ce
of Moldavia (1457-1504), could not reverse the general trend of
deterioration, although the harshness of the feudal system was somewhat
lessened during their tenure in office.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the Ottoman Empire began to
decline, and the Turks instituted a system of direct control over
Walachia and Moldavia, in order to ensure the continued receipt of
maximum revenue from the countries. Greek merchants known as Phanariots,
named for the Phanar district of Constantinople, which was their
center, were invested as rulers in the principalities upon direct
payment of large sums of money. Since their period in office was
indefinite and generally lasted only until outbid by a successor, an
even more intensive system of exploitation within the countries was
introduced to extract greater tribute in shorter periods of time. This
period of oppressive rule lasted until 1821 and proved to be the most
disastrous experienced by the inhabitants. Conditions under this corrupt
system became almost intolerable and led to massive resistance and
eventually to the heavy migration of the peasantry into neighboring
areas, particularly Transylvania.

Transylvania

The historic development of Transylvania was substantially different and
more complex than that experienced by the principalities of Walachia and
Moldavia. Overrun by Asiatic Magyars as early as the ninth century, the
region was organized originally as a province in the eleventh century.
In order to strengthen this eastern outpost, the Hungarians encouraged
two groups of people--Szeklers, or Szekelys, an ethnic group of people
akin to the Hungarians, and Germans--to emigrate from the west into the
area. Although these colonists eventually reached substantial numbers,
the native Romanian speakers remained in the majority (see ch. 4).

With the expansion of Turkish power, Transylvania became the
battleground for opposing Turkish and Hungarian forces. Under Turkish
pressure Hungarian control declined in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, and by 1526 the region had become a semiautonomous
principality ruled by Hungarian princes but still subject to Turkish
authority. At the end of the sixteenth century Michael the Brave, the
ruler of Walachia and Moldavia, succeeded in revolting against Turkish
rule and united Transylvania with the other Romanian territories. This
union, however, was short lived, and all three principalities
subsequently reverted t