Io (voievodal title particle)

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Io is a particle of a title used exclusively by Romanian royalty from both Moldavia and Walachia, preceding their names and the complete list of titles, in all their documents (written or engraved), since the formation of the respective principalities up to the Hohenzollern dynasty in the 19th century.

First used by the Assenid kings, the particle is the abbreviation of name Ioan (English:John, Latin:Ioannes), which comes from the original Hebrew Yohanan, meaning "God has favoured". Thus, the particle has the sense "By the grace of God". It was always spelled with a Latin I and a Greek omega (in both Latin and Cyrillic documents). In some Latin accounts it was replaced by "Iohannes".

[edit] See also

• List of rulers of Wallachia
• List of rulers of Moldavia
• Kings of Romania