The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the Danube Delta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth Century

The author of the present volume aims to investigate the relationships between Romanians and nomadic Turkic groups (Pechenegs, Uzes, Cumans) in the southern half of Moldavia, north of the Danube Delta, between the tenth century and the great Mongol invasion of 1241-1242. The Carpathian-Danubian area particularly favoured the development of sedentary life, throughout the millennia, but, at various times, nomadic pastoralists of the steppes also found this area favourable to their own way of life. Due to the basic features of its landscape, the above-mentioned area, which includes a vast plain, became the main political stage of the Romanian ethnic space, a stage on which local communities had to cope with the pressures of successive intrusions of nomadic Turks, attracted by the rich pastures north of the Lower Danube.
Contacts of the Romanians and of the Turkic nomads with Byzantium, Kievan Rus’, Bulgaria and Hungary are also investigated. The conclusions of the volume are based on an analysis of both written sources (narrative, diplomatic, cartographic) and archaeological finds.

Victor Spinei, Ph.D. (1977) in History, Bucharest University, Institute of History, is Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology, History Faculty, “Al.I.Cuza” University, Iaşi; Director of the Institute of Archaeology, the Romanian Academy, Iaşi (2003-); Correspondent Member of the Romanian Academy (2001); Corespondent Member of the German Archaeological Institute (2005).

Selected publications (Volumes):
Moldavia in the 11th-14th Centuries (Bucharest, 1986); The Great Migrations in the East and South East of Europe from the the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century, Vol. I, Hungarians, Pechenegs and Uzes; and Vol. II, Cumans and Mongols, second English edition (Amsterdam, 2006); Universa Valachica ( Chişinău, 2006).

"...Victor Spinei est un spécialiste reconnu de l'histoire de la Moldavie rnédiévale (sec. Xl-XIV) et son récent livre complète heureusement la carte médiévale de l'Europe de l'Est dessinée par la collection dirigée chez Brill par Florin C Curta... Une riche bibliographie (p. 361-433, un index général et d'auteurs (p.499-545) et une illustration copieuse (60 figures) achèvent cette synthèse des connaissances actuelles sur une région et une époque largement méconnues..."
Andrei Timotin, Journal of South-East European Studies, Vol. XLIX, 2011