Târgșor is a former medieval

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

in what is now

Prahova County Prahova County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/k ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The town peaked around 1600, after which it declined to become the village of

Târgșoru Vechi Târgșoru Vechi is a communes of Romania, commune in Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Stăncești, Strejnicu (commune seat), Târgșoru Vechi, and Zahanaua. There is an aerodrome for general aviation in Strejnic ...

, located about southwest of

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

History

Built in a heavily forested area, Târgșor developed thanks to the local fair and its auspicious location at a crossroad of several

trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over land or water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a singl ...

s.Rădvan, p. 303 These roads included Drumul Brăilei, which linked

Târgoviște Târgoviște (, alternatively spelled ''Tîrgoviște'') is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Dâmbovița County, Romania. It is situated north-west of Bucharest, on the right bank of the Ialomița (river), Ialomița River. Târgoviște was ...

to the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

port of

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

, as well as the roads which linked Târgșor to

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

and

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. Târgșor gets its name from the diminutive of ''

târg A târg was a medieval Romanian periodic fair or a market town. Originally established on the places where periodic fairs were held, some of them (but not all) became permanent settlements, as craftsmen built their workshops near the place where the ...

'' (market, fair) and can be related to the name of Târgoviște, which was the capital of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

and a much bigger city. The settlement transformed into a town sometimes between 1368 and 1412, during the rule of

Mircea I Mircea the Elder (, ; 1355 – 31 January 1418) was the Voivode of Wallachia from 1386 until his death in 1418. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and brother of Dan I of Wallachia, after whose death he inherited the throne. After the death ...

. The first document mentioning his name was a September 1412 document by

Voivode of Transylvania The Voivode of Transylvania (;Fallenbüchl 1988, p. 77. ;Zsoldos 2011, p. 36. ; ) was the highest-ranking official in Transylvania within the Kingdom of Hungary from the 12th century to the 16th century. Appointed by the King of Hun ...

Stibor of Stiboricz Stibor of Stiboricz of Ostoja coat of arms, Ostoja (also written in English as Scibor or Czibor; , , , ; c. 1348 – February 1414) was an aristocrat of Polish people, Polish origin in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was a close friend of King Sig ...

, who granted the people of Brașov the "privileges of yore and worthy liberties". Soon after, the merchants of Târgșor were granted trade privileges by Wallachia. The town was ruled by a

județ A (, plural ) is an administrative division in Romania, and was also used from 1940 to 1947 in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and from 1998 to 2003 in Moldova. There are 41 in Romania, divided into municipii (municipalities), ''ora ...

and 12 pârgari.Rădvan, p. 304 Unlike other Wallachian cities at the time, in Târgșor there were no traces of German colonists, nor a Catholic church. The prince of Wallachia had a residence in Târgșor, which was probably built in the 16th century. While only

Neagoe Basarab Neagoe Basarab (; – 15 September 1521) was the Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia between 1512 and 1521. Born into the boyar family of the Craiovești (his reign marks the climax of the family's political influence) as the son of Pârvu Craioves ...

(ruled 1512–1521) refers to Târgșor as a seat, there are hints that the residence was earlier, as the church in the town, built by Vladislav II in 1447 was called the Princely Church (''Biserica Domnească''). (

Vlad the Impaler Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ) or Vlad Dracula (; ; 1428/31 – 1476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian hi ...

had also built a church inside the royal court.) The residence decayed by 1600 and nowadays, only its ruined church survives. Recent archaeological research showed that the ruins thought to be the palace belonged to another church, Church of St. Nicholas, built by

Vlad the Monk Vlad is a Romanian male name. It is more commonly a nativized hypocorism of Vladislav and can also be used as a surname. Alternately, it may be a hypocoristic form of the Slavic name ''Vladimir'' (although the normative nickname is Vova). It may ...

, while the palace's location has yet to be established. The city reached its peak around 1500, when it was one of only three cities in Wallachia (the other two being

Câmpulung Câmpulung (also spelled ''Cîmpulung'', , , Old Romanian ''Dlăgopole'', ''Длъгополе'' (from Middle Bulgarian), or ''Câmpulung Muscel'') is a municipiu, city in Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. It is attested on the Fra Mauro map fro ...

and Târgoviște) where the Brașov merchants were allowed to sell their wares.Rădvan, p. 305 In 1503, the trade of the merchants of Târgșor with Brașov was worth almost 1 million

aspron The ''aspron'' (), from Latin ''asper'', was a late Byzantine name for silver or silver-alloy coins. The Latin word ''asper'' originally meant "rough", but had gradually acquired the connotation of "fresh" or "freshly minted", i.e. not worn smooth ...

s, second only to Câmpulung. Some historians argue that

Ștefan IV of Moldavia Stephen IV of Moldavia (; 1506 – 14 January 1527), also called Ștefăniță, was Prince of Moldavia from 1517 to 1527. He succeeded to the throne as son of the previous ruler, Bogdan III cel Chior. Until 1523, he was under the regency of Lu ...

's 1526 attack led to the demise of the city, but there are records of Târgșor merchants in Brașov long after this moment. The voivode

Mihnea Turcitul Mihnea II Turcitul ("Mihnea the Turned-Turk"; July 1564 – October 1601) was Prince (Voivode) of Wallachia between September 1577 and July 1583, and again from April 1585 to May 1591. Rise to the throne The only son of Alexandru II Mircea a ...

built a church in Târgșor in 1589, of which only the southern wall is now preserved. The decline of the town began in the 17th century, the main reason being that the emergence of a larger nearby city,

Demographics

The custom records show that most of the merchants had Romanian names (such as Tudor, Stan, Costea, Oprea), but nevertheless, there were merchants having foreign names (such as Tabutsch, Francilla, and Simon). In the 16th century, a number of Greeks settled in the city.

Notes

References

* Laurențiu Rădvan, ''At Europe's Borders: Medieval Towns in the Romanian Principalities'',

Brill Brill may refer to: Places * Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands * Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England * Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK * Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...

, 2010, {{DEFAULTSORT:Targsor Former cities in Romania Prahova County Market towns in Wallachia