Who are the people who modernized Romania and brought it out of the Middle Ages: two Germans, a Greek and a Romanian

Romania’s independence is, in fact, in the power of three characters. Find out who are those who modernized Romania, taking it out of the Middle Ages, a gesture of great significance for the establishment of the state.

The evolution of the Romanian Principalities was a slow one, so that the legislation, the education, but also the mentality remained at the level of the Middle Ages, until almost the 19th century. The reform of the Romanian countries began in the second half of the 18th century, based on modern Enlightenment principles, being a real boom of the next century.

Several factors contributed to the rupture of the Romanian Principalities from the darkness of the Middle Ages, thus constituting the modern Romanian state. A few characters that not many people know about contributed to this change. During the Phanariots, rulers came to the throne of the Principalities and started the modernization process of Moldova and Wallachia.

However, the Greek Constantin Mavrocordat is one of those who contributed to the modernization of what was to be the Romanian state. He was lord of Wallachia six times, and of Moldova four times. He was a follower of the Assyrian system in administration, revolutionizing Romanian society.

One of its most important reforms was the abolition of serfdom, so that in 1746 in Wallachia and in 1749 in Moldavia, the peasants were freed from the boyar yoke. Mavrocordat also invested in education, building several schools and libraries, as well as compulsory education only in Romanian.

The characters who modernized Romania

Another important figure in this regard was Alexandru Ioan Cuza, instituting several extraordinary reforms, through which it was possible to catch up with the West. Among them, we can mention the reorganization and modernization of important areas such as the army, public administration and education.

At the same time, modern principles were introduced such as equality in terms of taxes, the secularization of monastic wealth, but also the right to vote and agrarian reform through the ownership of part of the peasantry. Also in that period, the civil code was decreed and chambers of commerce, universities and the future Polytechnic were created, which at that time was called the School of Bridges and Roads. These reforms are due to Alexandru Ioan Cuza, but also to one of his most important collaborators, Mihail Kogălniceanu.

Cuza’s reign was considered to be temporary, so Romanian politicians as well as intellectuals wanted a foreign prince, a kind of arbiter of Romanian political life. Thus, Prince Carol of Hohenzollern is elected. After Alexandru Ioan Cuza was removed, Carol of Hohenzollern succeeded to the throne of the Romanian Principalities, being the monarch with the longest reign in history.

Under this, the union of the two Principalities took place: Moldova and Wallachia, and Independence was later obtained. Romania became a kingdom in 1881, and Carol I was its king. King Ferdinand, the successor to the throne and also the nephew of Carol I, was to become the first king of Greater Romania.