The name. Romania originates from the Latin romanus. The oldest indication appeared in the Song of the Nibelungs, in the person of Ramunch, Duke of Wallachia. At the beginning of the 16th century, Italian travelers sent by Vatican to the Romanian countries (Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania) reported that "the Wallachians call themselves Romanians in their own language". Dimitrie Cantemir, Ruler of Moldavia and a well-known scholar, described the three principalities of Romanian language as "the Romanian countries". The official acknowledgment and usage of the term dates back in the second half of the 19th century, firstly with regard to the Principalities and then the Kingdom of Romania.