Moldavia

The Franciscan Friar William of Rubruck, who visited the court of the Great Khan in the 1250s, listed "the Blac",^[22] or Vlachs, among the peoples who paid tribute to the Mongols, but the Vlachs' territory is uncertain.^[23][24] Friar William described "Blakia" as "Assan's territory"^[25] south of the Lower Danube, showing that he identified it with the northern regions of the Second Bulgarian Empire.^[26] Later in the 14th century, King

Under

Early Modern Era and Renaissance

Under

However, Moldavia and the similarly affected Wallachia remained both important sources of income for the Ottoman Empire and relatively prosperous agricultural economies (especially as suppliers of grain and cattle – the latter was especially relevant in Moldavia, which remained an under-populated country of pastures). In time, much of the resources were tied to the Ottoman economy, either through monopolies on trade that were only lifted in 1829, after the Treaty of Adrianople (which did not affect all domains directly), or through the raise in direct taxes - the one demanded by the Ottomans from the princes, as well as the ones demanded by the princes from the country's population. Taxes were directly proportional with Ottoman requests, but also with the growing importance of Ottoman appointment and sanctioning of princes in front of election by the boyars and the boyar Council – Sfatul boieresc [ro] (drawing in a competition among pretenders, which also implied the intervention of creditors as suppliers of bribes). The fiscal system soon included taxes such as the văcărit (a tax on head of cattle), first introduced by Iancu Sasul in the 1580s.

The economic opportunities offered brought about a significant influx of

The conflict between princes and boyars was to become exceptionally violent – the latter group, who frequently appealed to the Ottoman court in order to have princes comply with its demands, was persecuted by rulers such as

In 1595, the rise of the Movilești boyars to the throne with Ieremia Movilă coincided with the start of frequent anti-Ottoman and anti-Habsburg military expeditions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into Moldavian territory (see Moldavian Magnate Wars), and rivalries between pretenders to the Moldavian throne encouraged by the three competing powers.

The Wallachian prince Michael the Brave, after previously taking over Transylvania, also deposed Prince Ieremia Movilă, in 1600, and managed to become the first Prince to rule over Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania;^[28][29][30] the episode ended in Polish conquests of lands down to Bucharest, soon ended by the outbreak of the Polish–Swedish War and the reestablishment of Ottoman rule. Polish incursions were dealt a blow by the Ottomans during the 1620 Battle of Cecora, which also saw an end to the reign of Gaspar Graziani.

A period of relative peace followed during the more prosperous and prestigious rule of

During the late 17th century, Moldavia became the target of the

Phanariote rule was marked by political corruption, intrigue, and high taxation, as well as by sporadic incursions of Habsburg and Russian armies deep into Moldavian territory. Nonetheless, they also attempted legislative and administrative modernization inspired by The Enlightenment (such as the decision by Constantine Mavrocordatos to salarize public offices, to the outrage of boyars, and the abolition of serfdom in 1749, as well as Scarlat Callimachi's Code), and signified a decrease in Ottoman demands after the threat of Russian annexation became real and the prospects of a better life led to waves of peasant emigration to neighboring lands. The effects of Ottoman control were also made less notable after the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca allowed Russia to intervene in favour of Ottoman subjects of the Eastern Orthodox faith - leading to campaigns of petitioning by the Moldavian boyars against princely policies.

In 1712, Hotin was taken over by the Ottomans and became part of a defensive system that Moldavian princes were required to maintain, as well as an area for Islamic colonization (the Laz community).

Fragmentation

In 1775, Moldavia lost to the Habsburg Empire its northwestern part, which became known as Bukovina. For Moldavia, it meant both an important territorial loss and a major blow to the cattle trade, as the region stood on the trade route to Central Europe.

The Treaty of Jassy in 1792 forced the Ottoman Empire to cede Yedisan to the Russian Empire, which made Russian presence much more notable, given that the Empire acquired a common border with Moldavia. The first effect of this was the cession of the eastern half of Moldavia (renamed as Bessarabia) to the Russian Empire in 1812.

Organic Statute, 1848 revolution

Phanariote rule was officially ended after the 1821 occupation of the country by Alexander Ypsilantis's Filiki Eteria during the Greek War of Independence; the subsequent Ottoman retaliation led to the rule of Ioan Sturdza. He was considered the first of a new system, since the Ottomans and Russia had agreed in 1826 to allow for the election by locals of rulers over the two Danubian Principalities, and convened on their mandating for seven-year terms. In practice, a new foundation to reigns in Moldavia was created by the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829), beginning a period of Russian domination over the two countries which ended only in 1856. Begun as a military occupation under the command of Pavel Kiselyov, Russian domination gave Wallachia and Moldavia, which were not removed from nominal Ottoman control, the modernizing Organic Statute (the first document resembling a constitution, as well as the first to regard both principalities). After 1829, the country also became an important destination for immigration of Ashkenazi Jews from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and areas of Russia (see History of the Jews in Romania and Sudiți).

The first Moldavian rule established under the Statute, that of

In 1856, under the terms of the

Russian domination ended abruptly after the

.

However, the Convention failed to note whether the two thrones could not be occupied by the same person, allowing Partida Națională to introduce the candidacy of Alexandru Ioan Cuza in both countries. On January 17 (January 5, 1859, Old Style), in Iași, he was elected prince of Moldavia by the respective electoral body. After street pressure over the much more conservative body in Bucharest, Cuza was elected in Wallachia as well (February 5/January 24), this being considered as the day of the unification of Moldavia and Wallachia by means of a personal union.

In 1862, after diplomatic missions that helped remove opposition to the action, the

United Principalities (the basis of modern Romania) was formally created, and instituted Cuza as Domnitor – thus officially ending the existence of the Principality of Moldavia. All other pending legal matters were clarified after the replacement of Cuza with Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in April 1866, and the creation of an independent Kingdom of Romania

in 1881.

Society

Aristocracy

• Nobility
• Ranks and titles

Commoner

• Obște
• Taxes

Law

• Vlach law (common law)
• Byzantine law
• Organic Statute (1831–1858)

Slavery

Further information: Slavery in Romania § Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia

Slavery (

Jagiellon Poland.^[32]

The exact origins of slavery are not known, as it was a common

Cumans, or the slaves of Tatars and Cumans.^[32] While it is possible that some Romani people were slaves or auxiliary troops of the Mongols or Tatars, most of them came from south of the Danube, demonstrating that slavery was a widespread practice. The Tatar slaves, smaller in numbers, were eventually merged into the Roma population.^[33]

Traditionally, Roma slaves were divided into three categories. The smallest was owned by the hospodars, and went by the Romanian-language name of țigani domnești ("Gypsies belonging to the lord"). The two other categories comprised țigani mănăstirești ("Gypsies belonging to the monasteries"), who were the property of Romanian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox monasteries, and țigani boierești ("Gypsies belonging to the boyars"), who were enslaved by the category of landowners.^[34][35]

The abolition of slavery was carried out following a campaign by young revolutionaries who embraced the liberal ideas of the Enlightenment. In 1844, Moldavian Prince Mihail Sturdza proposed a law on the freeing of slaves owned by the church and state. By the 1850s, the movement gained support from almost the whole of Romanian society. In December 1855, following a proposal by Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica, a bill drafted by Mihail Kogălniceanu and Petre Mavrogheni was adopted by the Divan; the law emancipated all slaves to the status of taxpayers (citizens).^[32][34]

Support for the abolitionists was reflected in Romanian literature of the mid-19th century. The issue of the Roma slavery became a theme in the literary works of various liberal and Romantic intellectuals, many of whom were active in the abolitionist camp. The Romanian abolitionist movement was also influenced by the much larger movement against Black slavery in the United States through press reports and through a translation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Translated by Theodor Codrescu and first published in Iași in 1853, under the name Coliba lui Moșu Toma sau Viața negrilor în sudul Statelor Unite din America (which translates back as "Uncle Toma's Cabin or the Life of Blacks in the Southern United States of America"), it was the first American novel to be published in Romanian. The foreword included a study on slavery by Mihail Kogălniceanu.^[32]

Military forces

Main article: Moldavian military forces

Under the reign of

bow. This seldom happened, for such a levée en masse was devastating for both economy and population growth. In the Battle of Vaslui, Stephen had to summon the Large Host and also recruited mercenary

troops.

In the

Teutonic Knights. When making eye-contact with the enemy, the horse archers would withdraw to a nearby forest and camouflage themselves with leaves and branches; according to Jan Długosz, when the enemy entered the wood, they were "showered with arrows" and defeated.^[37] The heavy cavalry consisted of the nobility, namely, the boyars, and their guards, the viteji (lit. "brave ones", small nobility) and the curteni (court cavalry). These were all nominally part of the Small Host. In times of war, boyars were compelled by the feudal system of allegiance to supply the prince with troops in accordance with the extent of their manorial domain

.

Other troops consisted of professional foot soldiers (lefegii) which fulfilled the heavy infantry role, and the plăieși, free peasants whose role was that of border guards: they guarded the mountain passes and were prepared to ambush the enemy and to fight delaying actions.

In the absence of the prince, command was assigned to the Mare Spătar (Grand Sword-Bearer, a military office) or to the Mare Vornic (approx. Governor of the Country; a civilian office second only to the

Voievod

, which was filled by the prince himself). Supplying the troops was by tradition-later-made-into-law the duty of the inhabitants of those lands on which the soldiers were present at a given time.

The Moldavians' (as well as Wallachians') favourite military doctrine in (defensive) wars was a scorched earth policy combined with harassment of the advancing enemy using hit-and-run tactics and disruption of communication and supply lines, followed by a large scale ambush: a weakened enemy would be lured in a place where it would find itself in a position hard or impossible to defend. A general attack would follow, often with devastating results. The shattered remains of what was once the enemy army would be pursued closely and harassed all the way to the border and sometimes beyond. A typical example of successful employments of this scenario is the Battle of Vaslui.

Towards the end of the 15th century, especially after the success of

stagnation of the Ottoman Empire, the force diminished and included only mercenaries such as the seimeni

.

The 1829

1848 Moldavian revolution

.

Fleet

An early mention of a Moldavian

Wallachian ruler Michael the Brave establish his control over the Chilia branch of the Danube and Dobruja

.

The Treaty of Adrianople provided for a Moldavian self-defense naval force, to be composed of

Prut River

.

Geography

See also: Moldavian Plateau

Geographically, Moldavia is limited by the

Prut River

flows approximately through its middle from north to south.

Of late 15th century Moldavia, with an area of 94,862 km² (36,626 sq mi),

Republic of Moldova

(31.7%), and Ukraine (22.7%). This represents 88.2% of the Republic of Moldova's surface, 18% of Romania's surface, and 3.5% of Ukraine's surface.

The region is mostly hilly, with a range of mountains in the west, and plain areas in the southeast. Moldavia's highest altitude is Ineu peak (2,279 m), which is also the westernmost point of the region.

The parts of Moldavia populated by Csángó Hungarians are sometimes referred to as Csángó Land.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Moldavia

Population

Historical population

See also: Demographic history of Romania, Bessarabia § Population, Bukovina § Historical population, Chernivtsi Oblast § Population and demographics, and Budjak § Ethnic groups and demographics

Contemporary historians estimate the population (historically referred to as Moldavians) of the Moldavian Principality in the 15th century, at between 250,000 and 600,000 people,^[39][40] but an extensive census was first conducted in 1769–1774.^[41]

In 1848, the northwestern part, annexed in 1775 by the Habsburg Empire, Bukovina, had a population of 377,571; in 1856, the eastern half of Moldavia, Bessarabia, annexed in 1812 by the Russian Empire, had a population of 990,274, while the population of Moldavia proper (the western half), in 1859, was 1,463,927.^[42]

The contemporary population peaked in 1992, at 10.07 million inhabitants in all three historical divisions (Western Moldavia, Bessarabia and Bukovina). As of 2011, the population was 8.63 million people, of which 3.67 million were in Western Moldavia, 3.86 million in Bessarabia and 1.08 million in Bukovina.^[38]

Cities

The largest cities (as per last censuses) and

metropolitan areas in the Moldavia region are:^{[citation needed}

]

• Romania:
  • Iași – 290,422 (465,477 in metropolitan area) - capital of Moldavia between 1564 and 1859
  • Galați – 249,432 (323,563)
  • Bacău – 144,307 (223,239)
  • Botoșani – 106,847 (144,617)
  • Suceava – 92,121 (144,100) – capital of Moldavia between 1388 and 1564
  • Piatra Neamț – 85,055 (131,334)
  • Focșani – 79,315 (125,699)
• Ukraine:
  • Chernivtsi (Cernăuți) – 240,600
  • Izmail (Ismail) – 84,815
• Moldova:
  • Chișinău – 532,513 (662,836 in metropolitan area)
  • Bălți – 97,930 (102,457)
  • Tighina (Bender) – 91,882

Education

In 1562, the so-called

Schola Latina (a Latin Academic College) was founded in Cotnari, near Iași, a school which marked the beginnings of the organized humanistic education institutions in Moldavia.^[43]

The first institute of higher learning that functioned on the territory of Romania was

Princely Academy, in 1707. The first high education structure in Romanian was established in the autumn of 1813, when Gheorghe Asachi

laid the foundations of a class of engineers, its activities taking place within the Greek Princely Academy.

After 1813, other moments marked the development of higher education in Romanian, regarding both humanities and the technical science. Academia Mihăileană, founded in 1835 by Prince Mihail Sturdza, is considered the first Romanian superior institute. In 1860, three faculties part of the Academia Mihăileană formed the nucleus for the newly established University of Iași, the first Romanian modern university.^[45]

Culture

Literature

• Cazania lui Varlaam
• Descriptio Moldaviae
• Chronicle of Huru
• Grigore Ureche
• Miron Costin
• Nicolae Costin
• Ion Neculce
• Dimitrie Cantemir
• Gheorghe Asachi

Magazines and newspapers

• Alăuta Românească
• Albina Românească
• Dacia Literară
• Propășirea
• România Literară
• Steaua Dunării
• Zimbrul și Vulturul

Theatre

• The Great Theatre/National Theatre

Architecture

• Moldavian style
• World Heritage Sites:
  • Churches of Moldavia
  • Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans
  • Rudi Geodetic Point (as part of the Struve Geodetic Arc)
  • Tentative list:
    • Neamț Monastery
    • Trei Ierarhi Monastery
    • The Cultural Landscape Orheiul Vechi (Old Orhei)
    • The Typical Crernozem Soils of the Balti Steppe
    • Slătioara Secular Forest

See also

• History of the Republic of Moldova
• History of Romania
• Romanian Old Kingdom
• Kingdom of Romania
• Historical regions of Romania
• List of rulers of Moldavia
• Military history of Romania
• Balkan–Danubian culture
• Bulgarian lands across the Danube

Notes

1. ^ As written chancellery language until it was replaced by Romanian starting with the 16th century. Used for liturgical purposes until the end of the 18th century.
2. ^ As chancellery and cultural language, especially during the Phanariot period of time.
3. ^ Historian Ilona Czamańska [pl] states that this name is "undoubtedly associated with Bogdan I," the first voivode of Moldavia in the 1360s.^[11]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Moldavia at britannica.com
2. ^ ^{a b} Protectorate at britannica.com
3. ISBN 973-95711-2-3
4. ^ "Tout ce pays: la Wallachie, la Moldavie et la plus part de la Transylvanie, a esté peuplé des colonies romaines du temps de Trajan l'empereur... Ceux du pays se disent vrais successeurs des Romains et nomment leur parler romanechte, c'est-à-dire romain... " in Voyage fait par moy, Pierre Lescalopier l'an 1574 de Venise a Constantinople, in: Paul Cernovodeanu, Studii și materiale de istorie medievală, IV, 1960, p. 444
5. ^ Panaitescu, Petre P. (1965). Începuturile şi biruinţa scrisului în limba română (in Romanian). Editura Academiei Bucureşti. p. 5.
6. ISBN 9780230583474
   .
7. ISBN 9780313274978
   .
8. doi:10.1163/18763308-90001031
   .
9. ISBN 978-90-411-3179-9
   .
10. ISSN 2065-1619
    .
11. doi:10.14746/bp.2023.30.5
12. ^ "Where did the name Moldova come from?". Archived from the original on January 27, 2010.
13. ^ "Carpathian Mountains | Fast Travel". November 3, 2020. Archived from the original on September 19, 2011.
14. ^ L. Bieltz, "MOLDER LANT — o legendă inedită pe monedele emise de Ștefan I — 1394-1399" in Cercetări numismatice 7(1996), p. 155–157.
15. ^ K. Pârvan, "Aspects of Moldavia’s coinage at the end of the fourteenth century", in 130 Years Since the Establishment of the Modern Romanian Monetary System, Bucharest, 1997, p. 204–214.
16. ^ Ion Ciortan, Măriuca Radu, Octavian Ion Penda, Descriptio Romaniae (cartographie), National Museum of Maps & old books, Autonomous regie Monitorul oficial, Bucharest 2004
17. ^ Octavian-Liviu Șovan, Zorile creștinismului în nord-estul Moldovei-repere arheologice, Revista Forum cultural, Anul V, nr.4, decembrie 2005 (19)
18. ^ A.V. Boldur, Istoria Basarabiei, Editura V. Frunza, p 111-119
19. ^ Spinei 1986, p. 57. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSpinei1986 (help)
20. ^ "Bolokhovians". Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
21. ^ "Picture Stone - Sjonhem Stone". Archived from the original on 2006-06-16. Retrieved 2006-06-16.
22. ^ Jackson 2009, p. 139 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFJackson2009 (help)
23. ^ Sălăgean 2005, p. 196. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSălăgean2005 (help)
24. ^ Spinei 1986, p. 131. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSpinei1986 (help)
25. ^ Jackson 2009, p. 30 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFJackson2009 (help)
26. ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 30. sfn error: no target: CITEREFVásáry2005 (help)
27. ^ The Annals of Jan Długosz, p. 273
28. ^ Michael the Brave at Encyclopædia Britannica
29. ISBN 978-0-8476-9809-7
    .
30. ^ "A document issued by Michael the Brave in 1600, in Iași". 28 June 2012.
31. ^ King, p.22-23; Hitchins, p. 41
32. ^
    ISBN 963-9241-84-9
33. ^ Ștefan Ștefănescu, Istoria medie a României, Vol. I, Editura Universității din București, Bucharest, 1991 (in Romanian)
34. ^
    ISBN 973-28-0523-4
    (in Romanian)
35. ISBN 1-902806-07-7
36. ^ The Annals of Jan Długosz, p. 566
37. ^ Długosz, p. 438
38. ^
    ISSN 2285-9675. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 2019-11-04. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
39. ^ East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500, Jean W. Sedlar, page 255, 1994
40. ISBN 973-95477-3-7
    , Romanian Edition
41. ^ "First activities of population counting conducted on the Romanian territory of today".
42. ^ "Moldavians at the 2002 census".
43. ^ "Schola Latina - The Foundation of the first School in which mathematics was taught in Roumania". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
44. ^ "History of Education". Archived from the original on 2015-06-11. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
45. ^ "History of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași".

• Gheorghe I. Brătianu, Sfatul domnesc și Adunarea Stărilor în Principatele Române, Bucharest, 1995
• Vlad Georgescu, Istoria ideilor politice românești (1369-1878), Munich, 1987
• Ștefan Ștefănescu, Istoria medie a României, Bucharest, 1991

External links

• Media related to Principality of Moldavia at Wikimedia Commons
• Dimitrie Cantemir-Descrierea Moldovei
• The Princely Court in Bacău – images, layouts (at the Romanian Group for an Alternative History Website)
• Original Documents concerning both Moldavia and other Romania Principalities during the Middle Ages (at the Romanian Group for an Alternative History Website)
• Pilgrimage and Cultural Heritage Tourism in Moldavia
• Painted Churches in Bukovina
• Medieval Coins of Moldavia and Wallachia (in Romanian and English)