REGIONAL ASPECTS REFLECTING THE ECONOMIC LIFEIN WALLACHIA (THE SECOND HALF OF THE

18TH CENTURYTHE FIRST DECADES OF THE 19TH CENTURY)

Abstract On the political backdrop of the time, the ever-soaring economic acti-vities closely related
to the circuit of the organized market would dictatethe evolution of the Romanian society from the
Middle Ages to the ModernAge. The demads for manufactured goods on the rise and, most of all,
thefinancial needs of tax-payers struggling to keep up with their overwhelmingfiscal obligations
would determine an intensification of trading activitiesnot only in the urban centres but also in the
rural areas where dozens of sea-sonal fairs would begin to be held. In order to protect the economic
activities of the native population, the Prince would forbid foreign merchants from the Turkish rajas
to buyor sell goods in the north of the Danube unless they were provided withfirmans issued by the
Porte. " in documentul Agiei Bucurestilor, din 25 aprilie 1817 (care apare in text sub data. august
251), se aminteste de ajutorul cerut de boierii mahalagii ot mahalaua Lucaciului"capitanului
Andricul, pentru constructia podului de acolo, pe unde acesta ii face umblarea". inscrisul confirm&
mahalagiilor ca el au llsat depoziton la V&A Asia Agiei, taleri 100, pentru ajutorul ce i se cere"
(ibidem, p. 717-718, nr. 586). 66 Cf. I. Cojocaru, vol. cit., p. 723-724. 59 p. 724. 58 Ibidem, p. 543-
544. 69 Pentru diferitele aspecte ale circulatiei blnesti, a capitalului cf. G. Zane, op. tie, Ibidem,
www.dacoromanica.ro 9 Viata. economica 709In counties bordering on the Danube the
administration would nevertheless allow the autochtonous population to have relations with the
Turksfrom Vidin, Turnu, Giurgiu a. s. o., especially when these activities servedwell the purpose of
fulfilling the obligations toward the Ottoman Empire. With time, the links between inhabitants on
the two banks of the Danube would prove themselves highly profitable, as indicated by the
reiteratedrequests addressed by the population in the bordering counties to the Prince, so that they
be permitted to sell their products and thus obtain the profit they needed to pay their taxes. Aspects
revealed by reports on trading relations in the rural area alsohighlight the impact of these activities
on the social and cultural life, taxeslevied af fairs helping to provide for rural churches and schools,
as well asfor health facilities. It is a time when the amplification of the monetary circulation of
transactions of capital within the credit relations speak for a number of pratices, also to be noticed
in the use of specific terminology, which cleary points tothe transition of the Romanian society
toward the Modern Age.