Vasile Lupu
Vasile Lupu (actually Vasile Coci , nickname Lupu , the wolf ; * around 1595 , probably in Arbanassi , Ottoman Empire ; † April 1661 in Constantinople , Ottoman Empire) was ruler of the Principality of Moldova from April 1634 to April 13, 1653 and from April 8 , 1661 May to July 16, 1653.
Life
Origin and early years
Vasile Lupu was of Aromanian origin. The place of birth was Arbanassi , probably near Tarnowo in today's Bulgaria (possibly also Dolno Arbanassi , today Arnautskaja, part of Razgrad). The father Nicolae Coci held court posts in the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The boy received a good Greek education.
From 1519 to 1520 he was Grand Treasurer in Wallachia, in 1625 second Logothet, 1627 cupbearer, 1629 to 1630 hetman and 1631 governor of the lower Vltava.
Around 1625 Vasile Lupu married Tudosca, the daughter of the boyar Costea Bacioc in Jasy . Around 1633 he led an uprising of the boyars against the Wallachian prince Alexandru Ilias .
Prince of Moldova since 1634
Lupu was installed in April 1634 with the help of the Ottoman Empire as the successor to the overthrown Moise Movilă on the Moldovan throne, probably against the will of a part of the local boyars because of his foreign origin. To the Sublime Porte he fulfilled his obligations and paid tribute, relying on local boyars and the clergy. Vasile Lupu installed a number of Greeks in high state offices and thus also increased the influence of Greek culture in Moldova.
Vasile Lupu tried to extend his rule to Wallachia and Transylvania and was temporarily promised the title of Wallachian ruler by the Sultan. In 1637 he undertook an unsuccessful campaign in Wallachia, but had to withdraw again after the intervention of the Ottomans, who supported Prince Matei Basarab . Two years later, in 1639, after an advance on Bucharest , his troops were defeated in a skirmish near the village of Ojogeni (Nanishur). In 1640 there was a counter-attack by a Wallachian army under Ion Movila, which also had to be abandoned on the Trotus-Milcov line after the arbitration of the Ottomans. In the years that followed, relations with Prince Matei Basarab remained neutral; it was only in the last year of the reign in 1652 that there were new disputes.
During his reign, the country achieved significant economic and cultural successes. However, prosperity only benefited the ruling class; for the poor population and the peasantry, his rule was only the continuation of the usual high tax burden and tyranny. During this time, the Cathedral of the Three Kings was built in Jassy . In 1642 Vasile Lupu, in cooperation with the Metropolitan of Kiev, Patrescu Movila, founded the first book printing company in Moldova. In addition, in 1646 he was the first in the principality to introduce a codified law called Carte româneascǎ de învățătură (also Pravila lui Vasile Lupu ).
Between 1639 and 1649, 47 embassies from the Principality of Moldova were sent to Moscow in order to obtain support from the Grand Duchy there towards the Sublime Porte . In addition, he sought good relations with the Kingdom of Poland from 1645 and married his daughter Maria to the Lithuanian Grand Chamberlain and later Grand Hetman Janusz Radziwiłł .
During the Khmelnytskyi Uprising of 1648–1650
In 1648 the Khmelnytskyi uprising against Poland-Lithuania broke out, in which from 1650 Moldovans under the command of Sila Voloshin and Mudrenko formed an alliance with the Zaporozhian Cossacks . However, unlike most citizens, the Moldovan boyars supported the Poles. The hetman Bohdan Khmelnyzkyj had to eliminate a possible threat from the Moldovan ruler and therefore started negotiations with the sultan, which were unsuccessful. Khmelnyzkyj took advantage of a conflict between the Moldovans and the Crimean Tatars, occupied Yasi and forced Vasile Lupu to relent in league with the Tatars.
After the victory of the Poles under King Jan II Casimir over the Cossacks and Crimean Tatars in the Battle of Beresteczko in 1651, Vasile Lupu tried to free himself from the alliance imposed on him. He broke off negotiations with the Cossacks and tried to reach an agreement with the Polish king. Khmelnitsky once again decided to force the sovereign into an alliance with Ukraine, and in the spring of 1652 a Ukrainian army moved to the borders of Moldova. After defeating the Polish forces under General Kalinowski in the Battle of Batoh , Vasile Lupu had to resume negotiations with Khmelnytskyi and demanded a permanent alliance. To consolidate the new alliance, Vasile's daughter Ruxandra married on August 31, 1652 Tymofij Khmelnyzkyj , the son of the ataman of the Cossacks Bohdan Kmelnyzkyj .
Revolts against Vasile Lupu 1652–1653
After the conclusion of this union, however, the Moldovan boyars turned away from their sovereign. The rulers of Wallachia and Transylvania, with whose help a conspiracy was organized by the boyar Gheorghe Ștefan , took advantage of this fact . Transylvanian troops invaded Moldova, conspiracy troops joined them, and Vasile Lupu asked Khmelnytskyi for help. It was very important for Khmelnytsky to keep an ally on the Moldovan throne and he sent a 12,000-strong Cossack army under the leadership of Tymofij Khmelnytskyi. The Moldovan detachments joined the Cossacks, together the army of Gheorghe Ștefan and the Transylvanians under Johann Kemény were defeated in 1652. The rebellious boyars were then supported by Georg II. Rákóczi and Matei Basarab, in April 1653 Vasile had to flee to Poland.
After a brief return to his throne, he tried again to break into Wallachia in May 1653, but the fortunes of war turned against him for good. The Wallachians under Prince Matei Basarab defeated the troops under Tymofij Khmelnyzkyj on May 27, 1653 in the battle of Finta. Vasile Lupu was defeated in the Battle of the Sirca in mid-July and was besieged in Suceava by the troops under Gheorghe Ștefan until October . During the siege, Tymofij was killed and the Cossacks withdrew to Ukraine.
Escape and imprisonment 1653–1661
Vasile Lupu was completely isolated and could no longer claim the Moldovan throne. He fled to the Crimean Tatars, was extradited to the Sublime Porte and imprisoned in Istanbul's Yedikule prison and was not released until 1661, a few months before his death.
His son Ștefăniță Lupu could be prince in Moldova from the end of 1659 to 1661.
Marriages and offspring
Vasile Lupu was first married to Tudosca (1600–1639), daughter of the boyar Costea Băcioc. Children were
- Ioan († 1639)
- Maria (1627–1660), wife of the Grand Hetman of Lithuania Janusz Radziwiłł
- Ruxandra (Roxana, 1632–1687), wife of the Cossack leader Tymofij Khmelnyzkyj
Afterwards Vasile Lupu married the Circassian Ecaterina Cercheza in 1645 (around 1620–1666). Descendants were
- Ștefăniță (1641–1661), Prince of Moldova 1659–1661
- Ioan († 1648)
- Alexandru († 1648)
literature
- Miron Costin : Cruel times in the Vltava. The Moldavian Chronicle from 1591–1661 (= Romanian historians Volume 1), Styria Verlag Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1980. ISBN 3-222-11170-7 .
- Şerban Papacostea: Vasile Lupu . In: Mathias Bernath, Karl Nehring (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas . Vol. 4. Munich 1981, pp. 389-390 online
- Daniel Ursprung: Legitimation of power between tradition and innovation. Representation and staging of rule in Romanian history in the pre-modern era and at Ceaușescu. Aldus Verlag, Brașov 2007. P. 122 , u. ö
Web links
- Vasile Lupu Moldovanii (Romanian)
Individual proof
- ↑ Şerban Papacostea, Vasile Lupu . In: Mathias Bernath, Karl Nehring (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas . Vol. 4. Munich 1981, pp. 389-390 online
- ^ Dariusz Milewski: Between a magnate and a Cossack: two marriages of Vasile Lupu's daughters. In: Series Byzantina. Vol. 6. 2008. pp. 45-64 PDF
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lupu, Vasile |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Coci, Vasile (maiden name); Basil |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Prince of the Principality of Moldova |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1595 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Arbanassi , Ottoman Empire |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 1661 |
| Place of death | Constantinople , Ottoman Empire |