Chapter 34
On Romanian Assertiveness in Navigation
on the Black Sea (Fourteenth – Late Nineteenth
Century)
Valentin Ciorbea and Nicoleta Stanca
Abstract The article presents the beginning of navigation in the Black Sea in the
early Antiquity, especially on the west coast. We will highlight the role of ThracianGetae, the ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantium and Italians. Since the fourteenth
century, Romanians asserted their interests in the Black Sea through the institution
of the rulers of the principalities. The leaders in Moldavia and Wallachia included
among their titles the control of the maritime coast and of the ports, had ships built
and extended navigation and trading in the region. The establishment of the
Ottoman Empire diminished the Romanian navigation in the Black Sea after
1848 with the transformation of the Black Sea into “a Turkish lake”, but there is
proof that it continued on a smaller scale. The change of the navigation regime in
the Black Sea after 1829 gave the Romanian principalities new opportunities for
sailing and after 1859, Romania created its own naval juridical system. The union
of Dobrogea with Romania in 1878 brings an important section of the coast and
Constanța port. In this context, the Romanian Maritime Service is created as a state
institution with the role to develop Romanian opportunities on seas and oceans.
Keywords The Black Sea • Romania • Navigation • Naval juridical system •
Maritime service
The Black Sea witnessed, begging in the early Antiquity, significant stages of
navigation, until Romanians asserted their geopolitical interests in the region
since the fourteenth century through the institution of the rulers of the country
and of ship sailing.
V. Ciorbea (*)
Academy of Romanian Scientists, Bucharest-Constant ¸a, Romania
Doctoral School of Humanities – History, Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta,
Romania
e-mail: valentinciorbea@yahoo.com
N. Stanca
Faculty of Letters, Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta, Romania
e-mail: nicoletastanca1506@gmail.com
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
C.W. Finkl, C. Makowski (eds.), Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences, Coastal
Research Library 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_34
583
On Romanian Assertiveness in Navigation
on the Black Sea (Fourteenth – Late Nineteenth
Century)
Valentin Ciorbea and Nicoleta Stanca
Abstract The article presents the beginning of navigation in the Black Sea in the
early Antiquity, especially on the west coast. We will highlight the role of ThracianGetae, the ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantium and Italians. Since the fourteenth
century, Romanians asserted their interests in the Black Sea through the institution
of the rulers of the principalities. The leaders in Moldavia and Wallachia included
among their titles the control of the maritime coast and of the ports, had ships built
and extended navigation and trading in the region. The establishment of the
Ottoman Empire diminished the Romanian navigation in the Black Sea after
1848 with the transformation of the Black Sea into “a Turkish lake”, but there is
proof that it continued on a smaller scale. The change of the navigation regime in
the Black Sea after 1829 gave the Romanian principalities new opportunities for
sailing and after 1859, Romania created its own naval juridical system. The union
of Dobrogea with Romania in 1878 brings an important section of the coast and
Constanța port. In this context, the Romanian Maritime Service is created as a state
institution with the role to develop Romanian opportunities on seas and oceans.
Keywords The Black Sea • Romania • Navigation • Naval juridical system •
Maritime service
The Black Sea witnessed, begging in the early Antiquity, significant stages of
navigation, until Romanians asserted their geopolitical interests in the region
since the fourteenth century through the institution of the rulers of the country
and of ship sailing.
V. Ciorbea (*)
Academy of Romanian Scientists, Bucharest-Constant ¸a, Romania
Doctoral School of Humanities – History, Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta,
Romania
e-mail: valentinciorbea@yahoo.com
N. Stanca
Faculty of Letters, Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta, Romania
e-mail: nicoletastanca1506@gmail.com
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
C.W. Finkl, C. Makowski (eds.), Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences, Coastal
Research Library 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_34
583