Petru Rareș
Petru Rareș | |
---|---|
Stephen the Great | |
Mother | Maria Răreșoaia |
Religion | Orthodox |
Petru Rareș (pronounced
In his youth he was a fish merchant, but Prince Ștefăniță, grandson of Ștefan cel Mare, on his deathbed, recommended Petru as a suitable contender to the throne, thus acknowledging Petru's blood lineage from Ștefan cel Mare.
Petru exhibited many of his father's qualities: ambition, daring, bravery, piety, artistic taste. However, he was marked by inconstancy and a lack of political instincts.
First period of rule
In the Hungarian battles between
He then shifted his attention to
Events forced him to return to Transylvania. Here, the Ottomans had dispatched an Italian adventurer,
The voivoda Petru raised his head in revolt, but my horse's hoofs ground him into the dust, and I conquered the land of Moldovia.[1]
It is said that, during this flight, Rareș wandered for two weeks in the impassable forests of Transylvania, with difficulty making his way through spiny vegetation and ancient bushes and trees. Overcome by hunger, thirst, shock and despair, he was seen by a group of fishermen. Since he himself had been a fisherman, he was recognized and they sheltered and cared for him. Once he had recovered, his hosts garbed him in fishermen's clothes and showed him a shortcut to his citadel.
Second period of rule
It took over two years and various political changes in Transylvania and Moldavia before Petru was able to gain the sultan's forgiveness and regain the Moldavian throne in early 1541. Entering the country, he captured voievod
In 1541, Rareș caught Transylvanian voievod
On the ecclesiastical and artistic front, he continued the tradition inherited from Stephen the Great. Aided by his wife Jelena, he built and repaired numerous churches, including in Baia, Botoșani, Hârlău, Târgu Frumos and Roman. His most beautiful achievement is considered to be Probota Monastery.
Children
- With Maria, killed 28 June 1529:
- Bogdan (d. 3 September 1534)
- Ana (d. 1545), wife of Wallachian prince Vlad VI Înecatul
- Mircea V Ciobanul
- With Serbian princess Jelena Branković (ca. 1502–1552 (strangled)), daughter of despot Jovan Branković, married to Rareș in 1530:
- Maria (1536-1614) wife of boyar Radu Balică, then of Ioan Movilă of Hudești, whom she bore the princes of Wallachia and of Moldavia, respectively Ieremia Movilă and Simion I Movilă
- Ilie II Rareș, (b. 1531), prince of Moldavia
- Ștefan VI Rareș (b. 1532), prince of Moldavia
- Constantin (1542 – 26 March 1554, Constantinople)
- Ruxandra (d. 1570), wife of Moldavian prince Alexandru IV Lăpușneanu
- With the Saxon Ecatarina of Kronstadt (illegitimate issue):
- Iancu Sasul, prince of Moldavia
- With an unknown woman (illegitimate issue):
- Bogdan Constantin (d. 1573), pretender to the Moldavian throne
References
- ^ Halil İnalcık (1973). The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600. p. 41.
Bibliography
- Constantinescu, Radu (1978). Moldova și Transilvania în vremea lui Petru Rareș: Relații politice și militare (1527-1546). București: Direcția Generală a Arhivelor Statului.
- Denize, Eugen (1995). Țările române și Veneția: Relațiile politice (1441–1541): De la Iancu de Hunedoara la Petru Rareș. București: Editura Albatros.
- Gorovei, Ștefan (1982). Petru Rareș 1527-1538, 1541–1546. București: Editura militară.
- Șimanschi, Leon, ed. (1978). Petru Rareș. București: Editura Academiei.
- Ursu, Ion (1908). Die auswärtige Politik des Peter Rareș, Fürst von Moldau (1527-1538). Wien: Konegen.