Bukovina

Bukovina is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both). The region is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided between Romania and Ukraine. Inhabited by many cultures and peoples, settled by both Ukrainians (Ruthenians) and Romanians (Moldavians), it became part of the Kievan Rus' and Pechenegs' territory early on during the 10th century. The region has been sparsely populated since the Paleolithic. Consequently, the culture of the Kievan Rus' spread in the region during the early Middle Ages. During the time of the Golden Horde, namely in the 14th century (or in the high Middle Ages), Bukovina became part of Moldavia under Hungarian suzerainty (i.e. under the medieval Kingdom of Hungary), a territorial change which brought colonists from neighbouring Maramureș, e.g. Vlachs (or Romanians), Transylvanian Saxons, and Hungarians (or Magyars). The small yet wealthy and influent medieval community of Transylvanian Saxons gradually became dominant socially and economically in the emerging towns of the highlands of the Principality of Moldavia (for example in Suceava or Câmpulung Moldovenesc, where the Magdeburg law held sway). During the early 13th century, the region was also settled by the Teutonic Knights, who built a fortress on a hill near Siret.