An Interpretatio Wallachica of Serbian Influences: The Cases of Ribița, Streisângeorgiu, and Crișcior (but also Râmeț)

Abstract : Transylvanian elites. During a first phase that lasted for almost two centuries, the name of the region remained closely connected to the titles of the Transylvanian authorities, both lay and ecclesiastical. Gradually, Transylvania also gained an autonomous geographical meaning, but the major shift took place only in the mid-sixteenth century, when Wallachians actually began to consider Transylvania a political community of its own. I contend that this change of view was only indirectly triggered by the new political status of Transylvania from the 1540 onwards. Instead, I claim that the interest taken by the Ottomans in the new principality played a major role in modifying Wallachian views on Transylvania. As a result, the Transylvanian elites’ endeavours to convey a sense of a regional identity to Wallachians were successfully accomplished only in the mid-sixteenth century.