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 me ...

(

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage ...

) 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 ...

, 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

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

y and by adding (in 1403) the institution of ''

Logofăt Logothete ( el, λογοθέτης, ''logothétēs'', pl. λογοθέται, ''logothétai''; Med. la, logotheta, pl. ''logothetae''; bg, логотет; it, logoteta; ro, logofăt; sr, логотет, ''logotet'') was an administrative title ...

'' – 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, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

(1408) and

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

(1409), improved the situation of trading routes (especially the one linking the port of Cetatea Albă 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 The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...

. He built Bistrița Monastery where he is buried and continued the building of Neamț Monastery, 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 Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

(although he had been backed to the throne by Sigismund of Hungary). 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 suzerai ...

of Jogaila, the

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16th ...

. The treaty was renewed in 1404, 1407, 1411 and 1415. Alexander I of Moldavia (Alexandru cel Bun)

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 The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

at Cetatea Albă. 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). The attack ended with the Treaty of Suceava on 18 November 1431.

Slavery

Alexander made the first documented confirmation of the gypsy 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 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 ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. 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 Peter III Aaron ( ro, Petru Aron; died 1467), bastard son of Alexandru cel Bun, was a Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia on three occasions: October 1451 to February 1452, August 1454 to February 1455, and May 1455 to April 1457. The first two were d ...

Bogdan II Bogdan II (1409 – 17 October 1451) was a prince of Moldavia from October 12, 1449 to October 17, 1451. Family According to some historians, he was the bastard of Alexander the Good, by an unknown mother. On the contrary, according to the other ...

(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.

Notes

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