Diary for my daughter 30.04.2022 - Alexandru Iliaș/Radu Mihnea/Miron Barnovschi-Movilă/Alexandru Coconul/Moise Movilă/Vasile Lupu/Gheorghe Ștefan/George Ghica/Constantin Șerban/Ștefăniță Lupu/Eustratie Dabja

 

Hello My little penguin 🐧! Tata here!

Hope you're well and listen to your mummy!

Tata is fine today! Still have this flu but , I think is better ... for moment. Now in the morning is a bit cols as they are just 3°C . But , let's hope will be better later . Is very quiet on the roads as is Saturday. I wasn't to the gym yesterday because of this flu , but I will go today :) , I have one more call and after I will go to the gym now in the morning 😇 . So ... time for your stories....

Alexandru Iliaș 

Alexandru IV Iliaș was Prince of Wallachia from 1616 to 1618, then from 1628 to 1629, and Prince of Moldavia from 1620 to 1621 and 1631 to 1633.

Life

Alexandru IV Iliaș was the son of Ilie, or Iliaș, himself son of Alexandru IV Lăpușneanu, Prince of Moldavia. His father was elected Prince of Wallachia in March 1591 but he could not win against Radu.

Alexandru IV was approved Prince of Wallachia by the Ottomans from September 1616 to November 1618 and from October 1629 to September 10, 1630. He was also Prince of Moldavia under the name Alexandru Ilie from September 10, 1620 (after the Battle of Țuțora) to October 1621 and from December 1631 to April 1633; he died the same year (or 1666).

From an unknown wife he left two sons:

Radu XI Iliaș, Prince of Wallachia;

Iliaș Alexandru, Prince of Moldavia.

Radu Mihnea 

Radu Mihnea (1586 – 13 January 1626) was Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia between September 1601 and March 1602, and again between March and May 1611, September 1611 and August 1616, August 1620 and August 1623, and Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia in 1616–1619, 1623–1626. He was the illegitimate son of Mihnea Turcitul by Voica Bratcul.

Modern-style prince & Family Man

Radu Mihnea spent part of his early years in Koper (Capodistria), on Mount Athos and in Greece. His stay in the Serenissima accounts for the pro-Venetian character of his rule, and his interest in reforming the institutions of Wallachia and Moldavia. After completing his studies in Istanbul, Radu became prince of Wallachia at a very important time in Romanian history: following the union of the three principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania under Michael the Brave.

Radu would rule no less than four times in Wallachia and twice in Moldavia. He was loved due to his Renaissance-style and love of the arts. This was due to his upbringing by the monks of Iveron at Mount Athos, Greece. Radu Mihnea died in 1626 in Moldavia, and his body was carried to Bucharest and interred at the Church of Prince Radu. The monastery was protected by the monks of Mount Athos due to Radu's loyalty to his educators. Radu and his wife Arghira had five children, three boys and two girls. These five would be the last surviving direct descendants of Vlad III Dracula. The eldest was Alexandru Coconul.

He replaced Polish vassal Simion Movilă on the throne in Bucharest after the brief occupation of Wallachia by the troops of hetmans Jan Zamoyski and Jan Karol Chodkiewicz. His first rule in the country signified the return to Ottoman control, interrupted since Michael the Brave.

Radu appears to have been interested in a joint rule over Wallachia and Moldavia, and he came closest to achieving it when his third rule over Moldavia was doubled by the reign of son Alexandru Coconul in Wallachia. The subtlety of this gesture is discarded in several sources:

Radulo, who is nowadays Prince in Moldavia, and his son [who is Prince] in Wallachia, [the latter] being very young and overseen by his father (Venetian document of April 11, 1625).

Radulo Voivode, Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia (various documents).

Radu Mihnea's tombstone bears the carving of both countries' seals.

Descendants

An article in a Romanian newspaper in the 1950s acknowledged the death of the last direct male descendant of Radu Mihnea Voda, Dumitru Radulescu(Radu)- a church, artist painter. However, it is not widely known that female descendants of Radu Mihnea do in fact still live in Bucharest. In fact, the bloodline extends as far as a 10th generation, through the continuing lineage of the sister of Dumitru Radu, Rozalia Matilda Radulescu (Radu). She married a pharmacist Gheorghe Moraru and had five children out of which only two survived, Matilda Virginia and Maria-Florica.

Miron Barnovschi-Movilă 

Miron Barnovschi Movilă (1590 – 2 July 1633) is Prince of Moldavia from 1626 to 1629 and in 1633.

Life

Miron Barnovschi comes from a family of Moldovan boyars of Polish origin (Barnowski). His father Dimitrie had held high office in the Moldavian court where he was "Mare Postelnic" ("Grand Chamberlain") from 1599 to 1606. His grandfather Thomas Barnovschi had been one of the leaders of the conspiracy of the boyars who had ended to the reign of John the Despot in 1563.

By his mother, the family of Moldovan boyars Movilă, was also the grand-nephew of the princes Ieremia Movilă and Simion I Movilă.

He also assumes high office with the princes of Moldavia: he is "Spătar" ("Constable") from 1615 to 1618, "Pârcălab" ("Châtelain") of Hotin from 1618 to 1622 and "Hetman" ("Military Governor" ") from Suceava from 1622 to 1626.

At the end of his reign, his father-in-law Radu Mihnea, weakened by the disease, gives him an important role in the management of the country. It is for this reason that at the death of the prince on January 13, 1626, the boyars elect him as prince and that his appointment is confirmed by the "Sublime Porte".

According to the genealogy "Europaische Stammtafeln", Miron Barnovschi married a daughter of Prince Radu Mihnea2. In his book on the reign Miron Barnovschi, Aurel Golimaş presents another version of the facts: in 1614, Barnovschi married a commoner, Elena Vartic (died in 1622). Towards the end of Radu Mihnea's reign, Miron Barnovschi promised to marry Mihnea's daughter, Ecaterina. However, he did not respect his commitment, which Princess Ecaterina would never have forgiven him. In 1626 he would have contracted a union with a Polish princess.

On the religious level, his reign in Moldova is characterized by his attention to the construction of religious monuments. He built the Barnovschi Monastery in his family fiefdom and also fortified the Dragomirna Monastery which had been built in 1609 under the auspices of Atanasie Crimca, Metropolitan of Moldova from 1608 to 1629. He was also responsible for the construction of the Church of St. John of Jassy.

On the secular level, however, Miron Barnovschi Movilă left a bad memory in the Moldavian peasantry, because it is he who introduced serfdom by his decree of January 16, 1628, which fixes the peasants to the land of their lord in their forbidding to move freely.

The following year, he refused to accept the increase in tribute that the Grand Vizier wanted to impose on Moldova. In August 1629, he had to give up his throne to his young brother-in-law Alexander the "little gentleman", son of Radu Mihnea. He then retired to Poland, which does not fail to awaken the suspicion of the Ottomans.

In April 1633, after Prince Alexandru Iliaş was driven out by a rebellion of the boyars, the latter again appointed him as a prince. Miron then decides to go personally to Constantinople to obtain the confirmation of his election. It takes nearly two months to reach the capital of the Ottoman Empire because he stops in Bucharest where he meets Prince Matei Basarab which reinforces the distrust of the Ottomans against him. When he finally arrives in Constantinople at the end of June, the intrigues led by his opponents, notably the future prince Basile le Loup, did their job: the Ottoman government refuses to recognize him and condemns him to death.

Miron Barnovschi-Movilă is beheaded on July 2, 1633 for the Divan under the Sultan's eyes. His body is left in the yard until evening. The Grand Vizier then released the "Postelnic" Iancu Costin (father of the historian Miron Costin) who had been arrested with him, so that he had the remains removed and transported to the Orthodox Patriarchate. From there, Prince Basil the Wolf will later transfer his remains to Moldova.

His cousin Musa Movilă, who had married Radu Mihnea's daughter Ecatarina, is named to succeed him.

Alexandru Coconul 

Alexandru Coconul (14 August 1611 – 26 June 1632) was Hospodar and Voivode of Wallachia from 1623 to 1627 and Hospodar of Moldavia from 1629 to 1630. He was the son of Radu Mihnea, who also was a Hospodar. He married Ruxandra Beglitzi. He was the last of Vlad the Impaler's Romanian bloodline. He died on 26 June 1632 in Istanbul.

Moise Movilă 

Moise Movilă (Polish: Mojżesz Mohyła) (1596–1661) was Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia twice: between April 28, 1630 and November 1631, and between July 2, 1633 – April 1634. Of the Movileşti boyar and princely family, Moise was Simion Movilă's son and brother of Gabriel Movilă and Mihail Movilă.

He obtained the throne from the Ottoman overlord through bribery and intrigue against Alexandru Iliaş. After replacing Iliaş, Moise Movilă distinguished himself only through his determination to stay on the throne in Iaşi. Nevertheless, Iliaş took an opportunity to retrieve his position in late 1631.

After Miron Barnovschi Movilă's assassination in Istanbul, Moise was given back his office on the orders of Sultan Murad IV, in the hope that the gesture would pacify Moldavia after the rebellion of boyars led by Vasile Lupu. The Prince chased away Vasile Lupu, who benefited from the protection of Wallachian Prince Matei Basarab and that of Mehmet Abza, Pasha of Silistra.

Although expected to take the side of the Turks in the Polish-Ottoman War in 1633, Moise continued his family traditional friendship with Poland, and started furnishing false information to the Porte. The moment this was discovered, a kapucu was sent to depose him. Moise fled to Poland, carrying off the large fortune he had gathered during his rule.

Vasile Lupu 

Lupu Coci, known as Vasile Lupu (Romanian pronunciation: [vaˈsile ˈlupu]; 1595–1661), was the Voivode of Moldavia between 1634 and 1653. Lupu had secured the Moldavian throne in 1634 after a series of complicated intrigues and managed to hold it for twenty years. Vasile was a capable administrator and a brilliant financier and was soon almost the richest man in the Christian East. His gifts to Ottoman leaders kept him on good terms with the Ottoman authorities.

Early life

The Coci family settled in Wallachia (Țara Rumânească) in the first half of the 16th century. His father, Nicolae (Neculai) Coci was a shopkeeper, the son of Constantin (Coce) and Ecaterina, who originated from Macedonia or Epirus. Nicolae entered Moldavian nobility in 1593. Nikolae was born in Arbanasi. According to different researchers it was a village in modern-day Bulgaria (Arbanasi or Gorno Arbanasi - today a suburb of Razgrad), while some historians claim Arbănași (modern Romania).

Dimitrie Cantemir (1673–1723) called him Albanezul ("Albanian"); some historians maintain that Lupu's father, Neculai, was of Albanian origin. Nicolae Bănescu (writing in 1926) maintained that his father was of Balkanic origin, while his mother was Romanian (Moldavian). R. W. Seton-Watson (writing in 1934) mentioned him as being of Albanian origin. English historian Steven Runciman (1903–2000) maintains that his father was an Albanian adventurer, and his mother was a Moldavian heiress. According to historian Ioan Bolovan (1997), Vasile Lupu's father was an Albanian from Arbanasi, probably with distant origin from Epirus. According to historian Toader Nicoară (2005), he may have been an Albanian from Arbanasi, Bulgaria, while the historian Constantin Iordachi (2013) has described his descent as of mixed Albanian and Greek origin.

He received Greek education.

Reign

Lupu had held a high office under Miron Barnovschi, and was subsequently selected Prince as a sign of indigenous boyars' reaction against Greek and Levantine competition.[citation needed] This was because Vasile Lupu had led a rebellion against Alexandru Iliaș and his foreign retinue, being led into exile by Moise Movilă (although he was backed by Prince Matei Basarab and the powerful Pasha of Silistra, Abaza Mehmed Pasha). Despite having led the rebellion against Greek influence, Lupu maintained strong ties to the Greeks and the Patriarchate of Constantinople. He pursued a Greek-Orthodox policy and sought to become the new Byzantine Emperor.

His rule was marked by splendor and pomp. He was a builder of notable monuments (the unique Trei Ierarhi Monastery in Iaşi and the St. Paraskeva Church, Lviv, among others), a patron of culture and arts (introducing printing presses, founding the Academia Vasiliană upper school - that was to last, as the "Școala mare domnească", until 1821). These acts also had negative effects, the tax burdens being increased to an intolerable level.

After relations between the two Princes soured, Vasile Lupu spent much of his reign fighting the Wallachian Matei Basarab, trying to impose his son Ioan to the throne in Bucharest. His army was defeated twice in 1639 at Ojogeni and Nenișori and a third time, at Finta, in 1653. After this last battle, the Moldavian boyars rebelled and replaced him with the Wallachian favorite, Gheorghe Ștefan. Vasile Lupu went into exile and died while being kept in Turkish custody at Yedikule prison in Constantinople.

Lupu built a strong alliance with hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, arranging the marriage of his own daughter Ruxandra to Khmelnytsky's son Tymofiy (Tymish), who went on to fight alongside Lupu at Finta.

Laws and reforms

Vasile Lupu introduced the first codified printed law in Moldavia, the Carte Româneascǎ de învățătură ("Romanian book of learning", 1646, published in Iași), known as the Pravila lui Vasile Lupu ("Vasile Lupu's code"). The document follows Byzantine tradition, being a translated review of customs and almost identical to its Wallachian contemporary equivalent.

Endowments

Lupu founded churches and monasteries throughout his lands. The liturgical language was described as "vulgar Greek" by Robert Bargrave who travelled the lands.

Education

Lupu founded the Princely High School of Trei lerarhi Church in 1640, which taught in Greek and Latin.

Family

The Coci last name was carried on by Stefan Coci (son of Vasile Lupu) who married the daughter of Petru Rareş, a voivode of Moldavia, but also by the descendant of Gabriel Coci named Hatmanul. The descending line of Coci intersects with aristocratic families from Moldavia, old families such as the Bucioc, Boulesti, and Abazesti.

Representation in postal stamps

Vasile Lupu is depicted in a stamp issued by the Post of Moldova in 1999 and in a stamp of Romania issued in 2019.

Gheorghe Ștefan 

Gheorghe Ștefan (István Görgicze, seldom referred to as Burduja; died 1668 in Szczecin) was Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia between April 13 and May 8, 1653, and again from July 16, 1653 to March 13, 1658; he was the son of boyar Dumitrașcu Ceaur; Gheorghe Ștefan was Chancellor (logofăt) during the reign of Vasile Lupu. His original name was István Görgicze and is mentioned by this name in many sources. However, due to the difficulty of pronouncing his surname and for certain sources to simplify it, they renamed him Georghe Stephan, referring to the origin of his ancestors from medieval Georgia (Imereti area) or Colchis (Kolkhis, land of the legendary Golden Fleece). Nevertheless, all name variations he is mentioned by (Gorgidze, Georgidze, Gergidze, Gergicze, Girgice, Georgicze) mean son of George, representing a historical connection to old Caucasian roots. See sources below.

Biography

Citing Vasile's reliance on his Greek and Levantine retinue, as well as an alleged dishonoring of his wife by the Prince, he allied himself with Wallachian Prince Matei Basarab and Transylvanian ruler George II Rákóczi. He managed to expel Vasile Lupu, but the latter was helped to regain his position by Bohdan Khmelnytsky's force (under the command of the Hetman's son Tymofiy/Tymish), sent to Moldavia to depose him. Tymish and Lupu followed him to Wallachia, but their armies were crushed by Matei Basarab in the Battle of Finta. Gheorghe Ştefan regained Iași and remained on the throne, making sure that the Ottoman power was appeased - he bought his power in Constantinople, having to increase taxes in order to cover the expenses, and pay for the maintenance of his large mercenary force.

The Turks grew weary of Gheorghe Ștefan's natural alliance with Transylvania and Wallachia (cemented in 1655 by the help he offered to Constantin Șerban in crushing the rebellion of the seimeni in Bucharest), in which they saw the seeds of emancipation. The Sultan Mehmed Dördüncü was irritated further by the active part Moldavia played in Polish matters during The Deluge, in the same camp as Sweden, the Cossack Hetmanate, Brandenburg and Wallachia. Mehmed understood this to be a step towards the challenge of his own rule: in 1658, he deposed all three subject rulers (Rákóczi, Gheorghe Ștefan, Constantin Șerban), bringing Gheorghe I Ghica as replacement in Iași. All three decided to resist, but Gheorghe Ștefan was defeated at Strunga (Iași County), being discarded from the alliance in favor of Mihnea III of Wallachia.

After the unsuccessful war, he found friends and supporters in the Kingdom of Hungary, where he became a Hungarian noble by law according to the Act CXXXIII of 1659 (4. §).

The Prince wandered through Poland and Habsburg lands (1662), Brandenburg, Muscovy and Sweden (1665), seeking to find backing for his return. Severely ill and bankrupt, he ended his life in Pomerania. His remains were brought back by his wife, and are thought to be buried at Cașin Monastery.

George Ghica 

George Ghica (Albanian: Gjergj Gjika, Romanian: Gheorghe Ghika) (3 March[citation needed] 1600 – 2 November 1664) founder of the Ghica family, was Prince of Moldavia in 1658–1659 and Prince of Wallachia in 1659–1660.

George Ghica was born in Köprülü, present day Veles, to Albanian parents. At a young age, Ghica was involved in trading and dealings with merchandise. George, along with his father expanded their business and moved to Moldavia. Accumulating a substantial amount of wealth, George became a nobleman and was sent to the Sublime Porte as an ambassador. He was in favour with Vasile Lupu in Moldavia and while in Istanbul, he became close friends with the Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha and helped him on to high positions. As Prince of Wallachia he moved the capital from Târgoviște to Bucharest.

From him are descended the numerous branches of the family which became conspicuous in the history of Moldavia and Wallachia. His son was

Grigore I Ghica.

Constantin Șerban 

Constantin II Șerban (? – 1682) was Prince of Wallachia between 1654 and 1658, illegitimate son to Radu Şerban. According to custom, being born out of wedlock did not disqualify Constantin from becoming prince.

Reign

His rule saw the rebellion of the seimeni mercenaries (1655). In order to deal with the issue, Constantin Şerban allied himself with the Transylvanian Prince George II Rákóczi, including himself in the latter's plans for emancipation from Ottoman rule.

In 1657, the Porte deposed him; Constantin Şerban went on to fight alongside Rákóczi, managing to upset Ottoman presence in Moldavia and briefly occupying the throne in Iaşi, at two different moments (in 1659 and 1661). Paul of Aleppo documents the derelict state of Wallachia during the Ottoman intervention, including an account of the rural population fleeing for the Transylvanian Alps ("where the Wallachians were accustomed to take refuge in time of need").

In 1656, the Prince ordered the building of the Bucharest Metropolitan Cathedral (today: Patriarchal), partly modeled on the Curtea de Argeş Monastery – but larger and more austere. In his honour, the church was given the patronage of Eastern Orthodox Saints Constantine (his namesake) and Helena. In 1658, he set fire to the city, trying to prevent his adversary Mihnea III from making use of its facilities.

Ștefăniță Lupu 

Ştefăniţă Lupu, nicknamed Papură-Vodă (Bullrush Voivode; 1641 – 29 September 1661 in Tighina), son of Vasile Lupu, was Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia between 1659 and 1661, and again in 1661.

Life

Appointed by the Porte as a result of his father's efforts (during their in exile in Istanbul), Ştefăniţă took over the throne at the age of 16. His rule was twice overthrown by former Wallachian Prince Constantin Şerban, who occupied Iaşi and took over as Voivode. These harassments, coupled with Ottoman demands and Tatar raids, caused a deep crisis in Moldavia, worsened by an epidemic of what was thought to be the bubonic plague.

The ensuing famine accounts for Ştefăniţă's moniker: resources would have been so scarce that people resorted to grinding typha, and baking it as bread.

The Prince ended his life due to an illness, while assisting Turks and Tatars in fortifying Budjak against Cossacks.

Eustratie Dabja 

Eustratie (or Istrate) Dabija (? – 11 September 1665) was Prince (Voivode) of Moldavia between 1661 and his death in September 1665.

Rule

As financial collapse had marked the history of Moldavia for several decades running, Dabija is noted for re-introducing the mint in Suceava from his first year of rule. Previous large-scale inflation and devaluation had made Moldavian currency undesirable, so the state had to resort to issuing counterfeit coinage, mainly Swedish and Livonian shillings and riksdalers. Produced with the assistance of Polish mintmaster Titus Livius Boratini, the imitations are, usually, of extremely poor quality. The only proper monetary issue of his rule are the şalăi (in sources that use Latin, they are referred to as solidi), the smallest coin on the market.

Eustratie Dabija assisted the Ottomans during two of their campaigns into Transdanubia against the Habsburgs, in 1663 and 1664.

He was the father of Anastasiya Dabizha.

He was the father of Maria Dabizha. Her family married her to a rising politician of the country, Iordache Ruset, But Maria died in a few years after the wedding.

Mihai Eminescu's poem, Umbra lui Istrate Dabija - Voievod ("Prince Istrate Dabija's shadow"), presents the image of an inebriated and jovial leader ruling over an isolated and bucolic country.

And that's your stories for today. Tomorrow is your Sunday special. We are back Monday whit your stories which will be about Gheorghe IV Duca , Iliaș III Alexandru, Ștefan Petriceicu, Dumitrașcu Cantacuzino, Antonie Ruseț , Constantin Cantemir , Dimitrie Cantemir, Constantin Duca , Antioh Cantemir, Mihai III Racoviță and Nicolae Mavrocordat. 

Until Monday,  tomorrow is your Sunday special and you ...

Be nice and listen to your mummy!

I'm so sorry because another day was passed and I didn't hug you! Please forgive me!

I miss you so much my little penguin 🐧!

I love you infinite ♾️!