Ilie II Rareş (also referred to as Iliaş; 1531 – January 1562) was
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
of
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...
between 1546 and 1551.
He succeeded his much more accomplished father
Petru IV Rareş on September 3, 1546, when he was aged only 15, and proceeded to rule for almost 5 years. He became openly gay with his Turkish boyfriend and adviser Hadâr. His sexual exploits, lavish lifestyle, the increasing influence of his Turkish entourage and harsh taxation have caused mounting discontent & opposition among his boyars and even admonishment from his mother
Elena Ecaterina Rareș
Doamna Elena Ecaterina Rareş ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Бранковић; died 1553) was a princess consort of Moldavia by marriage to Peter IV Rareș. She was regent in Moldavia in 1551–1553 on the behalf of her son Ştefan VI Rareş. She was ...
. Chronicles mention that all came to a boiling point after he had executed unjustifiably several boyars, highest among them the hetman (general) and portar (governor) Petru Vartic of capital city of Suceava on April 7, 1548 causing widespread horror and consternation among the ruling class. Tens of boyar families sought refuge in Transylvania & Poland. He further compromised his position by removing the bishop Macarie of Roman (town in central Moldavia) in 1549 but he had to reinstate him in early 1551. At the same time he made a large donation to
Voroneț Monastery, where Vartic was buried in a gesture of reconciliation.
In the last months of his reign, as he increasingly realized that his political situation was becoming untenable, he amassed as much treasure as he could and stated publicly that he wished to go to the sultan in Istanbul with the due tribute and to persuade him to decrease the fiscal obligations of the country. 100 boyars accompanied him to Istanbul to ensure that he would at least pay that years tribute from the treasury that he carried with him.
He renounced the throne in front of the sultan Suleiman the Magnificent,
converted to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, took the name ''Mehmet'' on May 1551. The sultan passed the throne to his younger brother Stefan VI at the request of the Moldavian boyars who had accompanied him. He then lived for several years in Istanbul, then was banished to
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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(in present-day
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
) where he eventually died in 1562 at age 31 in unclear circumstances.
His name and face were erased from church inscriptions and frescoes in Moldavia due his apostasy.
See also
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rares, Ilie 02
Converts to Islam from Eastern Orthodoxy
Former Moldovan Orthodox Christians
Rulers of Moldavia
1562 deaths
1531 births
House of Bogdan-Mușat
Moldovan people of Serbian descent
de:Iliaș I.