# The first Romanian sentence was a spy alert

*Neacșu's letter, Câmpulung–Brașov, 1521*

In June 1521 a merchant of Câmpulung warned Brașov that the Sultan's ships were coming up the Danube. His letter is the oldest precisely dated Romanian text – and its first Romanian sentence is the alert itself. Read it phrase by phrase.

Marius Comper · 18 September 2026

## From Câmpulung to Brașov, June 1521

One page, written in Cyrillic: a merchant of Câmpulung warns the judge of Brașov that the Sultan's ships are coming up the Danube. The letter carries no date – 29–30 June 1521 is inferred from the events and people it names – and it is the oldest precisely datable Romanian text known.

Three short chapters follow the letter, the warning, and its echo. The routes on the map are representative: the courier road over the Carpathians and the Ottoman advance up the Danube.

## I. The letter

*1521 · one page, two languages*

- Date (inferred from events): 29–30 June 1521
- Sender: Neacșul ot Dlăgopole
- Kept at: Brașov archives, no. 472

Neacșu, a merchant of Câmpulung, writes to Johannes Benkner, the judge of Brașov: the Turks are moving, the Emperor is on the Danube, and Brașov should guard itself. He signs “Neacșul ot Dlăgopole” – Neacșu of Câmpulung.

The page is in Cyrillic throughout, but in two languages: the address and the closing are Slavonic, and the body – some 190 words – is Romanian. The famous opening line is Slavonic; the first Romanian sentence announces the Turks' deeds.

The original survived in Brașov: Council House shelf from 1521 to 1916, then the city archive, where Friedrich Wilhelm Stenner found it in 1894. Nicolae Iorga published it in 1900; today it is item 472 of the Stenner collection.

**Meanwhile** Two months later, on 29 August 1521, Belgrade fell.

## II. The warning

*1521 · the spy report*

- Ships up the Danube: seen with his own eyes
- Men from every town: 50
- Free passage through Wallachia: Mahamet-beg

The summer of 1521 was the opening of Suleiman's first Hungarian campaign. The letter's first news is that the Emperor left Sofia and went up the Danube – and that a man from Nicopolis saw the ships pass with his own eyes.

Then come the details that make it a spy report, not a rumor: 50 men levied from every town for the ships, craftsmen brought from Constantinople to get them through the narrow place, and Mahamet-beg given leave to cross Wallachia at will – while even Basarab fears him.

The warning travelled the Câmpulung–Rucăr–Bran–Brașov trade corridor over the Carpathians. No source names the courier, and no record says how long the crossing took – so this page states neither.

**What the letter warns:**

- The Emperor left Sofia and went up the Danube
- Ships seen passing Nicopolis, with the writer's own eyes as witness
- 50 men taken from every town to serve on the ships
- Craftsmen from Constantinople for the narrow place
- Mahamet-beg free to cross Wallachia at will
- Keep these words to yourself – and guard yourselves

**Meanwhile** The man from Nicopolis had seen the ships “with his own eyes” – the only eyewitness named in the letter.

## III. The echo

*1521 – 2022 · what followed*

- Belgrade falls: 29 Aug 1521
- Discovery: 1894, Stenner
- 500 years: BNR coin, 2021

The warning's target fell two months later: after a siege from 25 June to 29 August 1521, Belgrade surrendered to Suleiman. The letter never names Belgrade – it reports the ships and the raiders coming its way.

For a long time the letter was called the oldest Romanian text. Watermark evidence has since given that title to the Hurmuzaki Psalter, written sometime in 1491–1504 – but a range is not a date, and Neacșu's letter remains the oldest precisely dated Romanian document.

Five centuries later it is still commemorated: the National Bank issued a silver 500-years coin on 13 September 2021, and in 2022 the National Archives showed the original in Brașov under the title “Neacșu's letter comes home”.

**Meanwhile** The letter sat in Brașov's Council House from June 1521 to September 1916.

## The 1521 quiz

Four questions about the letter, the warning, and its afterlife. Choose, then check against the sources.

1. **The missing date.** The letter carries no date. How do we know it is from June 1521? *From the events and people. The letter carries no date; 29–30 June 1521 is inferred from what it reports and whom it addresses.*
2. **The first line.** The celebrated line “Mudromu i plemenitomu…” is written in: *Slavonic. The celebrated opening line is the Slavonic address; the Romanian body begins with the news of the Turks.*
3. **Belgrade's fate.** Two months after the letter, Belgrade: *It fell. After a siege from 25 June to 29 August 1521, Belgrade surrendered – the target the letter's warnings were pointing at.*
4. **The finder.** Who found the letter in the Brașov archives? *Stenner. Brașov's archivist Friedrich Wilhelm Stenner found the letter in 1894; Nicolae Iorga published it in 1900.*

## The letter, phrase by phrase

Ten phrases: the 1521 text above, our modern rendering below. Tap a phrase to reveal or hide its rendering – or read the whole letter straight through.

1. *Mudromu i plemenitomu i čistitomu i bogom darovannomu jupan Haniș Begner ot Brașov mnogo zdraviie ot Neacșul ot Dlăgopole.*
   To the most wise and honorable and God-gifted master Haniș Begner of Brașov, many greetings from Neacșu of Câmpulung.

2. *I pak dau știre domniie tale za lucrul turcilor, cum am auzit eu că împăratul au eșit den Sofiia, și aimintrea nu e, și se-au dus în sus pre Dunăre.*
   And again I give your lordship news of the Turks' deeds, as I heard that the Emperor left Sofia – and it is no otherwise – and went up the Danube.

3. *I pak să știi domniia ta că au venit un om de la Nicopoe de miie me-au spus că au văzut cu ochii loi că au trecut ceale corabii ce știi și domniia-ta pre Dunăre în sus.*
   And again, know that a man came from Nicopolis and told me he saw with his own eyes those ships – which you also know – pass up the Danube.

4. *I pak să știi că bagă den toate orașele câte 50 de omini să fie în ajutor în corabii.*
   And again, know that they take 50 men from every town to serve on the ships.

5. *I pak să știi cumu se-au prins nește meșter den Țarigrad cum vor treace aceale corabii la locul cela strimtul ce știi și domniia ta.*
   And again, know that craftsmen from Constantinople have been hired to get those ships through that narrow place, which you also know.

6. *I pak spun domniie tale de lucrul lu Mahamet beg, cum am auzit de boiari ce sânt megiiaș și de genere-miiu Negre, cumu i-au dat împăratul sloboziie lui Mahamet beg, pre io-i va fi voia, pren Țeara Rumânească, iară el să treacă.*
   And again I tell you of Mahamet-beg's affair, as I heard from neighbouring boyars and from my son-in-law Negre: the Emperor gave Mahamet-beg leave to cross Wallachia wherever he pleases, so let him pass.

7. *I pak să știi domniiata că are frică mare și Băsărab de acel lotru de Mahamet beg, mai vârtos de domniiele voastre.*
   And again, know that Basarab himself greatly fears that robber Mahamet-beg – even more than your lordships.

8. *I pak spun domniietale ca mai marele miu de ce am înțeles și eu.*
   And again I tell you, as my superior, what I too have understood.

9. *Eu spun domniietale iară domniiata ești înțelept și aceste cuvinte să ții domniiata la tine, să nu știe umini mulți, și domniiele vostre să vă păziți cum știți mai bine.*
   I tell you: you are wise – keep these words to yourself, let not many men know, and guard yourselves as best you know.

10. *I bog te veselit. Amin.*
   And may God gladden you. Amen.

The 1521 text follows the modern transcription on Romanian Wikisource; the renderings are our own. Two phrases are Slavonic, eight Romanian.

## The letter in six numbers

Every figure below comes from the letter or the cited histories. Dates the letter does not state are marked inferred.

- **1,521** – the year of the letter
- **50** – men taken from every town
- **≈190** – Romanian words in the letter, about
- **472** – its number in the Stenner collection
- **1,894** – Stenner finds it in the Brașov archives
- **29** – August 1521 – Belgrade falls

## Three things people get wrong

### It is the first Romanian text.

Not quite. The Hurmuzaki Psalter is older – 1491–1504 by watermark – but a range is not a date. The letter is the oldest precisely dated Romanian document.

### Iorga discovered the letter.

No. Brașov's archivist Friedrich Wilhelm Stenner found it in 1894; Nicolae Iorga published it in 1900.

### The letter is all Romanian.

No. The address and the closing are Slavonic; the Romanian body carries the news – and its first sentence announces the Turks' deeds.

## Sources and methods

The 1521 text on this page follows the modern transcription on Romanian Wikisource; the scholarly reference is Iorga's 1900 publication (Hurmuzaki, vol. XI, p. 843, n. 1). The renderings beside each phrase are our own: the English Wikisource translation (CC BY-SA) was consulted, not quoted.

Dates the letter does not state are labeled inferred: 29–30 June 1521 from the events and persons named. Belgrade's fall (29 August 1521) and the Psalter's watermark range (1491–1504) come from the cited histories.

Map routes are representative paths through verified places, drawn dashed throughout. The courier's identity and travel time are unrecorded and unstated; no distances are given because the paths are illustrative.

### The letter

- [The letter's text (modern transcription) and shelfmark: Brașov Mayoralty fond, Stenner collection, series I Slavo-Romanian, no. 472 (Wikisource)](https://ro.wikisource.org/wiki/Scrisoarea_lui_Neac%C8%99u_din_C%C3%A2mpulung)
- [Wikipedia, *Neacșu's letter*: the inferred date, the discovery (1894, Wilhelm Stenner), the merchant Neacșu and judge Benkner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neac%C8%99u%27s_letter)
- [Nicolae Iorga, in E. Hurmuzaki, *Documente privitoare la istoria românilor*, vol. XI (Bucharest, 1900), p. 843, n. 1: the first publication](https://biblioteca-digitala.ro/reviste/Argesis/Argesis-05-Studii-si-comunicari-Muzeul-Judetean-Arges-1980_247.pdf)

### The warning

- [Wikipedia, Siege of Belgrade (25 June – 29 Aug 1521): the campaign behind the warning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Belgrade_(1521))
- [Wikipedia, Rucăr–Bran Pass: the Câmpulung–Brașov trade corridor the letter travelled](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruc%C4%83r%E2%80%93Bran_Pass)

### The echo

- [Wikipedia, *Hurmuzaki Psalter*: the older psalter (1491–1504, by watermark), dated only to a range](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurmuzaki_Psalter)
- [National Bank of Romania: the silver coin “500 years since Neacșu's letter”, issued 13 Sept 2021](https://doingbusiness.ro/post/the-national-bank-of-romania-will-put-into-circulation-for-numismatic-purposes-a-silver-coin-to-mark-500-years-since-the-letter-of-neacsu-of-campulung-6201)
- [National Archives: the exhibition “Neacșu's letter comes home” (Brașov, 2022)](http://arhivelenationale.ro/site/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Comunicat-de-presa-SCRISOAREA-lui-NEACSU-se-intoarce-ACASA.pdf)

### The quiz

- [Wikipedia, *Neacșu's letter* and the Siege of Belgrade: the dates in the game cards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neac%C8%99u%27s_letter)

### The ten phrases

- [The modern transcription of the 1521 text (Wikisource); the renderings on this page are our own](https://ro.wikisource.org/wiki/Scrisoarea_lui_Neac%C8%99u_din_C%C3%A2mpulung)
- [The reference English translation (Wikisource, CC BY-SA): consulted, not quoted](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Neacsu_letter)

### The map

- [Natural Earth, 1:50m countries, lakes, rivers and geographic regions (public domain); routes are representative](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/)

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Text, map and illustrations by [Marius Comper](https://mariuscomper.uk/en/) · https://mariuscomper.uk/scrisoarea-lui-neacsu/en/