Peter VI the Lame ( ro, Petru Șchiopul; 1537 – 1 July 1594) 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. T ...

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 ...

from June 1574 to 23 November 1577.Constantin Rezachevici - ''Cronologia critică a domnilor din Țara Românească și Moldova a. 1324–1881'', Volumul I, Editura Enciclopedică, 2001, p. 432 He also ruled 1 January 1578 to 21 November 1579 and 17 October 1583 to 29 August 1591. He was known as "the Lame" due to a physical deformity. Raised by the Turks in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

and hardly knew of his country of origin before gaining the throne of

Voivode of Moldavia

Anxious to rule like his brother

Alexandru II Mircea Alexandru II Mircea (3 March 1529 – 11 September 1577) was a Voivode or Prince of Wallachia from 1568 to 1574 and 1574 to 1577. He was the father of Mihnea II Turcitul. His parents were Mircea III Dracul and Maria Despina. Raised by the Turks ...

, Petru was elected prince of

in 1574. However, unlike most of his ancestors, he was a weak prince and eventually gave up the throne in order to live comfortably in the west.

Family life

His first marriage to Maria Amirali was arranged in childhood, and failed. Petru soon fell in love with a

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

named Irina who became his mistress since marriage to a Roma was impossible. He had Irina freed from slavery and baptized, hence her nickname "Botezata" (the Baptized). After he gave up the throne, together they moved to the city of

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

in present-day Italy's Tyrol. Sadly for Irina, Peter fell in love with a seductive Circassian named Maria, a lady-in-waiting at his mini-court. Irina died at 25 and was buried in a small cemetery in Bolzano. Their son Ștefăniță never ruled in Moldavia. He was raised as a Catholic and placed in a Jesuit

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

in Innsbruck. He was known to be an obedient student, but died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

in 1585. He is buried beside his parents in Bolzano.

Death

Two years after the death of Irina, Peter died of syphilis. He is laid to rest beside her and on his tombstone is the inscription: "I, Prince Peter, descendant of the royal Corvinus family of Wallachia...who abandoned the throne of my own will, having obtained asylum from the House of Austria, reathed my laston July 1, 1594."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter The Lame Rulers of Moldavia 1594 deaths House of Drăculești Year of birth unknown Royalty and nobility with disabilities Deaths from syphilis