successive invasions for a millenium by the Goths, Huns, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars, Magyars, Cumans, Pechenegs, and finally, Mongols. The Mongol invasion occured in the middle of the 13th century. Through intermarriage and assimilation, the inhabitants of Romania developed into a distinct ethnic group, known as the Vlachs, a name designating Latin-speakers of the Balkan Peninsula.<br>
The Kingdom of Dacia flourished in the territory that is now Romania from the first century B.C. to the first century A.D. By 106 A.D. Dacia was conquered by the Roman armies and integrated into the Roman Empire. Roman colonists joined the Thracian-Greek inhabitants and Rome developed the region, building roads and bridges. Latin, the language of the Romans served as the linguistic base for modern Romanian. Under barbarian pressure, the Roman legions retreated from Dacia (modern Romania) in 271-275. The exception was the area known as Dobrogea, which is south of the Danube River.&nbsp; Dobrogea remained in the Byzantine Empire until the 13th century, when it was incorporated into Wallachia.  


The first of the Romanian principalities was Transylvania, formed as a duchy of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1111.&nbsp; The principality most associated with early Romania, Wallachia (Land of the Vlachs), was formed&nbsp;around 1250&nbsp;as part of the kingdom of Hungary, gaining its independence in 1330 under Prince Basarab I.&nbsp; The third is&nbsp;&nbsp;legend of ''Dracula'', based on his biography as written in the chronicles of the Saxons of Transylvania.
After Rome lost control of the area, the Daco-Roman people were subjected to successive invasions for a millenium by the Goths, Huns, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars, Magyars, Cumans, Pechenegs, and finally, Mongols. The Mongol invasion occured in the middle of the 13th century. Through intermarriage and assimilation, the inhabitants of Romania developed into a distinct ethnic group, known as the Vlachs, a name designating Latin-speakers of the Balkan Peninsula.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>
 
The first of the Romanian principalities was Transylvania, formed as a duchy of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1111.&nbsp; The principality most associated with early Romania, Wallachia (Land of the Vlachs), was formed&nbsp;around 1250&nbsp;as part of the kingdom of Hungary, gaining its independence in 1330 under Prince Basarab I.&nbsp; The third is&nbsp;&nbsp;legend of ''Dracula'', based on his biography as written in the chronicles of the Saxons of Transylvania.  


After the Turks conquered Hungary in 1526, Transylvania enjoyed a brief period of autonomy, becoming a Turkish vassal in 1541.&nbsp; In 1551 the Banat also fell under Ottoman rule. Although these principalities paid annual tribute to the Ottoman sultan, Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia retained their autonomous status under Turkish sovereignty.&nbsp; They were briefly united under Prince Mihai Viteazu in 1600, but the union disintegrated when he was assinated by the Habsburgs.&nbsp; Each of his three sons took one of the principalities as his own.  
After the Turks conquered Hungary in 1526, Transylvania enjoyed a brief period of autonomy, becoming a Turkish vassal in 1541.&nbsp; In 1551 the Banat also fell under Ottoman rule. Although these principalities paid annual tribute to the Ottoman sultan, Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia retained their autonomous status under Turkish sovereignty.&nbsp; They were briefly united under Prince Mihai Viteazu in 1600, but the union disintegrated when he was assinated by the Habsburgs.&nbsp; Each of his three sons took one of the principalities as his own.  
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== Religious History<br>  ==
== Religious History<br>  ==


Although Walachia and Moldavia had Christian contact as part of the Roman Empire, centuries of subjugation by heathen tribes caused them to remain outside the influence of either the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Church until the 12th century when with Russia they became part of the Orthodox domain, to which they have continued to remain faithful.  
Christianity in Romania dates back almost to the time of Christ.&nbsp; According to Romanian tradition, the Apostle Andrew first taught the gospel in Romania.&nbsp; Archeologists have&nbsp;found Christian churches&nbsp;and artifacts dating&nbsp;to the second century&nbsp;in Apuseni and Carpathians mountains, as well as in Dobrogea and other areas of Romania.&nbsp;&nbsp;In the sixth&nbsp;century, a metropolitan was established in Tomis, a city in Dobrogea.&nbsp; The metropolitan was under the bishop and later Patriarch of Constantinople.&nbsp; Thus, when the schism occured between Catholic Rome and Orthodox Constantinople, the Romanian parishes became orthodox.&nbsp; The Tomis Metropolitanate is the foundation of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which became an independent church in 1878.
 
Roman Catholicism was introduced into Transylvania and Banat&nbsp;when&nbsp;the Hungarians took over&nbsp;those area&nbsp;in the 10th century.&nbsp;The number of&nbsp;Romanians who chose to remain Orthodox in this area led to a number of conflicts. For example, the Edict of Turda in 1389 deprived all Orthodox Romanians of their civil rights.
 
The Protestant Reformation&nbsp;introduced&nbsp;&nbsp;Calivinism and other sects among Hungarians and Germans in Transylvania and Banat in the 16th century. After Austro-Hungary reestablished its control in 1698, the orthodox metropolitan of Transylvania, under political pressure, asked the Pope to enter communion with the Catholic church, on the condition that they could continue mass in the Byzantine rite.&nbsp; The pope agreed, and that is the foundation of the Greek Catholic Church in Romania.&nbsp; In the 17th century, Jesuit priests came to Transylvania as part of the counter-reformation.&nbsp; Transylvania and the Banat became a cosmopolitan mix of Calvinist Reformed, Evangelical Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Jewish religions was common here.&nbsp;


Transylvania and Banat became Christianized in the 10th century by the Roman Catholic Church. Increasing numbers of Orthodox Romanians in this area led to a number of conflicts. The Protestant Reformation was fairly complete among Hungarians and Germans in Transylvania and Banat in the 16th century. The counter-reformation in the 17th century was not carried out thoroughly and a cosmopolitan mix of Calvinist Reformed, Evangelical Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Jewish religions was common here. In 1698 under political pressure, most Orthodox Romanians had agreed to pledge their loyalty to the Roman Catholic pope in return for the maintenance of their Eastern liturgy and traditions, thus creating the Greek Catholic or Uniate Church. Since 1991, Romania has enjoyed considerably more religious freedom.<br>  
Since 1991, Romania has enjoyed full&nbsp;religious freedom.<br>  


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