Course I1202 · Year I · Summer 2026-2027

Introduction to the Medieval History of Romania

Compulsory course in History, taught by Cosmin Popa Gorjanu.

Overview

Lecturer
Cosmin Popa Gorjanu
Seminar tutor
Cosmin Popa Gorjanu
Type of course
Compulsory
Language of instruction
Romanian
Erasmus language
English
Domain
History
Field of study
History
Form of education
Full-time
Form of instruction
Class / Seminary
Credit awarded by
Grade
Teaching methods
lecture, discussion, debates

Aims

Introduction into the main topics and issues of medieval history of Romania

Development of analytical skills in studying medieval history secondary literature.

Acquisition of skills of using and interpreting medieval primary sources.

Course contents

This is a survey course on the medieval history of Romania. It is aimed at introducing History students into the main phenomena of ethnic, political, religious, and social processes occuring on the territory of present day Romania from the withdrawal of the Roman administration from Dacia to the year 1600. While the lectures focus on the age of migrations, the emergence of the states (Transylvania, Hungary, Wallachia, Moldova), the history of political, social, institutional developments, the seminars aim to introduce students in the methods of reading and interpreting narrative, oral and charter sources as well as the providing the framework for exploring specific topics in medieval social history. Most of the bibliography of the seminars is in Romanian, with a small amount of reading in English.

Learning outcomes

The students will acquire basic knowledge regarding the main historical processes that developed between the fourth to the end of the sixteenth century on the territory of present day Romania The students will develop their abilities of searching and using the secondary literature dealing with the medieval history of Romania. The students will be able to identify, analyze and interprete a range of medieval primary sources relevant for the course subject.

Assessment

Oral exam and paper.

Recommended reading

Introducere în istoria medie a României
Cosmin Popa-Gorjanu
Didactica, Alba Iulia, 2019 · passim
Between the Crusade and the Mongol Empire: The Romanians in the Thirteenth Century
Șerban Papacostea
The Romanian Cultural Foundation, Cluj-Napoca, 1998 · passim
History of Transylvania, vol. I, Until 1541
Ioan-Aurel Pop, et alii
Romanian Cultural Institute, Cluj-Napoca, 2005 · 137-348