Everything about Moldavia totally explained
Moldavia (
Romanian:
Moldova) was a Mediaeval
principality in
Europe, corresponding to the territory between
Eastern Carpathians and
Dnister river. An initially independent and later autonomous state, it existed from the 14th century to 1859, when it united with
Wallachia as the basis of the modern
Romanian state; at various times, the state included the regions of
Bessarabia (with the
Budjak) and all of
Bukovina. The western part of Moldavia is now part of Romania, the eastern part belongs to the independent state of
Moldova, while the northern and south-eastern parts are territories of
Ukraine.
Geography
Historically, Moldavia extended between the
Carpathian Mountains (the historical border with
Transylvania) and the
Dniester River; the
Prut River flowed approximately through its middle from north to south. Lands in
Pokuttya and other portions outside of the Carpathians-Dniester area (such as
Cetatea de Baltă and
Ciceu, both in
Transylvania) were at times politically connected with the Moldavian state, but were never considered part of its territory.
Today Romania controls 43% of the former state's territory, and this part is now 19.5% of Romania's territory.
The relief of the region is mostly hilly, with a range of mountains in the west, and some plain areas in the south-east. Moldavia's most high altitude was
Ineu peak (2279m), also the westernmost point of the principality.
Name
The original and short-lived reference to the region was
Bogdania, after
Bogdan I, the founding figure of the principality. The names
Moldavia and
Moldova are derived from the name of the
Moldova River, however the etymology isn't known and there are several variants:
- a legend featured in Cronica Anonimă a Moldovei links it to an aurochs hunting trip of the Maramureş voivode Dragoş, and the latter's chase of a star-marked bull. Dragoş was accompanied by his female hound called Molda; when they reached shores of an unfamiliar river, Molda caught up with the animal and was killed by it. The dog's name would have been given to the river, and extended to the country.
- the old German Molde, meaning "open-pit mine"
- the Gothic Mulda meaning "dust", "dirt" (cognate with the English mould), referring to the river.
- a Slavic etymology (-ova is a quite common Slavic suffix), marking the end of one Slavic genitive form, denoting ownership, chiefly of feminine nouns (for example: "that of Molda").
- a landowner by the name of Alexa Moldaowicz is mentioned in a 1334 document, as a local boyar in service to Yuriy II of Halych; this attests to the use of the name prior to the foundation of the Moldavian state, and could even be the source for the region's name.
In several early references, "Moldavia" is rendered under the composite form
Moldo-Wallachia (in the same way
Wallachia may appear as
Hungro-Wallachia).
Ottoman Turkish references to Moldavia included
Boğdan Iflak and
Boğdan (and occasionally
Kara-Boğdan - "Black Bogdania").
See also: Name in other languages.
Flags and coats of arms
Image:Moldavian battle flag.jpg|Moldavian 15'th Century battle flag
image:MoldavianOldCoatWijsbergen.jpg|Coat of arms of the Prince of Moldavia, in the Wijsbergen arms book
image:Moldova herb.jpg|Coat of arms of the principality of Moldavia, at the Cetăţuia Monastery in Iaşi
image:MoldavianOldCoatBell.jpg|Coat of arms of the Prince of Moldavia, on the Suceava bell
History
Early history
In the early 13th century, the
Brodniks, a possible
Slavic-
Vlach vassal state of
Halych, were present, alongside the Vlachs, in much of the region's territory (towards 1216, the Brodniks are mentioned as in service of
Suzdal). On the border between Halych and the Brodniks, in the 11th century, a
Viking by the name of
Rodfos was killed in the area by Vlachs who supposedly betrayed him.
(External Link
) In 1164, the future
Byzantine Emperor Andronicus I Comnenus, was taken prisoner by Vlach shepherds around the same region.
Foundation of the principality
Later in the 13th century,
King Charles I of
Hungary attempted to expand his realm and the influence of the
Roman Catholic Church eastwards after the fall of Cuman rule, and ordered a campaign under the command of
Phynta de Mende (1324). In 1342 and 1345, the Hungarians were victorious in a battle against
Tatars; the conflict was resolved by the death of
Jani Beg, in 1357). The
Polish chronicler
Jan Długosz mentioned Moldavians (under the name
Wallachians) as having joined a military expedition in 1342, under
King Władysław I, against the
Margraviate of Brandenburg.
In 1353,
Dragoş, mentioned as a Vlach
Knyaz in
Maramureş, was sent by
Louis I to establish a line of defense against the Golden Horde forces on the
Siret River. This expedition resulted in a polity vassal to Hungary, centered around
Baia (
Târgul Moldovei or
Moldvabánya).
Bogdan of Cuhea, another Vlach
voivode from Maramureş who had fallen out with the Hungarian king, crossed the Carpathians in 1359, took control of Moldavia, and succeeded in removing Moldavia from Hungarian control. His realm extended north to the
Cheremosh River, while the southern part of Moldavia was still occupied by the Tatars.
After first residing in Baia, Bogdan moved Moldavia's seat to
Siret (it was to remain there until
Petru Muşat moved it to
Suceava; it was finally moved to
Iaşi under
Alexandru Lăpuşneanu - in 1565). The area around Suceava, roughly correspondent to
Bukovina, formed one of the two administrative divisions of the new realm, under the name
Ţara de Sus (the "Upper Land"), whereas the rest, on both sides of the
Prut River, formed
Ţara de Jos (the "Lower Land").
Disfavored by the brief union of
Angevin Poland and Hungary (the latter was still the country's
overlord), Bogdan's successor
Laţcu accepted
conversion to
Roman Catholicism around 1370, but his gesture was to remain without consequences. Despite remaining officially
Eastern Orthodox and culturally connected with the
Byzantine Empire after 1382, princes of the
Muşatin family entered a conflict with the
Constantinople Patriarchy over control of appointments to the newly-founded
Moldavian Metropolitan seat;
Patriarch Anthony IV even cast an
anathema over Moldavia after
Roman I expelled his appointee back to Byzantium. The crisis was finally settled in favor of the Moldavian princes under
Alexandru cel Bun. Nevertheless, religious policy remained complex: while conversions to faiths other than Orthodox were discouraged (and forbidden for princes), Moldavia included sizable Roman Catholic communities (
Germans and
Hungarians), as well as
non-Chalcedonic Armenians; after 1460, the country welcomed
Hussite refugees (founders of
Ciuburciu and, probably,
Huşi).
Early Muşatin rulers
Petru I profited from the end of the Hungarian-Polish union, and moved the country closer to the
Jagiellon realm, becoming a
vassal of
Władysław II on
September 26,
1387. This gesture was to have unexpected consequences: Petru supplied the Polish ruler with funds needed in the war against the
Teutonic Knights, and was granted control over
Pokuttya until the debt was to be repaid; as this isn't recorded to have been carried out, the region became disputed by the two states, until it was lost by Moldavia in the
Battle of Obertyn (1531). Prince Petru also expanded his rule southwards to the
Danube Delta, and established a frontier with
Wallachia; his son Roman I conquered the Hungarian-ruled
Cetatea Albă in 1392, giving Moldavia an outlet to the
Black Sea, before being toppled from the throne for supporting
Theodor Koriatovich in his conflict with
Vytautas the Great of
Lithuania. Under
Stephen I, growing Polish influence was challenged by
Sigismund of Hungary, whose expedition was defeated at
Ghindăoani in 1385; however, Stephen disappeared in mysterious circumstances, and the throne was soon occupied by
Yury Koriatovich (Vytautas' favorite).
Alexandru cel Bun, although brought to the throne in 1400 by the Hungarians (with assistance from
Mircea I of Wallachia), shifted his allegiances towards Poland (notably engaging Moldavian forces on the Polish side in the
Battle of Grunwald and the
Siege of Marienburg), and placed his own choice of rulers in Wallachia. His reign was one of the most successful in Moldavia's history, but also saw the very first confrontation with the
Ottoman Turks at Cetatea Albă in 1420, and later even a conflict with the Poles. A deep crisis was to follow Alexandru's long reign, with his successors battling each other in a succession of wars that divided the country until the murder of
Bogdan II and the ascension of
Petru Aron in 1451. Nevertheless, Moldavia was subject to further Hungarian interventions after that moment, as
Matthias Corvinus deposed Aron and backed
Alexăndrel to the throne in
Suceava. Petru Aron's rule also signified the beginning of Moldavia's
Ottoman Empire allegiance, as the ruler agreed to pay
tribute to
Sultan Mehmed II.
Under
Stephen the Great, who took the throne and subsequently came to an agreement with
Kazimierz IV of Poland in 1457, the state reached its most glorious period. Stephen blocked Hungarian interventions in the
Battle of Baia, invaded Wallachia in 1471, and dealt with Ottoman reprisals in a major victory (the 1475
Battle of Vaslui; after feeling threatened by Polish ambitions, he also attacked
Galicia and resisted Polish reprisals in the
Battle of the Cosmin Forest (1497). However, he'd to surrender
Chilia (Kiliya) and
Cetatea Albă (Bilhorod-Dnistrovs'kyi), the two main fortresses in the
Bujak, to the Ottomans in 1484, and in 1498 he'd to accept Ottoman suzereignty, when he was forced to agree to continue paying tribute to Sultan
Bayezid II. Following the taking of
Khotyn and
Pokuttya, Stephen's rule also brought a brief extension of Moldavian rule into
Transylvania:
Cetatea de Baltă and
Ciceu became his
fiefs in 1489.
Under
Bogdan III cel Orb, Ottoman overlordship was confirmed in the shape that would rapidly evolve into control over Moldavia's affairs.
Petru Rareş, who reigned in the 1530s and 1540s, clashed with the
Habsburg Monarchy over his ambitions in Transylvania (losing possessions in the region to
George Martinuzzi), was defeated in Pokuttya by Poland, and failed in his attempt to extricate Moldavia from Ottoman rule – the country lost
Bender to the Ottomans, who included it in their
Silistra eyalet.
Renaissance Moldavia
A period of profound crisis followed. Moldavia stopped issuing its own coinage circa 1520, under Prince
Ştefăniţă, when it was confronted with rapid depletion of funds and rising demands from the
Porte. Such problems became endemic when the country, brought into the
Great Turkish War, suffered the impact of the
Stagnation of the Ottoman Empire; at one point, during the 1650s and 1660s, princes began relying on
counterfeit coinage (usually copies of
Swedish riksdalers, as was that issued by
Eustratie Dabija). The economic decline was accompanied by a failure to maintain state structures: the
feudal-based
Moldavian military forces were no longer convoked, and the few troops maintained by the rulers remained professional
mercenaries such as the
seimeni.
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 which were only lifted in 1829, after the
Treaty of Adrianople (which didn't 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 (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
Greek and
Levantine financiers and officials, who entered a stiff competition with the high boyars over appointments to the Court. As the
manor system suffered the blows of economic crises, and in the absence of
salarisation (which implied that persons in office could decide their own income), obtaining princely appointment became the major focus a boyar's career. Such changes also implied the decline of free peasantry and the rise of
serfdom, as well as the rapid fall in the importance of low boyars (a traditional institution, the latter soon became marginal, and, in more successful instances, added to the population of towns); however, they also implied a rapid transition towards a
monetary economy, based on exchanges in foreign currency. Serfdom was doubled by the much less numerous
slave population, comprised of migrant
Roma and captured
Nogais.
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
Alexandru Lăpuşneanu and
Ioan Vodă cel Cumplit. Ioan Vodă's revolt against the Ottomans ended in his execution (1574). The country descended into political chaos, with frequent Ottoman and
Tatar incursions and pillages. The claims of Muşatins to the crown and the traditional system of succession were ended by scores of illegitimate reigns; one of the usurpers,
Ioan Iacob Heraclid, was a
Protestant Greek who encouraged the
Renaissance and attempted to introduce
Lutheranism to Moldavia.
In 1595, the rise of the
Movileşti 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 deposed Prince Ieremia in 1600, and managed to become the very first monarch to unite Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania under his rule; 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.
The following period of relative peace saw the more prosperous and prestigious rule of
Vasile Lupu, who took the throne as a boyar appointee in 1637, and began battling his rival
Gheorghe Ştefan, as well as the Wallachian prince
Matei Basarab – however, his invasion of Wallachia with the backing of
Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky ended in disaster at the
Battle of Finta (1653). A few years later, Moldavia was occupied for two short intervals by the anti-Ottoman Wallachian prince
Constantin Şerban, who clashed with the first ruler of the
Ghica family,
Gheorghe Ghica. In the early 1680s, Moldavian troops under
George Ducas intervened in
Right-bank Ukraine and assisted
Mehmed IV in the
Battle of Vienna, only to suffer the effects of the
Great Turkish War.
18th century
During the late 17th century, Moldavia became the target of the
Russian Empire's southwards expansion, inaugurated by
Peter the Great during the
Russo-Turkish War of 1710-1711; Prince
Dimitrie Cantemir's siding with Peter and open anti-Ottoman rebellion, ended in defeat at
Stănileşti, provoked Sultan
Ahmed III's reaction, and the official discarding of recognition of local choices for princes, imposing instead a system which relied solely on Ottoman approval – the
Phanariote epoch, inaugurated by the reign of
Nicholas Mavrocordatos. Short and frequently ended through violence, Phanariote rules were usually 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 saw attempts at legislative and administrative modernization inspired by
The Enlightenment (such as
Constantine Mavrocordatos' decision to salirize 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 Kucuk Kaynarca allowed Russia to intervene in favor of Ottoman subjects of the Eastern Orthodox faith - leading to campaigns of
petitioning by the Moldavian boyars against princely politics.
In 1712,
Khotyn 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). Moldavia also lost
Bukovina,
Suceava included, to the Habsburgs in 1772, which 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 1792
Treaty of Jassy forced the Ottoman Empire to cede all of its holdings in what is now
Transnistria to Russia, 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
Bessarabia to the Russian Empire, in 1812 (through the
Treaty of Bucharest).
Organic Statute, revolution, and union with Wallachia
Phanariote rules were officially ended after the 1821 occupation of the country by
Alexander Ypsilantis'
Filiki Eteria during the
Greek War of Independence; the subsequent Ottoman retaliation brought the rule of
Ioan Sturdza, considered as the first one of a new system – especially since, in 1826, the Ottomans and Russia agreed 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 fundament to reigns in Moldavia was created by the
Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, and 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 one 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 Sudiţi).
The first Moldavian rule established under the Statute, that of
Mihail Sturdza, was nonetheless ambivalent: eager to reduce abuse of office. Sturdza introduced reforms (the abolition of slavery,
secularization, economic rebuilding), but he was widely seen as enforcing his own power over that of the newly-instituted consultative Assembly. A supporter of the union of his country with Wallachia and of
Romanian Romantic nationalism, he obtained the establishment of a
customs union between the two countries (1847) and showed support for
radical projects favored by low boyars; nevertheless, he clamped down with noted violence the
Moldavian revolutionary attempt in the last days of March 1848.
Grigore Alexandru Ghica allowed the exiled revolutionaries to return to Moldavia cca. 1853, which led to the creation of
Partida Naţională (the “National Party”), a trans-boundary group of radical union supporters which campaigned for a single state under a foreign dynasty.
Russian domination ended abruptly after the
Crimean War, when the
Treaty of Paris passed the two principalities under the tutelage of
Great European Powers (together with Russia and the Ottoman overlord, power-sharing included the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Austrian Empire, the
French Empire, the
Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, and
Prussia). Due to Austrian and Ottoman opposition and British reserves, the union program as demanded by radical campaigners was debated intensely. In September 1857, given that
Caimacam Nicolae Vogoride had perpetrated
fraud in elections in Moldavia in July, the Powers allowed the two states to convene
Ad-hoc divans, which were to decide a new constitutional framework; the result showed overwhelming support for the union, as the creation of a
liberal and
neutral state. After further meetings among leaders of tutor states, an agreement was reached (the
Paris Convention), whereby a limited union was to be enforced – separate governments and thrones, with only two bodies (a
Court of Cassation and a Central Commission residing in
Focşani; it also stipulated that an end to all
privilege was to be passed into law, and awarded back to Moldavia the areas around
Bolhrad,
Cahul, and
Izmail.
However, the Convention failed to note whether the two thrones couldn't be occupied by the same person, allowing
Partida Naţională to introduce the candidacy of
Alexander John Cuza in both countries. On
January 17 (
January 5,
1859 Old Style), 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). Exactly three years later, after diplomatic missions that helped remove opposition to the action, the formal union created
Romania and instituted Cuza as
Domnitor (all legal matters were clarified after the replacement of the prince with
Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in April 1866, and the creation of an independent
Kingdom of Romania in 1881) - this officially ending the existence of the Principality of Moldavia.
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