La vie politique et religieuse du 14ème au 16ème siècle

Orthodox Christianity has been the religion of the Romanian people since the beginning. It was the Apostle Andrew who, in the first Century, evangelised the Drobogean region lying on the coast of the Black Sea.

Establishment of the Orthodox Church :

Wallachia :

– 1359 : declaration of Wallacia as a metropolis with the capital of the country as Curtea de Arges.
– 1370 : declaration of Soverin as a metropolis ;
– 1503 : declaration of the dioceses of Râmnic and Buzău.

Moldavia :

– 1401 : declaration of Suceava as a metropolis ;
– 1401 : declaration of the Roman diocese ;
– 1471 : declaration of the diocese of Rădăuţi ;
– 1597 : declaration of the diocese of Huşi.

Transylvania :

The region was well established as a vovodate till 1541. It was placed under the rule of the King of Hungary even though it enjoyed great administrative and political autonomy. This region became an autonomous principality under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire.
The Orthodox Church had a great number of churches and monasteries in the provinces of Maramuras, Făgăraş, Bârsa, Hunedoara, etc. They are formally run by the bishops of the south and east of Carpatia. They were submitted under their jurisdiction after the establishment of Wallachia and Moldavia as metropolis.
Among the greatest Romanians voivodes, there are : the Great Mircea (Mircea cel Bătrân : 1386-1456), the Good Alexander (Alexandru cel Bun : 1400-1432), Iancu de Hunedoara (1441-1456), Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Tepes : 1448, 1456-1462, 1476), Stephen the Great nicknamed "the athlete of Jesus" (Ştefan cel Mare : 1457-1504), etc.