Laurenţiu RĂDVAN

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2024-0018

Abstract. The history of the Princely Palace of Iaşi has often been intertwined with a scourge that has plagued the city since ancient times, fire. Fires were frequent in medieval and pre-modern towns because buildings were mostly wooden, neighborhoods were cramped and there was no adequate fire service. In the past, the palace was destroyed by fire in 1784 and 1827. With all the modernization that took place in the first half of the 19th century, fires continued to strike, but they affected smaller areas or only buildings. Such was the case with the fire that broke out on 16/28 January 1880, which had quite serious consequences over the Princely Palace. We tried to reconstruct the event with the help of archival sources and the press of the time. After the fire was put out with great difficulty, due to the very cold weather and the lack of water (which was freezing), the reconstruction process began, the palace being insured. The work was completed in the fall of 1882, and the institutions previously housed here moved in until the spring of 1883. Among them were the National Archives, the branch in Iaşi, whose evolution we have researched with the available sources. On June 5, 1883, in the presence of King Charles and Queen Elizabeth, the statue of Ştefan the Great, an older project of Iasi’s citizens dating back to 1856, was unveiled in front of the finished palace. As the rebuilt building had many deficiencies, the authorities decided to erect a new one in its place, more in tune with the times in terms of facilities, which is what happened between 1906 and 1925 (the current Palace of Culture).

Keywords: Iaşi; palace; fire; archives; reconstruction.

Mihai CHIPER

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2024-0017

Abstract: The study concerns the construction of the railway network in 19thcentury Romania, in which the region of Moldavia became a relative loser compared to Muntenia (Eastern part of Wallachia). The Ofenheim concession was designed to serve Austria’s interests in obtaining the shortest possible route to the Black Sea or the Danube Mouths, but it bypassed major Moldavian cities (Iaşi, Botoşani), which would have been the profitable option for the regional economy. By contrast, in Muntenia, the Strousberg network connected the main cities (Craiova, Bucharest, Ploieşti) with the port of Brăila. As a result of the government’s weak negotiating position in the Ofenheim concession, Moldova was affected by path dependence, taking nearly four decades to secure a new north-south crossing, parallel to the Siret River (Iaşi-Vaslui-Bârlad-Galaţi), which allowed the transportation of grain from the north to the ports. Additionally, Moldova was disadvantaged by budget allocations for secondary narrow-gauge lines, initiated in 1882 and 1885, which progressed much more slowly than the investments in Muntenia. Lastly, the military strategic reasons, centralized and aiming to limit the theoretical entry routes of the Russian army towards the capital, played a major role in blocking the transport network in Moldova (Bârlad-Galaţi line). Military thinking marginalized Moldova, disregarding its potential and diminishing interest in investing in the regional transport network.

Keywords: railways; regional economy; path dependency; Moldavia; Wallachia.

Mădălin ANGHEL

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2024-0016

Abstract: In the 1840s, the new cultural discourse promoted by the young intellectual elite had a significant impact on society, with important political repercussions. Historians have noted that the final years of Mihail Sturdza’s reign were marked by tense acts of opposition. In this context, a newly uncovered incident from archival documents provides fresh insight into the opposition movements of the time. Ioan Poni, an actor at the National Theatre and a product of the mid-1840s cultural environment, publicly accused the authorities of abuses that had led to a person’s death. This moment is relevant not only for shedding new light on the opposition against the government but also because the nature of the protest action was atypical for the intellectuals of that period. In response, the repressive measures taken by the authorities only heightened tensions and dissatisfaction in the following period.

Keywords: Ioan Poni; 1846; opposition movements; National Theatre; Iaşi.

Gheorghe LAZĂR

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2024-0015

Abstract. The predominantly agrarian nature of Wallachia’s economy in the 18th century largely explains the scarcity of available documentary sources on the food trade in the period. Within this context, the present study explores the methods used by Wallachian merchants in purchasing and distributing food produce, both the ‘basic’ items used in everyday consumption and ‘luxury’ items such as spices and exotic fruit (lemons, pineapples). The study examines the context for the increased trade in the latter items during the period under consideration: the taste for such produce was undoubtedly due to a ‘civilizing’ process among the elites, but also to their desire to display their status through ‘conspicuous consumption’.

Keywords: Wallachia; merchants; food trade; consumption and ‘luxury’; 18th century.

Mariana LAZĂR

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2024-0014

Abstract. This article analyses a charter issued in 1731 by the prince Mihai Racoviţă of Wallachia, confirming to the Cotroceni monastery, one of the most representative monastic settlements in the Romanian space, the possession of villages, estates and serfs that had been initially donated by its founder, prince Şerban Cantacuzino (1678-1688). Moreover, Mihai Racoviţă renewed for the benefit of the monastery the princely revenues provided also by Şerban Cantacuzino. This document is one of the several confirmation charters issued by other Wallachian rulers, like Constantin Brâncoveanu, Ştefan Cantacuzino and Nicolae Mavrocordat, to the Cotroceni monastery. Cotroceni monastery owned one of the most important monastic domains in the country, constituted by donations and acquisitions of land assets, the main contribution being that of the founder. It should be specified that through this charter only the villages and estates donated by Şerban Cantacuzino are confirmed to the monastery, although since then the land domain of the Cotroceni monastery had registered a dimensional growth, through the acquisitions made by the abbots (hegumens) and through donations of the believers.

Keywords: 18th Century; Mihai Racoviţă; Wallachia; Cotroceni monastery; monastic domain.

Ştefan S. GOROVEI

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2024-0013

Résumé: Tout récemment, l’église de Bălineşti (dép. de Suceava) – la fameuse fondation de Ioan Tăutu, grand chancelier de Moldavie entre 1475 et 1511, pendant les règnes d’Étienne le Grand et de Bogdan III – est devenue le centre d’un couvent pour les femmes (décidée pendant l’automne 2021, cette transformation prit forme pendant l’été de l’année suivante). Avant et après cet événement particulièrement important et bénéfique pour l’avenir du monument, on a véhiculé dans l’espace virtuel des „informations” destinées à accréditer l’existence d’un couvent plus ancien, organisé par Calistru, évêque de Rădăuţi (1708–1728), en dépendance du Monastère de Văratec et qui aurait cessé d’exister en 1864, suite à la sécularisation des biens monastiques. Dans une conférence présentée à Suceava en novembre 2022 (éditée entre temps), l’auteur a soutenu l’inexistence d’un tel couvent à Bălineşti aux XVIIIe-XIXe siècles: il n’est pas attesté par les documents connus jusqu’aujourd’hui, ni par les travaux consacrés à cette église. Il ne faut pas exclure, quand même, qu’au cours du XVIIIe siècle le désir d’organiser à Bălineşti un skète soit apparu, vu les difficultés d’entretenir cette église. Poursuivant ses recherches, l’auteur a identifié des documents qui confirment son hypothèse. D’autre part, il a pu préciser que le Monastère de Văratec a possédé une moitié du village de Bălineşti, suite à une donation faite en 1813-1814 par la veuve du dernier propriétaire, le logothète Constantin Paladi, mort le 22 décembre 1798. Cette possession, qui dura seulement un demi-siècle (jusqu’à la sécularisation de 1864), a suggéré à certains „chercheurs” de nos jours la possibilité de l’existence d’un skète subordonné à Văratec. Mais celui-ci n’a pas existé. Le „mystère” du skète de Bălineşti a été élucidé.

Mots-clés: Bălineşti; Văratec; skète; monastère; Tăutu; Paladi; Ciomârtan

Petronel ZAHARIUC

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2024-0012

Abstract: The present study deals with a little-known skete in the area of the former Putna county, the Corni skete, the only one in Moldavia that was placed under the administration of the Docheiariou monastery on Mount Athos. The skete, dedicated to the Entry of the Mother of God into the Church (Vovidenia), was located in the village of Cornii de Jos, on the Siret river, in Putna County (today a village in the commune of Tătăreşti, Bacău County). The founder of the Corni skete was Alexandru Ramandi and his wife Maria. We deal in this study also with the origin of the founder, son of the Greek Constantin Ramandi and Sultana, who climbed the hierarchical ladder in Moldavia from the second postelnic (at the beginning of the reign of Istratie Dabija) to the grand vornic of the Upper and Lower Country (under Dumitraşco Cantacuzino and Constantin Cantemir). He reached the peak of his career when he held the position of caimacam (prince’s lieutenant) when John Sobieski came to Moldavia and when Constantin Cantemir died. Having accumulated wealth and influence, Alexandru and Maria Ramandi founded the Corni skete in Putna county, together with a church in the village of Vânători, near the Piatra market town. The rebuilding of the Corni skete began after 1684, during the reigns of Dumitraşco Cantacuzino and Constantin Cantemir, and it was placed under the obedience of the Docheiariou monastery on Mount Athos in 1689, when the Mira monastery was attached to the Vatopedi monastery on the Holy Mountain. Since the death of its founders, the Corni skete has fluctuated, with less and less information about it. In 1805, the monks of Docheiariou reclaimed the right of possession of the skete, sending to Iaşi the hieromonk and hegumen Anthim, who complained to the Metropolitan bishop Veniamim Costachi, saying that the proofs of ownership had been lost during a “rebellion” that had taken place in the Holy Mountain, and that the state of their “imperial and patriarchal” monastery was difficult. The Metropolitan bishop of Moldavia and Suceava, Veniamin Costachi, and the Bishop of Roman, Gherasim Clip-Barbovschi, accepted that the Corni skete should return to the Docheiariou monastery authority. The Romanian monks who lived in the skete left and, with the support of the people from the surrounding villages and the Roman Diocese, built a new skete in the neighboring village of Cornii de Sus, dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Thus, in the census drawn up during the new Russian occupation (1806-1812), two sketes were recorded in the villages of Cornii de Jos and Cornii de Sus: the one in Cornii de Jos, with only one inhabitant, the hegumen Anthim, and in Cornii de Sus, or nearby, the “Ţâcma skete”. After 1863 the skete was abandoned and disappeared.

Keywords: Corni skete; Docheiariou monastery; Alexandru Ramandi; Moldavia; Putna county.

Daniel MIREA

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2024-0011

Abstract: The intention of this article is to clarify aspects of chronology related to the Wallachian rulers in the years 1480-1482, particularly those related to the early reigns of Vlad called the Monk. He first reigned briefly in the summer of 1481; his second reign began in spring-summer of 1482 and lasted until 1495. Stephen the Great, lord of Moldavia, and Stephen Báthori, voivod of Transylvania, set the antiOttoman lord Vlad the Monk as ruler in Wallachia against Basarab the Younger, favored by the Ottomans. The article also analyzes the events connected with the Ottoman expedition in Transylvania and Moldavia in the preceding years, 14791480. The reign of voivod Mircea in Wallachia in 1480 I have proved to be a historiographical fiction. The clarifications are important for understanding the sequence of events in the Lower Danube region and the attitude of the Porte towards the actors in the context of the death of Mehmet II and the struggle between the new Sultan, Bayezid II, and his brother, Prince Dzem. At the end of 1482 Vlad the Monk accepted the peace proposed to him by the Ottomans through Ali Bey Mihaloğlu. By taking this decision Wallachia once again becomes an ally of the Ottomans. Vlad the Monk established a peace with the Ottomans for himself and his successor to the throne, his son Radul, which lasted for over 25 years. I found out that in May 1483 Sultan Bayezid II (re)invest Ali Bey Mihaloğlu as sanjakbey of Nicopolis. In addition to the chronological restructuring of some events of the years 1480-1482, as a result of the analysis I proposed new dates for 10 documents which have been over time otherwise dated by their editors.

Keywords: Ali Bey Mihaloğlu; Basarab; Bayezid; Mircea; Moldavia; Stephan Báthori; Stephan the Great; Vlad the Monk; Wallachia.

Adrian-Ionuţ GÎLEA

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2024-0010

Abstract: Discovered near the city of Bârlad in the last quarter of the last century, this piece entered the patrimony of the “Vasile Pârvan” Museum in Bârlad without knowing much about the context in which it was found. The maces of this type, as I have shown in the present text, were called by researchers “12-thorn maces” or star-shaped, being found in two variants: one in which they were constructed exclusively of bronze and which presented a certain decoration, and another in which these pieces were simple, without decoration, being made of bronze or iron. Since the mace discovered near the city of Bârlad, Vaslui County (Romania) presents a complex setting, we focused our attention on the first variant, where we tried, based on existing analogies in Ukraine, Poland or Russia, to fit this piece into an approximate chronological segment. At the same time, taking into account the economic links between various territories in Eastern Europe, which were demonstrated following several archaeological excavations, as well as the reference works on this topic, we tried to analyze the possible options by which such a weapon would be could reach the territory between the Prut and the Carpathians.

Keywords: mace; medieval weapons; Bârlad; Moldavia.

Yanko M. HRISTOV

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2024-0009

Abstract: Revealing as much as possible about captivity and slavery is crucial to the study of pre-modern societies, which would otherwise struggle to achieve significant insights. In terms of understanding the fate of war captives in the early Byzantine era, much remains to be done, despite the number of publications regarding the issue. Undoubtedly, the deficits in primary sources pose certain constraints on research into captives and slaves during the transitional period between Late Antiquity and the Early Medieval era. Nevertheless, the long-lasting influence of legal compilations from the reign of Emperor Justinian I, particularly the detailed provisions in Digest XLIX.15, offers valuable insights for further scholarly efforts. The present short remarks aim to trace and highlights the family-legal aspects and challenges arising from captivity, focusing on the resulting changes in the legal and social status of imperial subjects who fell into enemy hands.

Keywords: Captivity; Prisoners of war; Ransom; Postliminium; Digest of Emperor Justinian I the Great (527-565).