Battle of Verbia
Battle of Verbia | |||||||
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Part of Moldavian Magnate Wars | |||||||
Approximate route of the 1561 invasion | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Iacob Heraclid Olbracht Łaski Moțoc Pierre Roussel Peter Soldicki Anton Székely Captain Vilelle | Alexandru Lăpușneanu | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
≈2,000 total 100 Silesians |
≈25,000 total ≈300–700 |
The Battle of Verbia was the decisive episode in
The battle was preceded by some two years of attempts by Heraclid and his associates to murder or chase out Lăpușneanu. Increasingly unpopular among his subjects, the latter had ultimately lost the confidence of his backers. Verbia finally allowed Heraclid to inaugurate his program as a Protestant ruler in an Orthodox country, cemented by his
By 1563, both Łaski and Moțoc had turned against Heraclid, leaving the path open for usurpation by Ștefan Tomșa. Besieged in Suceava, where he alienated many of his remaining supporters, Heraclid was finally killed by Tomșa's own hand. A mural of his 1561 victory existed on the walls of his palace, but was eventually destroyed. The village witnessed a second battle in 1600, when Michael the Brave managed to oust Prince Ieremia Movilă.
Background
Haraclid (or Heraclid Despot), an adventurer and forger of
Heraclid first saw an opportunity for usurping power in Moldavia at some point before 1558, when he met with
While visiting the
While popular with the Polish religious dissenters, the expedition was viewed with skepticism by Western Protestants: Hubert Languet wrote that Heraclid and Łaski were "brothers in foolishness".[17] It was also viewed with apprehension by regular Moldavians: the Chronicle of Azarie describes these "men of all tongues" as having the "cruelty of lions", while their leader was a "snake".[18] Heraclid's force prepared an invasion through Ruthenia, but Łaski failed to seek approval from Polish King Sigismund II Augustus. Preferring to keep Lăpușneanu as his vassal, Sigismund ordered Mikołaj Sieniawski to arrest Łaski and Heraclid; the latter escaped arrest by staging his own death.[19]
Battle
In 1561, Heraclid adapted his strategy, seeking support from the
A letter by the
The new expedition was justified by Łaski with a speech that he held (or claimed to have held) in front of his troops; in it, he equated Heraclid with
Łaski and Székely led the charge into Moldavia: they routed Lăpușneanu's cavalry units, led by
Consequences
Bălcescu analyses Verbia as evidence that the Moldavian people had ceased fighting "for its nationhood and its liberty", meaning that their "progress in the military art" had entered standstill. As he notes, Lăpușneanu, "for all the numerical superiority of his army, for all the personal courage he showed, lost [at Verbia], being uneducated on how to make proper use of his artillery, unwilling to go on the offensive at the right time, and providing a limp defense once he was under attack."[38] Victory at Verbia gave Despot control over most of Moldavia,[39] though there were still other noted clashes. Ten days after the battle, 260 Janissaries had barricaded themselves in the inner courtyards of Botoșani. They prepared for a standoff with Heraclid's Hungarian mercenaries, who stormed into that city; Hungarians won the day, jumping over the fences and killing the Janissaries "down to the last one."[26] A final battle against Lăpușneanu's loyalists was waged in the Lower Country, at Huși.[40] Chased out and having to seek the protection of Ottoman Muslims, Lăpușneanu reportedly lamented his fate, noting that he would have rather "lived among the wild beasts".[41]
Taking Vaslui on December 2, Heraclid issued his edict of toleration toward all branches of Christianity, ordering an end to his predecessor's attacks on non-Orthodox faiths.[42] The writ was also an invitation to Protestants facing persecution elsewhere in Europe to colonize Moldavia.[43] Over the following months, he was able to prevent Suleiman from organizing a punitive raid on Moldavia by assuring him that he did not intend to shake off Moldavia's submission to the Ottomans.[44] However, he began publicizing his plan to restore ancient virtues in the Danubian Principalities and Transylvania, hinting at the liberation of "Dacia" from this vassalage.[45] He also sent Roussel on a mission to Europe with proposals for an anti-Ottoman crusade.[46] This involved making territorial claims on the Eastern Hungarians, from whom he demanded Ciceu and Cetatea de Baltă; he reportedly groomed a favorite of his to take over as his representative in Transylvania.[47]
Heraclid ruled from Suceava, where he had the Verbia battle depicted on the walls of princely palace; the work did not survive into modern times.[48] His eccentric religious policies, beginning with a ban on divorces,[49] drew immediate suspicion from many of his Orthodox subjects. Tensions flared as he ordered reliquaries and other religious objects to be melted for bullion—though it remains unclear whether this was a display of Protestant iconoclasm or just utilitarian in nature.[50] Moldavians were also angered when the Prince ordered them to pay a ducat for every household.[51] They were driven into open rebellion by signs that he was intending to establish a Protestant dynasty by marrying one of Marcin Zborowski's daughters.[52]
Increasingly isolated after his failed matrimonial alliance with Zborowski, Heraclid called on Łaski and appointed him as his heir.
Most of the mercenary troops deserted Heraclid by late 1562, leaving him with mostly Hungarian troops.[61] Many of them were murdered at Sipoteni, after being promised a celebratory meal by Tomșa.[62] Still controlling Suceava, Heraclid only commanded the loyalties of 656 men.[63] During the siege, he began suspecting his own garrison commander, Captain Devay (also Devan or Dervici), of preparing a treasonous surrender. By ordering Devay executed, he probably pushed his soldiers into contemplating desertion.[64] Heraclid is presumed to have been murdered by Tomșa himself upon surrendering in November 1563.[65] Of the Verbia and Sipoteni survivors, Roussel's Spaniards remained loyal to the Prince to this last day of his reign.[66] A xenophobic massacre was reported by Pandolfi, who notes that Hungarians and Italians were lynched all over Moldavia, once Despot had surrendered; he was probably one of the survivors.[67]
Tomșa and Moțoc failed to gain recognition for their regime, and were finally killed with Ottoman acquiescence.[68] Lăpușneanu, who may have spent time as a galley slave,[69] returned to inaugurate a rule of terror, punishing the boyars for their insubordination. According to a revisionist assessment by historian Virgil Cândea, he "apparently only killed 12 boyars, namely those who had betrayed him at Verbia in 1561".[70] During that interval, Roussel reappeared as the backer of another rival pretender, Ștefan Mâzgă.[71] Verbia was again the site of a major battle in early 1600, at the height of the Moldavian Magnate Wars. A Wallachian force under Michael the Brave defeated here the Moldavian Prince Ieremia Movilă, effecting a short-lived political union between Wallachia, Transylvania and Moldavia.[72]
Notes
- ^ Pippidi (2000), pp. 177, 182
- ^ Theodorescu, p. 2. See also Crăciun, p. 120; Diaconescu, pp. 175, 176, 177; Kesterska Sergescu, p. 261; Teculescu, p. 13
- ^ Pippidi (2000), p. 182
- ^ Crăciun, p. 101
- ^ Denize, p. 53. See also Xenopol, pp. 61–64
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 101, 119–120
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 105–118, 124–126
- ^ Crăciun, p. 120; Xenopol, p. 64
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 74, 76, 81–83, 118–122. See also Diaconescu, pp. 175, 176, 177; Xenopol, pp. 64–65
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 82–83. See also Diaconescu, p. 177; Teculescu, p. 13; Xenopol, pp. 64–65
- ^ Kesterska Sergescu, p. 261
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 83, 86, 88, 120. See also Xenopol, p. 67
- ^ Constantinov, p. 100; Crăciun, pp. 73–74, 118–119; Iorga, pp. 6, 29–30; Kesterska Sergescu, pp. 261–264; Teculescu, p. 14; Xenopol, pp. 66–68, 75
- ^ Teculescu, p. 14
- ^ Kesterska Sergescu, pp. 262–263
- ^ Xenopol, p. 65
- ^ Xenopol, pp. 65–66
- ^ Székely, pp. 65, 67
- ^ Kesterska Sergescu, pp. 262–263. See also Diaconescu, p. 176; Teculescu, pp. 14–15; Xenopol, pp. 66, 67
- ^ Kesterska Sergescu, pp. 266–267
- ^ Constantin Rezachievici, "Evreii din țările române în evul mediu", in Magazin Istoric, September 1995, p. 61
- ^ Pippidi (2000), pp. 178–180
- ^ Iorga, pp. 11–12
- ^ Xenopol, pp. 66–67
- ^ a b c Pippidi (2005), p. 161
- ^ ISBN 978-973-152-136-7
- ^ Bălcescu, p. 140
- ^ Kesterska Sergescu, pp. 263–266
- ^ Teculescu, p. 15
- ^ Xenopol, p. 66
- ^ Xenopol, p. 67
- ^ Xenopol, p. 67
- ^ Xenopol, pp. 67, 69
- ^ Carvatiuc, pp. 119–120
- ^ Diaconescu, pp. 170, 177; Xenopol, pp. 67, 69
- ^ Horst Fassel, Sorin Chițanu, "Botoșanii în jurnalele de călătorie germane", in Hierasus, Vol. I, 1979, p. 338
- ^ Rosetti, p. 390
- ^ Bălcescu, p. 146
- ^ Carvatiuc, p. 119; Constantinov, p. 100; Teculescu, p. 15' Xenopol, p. 67
- ^ Diaconescu, p. 176; Teculescu, p. 16; Xenopol, p. 68
- ^ Székely, p. 63
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 72, 84–85, 123–124
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 72, 122–123; Theodorescu, pp. 54, 74
- ^ Xenopol, pp. 68–70, 75–76
- ^ Diaconescu, p. 168; Kesterska Sergescu, p. 261. See also Teculescu, pp. 15–16; Xenopol, p. 68
- ^ Crăciun, p. 119
- ^ Diaconescu, p. 178; Xenopol, pp. 70–71, 75
- ^ Pippidi (2000), p. 178; Teculescu, p. 15; Theodorescu, pp. 27–28
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 110, 117–118, 125–128, 142; Diaconescu, pp. 170, 177; Xenopol, pp. 71–74
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 131–134, 140–141, 146, 201. See also Constantinov, p. 101; Diaconescu, pp. 170–171, 177; Teculescu, p. 16; Xenopol, pp. 73–74
- ^ Constantinov, p. 101; Diaconescu, p. 177; Teculescu, p. 17; Xenopol, pp. 74–75, 76
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 86, 144; Teculescu, p. 17; Xenopol, p. 76
- ^ Iorga, pp. 29–30
- ^ Kesterska Sergescu, pp. 267–268, 271–272; Teculescu, pp. 16–17; Xenopol, pp. 70–71
- ^ Crăciun, pp. 86, 91, 141–142; Diaconescu, pp. 171–172, 177. See also Pippidi (2005), p. 161
- ^ Crăciun, p. 158. See also Teculescu, p. 17
- ^ Diaconescu, pp. 173, 178; Rosetti, pp. 430–432, 591–592; Teculescu, p. 17
- ^ Constantinov, pp. 100–101; Iorga, pp. 29–30; Kesterska Sergescu, pp. 268–269; Xenopol, pp. 75–77
- ^ Kesterska Sergescu, p. 269
- ^ Iorga, p. 204. See also Kesterska Sergescu, p. 268; Xenopol, p. 77
- ^ Diaconescu, pp. 173, 178
- ^ Diaconescu, pp. 172–173, 177, 178. See also Pippidi (2005), p. 161; Teculescu, p. 17; Xenopol, p. 77
- ^ Teculescu, p. 17. See also Rosetti, p. 591
- ^ Diaconescu, p. 178; Teculescu, p. 18; Xenopol, p. 78. See also Rosetti, pp. 432, 592
- ^ Diaconescu, p. 175; Teculescu, p. 18; Xenopol, p. 78. See also Constantinov, p. 101
- ^ Denize, pp. 53–54
- ^ Pippidi (2005), p. 162
- ^ Constantinov, p. 101; Diaconescu, pp. 175, 178; Xenopol, p. 82
- ^ Pippidi (2000), pp. 182–183
- ^ Virgil Cândea, "Istoria Patriei și Filmul. Alexandru Lăpușneanu. Alexandru Lăpușneanu nu a fost 'așa cum îl știm noi'", in Cinema, Vol. X, Issue 1, January 1972, p. 12
- ^ Iorga, pp. 19, 30–33
- ^ Carvatiuc, passim; Rosetti, pp. 520–521
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