Câmpulung, August 1636
When did churches start speaking Romanian?
For centuries, the story written on church walls was told in Slavonic. In the summer of 1636, the princely church in Câmpulung received two Romanian-language pisanii, the inscribed foundation records above church doors — and one of them still opens in Slavonic. Two stones from a single summer, at the moment the language of the walls was changing.
În și de Dumnezeu iubit creștin
Matei Basarab Voevod, Elina,
cu lui Dumnezeu pus a fi Domn creștin în Țara-…
The closing Și se-au început a se zidi această dumnezeiască biserică de în fața temeliei în luna Iunie 22 zile, când au fost văleatul de la Adam 7143, și se-au săvârșit în luna lui Avgust 20 de zile, vă 7144.
Во имя Отца и Сына и Святаго Духа, аминь.
În și de Dumnezeu iubit creștin Matei Basarab Voevod și Elina, cu lui Dumnezeu pus a fi Domn creștin în moșiia lui, adecă scris-am de această sfântă biserică…
The closing Vă leat 7144. Și s-au săvârșit în luna lui Avgust 20 de zile când au fost.
The night the church collapsed
On Saint Elijah's day in 1628 — 20 July, a Sunday — at midnight, the princely church in Câmpulung collapsed. That year's earthquake brought down the old walls — “collapsed by God's will”, as the inscription would later put it — and the church stood in ruins for seven years.
Matei Basarab, who had taken the throne in 1632, made Câmpulung one of the early major rebuilding projects of his reign: rebuilding started on a Monday, 22 June 1635, and finished on a Saturday, 20 August 1636 — or the 24th, on another reading, examined below. The ispravnic, the man who ran the site, was Socol the court provisioning officer (clucer) of Cornățeni.
The foundation received two inscriptions. Stone A tells the building story; stone B tells it shorter and adds the fair's tax exemptions, with a curse on whoever breaks them — Iorga suspected the townspeople set it up to perpetuate their privileges. Both are Romanian, with the same founders and the same ispravnic.
Both place Matei in the line of Radu Negru, the legendary founder of Wallachia, with the year 6723 — 1215. The link is political, not proven; it is unpicked in the Radu Negru section.
- Where
- The princely church in Câmpulung, Negru Vodă Monastery, Argeș county; dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God. The stones now stand embedded in the west front, one on each side of the entrance.
- When
- 22 June 1635 – 20 August 1636 (years 7143–7144 from Adam); weekdays follow the Julian calendar of the time. The inner stone's day is also read as 24 August.
- Who
- Matei Basarab and his lady Elena; ispravnic Socol the clucer of Cornățeni
- What
- Two foundation inscriptions in the Romanian language, in the Cyrillic alphabet of the time; the second opens with a Slavonic invocation
- Texts
- N. Iorga, Inscripții din bisericile României, vol. I, 1905, pp. 128–130 (texts 2–3)
The inscriptions stood in sight, where anyone entering the church could read them. Iorga collected their text in 1905, in the first volume of Inscripții din bisericile României.
Words off the stone
Pick a highlighted word from the texts above. Four survived into Romanian, two changed, two are Slavonic.
- survived into Romanian
- changed
- Slavonic remnant
4 survived · 2 changed · 2 are Slavonic
-
zilele
the days
survived into Romanian
Romanian zi comes from Latin dies. The inscription writes zilele, with the plural definite article, exactly as today. The formula “in the days of” opens both stones.
-
dulcelui
of the gentle
survived into Romanian
Dulce comes from Latin dulcis. Here it speaks of the ruler's gentleness: an epithet of benevolent power, paired with milostiv, “merciful”, in the stone's later lines.
-
creștin
Christian
survived into Romanian
From Latin christianus. Matei is called creștin three times in a single sentence: faith is the ruler's first listed quality.
-
vrerea
the will
survived into Romanian
Vrere, “will”, still lives in the language, but the formula moved to voia: “by God's will”. The 1645 Strehaia inscription already writes “după voia și ajutoriul lu Dumnezeu”.
-
gospojda ego
his lady
Slavonic remnant
The only stretch of Slavonic in the sentence: gospojda, “lady”, ego, “his”. Elena, Matei's wife, enters the Romanian inscription through a Slavonic formula — in both openings: the new language still wrote to old patterns.
-
Rumânească
Românească
changed
The country's name with a u: Țara-Rumânească. Both forms had circulated since the 16th century, and the inscription spells it as people said it. The Govora Code, four years later, prints the same u: “pre limba rumânească”.
-
leat
year
Slavonic remnant
The year, said in Slavonic: vă leat 7144, “in the year 7144”. Even Romanian years were counted with a Slavonic word, now lost from the language; it survives in transcriptions of old charters.
-
pomeana
pomana
changed
Remembrance of the dead: “să nu piiară pomeana acelor răposați Domni”, “lest the remembrance of those late princes perish”. The stone writes pomeana, with ea; today's Romanian narrowed the diphthong to pomană. The word comes from Slavonic — an inheritance older than the inscription itself.
Further down the stones, the dedication stays in Slavonic, while the years are counted “from Adam”, on the Byzantine calendar. The lines of remembrance and of the founding — , milostiv, descălecat — show the same young Romanian language, its forms still unsettled: even God is written several ways from one line to the next. But the sentences are Romanian, with subjects, verbs and dates. Anyone who could read could follow the whole story on the wall.
20 or 24 August?
One summer, two stones — and a day that does not fit. Here are the three readings, each with its source.
…și se-au săvârșit în luna lui Avgust 20 de zile, vă leat 7144.
Stone A, the closing, after Iorga (1905): “…and it was completed in the month of August, 20 days, in the year 7144.”
Vă leat 7144. Și s-au săvârșit în luna lui Avgust 20 de zile când au fost.
Stone B, the closing, after Iorga (1905).
Și s-au săvârșit în luna lui August 24, când au fost leat 7144.
The inner stone, after the Pârnuță–Trâmbaciu corpus (1999) — quoted from the Argesis study (2013).
| Stone | Day | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Both | 20 | Iorga, 1905 (texts 2–3) |
| The inner one | 24 | Pârnuță–Trâmbaciu, 1999, doc. 46 — as quoted in Argesis (2013) |
| The inner one | 20 | The Argesis study (2015), which calls the “24” reading inexplicable; the published photograph shows 20 |
To check on the stone
- The inner stone's day: 20 or 24? The photograph published in 2015 shows 20; the 1999 corpus transcribes 24.
- The year 6723: 1215 or 1214? The 1636 stones reckon 1215; the 1827 copy writes 1214. The Byzantine year 6723 begins on 1 September 1214.
- The April stone? The charter of 12 April 1636 speaks of “the stone we placed” — four months before the August completion, after the 2015 study.
- Work after completion: Socol remains ispravnic at Câmpulung in 1637 and 1639, after the charters quoted by Iorga.
- The original settings: one inside, one outside — Pavel Chihaia's deduction from the period door frames, after the 2015 study.
If you reach Câmpulung, look at the August day on the inner stone. Epigraphy begins where transcriptions stop agreeing.
The texts above follow the published transcriptions; where they disagree, the disagreement is shown.
Radu Negru: a good date for 1636, a poor one for 1215
Both stones tell the same story of the beginning: the church is said to have been built by Radu Negru, the founder of Wallachia, in the year 6723 — 1215. It is the oldest founding date the stones give the country.
For 1215, the story does not stand. In 1215 there was no Wallachia whose ruler could build at Câmpulung: the founding belongs to the 14th century, to Basarab I (c. 1310–1352). The old church at Câmpulung was, by every sign, the foundation of his son Nicolae Alexandru — whose stone dated 6973 (1364) could still be seen in the church in 1905, “perfectly preserved”.
For 1636, the story is excellent evidence. Iorga showed how it was born: in April 1636 the townspeople brought Matei old princely charters for their exemptions, among them a “very old” one of a Radu — read as 6800, that is 1292 — while the date 6723 is thought by Iorga to have been taken from a tomb that read 6873. The nickname “Negru-Vodă” had circulated since 1569; “Radu Negru” is the creation of the year 1636.
So the phantom “Radu Negru” was born: a name from Matei's chancery, not from the 13th century. The 1636 stones tell the truth about the year they were cut — and a useful legend about the year 1215.
The stone spoke before the law book
The Câmpulung inscriptions are from 1636. Four years later, the Govora printing press issued the Small Code (Pravila cea Mică) of 1640, the first legal code printed in Romanian in Wallachia — with a new critical edition in 2025, edited by Alexandru Mareș. Only then came Varlaam's Homiliary, printed at Iași in 1643, and the Îndreptarea legii of 1652.
The change did not happen all at once. In 1645–1646, Vasile Lupu had the inscription at Stelea, in Târgoviște, written in Slavonic still. In those same years, Matei Basarab had the inscriptions at Strehaia, in 1645, and at Plătărești, in 1646, written in Romanian.
Slavonic did not vanish from the walls at once, but Romanian appears ever more often: the Doamnei church in Bucharest, in 1683, and Fundenii Doamnei, in 1699, both carry their inscriptions in Romanian.
Is Câmpulung the very first? That is no longer the question. The Sadova inscription claims the year 1633, but the building's dating is questioned in a 2012 study. What the row of stones surely shows is the transition itself: from Slavonic Stelea to Romanian Strehaia, in the same years — and, at Câmpulung, two languages on two stones from the same summer.
- 6723 (1215)?The year the stones give the first building: the date of the 1636 story, unproven for any building.
- 1628The church collapses on Saint Elijah's day (20 July), at midnight; seven years of ruin.
- 1632Matei Basarab takes the throne of Wallachia.
- 1633The Sadova inscription claims the year 1633; the dating is disputed.
- 1635On 22 June rebuilding starts, “from the face of the foundation”.
- 1636August: the two Romanian stones; the completion, on 20 August — or the 24th, on another reading.
- 1638Melhisedec is appointed the monastery's first abbot, after the 1650 charter.
- 1640The Govora Code, the first legal code printed in Romanian in Wallachia.
- 1643Varlaam's Homiliary, printed at Iași.
- 1645Strehaia writes its inscription in Romanian; Stelea in Slavonic: the same years, two languages.
- 1646The Romanian inscription at Plătărești, set on 3 April.
- 1652Îndreptarea legii, printed under Matei Basarab.
- 1683The Doamnei church in Bucharest: an inscription in Romanian.
- 1699Fundenii Doamnei: an inscription in Romanian, on 1 May.
Sources
The stone texts follow Iorga's transcription, with normalized spelling; the modern rendering and the translations from Slavonic are by Marius Comper.
Claim register
| Claim | Status | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Two Romanian stones, August 1636 | on the stone | Texts 2–3 in Iorga (1905) |
| The completion day: 20 or 24 | disputed | Iorga: 20; the 1999 corpus: 24; the 2015 study: 20 |
| Sadova, 1633, before Câmpulung | caution | Dating disputed in a 2012 study |
| Radu Negru, 6723/1215 | legend | The stones' story; historically unfounded (Iorga) |
| Elena, named on both stones | on the stone | Texts 2–3 in Iorga (1905) |
| Socol ispravnic; building 1635–1636 | on the stone | Texts 2–3; Socol attested as ispravnic until 1639 |
| 1638: first abbot Melhisedec | after the charter | The charter of 28 July 1650, quoted in Argesis (2012) |
| The Slavonic–Romanian shift is gradual | on the stone | Slavonic Stelea, 1645–1646; Romanian Strehaia and Plătărești |
The stone texts
- N. Iorga, Inscripții din bisericile României, vol. I, Bucharest, 1905: the Câmpulung texts 2–3 (pp. 128–130), with the notes on Radu Negru (pp. 130–131); Strehaia (p. 211), Stelea (pp. 112–113), Doamnei church (p. 277). archive.org
Modern corpus and studies
- Gheorghe Pârnuță, Ștefan Trâmbaciu, Documente și inscripții privind istoria orașului Câmpulung (in Romanian), vol. I, Bucharest, 1999, doc. 46, p. 181 (“August 24”) — quoted from the Argesis study (2013).
- “Un monument emblematic și istoria sa uitată” (in Romanian), Argesis. Studii și comunicări XXIV, 2015: 20 August; the “24” reading, called inexplicable; the original settings after Pavel Chihaia; photograph by Cristina Ionescu-Berechet. biblioteca-digitala.ro (PDF)
- “Ctitorii câmpulungeni reprezentați” (in Romanian), Argesis. Studii și comunicări XXII, 2013 (quotes doc. 46: “August 24”). biblioteca-digitala.ro (PDF)
- “Melhisedec, primul egumen al mănăstirii Dlagopolskia” (in Romanian), Argesis. Studii și comunicări XXI, 2012: the 1638 appointment, after the charter of 28 July 1650. biblioteca-digitala.ro (PDF)
- Virgiliu Z. Teodorescu, “Ctitorul Matei Basarab, realizator al unor reevaluări…” (in Romanian), București. Materiale de istorie și muzeografie XXVI, 2012 (the Câmpulung inscription, in Romanian; Sadova; Plătărești). bmim.muzeulbucurestiului.ro (PDF)
- Liana Ivan-Ghilia, “Pisanii bucureștene din epoca lui Matei Basarab — relația imagine-text” (in Romanian), București. Materiale de istorie și muzeografie XIII, 1999. bmim.muzeulbucurestiului.ro (PDF)
- Panait I. Panait, “Biserica Fundenii Doamnei, un strălucit monument al epocii brâncovenești” (in Romanian), București. Materiale de istorie și muzeografie XVII, 2003 (the 1 May 1699 inscription). bmim.muzeulbucurestiului.ro (PDF)
- Tetraevanghelul tipărit de Coresi, Brașov, 1560–1561 (in Romanian), edited by Florica Dimitrescu, Editura Academiei, 1963.
- Pravila de la Govora (in Romanian), introductory study, critical edition, index and glossary, edited by Alexandru Mareș, Editura Universității din București, 2025 — noted in the scholarly profile of co-author Marius Mazilu. lingv.ro (PDF)
Print and language
- Agnes Erich, “365 de ani de la tipărirea Pravilei lui Vasile Lupu (1646)” (in Romanian), Library and Information Science Research (the first laws in Romanian: Govora 1640, Iași 1646, 1652). lisr.unibuc.ro (PDF)
- Metropolitan Teofil, foreword to the Govora Code (1640): “pre limba rumânească” (in Romanian), quoted in Romanoslavica XLII. apostolov.com (PDF)
- dexonline: DEX and the etymological dictionaries for zi, dulce, creștin, pomană and leat. dexonline.ro/definitie/pomana
- Wikipedia: “Cazania lui Varlaam” (Iași, 1643), “History of the Romanian language” (the rumân and român forms in the 16th century). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cazania_lui_Varlaam