Lațcu was

Voivode of Moldavia This is a list of monarchs of Moldavia, from the first mention of the medieval polity east of the Carpathian Mountains, Carpathians and until its disestablishment in 1862, when Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia, it united with Wallachia, the ot ...

from c. 1367 to c. 1375. He converted to the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

faith and attempted to strengthen his realm's autonomy by establishing a Roman Catholic diocese directly subordinated to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. However, he seems to have accepted the suzerainty of King Louis I of Hungary and Poland in his last years.

Life

Lațcu was the son of

Bogdan I of Moldavia Bogdan I, commonly known as Bogdan the Founder (), was the first independent ruler, or voivode, of Moldavia in the 1360s. He had initially been the voivode, or head, of the Vlachs in the Voivodeship of Maramureș in the Kingdom of Hungary. Howe ...

, the ''

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

'' achieving

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

's independence of Louis I. He succeeded his father around 1367. Other sources mention that he deposed his nephew

Petru I of Moldavia Petru (Peter) I may have been a Voivode (prince) of Moldavia from the end of 1367 to after July 1368. Several historians, including Constantin Rezachevici and Ioan Aurel Pop, believe him to have been the son of prince Ştefan, oldest son of voivo ...

in 1368. After

Louis I of Hungary Louis I, also Louis the Great (; ; ) or Louis the Hungarian (; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. He was the first child of Charles I of Hungary and his wife, Elizabeth of ...

inherited Poland from his uncle,

Casimir III of Poland Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

, in 1370, he could put Lațcu under pressure from both the east and the north. The contemporaneous John of Küküllő said that the voivodes of Moldavia accepted the suzerainty of

, suggesting that Lațcu (or already his father) had been forced to yield to the king. However, John of Küküllő did not determine the date of the submission, for which historiand Dennis Delatant says that " ere is nothing to suggest Hungarian suzerainty was restored". In 1369 he converted to the

faith. Lațcu sent two

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friars of Polish origin to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in early 1370 in order to inform Pope Urban V of his decision to convert from

Orthodoxy Orthodoxy () is adherence to a purported "correct" or otherwise mainstream- or classically-accepted creed, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical co ...

to the Roman Catholic faith. He also asked the Pope to establish a Roman Catholic

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

at his seat in

Siret Siret (; ; ; ; ) is a town, municipality and former Latin bishopric in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Siret is the 11th largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 6,708 ...

. Historian Deletant says that Lațcu must have decided to convert Catholicism primarily for political reasons, because he approached the Holy See directly, without the mediation of Hungarian prelates. The

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

soon appointed three prelates ( Jan Očko of Vlašim, Archbishop of Prague, Przecław of Pogorzela, Bishop of Wrocław, and Florian Mokrski, Bishop of Cracow) to examine the state of affairs in the principality. Their report was received by his successor,

Pope Gregory XI Pope Gregory XI (; born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death, in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pope. In 1377, ...

who authorized Florian of Mokrsko to consecrate the Polish Andrzej Jastrzębiec bishop with his see in Siret in 1371. The new diocese was directly subordinated to the Holy See. The pope bestowed on him the title "duke of the Moldavian parts or of the people of Wallachia" ''(dux Moldaviensis partium seu nationis Wlachie)''. Lațcu's wife, Ana, and his daughter, Anastasia, did not convert to Catholicism.

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (; ; ; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

signed a deed in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

on 14 March 1372, declaring that he acknowledged the rights of Louis I of Hungary in Hungary, Poland and other countries, including Moldavia. The exact reasons of Charles's act are unknown;. Historian J. Sýkora theorizes that Lațcu had sought an alliance against the Hungarian monarch with

. The Romanian historian Victor Spinei argues that Lațcu took advantage of his peaceful relations with Louis I by expanding his authority towards the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coasts in the 1370s. In contrast with him, Ioan-Aurel Pop suggests that Louis I prepared an expedition against Lațcu in 1374. The exact date of his death is unknown. He died either around 1374 or in 1375. Lațcu was interred in the Orthodox monastery at Rădăuți alongside his father. Little information is known of the events that directly followed his death. According to the 15th-century ''Lithuanian-Ruthenian Chronicle'', the Vlachs elected a prince, George Koriatovich, voivode, according to some historians at an unspecified date. Other stated that George became ruled a part of Moldavia in 1374. According to historian A. Boldur Lațcu's daughter Anastasia married to George Koriatovich and their children were Iuga Ologul and Anna, wife of

Alexander I of Moldavia Alexander I, commonly known as Alexander the Good (; – 1 January 1432) was Voivode of Moldavia between 1400 and 1432. He was the son of Roman I and succeeded Iuga to the throne. As ruler he initiated a series of reforms while consolidating ...

. This hypothesis was widely criticized as were not based on sources. In fact, Anastasia married Roman I of Moldavia, and had a son together,

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Life

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Further reading