Name of Romania
A reference to the name ''Romanian'' could be contained in the Nibelungenlied (written between 1180 and 1210), where a "Duke Ramunc of Walachia,/with seven hundred vassals, galloped up before her/like flying wild birds men saw them ride".
[4] Hungarian historian Imre Nagy believed Rumeorum to be a mistranscription of Rumenorum, which would be in reference to Romanians in the then recent uprising of the Bulgarians and Vlachs.
However, the idea that Rumeorum refers to Romanians is disputed; Hungarian historian Imre Szentpétery, who co-edited the charter with Nagy, believed Rumeorum to be a mistranscription of Ruthenorum "Ruthenes", while Romanian historian Alexandru Madgearu believes this passage to be referring to harassment by the Byzantines (Romei) to a Hungarian army in the Theme of Bulgaria en route to the Holy Land in the Third Crusade.
[5] In the Renaissance Romanians begin to be mentioned in journey and political reports, providing information about the name they give themselves, about their language, customs and the countries they inhabit.
The self-designation of Romanians as Romans is mentioned in some 30 scholarly works as early as the 16th century by mainly Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia and Walachia.
"[14] while the Jesuit Theology professor Martinus Szent-Ivany cites in 1699 Romanian expressions: "Sie noi sentem Rumeni" (modern standard Romanian "Și noi suntem români") and "Noi sentem di sange Rumena" (in modern standard Romanian "Noi suntem de sânge român")[15] The geographer Anton Friedrich Büsching writes in 1754 that "the Wallachians, who are remnant and progeny of the old Roman colonies thus call themselves Romanians, which means Romans"[16] The Hungarian writer András Dugonics in 1801 states: "But those Romans who remained in Dacia mixed their Roman language with the language of the Sarmatians [of the Slavs] and that of the Dacians.
This distinction was preserved in local dialects even by the mid-20th century: rumân was the preferred form in Transylvania and Oltenia, while român was used in northern and eastern parts of Western Moldavia.
[23] The earliest preserved document written in the Romanian language is a 1521 letter that notifies the mayor of Brașov about an imminent attack by the Turks.
[24] In the first half of the 18th century the erudite prince Dimitrie Cantemir systematically used the name Țara Românească for designating all three Principalities inhabited by Romanians.
[26] The etymology of "România" didn't follow the Romanian pattern of word formation for country names, which usually adds the suffix "-ia" to the ethnonym by keeping its accent, like in "grec" → "Grecia", "Bulgar" → "Bulgaria", "rus → "Rusia", etc.
[29] With a few exceptions such as English and Hungarian ("Románia"), in most languages the "u" form is still used (German and Swedish: Rumänien; Bulgarian: Румъния; Serbian: Румунија / Rumunija, Polish: Rumunia, etc.).
