- Vasile Lupu
Vasile Lupu (1595—1661) was a
Moldavia nVoivode (Prince) between 1634 and 1653.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
Romania n historians (pointing to theArbanasi nearVeliko Tarnovo ), and the other, first supported with evidence by the German historianFranz Babinger (in a 1927 paper presented to theRomanian Academy ) that he would have in fact been born in the vicinity ofRazgrad . Both are in modernBulgaria , then in theOttoman Empire .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 andLevantine competition. This was because Vasile Lupu had led a rebellion againstAlexandru Iliaş and his foreignretinue , being led intoexile byMoise Movilă (although he was backed by PrinceMatei Basarab and the powerfulPasha ofSilistra ,Mehmet Abza ).His rule was marked by splendor and pomp. He was a builder of notable monuments (the unique Trei Ierarhi church in
Iaşi ), apatron of culture and arts (introducingprinting 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
Wallachia n Matei Basarab, trying to impose his son Ioan to the throne inBucharest . 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 atYedikule prison inIstanbul .Vasile built a strong alliance with
Bohdan Khmelnytsky , marrying his daughter Ruxandra to Tymofiy (Tymish) - thehetman 's son, who went on to fight alongside Vasile Lupu at Finta.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).References
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Gheorghe I. Brătianu , "Sfatul domnesc şi Adunarea Stărilor în Principatele Române", Bucharest, 1995
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