Valea Trotuşului şi Pasul Oituz - frontiere medievale ale Moldovei în secolele XIV-XV

Abstract

This paper takes up an old and complex matter: the economic and strategic role played by the Valley of Trotus River and by Oituz Pass in the history of the area eastwards of the Carpathian Mountains in the 14^th and 15^th centuries. Until the integration of the area in the new state of Moldavia, Trotus Valley and Oituz Pass represented the border between the Hungarian Kingdom and various migrant populations eastwards of the Carpathians. The author uses the available documents, analyses the local toponyms and exploits archaeological data in order to prove the presence in the area of numerous political forces fighting for supremacy in this strategic region. The Moldavian rulers were forced by geopolitical realities to fight both the Hungarian Kingdom (for the control of the Oituz Pass) and Wallachia (to be able to occupy the area south of the Trotus River).