Even if the year 1774 does not by itself mark a sharp turn in the history of the Romanians, significant events, nonetheless, occurred then and within a few years of this date that signaled the advent of the modern era in their development as a nation. Between the latter decades of the eighteenth and the middle of the nineteenth century the social and political structures of the two principalities underwent fundamental change, promoted by enlightened princes, by several generations of “patriotic” or “reforming” boiers, and then, in the decade before and after the Revolution of 1848, by intellectuals beholden to Western thought and example. In international relations, Russia emerged as the foremost challenger of Ottoman supremacy in the principalities and repeatedly drew concessions from sultans to expand their autonomy. Even more important in some ways were changes in the way educated Romanians thought about who they were and what their relationship to Europe should be. A little book of prayers, Carte de rogacioni, published in 1779 by a Romanian priest in Transylvania, revealed the progress of this shift in mentality. It was printed in Latin, rather than Cyrillic, characters and was thus meant to be a statement of ethnic distinctiveness and a confirmation of the bonds with Europe.