Wallachian settlers in the Baltic Sea region. A humanist tale of migration and colonization, and its implications for the mental maps of early modern Europe

:During the 1550s, humanists at the University of Wittenberg in Germany first suggested that Wallachians from present-day Romania had migrated to the Baltic Sea, settled in Livonia and became the ancestors of Estonians and Latvians. This colonization allegedly took place at some time in the 5th or 6th century AD. Although such a theory seems bizarre from a modern point of view, it was considered a perfectly reasonable hypothesis by contemporary scholars. For approximately 150 years, up to the early 18th century, the idea of a Wallachian colonization of Livonia retained its place in the historiography of the region, before it was refuted by the more sober-minded approach of enlightenment historians. The paper provides an overview of the scholarly theories on a kinship between Wallachians, Estonians and Latvians that were formulated between 1550 and 1700. Although these fanciful hypotheses are not supported by any discernible historical facts, they provide important insights on the position of Wallachia and Livonia in the symbolic geography and the mental maps of the early modern res publica litterarum. Rezumat: n anii 1550, umani tii de la Universitatea din Wittenberg, Germania, au sugerat pentru prima dat c valahii din Romania de azi au migrat spre Marea Baltic , s-au stabilit n Livonia i au devenit str mo ii estonienilor i letonilor. Aceast colonizare se presupune c a avut loc la un moment dat, n secolul al V-lea sau al VI-lea d. Hr. De i o astfel de teorie pare bizar din punct de vedere modern, aceasta a fost considerat o ipotez perfect rezonabil de c tre cercet tori contemporani. Pentru aproximativ 150 de ani, pan la nceputul secolului al XVIII-lea, ideea unei coloniz ri valahe a Livoniei a re inut locul s u n istoriografia regiunii, nainte de a fi respins de abordarea mai echilibrat a istoricilor ilumini ti. Lucrarea ofer o imagine de ansamblu a teoriilor tiin ifice privind o nrudire ntre valahi, estonieni i letoni, care au fost formulate ntre anii 1550 i 1700. De i aceste ipoteze fanteziste nu sunt sprijinite de fapte istorice perceptibile, ele ofer perspective importante cu privire la pozi iile Valahiei i Livoniei n geografia simbolic i n h r ile mentale de la nceputul res publica litterarum moderne.