Below the Iron Gates gorge, the ruins of Roman Drobeta and the stumps of Trajan's bridge mark the first easy ground on the north bank.
The Hungarian castle of Severin, the seat of a ban from the 1230s, is later, and no garrison, lord or settlement is recorded here for 1200. The ground lies between the Hungarian Banat at Orsova and the Cerna, the Vlach hills of Oltenia and the Bulgarian Danube below Vidin.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not pinned: no holder is recorded for 1200
- Title
- None recorded
- Confidence
- low
The Roman Drobeta with the piers of Trajan's bridge; Justinian restored a fort here. The Hungarian castle and banate of Severin (Szoreny) belong to the 1230s (first ban 1233); before that no lord is recorded. Some historians give the north bank here to the Bulgarian tsars, without a source for 1200.
Lord in 1200
Not pinned: the ruins lie in the Vlach hill country, with Hungary's Orsova just upstream and Kaloyan's Vidin downstream across the river.
Overlord
None recorded.
What the town holds
Not recorded.
Allies and rivals
Not recorded.
How things stand that morning
Ruins with no recorded lord at the Iron Gates.
Wealth
Not recorded.
Military
None recorded.
Threats
- None recorded
Council
None recorded.
Communities
None recorded.
Fairs and markets
None recorded.
Militia
None recorded.
Walls and castle
Roman and Justinianic ruins; the medieval castle of Severin is later (1230s).
Trade and crafts
None recorded.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: No notice for 1200; the Hungarian banate is of the 1230s.
On the map: A point; the realm shown is that of the surrounding hill country, not a recorded lordship.
Primary sources for The Cumans
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
- The Laurentian Chronicle (the Suzdal continuation kept in the late 12th and 13th centuries; manuscript 1377). The court record of Vsevolod III of Vladimir. Read online
- History of Niketas Choniates, Niketas Choniates (about 1185 to 1217, in stages, with a final revision in exile at Nicaea after 1204). The central narrative for the Byzantine Empire under Alexios III Angelos: the Bulgarian and Vlach war under Kaloyan, the breakaway of Ivanko in the Rhodopes and his capture by treachery in 1200, Dobromir Chrysos at Prosek and Strumica and the emperor's campaign and settlement with him, the Cuman raids into Thrace, John Komnenos the Fat's one-day revolt at Constantinople on 31 July 1200, the loosening of imperial control in the provinces and the rise of Leo Sgouros, and the court's fiscal abuses. Read online
- The Deeds of the Hungarians, by the Anonymous Notary of King Béla, Anonymus (P. magister) (about 1200 to 1210, the date disputed). Not a record of events but a picture of the kingdom's nobility and geography as a courtier of about 1200 wished to see it: the clans and their lands, the castles and counties, the Vlachs, Cumans and other peoples of the Carpathian basin, all projected back onto the conquest. Read online
- The Georgian Chronicles: the Histories and Eulogies of the Sovereigns, and the Life of Queen Tamar, Anonymous, attributed to the chancellor Theodore of Chqondidi and to Basili, master of the court (about 1210 to 1225). Two court histories of Queen Tamar written within a generation. Read online
- The Tale of Igor's Campaign (about 1187 to 1200 (disputed)). A poem on Igor Sviatoslavich's defeat by the Polovtsians in 1185 that addresses the princes of the day by name: Vsevolod of Vladimir, Rurik and David Rostislavich, Yaroslav of Galich, Roman of Volhynia and the Olgovichi of Chernigov, of whom Igor himself was prince from 1198. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.