Map of Romania with Oltenia highlighted
Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions) is a historical province of Romania. It is situated between the Danube, the Transylvanian Alps branch of the Carpathian Mountains and the Olt river (although counties to the east run across the river in some areas).
Geography
The traditionally Oltenian counties are Mehedinţi, Gorj, Dolj, Vâlcea, and Olt.
Oltenia's main city and its seat for a long period of the Middle Ages is Craiova. Other cities are Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Slatina, Târgu Jiu, Caracal, and Motru.
History
Oltenia was inhabited by Dacians during the ancient times and in 106, at the end of the Dacian Wars, it was incorpored in the Roman Empire (see Roman Dacia). In 129, during Hadrian's rule, it formed Dacia Inferior, one of the two divisions of the province (together with Dacia Superior, in today's Transylvania); Marcus Aurelius' administrative reform made Oltenia one of the three new divisions (tres Daciae) as Dacia Malvensis, its capital and chief city being named Malva or Romula. It was colonized with veterans of the Roman legions. The Romans withdrew their administration south of the Danube in the mid-3rd century and Oltenia was ruled by the Germanic Goths and Dacian Carpians.
Around 1247 a polity emerged in Oltenia under the rule of Seneslau, which would later merge with Muntenia to form the mediaeval state of Wallachia. From an unknown moment and up until 1831, the voivode (Prince of Wallachia) was represented in Oltenia by a ban (marele ban al Craiovei - "the great ban of Craiova", after the seat was moved from Strehaia), considered the greatest office in Wallachian hierarchy, and one that was held most by members of the Craioveşti family (from the late 1400s to about 1550).
During the 15th century, Wallachia had to accept the Ottoman suzerainty and to pay an annual tribute to keep its autonomy. However, many rulers, including the Oltenian-born Michael the Brave, fought against the Ottomans, giving Wallachia brief periods of independence. After 1716, the Ottomans decided to cease choosing the voivodes from among the Romanian boyars, and established the Phanariote regime: rulers were to be appointed from the influential Greek families of the Phanar neighbourhood of Istanbul.
Two years later, in 1718 under the terms of the Treaty of Passarowitz, Oltenia was split from Wallachia and annexed by the Habsburg Monarchy (de facto, it was under Austrian occupation by 1716); in 1737, it was returned to Wallachia under Prince Constantine Mavrocordatos (see Austro-Turkish War of 1716-18 and Austro-Turkish War, 1737-1739). Under the occupation, Oltenia was the only part of the Danubian Principalities (with the later exception of Bukovina) to experience Enlightened absolutism and Austrian administration, although these were met by considerable and mounting opposition from conservative boyars. While welcomed at first as liberators, the Austrians quickly disenchanted the inhabitants by imposing rigid administrative, fiscal, judicial and political reforms which were meant to centralize and integrate the territory (antagonizing both ends of the social spectrum: withdrawing privileges from the nobility and enforcing taxes for peasants).
In 1821, Oltenia and the county of Gorj were at the center of Tudor Vladimirescu's uprising (see Wallachian uprising of 1821). Tudor initially gathered his Pandurs in Padeş and relied on a grid of fortified monasteries such as Tismana and Strehaia.
Symbol
The traditional heraldic symbol of Oltenia is a lion, which is nowadays present in the Coat of Arms of Romania.
References
- Vlad Georgescu, Istoria ideilor politice româneşti (1369-1878), Munich, 1987
- Şerban Papacostea, Oltenia sub stăpânirea austriacă (1718-1739), Bucharest, 1971
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