With the division of the Roman Empire, the eastern provinces passed from the Latin to the Greek sphere of influence. Thus, the culture of the Romance-speaking population living in the Danube basin developed in a cultural context not only isolated from the western one, but characterized by external influences different from that in the rest of Romania. These conditions of isolation were the basis of the peculiarity of medieval Romanian culture and literature: the first literary works, of a predominantly religious nature, appeared in an Orthodox environment, the ‘sacred’ language of reference was Ecclesiastical Slavonic, the alphabet in to which they were written was a ‘foreign’ alphabet: Cyrillic. This situation of dichotomy between the Romance language of origin and the culture to which it referred characterized the development of early Romanian literature until the appearance of modern literature in the first decades of the 19th century. The historical events that divided the fate of the North Danube territories over time meant that the extra-Carpathian region – Moldavia and Wallachia – remained within the sphere of Byzantine-Slavic religious and cultural influence, while Transylvania was attracted into the sphere of influence of ‘Hungary and, therefore, of the Latin and Catholic West. On the literary level, this specific evolution with respect to the Latin West resulted in the first written attestations appearing in the local Slavic-Romanian editorial office in the North Danube territories. We will have to wait for the beginning of the 16th century. to find the first attestation in the vernacular Romance (while Transylvania was drawn into the sphere of influence of Hungary and, therefore, of the Latin and Catholic West. On the literary level, this specific evolution with respect to the Latin West resulted in the first written attestations appearing in the local Slavic-Romanian editorial office in the North Danube territories. We will have to wait for the beginning of the 16th century. to find the first attestation in the vernacular Romance language (while Transylvania was drawn into the sphere of influence of Hungary and, therefore, of the Latin and Catholic West. On the literary level, this specific evolution with respect to the Latin West resulted in the first written attestations appearing in the local Slavic-Romanian editorial office in the North Danube territories. We will have to wait for the beginning of the 16th century. to find the first attestation in the vernacular Romance (Scrisoarea lui Neacșu «The letter of Neacșu», 1521).
● According to itypejob, medieval literature was essentially religious literature, since monasteries were the only centers of culture, where the fundamental texts of the liturgy were translated and copied. Alongside them, and always moving from Byzantine-Slavic literature, historical compilations, annals and chronographs appeared. The first literary testimonies in the vernacular, datable to the 16th century, are handed down by 4 codices containing the translations of the Book of Psalms and the Acts of the Apostles . These texts were the basis of the editions of the Psalter and the Acts of the Apostles printed by the deacon Coresi in the second half of the 16th century. in Brașov. Coresi’s importance in the field of Romanian literature derives not from the artistic value of his editions, but from having contributed to the affirmation of the vernacular on Church Slavonic with a process that became irreversible in the following century.
● From the 17th century. Translations multiplied, alongside which original works of a religious or historical nature began to appear, very often characterized by authentic literary value. The complete translation of a versified Psalter (1673), considered the first poetic text of Romanian literature, is due to the metropolitan of Moldavia Dososftei. In Muntenia, the Romanian was imposed thanks to the work of Metropolitan Antim Ivireanul, who added a highly original literary production to his translation and printing activities. In the same century, a secular-historical trend was also established. Thanks to the work of a group of chroniclers who, continuing the annalistic tradition, created original works, Romanian literature established itself as such. The chronicles of G. Ureche, M. Costin and I. Neculce, dedicated to Moldovan history and written in the local variant, testify to both the Western-style humanistic culture of the authors and their awareness of the link that united the Romanian language to Latin. Alongside them, the Munteni chroniclers should be mentioned, albeit with less important results: C. Cantacuzino, Romania Greceanu, Romania Filipescu. The 17th century. it closes with the work of D. Cantemir, the first Romanian intellectual of European level for the remarkable humanistic culture and the deep knowledge of the Ottoman world.
