Ancient and medieval history of the Romanians and universal history (to the end of the 15th century)
What the domain covers
This domain links Dacian, Roman and early medieval developments with the wider European chronology up to 1500. The exam tests chronological placement, institutions, and the ability to read a short source without importing modern ideas.
Core knowledge
- Dacian state centred on Sarmizegetusa Regia; Trajan's campaigns in 101–102 and 105–106 ended in Roman conquest.
- Roman Dacia was abandoned under Aurelian by 275. Continuity debates concern Latin-speaking populations, Christianisation, and later migrations.
- Goths, Huns, Avars, Slavs and Magyars shaped the Carpathian–Danubian area. Romanian voivodeships appear in sources: Wallachia under Basarab I around 1330, Moldavia under Bogdan I around 1359, and Transylvania within the Hungarian crown and noble estates.
- Universal markers: Magna Carta 1215, Mongol invasion 1241, Hundred Years' War 1337–1453, fall of Constantinople 1453, Ottoman expansion, completion of the Reconquista in 1492.
- Battle of Vaslui 1475: Stephen the Great defeated an Ottoman army, but Ottoman suzerainty continued.
Worked example
A source says a ruler rose against the Hungarian king and won a battle in 1330. Identify Basarab I and the Battle of Posada. Reasoning: the date, Charles Robert of Hungary, and the Wallachian voivode point to the event; the result secured de facto autonomy, not universally recognised formal independence.
Traps
Do not confuse 106 with 271–275; do not automatically call medieval voivodes kings; do not treat Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania as one polity; avoid reading 19th-century nationalism into 14th-century loyalties.