Vasile Lupu
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- For the politiican, see Vasile Lupu (Romanian politician).
Vasile Lupu (1595—1661) was a Moldavian Voivode (Prince) between 1634 and 1653.
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[edit] Early life
The place of his birth is disputed: mentions of a village named Arbanasi are unclear, leading to distinct opinions — one held by many modern-day Romanian historians (pointing to the Arbanasi near Veliko Tarnovo), and the other, first supported with evidence by the German historian Franz Babinger (in a 1927 paper presented to the Romanian Academy) that he would have in fact been born in the vicinity of Razgrad. Both are in modern Bulgaria, then in the Ottoman Empire.
[edit] Reign
Although widely seen as Albanian in his time, and having held high office under Miron Barnovschi, Vasile Lupu was elected Prince as a sign of indigenous boyars' reaction against Greek and Levantine competition. This was due to the fact that Vasile Lupu had led a rebellion against Alexandru Iliaş and his foreign retinue, being led into exile by Moise Movilă (although he was backed by Prince Matei Basarab and the powerful Pasha of Silistra, Mehmet Abza).
His rule was marked by splendor and pomp. He was a builder of notable monuments (the unique Trei Ierarhi church in Iaşi), a patron of culture and arts (introducing printing presses, founding the Academia Vasiliană upper school - that was to last, as the "Şcoala mare domnească", until 1821). These acts also had negative effects, the tax burdens being increased to an intolerable level.
After relations between the two Princes soured, Vasile Lupu spent much of his reign fighting the Wallachian Matei Basarab, trying to impose his son Ioan to the throne in Bucharest. His army was defeated twice in 1639 (at Ojogeni and Nenişori) and a third time, at Finta, in 1653. After this last battle, the Moldavian boyars rebelled and replaced him with the Wallachian favorite, Gheorghe Ştefan. Vasile Lupu went into exile and died while being kept in Turkish custody at Yedikule prison in Istanbul.
Vasile built a strong alliance with Bohdan Khmelnytsky, marrying his daughter Ruxandra to Tymofiy (Tymish) - the hetman's son, who went on to fight alongside Vasile Lupu at Finta.
[edit] Laws and reforms
Vasile Lupu introduced the first codified, written law in Moldavia (1646, published in Iaşi). Known as the Carte româneascǎ de învăţătură ("Romanian book of learning") or Pravila lui Vasile Lupu ("Vasile Lupu's code"), the document does not go against Byzantine tradition, being a translated review of customs (and almost identical to its Wallachian contemporary equivalent).
[edit] References
- Gheorghe I. Brătianu, Sfatul domnesc şi Adunarea Stărilor în Principatele Române, Bucharest, 1995
| Preceded by Moise Movilă |
Prince/Voivode of Moldavia 1634-1653 |
Succeeded by Gheorghe Ştefan |
| Preceded by Gheorghe Ştefan |
Prince/Voivode of Moldavia 1653 |
Succeeded by Gheorghe Ştefan |
