Mormintele Cantacuzinilor moldoveni (secolele XVII-XIX)

Mihai-Bogdan ATANASIU

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2023-0005

Abstract: Regarded as a real research direction concerning the history of medieval and pre-modern Moldavian history, research on family burials and necropolises has already brought numerous additions and corrections to the genealogies of the ancient families, as well as to their mentalities and privileges. Through a succession of burials of related individuals, the graves became necropolises of the lineage, which were true expressions of family solidarity and genealogical awareness. With the present study, which in fact represents an unprecedented inventory of the tombs of the Moldavian Cantacuzins of the 17th-19th centuries, we have sought to identify the reasons for the choice of certain burial places, as well as the way in which the representatives of this extremely diverse family (Deleanu, Paşcanu, Şerbeşti, Băleni), became aware of the symbolic dimension of this aspect of everyday life. So far, in the above-mentioned time frame, we have identified more than 100 Cantacuzine burials, both male and female, made in churches and monastic sites in Moldova, but also in various places in Transylvania, Russia, Germany or Greece.

Keywords: Cantacuzino family; tombs; necropolis; genealogy; daily life; Moldavia.