Battle of Şelimbăr

The Battle of Şelimbăr ( _hu. Sellenberk; German: "Schellenberg") was one of the great events in medieval Romanian history. It took place on 18 October 1599 between the Wallachian army of Michael the Brave ( _ro. Mihai Viteazul) and the Transylvanian-Hungarian army of Andrew Bathory. The battleground was fought near the village of Şelimbăr close to Sibiu (Nagyszeben).

Michael the Brave marched into Transylvania to unite it with Wallachia and later Moldavia to fight against Ottoman aggression. The neighboring rulers Andrew Bathory in Transylvania and Ieremia Movilă in Moldavia were friendly toward Poland. In 1598, Michael signed a treaty of peace with the Ottomans, however both sides knew that the issue was far from settled. When Transylvania fell under the influence of Poland, which preserved friendly relations with the Ottomans, a hostile ring closed around Wallachia. Only the Habsburgs were prepared to ally themselves with Michael. The treaty, signed in Prague on 9 June 1598, made Wallachia a vassal state; in exchange, the emperor undertook to cover the cost of providing five thousand mercenaries to the Romanian principality. The voivode, as befits a good general, wanted to secure a land link to his ally. With Emperor Rudolph's assent, he launched an attack on Transylvania.

Michael had approximately 40,000 men at his command. Many of them did not fight, however, preferring instead to remain in the camp and protect the women and children of the boyari, who had joined them in this campaign out of the fear of possible Tatar attacks in Wallachia.

The army of Andrew Bathory numbered approximately 30,000 men, but in the course of the battle many defected and joined the army of Michael, including Szekely Hungarians who despised the ruling Báthory family. The Wallachians gained the upper hand at the beginning of the battle, but were pushed back quickly by the charge of the Hungarian Hussars. The Hungarians then had the opportunity to win the battle, but Andrew Bathory refused to send the rearguard into the battle, thus giving the Wallachians a chance to regroup. The resulting charge against the Hungarian army was a success, Andrew Bathory fled from the field (only to be later assassinated), and Michael headed with his victorious army to the city of Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár), as the Diet recognised him as imperial governor. Casualties were at least 1,200 to 1,500 on the Hungarian side, and 200 to 1,000 men killed on the Wallachian side. Michael's victory resulted in the first instance when the principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania were united under a Romanian ruler.

It has to be said, however, that the governments of Wallachia and Transylvania remained separate, and Michael never attempted to connect Tranylvania to Wallachia, nor interfere in Transylvania's system of government (by the Estates). What is more he also invited some Székelys and other Transylvanian Hungarians to assist in the administration of Wallachia, where he wished to transplant Transylvania's far more advanced feudal system.

Especially during the period of the Romanian national awakening, his victories were interpreted as the first unification of the Romanian people, and Michael remains a Romanian national hero.