Descent
Basarab was the son of a local potentate called Thocomerius whose status cannot be specified. Several Romanian historians (e.g., Vlad Georgescu) suggest that Thocomerius followed Bărbat (the latter had been mentioned in a letter of grant of 8 January 1285 issued by King Ladislaus IV of Hungary as the brother and successor of Litovoi, a voivode in modern Oltenia).
Basarab was expressly stated to be a Romanian (Vlach); King Charles I of Hungary speaks of him as ‘our unfaithful Vlach’.
The linguist Sorin Paliga suggests that - despite many opposite hypotheses - his name may be one of the Thracian anthroponomical relics in Romanian, since the root bas-, bes- is well attested in Thracian (cf. Albanian besë ‘creed, faith’). He thinks that the name may be the continuation of the similar Thracian names (e.g., Bassaros, Bassos, Bassus) and may be connected to Bassarái (a garment of Bacchus priestesses).
Read more about this topic: Basarab I Of Wallachia
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