It is believed that the tribes responsible for creating the Bronze Age culture on the territory of modern Romania belonged to the Indo-European group of Thracians.[14][15][16] Strabo, in Geographica, notes that the Getae spoke the same language as the Thracians, and the Dacians the same language as the Getae.[17] However, the earliest account of the Getae is attributed to Herodotus.[18][19] The conquest of Dacia by the Romans led to the fusion of two cultures—the Daco-Romans became the ancestors of the Romanian people.[20][21] After Dacia became a province of the Roman Empire, elements of Roman culture and civilisation—most notably Vulgar Latin, which laid the foundation for the development of the Romanian language—were introduced.[22][23][24] Based on information from the inscription at Dionysupolis[25][26][27] and the account of Iordanes, it is known that under the rule of Burebista, assisted by the great priest Deceneu, the first Geto-Dacian state was formed.[28] In 44 BC, Burebista was assassinated by one of his servants.[29] After his death, the Geto-Dacian state fragmented into four, and later five, kingdoms.[30] The core of the state remained in the area of the Șureanu Mountains, where successive rulers such as Deceneu, Comosicus, and Coryllus held power.[31] The centralised Dacian state reached the peak of its development under Decebalus.[32] During this period, a series of conflicts with the Roman Empire continued, with part of the Dacian state being conquered in 106 AD by the Roman emperor Trajan.[33] Between 271 and 275 AD, the Aurelian retreat took place.[34] Period of the Principalities and the Phanariot Era Main articles: Romania in the Middle Ages and Phanariots In the first millennium, waves of nomads swept across the territory of Romania: the Goths during the 3rd–4th centuries,[35] the Huns in the 4th century,[36] the Gepids in the 5th century,[37][38] the Avars in the 6th century,[39] the Slavs in the 7th century, the Magyars in the 9th century, the Pechenegs,[40] the Cumans,[41] the Uzes and the Alans during the 10th–12th centuries, and the Tatars in the 13th century. In 1054, a series of ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes between the Greek East and Latin West caused the Great Schism, eventually resulting in Romania adopting Orthodoxy. In the 13th century, the first bearers of the Slavic noble title Knyaz south of the Carpathian Mountains are attested.[42] Later, in the context of the crystallisation of feudal relations, as a result of the creation of favourable internal and external conditions (the weakening of Hungarian pressure and the diminishing of Tatars domination), autonomous feudal states emerged south and east of the Carpathians – Wallachia in 1310, under Basarab I, and Moldova in 1359, under Bogdan I.[32] Among the Romanian rulers who played a more important role can be mentioned: Alexander the Good, Stephen the Great, Petru Rareș, and Dimitrie Cantemir in Moldova; Mircea the Elder, Vlad the Impaler, Michael the Brave, and Constantin Brâncoveanu in Wallachia; and John Hunyadi in Transylvania. Beginning in the late 15th century, the two principalities gradually came under the influence of the Ottoman Empire. Transylvania, which throughout the Middle Ages was part of the Kingdom of Hungary,[43] governed by voivodes, became a self-governing principality and a vassal of the Ottoman Empire from 1526. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, Michael the Brave for a very brief period ruled over a large part of the territory of present-day Romania.[44] Early modern times and national awakening Main articles: Early Modern Romania and Romanian War of Independence .mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner{display:flex;flex-direction:column}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{display:flex;flex-direction:row;clear:left;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{margin:1px;float:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .theader{clear:both;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;align-self:center;background-color:transparent;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbcaption{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-left{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-right{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-center{text-align:center}@media all and (max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbinner{width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:none!important;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{justify-content:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{float:none!important;max-width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle .thumbcaption{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow>.thumbcaption{text-align:center}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner span:not(.skin-invert-image):not(.skin-invert):not(.bg-transparent) img{background-color:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner span:not(.skin-invert-image):not(.skin-invert):not(.bg-transparent) img{background-color:white}}During the Long Turkish War, Wallachian Prince Michael the Brave (portrayed) briefly reigned over the three medieval principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania, covering most of the present-day territory of Romania The Kingdom of Hungary collapsed, and the Ottomans occupied parts of Banat and Crișana in 1541.[45] Transylvania and Maramureș, along with the rest of Banat and Crișana developed into a new state under Ottoman suzerainty, the Principality of Transylvania.[46] The Reformation, initiated in Germany by Martin Luther in 1517, encouraged the rise of Protestantism and four denominations—Calvinism, Lutheranism, Unitarianism, and Roman Catholicism—were officially acknowledged in 1568.[who?][47] The Romanians' Orthodox faith remained only tolerated,[47] although they made up more than one-third of the population, according to 17th-century estimates.