This is a list of monarchs 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 ...

, from the first mention of the medieval polity east of the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...

and until its disestablishment in 1862, when it united 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 so ...

, the other Danubian Principality, to form the modern-day state of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Notes

Dynastic rule is hard to ascribe, given the loose traditional definition of the ruling family (on principle, princes were chosen from any branch, including a previous monarch's bastard sons – being defined as ''os de domn'' – "of

domn ''Domnitor'' (Romanian Plural, pl. ''Domnitori'') was the official title of the ruler of Romania between 1862 and 1881. It was usually translated as "prince" in other languages and less often as "grand duke". Derived from the Romanian language ...

marrow", or as having ''hereghie'' – "

heredity Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

" (from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''hereditas''); the institutions charged with the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

, dominated by the

boyars A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars were sec ...

, had fluctuating degrees of influence). The system itself was challenged by

usurper A usurper is an illegitimate or controversial claimant to power, often but not always in a monarchy. In other words, one who takes the power of a country, city, or established region for oneself, without any formal or legal right to claim it as ...

s, and became obsolete with the Phanariote epoch, when monarchs were appointed by the Ottoman

Sultans Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

. Between 1821 and 1862, various systems combining election and appointment were put in practice. Moldavian monarchs, like Wallachian and other

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

an monarchs, bore the titles of ''Voivode'' or/and

Hospodar Hospodar or gospodar is a term of Slavonic origin, meaning "lord" or "master". Etymology and Slavic usage In the Slavonic language, ''hospodar'' is usually applied to the master/owner of a house or other properties and also the head of a family. ...

(when writing in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, the term

Domn ''Domnitor'' (Romanian Plural, pl. ''Domnitori'') was the official title of the ruler of Romania between 1862 and 1881. It was usually translated as "prince" in other languages and less often as "grand duke". Derived from the Romanian language ...

(from the

dominus Dominus or domini may refer to: * Dominus (title), a title of sovereignty, clergy and other uses Art, entertainment, and media * Dominus (band), a Danish death metal band * Dominus (DC Comics), an alien character in DC Comics * Dominus (Marv ...

'') was used). Most monarchs did not use the form of the name they are cited with, and several used more than one form of their own name; in some cases, the monarch was only mentioned in foreign sources. The full names are either modern versions or ones based on mentions in various chronicles. The list is brought up to date for the first monarchs, following the documented studies of

Ștefan S. Gorovei Ștefan is the Romanian language, Romanian form of Stephen, used as both a given name and a surname. For the English language, English version, see Stefan (given name), Stefan. Some better known people with the name Ștefan are listed below. For a ...

and

Constantin Rezachevici Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See also * Constantine (name) * Konstantin The first name Konsta ...

.Rezachevici, Constantin, ''Cronologia critică a domnilor din Țara Românească și Moldova, a. 1324 - 1881'', vol. I, Editura Enciclopedică, București, 2001,

List

Princes of Moldavia

House of Dragoș The House of Dragoș, also known as the House of Drăgoșești ( hu, Drágfy, Drágffy, Drágffi, Drágfi), was founded by Dragoș (also known as ''Dragoș Vodă''Brezianu, Andrei and Spânu, Vlad (2007) "Dragoş Vodă (?–ca. 1353)" ''Histori ...

House of Bogdan-Mușat The House of Bogdan, commonly referred to as the House of Mușat, was the ruling family which established the Principality of Moldova with Bogdan I ( 1363–1367), giving the country its first line of Princes, one closely related with the Basar ...

House of Bogdan-Muşat, with interventions of
Basarab The House of Basarab (also Bazarab or Bazaraad, ro, Basarab ) was a ruling family of debated Cuman origin, Terterids and Shishmanids) and the Wallachian dynasty (Basarabids). They also played an active role in Byzantium, Hungary and Serbia, wi ...
( Drăculeşti line) and
Movilești The House of Movileşti, also Movilă or Moghilă ( pl, Mohyła, Cyrillic: Могила), was a family of boyars in the principality of Moldavia, which became related through marriage with the Muşatin family – the traditional House of Moldavi ...
dynasties

Pre-Phanariote period

The Ottoman influence in the Moldavian rulers' election grows from the mid-17th century onward. From 1659, the rulers elected are mostly scions of Greek families, and increasingly less linked to the original Moldavian ruling family. The process reached its peak with the called Phanariote period (1715-1859), where, between the rulers, there was already no connection (or a very distant one) with the dynasty of Bogdan-Musat.

Various dynasties

Phanariotes (1711–1821)

Post-Phanariote period

References

* Constantin Rezachevici - ''Cronologia critică a domnilor din Țara Românească și Moldova a. 1324 - 1881'', Volumul I, Editura Enciclopedică, 2001,
Rulers of Moldavia
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Monarchs Of Moldavia

Monarchs A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in ...

Moldavian monarchs