![010 - Alexandru cel Bun si doamna sa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/010_-_Alexandru_cel_Bun_si_doamna_sa.jpg)
Alexander the Good ( ro, Alexandru cel Bun or ''Alexandru I Mușat''; c. 1375 – 1 January 1432) was a
Voivode
Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...
(
Lord
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
) of
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...
, reigning between 1400 and 1432,
son of
Roman I Mușat. He succeeded
Iuga to the throne,
and, as a ruler, initiated a series of reforms while consolidating the status of the Moldavian Principality.
Internal politics
Alexander expanded the
bureaucratic
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
system by creating the "Council of the Voivode", the
Chancellory and by adding (in 1403) the institution of ''
Logofăt'' – Chancellor of the official Chancellery.
During his reign, he introduced new fiscal laws by adding commercial
privileges to the traders of
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...
(1408) and
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
(1409), improved the situation of trading routes (especially the one linking the port of
Cetatea Albă
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ( uk, Бі́лгород-Дністро́вський, Bílhorod-Dnistróvskyy, ; ro, Cetatea Albă), historically known as Akkerman ( tr, Akkerman) or under different names, is a city, municipality and port situated on ...
to
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
), strengthened the forts by guarding them and expanded the Moldavian ports of Cetatea Albă and
Chilia.
He also had a role in ending the conflict of the Moldavian
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...
with the
Patriarch of Constantinople. He built
Bistrița Monastery
The Bistrița Monastery ( ro, Mănăstirea Bistrița, ) is a Romanian Orthodox monastery located 8 km west of Piatra Neamț. It was dedicated in 1402, having as original ctitor the Moldavian Voivode Alexandru cel Bun whose remains are buri ...
where he is buried and continued the building of
Neamț Monastery
The Neamț Monastery ( ro, Mănăstirea Neamț) is a Romanian Orthodox religious settlement, one of the oldest and most important of its kind in Romania. It was built in the 15th century, and it is an example of medieval Moldavian architecture. ...
, which was started in the previous century.
Foreign affairs
The main concern of Alexander the Good was to defend the country in wars against superior armies. In order to do that, he forged a system of alliances with
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...
and Poland, generally against
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
(although he had been backed to the throne by
Sigismund of Hungary
Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1 ...
). In 1402, he was sworn
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
of
Jogaila, the
King of Poland.
The treaty was renewed in 1404, 1407, 1411 and 1415.
![Alexander I of Moldavia (Alexandru cel Bun)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Alexander_I_of_Moldavia_%28Alexandru_cel_Bun%29.JPG)
Alexander participated in two battles against the
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...
: in 1410 at
Grunwald and in 1422 at
Marienburg. In 1420, he also defended Moldavia against the first incursion by
Ottomans at
Cetatea Albă
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ( uk, Бі́лгород-Дністро́вський, Bílhorod-Dnistróvskyy, ; ro, Cetatea Albă), historically known as Akkerman ( tr, Akkerman) or under different names, is a city, municipality and port situated on ...
. He also got involved in the power struggles of Wallachia by helping
Radu II Prasnaglava in 1418 and 1419 and
Alexandru I Aldea
Alexander I Aldea (1397 – December 1436) was a Voivode of Wallachia (1431–1436) from the House of Basarab, son of Mircea the Elder. He came to rule Wallachia during an extremely turbulent time when rule of the country changed hands by violenc ...
in 1429, mostly in order to prevent the capture of Chilia.
Due to a territorial claim of Poland and the previous failure of the Polish king to fulfill his part of the vassalic treaty during an
Ottoman attack in 1420, Alexander launched an attack on Poland during the
Lithuanian Civil War (1431–1435) Lithuanian Civil War may refer to:
* Lithuanian Civil War (1381–1384), a war between Jogaila and his uncle Kęstutis with son Vytautas
* Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392), a war between Jogaila and his cousin Vytautas
* Lithuanian Civil War (1432 ...
. The attack ended with the
Treaty of Suceava on 18 November 1431.
Slavery
Alexander made the first documented confirmation of the
gypsy
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
slavery in Moldova, giving the monastery of Bistrița 31 gypsy families along with some cattle.
[
]
Personal life
Alexandru cel Bun had four legitimate wives: Margareta Loszonc, Ana Neacşa,
Rymgajla (daughter of
Kęstutis
Kęstutis ( la, Kinstut, ; – 3 or 15 August 1382) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was the Duke of Trakai and governed the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 1342–1382, together with his brother Algirdas (until 1377), and with his nephew Jogaila ...
and sister of
Vytautas the Great
Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...
of
Lithuania; divorced in 1421), and Mariana. He had several children:
By Margareta:
* Roman
* Vasilisa
By Ana Neacşa:
*
Iliaș
By Margareta or Ana:
* Anastasia
* Maria
By Mariana:
*
Petru III
* Alexandru
* Bogdan
By Stanca, a concubine:
*
Stephen II
Unknown mother:
*
Peter Aaron
*
Bogdan II (father of
Stephen the Great)
* Cneajna, who married
Vlad II Dracul
Vlad II ( ro, Vlad al II-lea), also known as Vlad Dracul () or Vlad the Dragon (before 1395 – November 1447), was Voivode of Wallachia from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He is internationally known as the father of Vlad the Im ...
He died on January 1, 1432, and was buried in the
Bistriţa Monastery.
See also
Notes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander 01 of Moldavia
Rulers of Moldavia
1370s births
1432 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
People in the Battle of Grunwald
15th-century Romanian people
House of Bogdan-Mușat
Burials at Bistrița Monastery