Diploma of the Joannites

The Diploma of the Joannites, or Diploma of the Knights of St. John, was a grant issued in 1247 by King Béla IV of Hungary to Master Rembald of the Knights Hospitaller. It allowed the Knights to settle in Severin, in what is today Romania, where they could defend the Hungarian borders against Cuman invaders. The diploma provides valuable information about the existence of early Vlach (Romanian) polities in Wallachia, led by the Voivodes Litovoi and Seneslau and the Cneazes Ioan and Farcaș, as well as about the economic development of the region, whose inhabitants were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding and fishing.