Litovoi,
also Litvoy,
was a
Vlach/
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
** Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...
''
voivode
Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...
'' in the 13th century whose territory comprised northern
Oltenia
Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...
in today's
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
.
He is mentioned for the first time in the
Diploma of the Joannites
The Diploma of the Joannites, or Diploma of the Knights of St. John, was a grant issued in 1247 by King Béla IV of Hungary, to Master Rembald of the Knights Hospitaller. It allowed the Knights to settle in Severin, in what is today Romania, where ...
issued by king
Béla IV of Hungary (1235–1270) on 2 July 1247.
The diploma granted territories to the
Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
in the
Banate of Severin and ''
Cumania'', ''“with the exception of the land of the
kenazate of Voivode Litovoi,”'' which the king left to the Vlachs ''“as they had held it”''.
Name
The king’s diploma also refers to the ''kenazate''s of
Farcaș and
John and to a certain ''voivode''
Seneslau.
Although the names of Litovoi and Seneslau are of
Slavic origin, they are expressly said to be Vlachs ''(Olati)'' in the king's diploma.
It seems that Litovoi was the most powerful of all the above local rulers.
His territories were exempted from the grant to the knights,
but half of the royal
tax generated by his land ''(terra Lytua)'' was assigned to the Hospitallers – except for the income from the
District of Hátszeg (''terra Harszoc'' in the diploma’s only surviving, papal copy, ro, Țara Hațegului), which the king kept all for himself.
According to the Romanian historian
Ioan-Aurel Pop
Ioan-Aurel Pop (born 1 January 1955) is a Romanian historian. Pop was appointed Professor of History at Babeș-Bolyai University in 1996. He has since been Chairman of the Department of Medieval History and the History of Premodern Art at Babeș ...
, the king had grabbed Haţeg from Litovoi shortly before 1247.
War with the Hungarians
In 1277 (or between 1277 and 1280),
Litovoi was at war with the Hungarians over lands king
Ladislaus IV of Hungary (1272–1290) claimed for the crown, but for which Litovoi refused to pay
tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conq ...
.
Litovoi was killed in battle.
This event is recounted in the king’s letter of grant of 8 January 1285, in which king Ladislaus IV donated villages in
Sáros County
Sáros (- Hungarian, Slovak: ''Šariš'', Latin: ''comitatus Sarossiensis'', German: ''Scharosch'') was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in northeastern Slovakia. Today, Šariš is only an in ...
(today in
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...
) to Master
George, son of Simon, who had been sent against Litovoi.
Ioan Aurel Pop argues that the Litovoi mentioned in the diploma of 1247 was not identical to the Litovoi whose death is described in the letter of grant of 1285, and the latter was probably the former’s successor.
See also
*
Foundation of Wallachia
The founding of Wallachia ( ro, descălecatul Țării Românești), that is the establishment of the first independent Romanian principality, was achieved at the beginning of the 14th century, through the unification of smaller political units th ...
*
Bărbat
Bărbat was the brother and successor of ''voivode'' Litovoi whose territory had comprised northern Oltenia (Romania).
War with Hungary
In 1277 (or between 1277 and 1280), Litovoi renounced fealty to king Ladislaus IV of Hungary (1272–1290) ...
*
Farcaș
*
John (knez) John, also Joan or Ioan, was a ''cneaz'' (local chieftain or ruler) mentioned in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by King Béla IV of Hungary (1235–1270) on 2 July 1247; the diploma granted territories to the Knights Hospitaller in the Banate ...
*
Seneslau
References
Sources
*Georgescu, Vlad ''(Author)'' – Calinescu, Matei ''(Editor)'' – Bley-Vroman, Alexandra ''(Translator)'': ''The Romanians – A History''; Ohio State University Press, 1991, Columbus;
*Makkai, László: ''From the Hungarian conquest to the Mongol invasion''; ''in:'' Köpeczi, Béla ''(General Editor)'' – Makkai, László; Mócsy, András; Szász, Zoltán ''(Editors)'' – Barta, Gábor ''(Assistant Editor)'': ''History of Transylvania - Volume I: From the beginnings to 1606''; Akadémiai Kiadó, 1994, Budapest;
*Pop, Ioan Aurel: ''Romanians and Romania: A Brief History''; Columbia University Press, 1999, New York;
*Vásáry, István: ''Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185-1365''; Cambridge University Press, 2005, Cambridge;
{{s-end
1270s deaths
Rulers of Wallachia
Year of birth unknown