Ștefan Tomșa or Ștefan VII (; died 5 May 1564) was the ruler of Moldavia in 1563 and 1564.

Biography

Tomșa served as hatman and came to power as leader of a

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

revolt against the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Ioan Iacob Heraclid, whose attempts to impose the new usages in

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 ...

offended the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

sensibilities of nobles. Ioan Iacob, better known in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n history as Despot Vodă, sought refuge in the city of

Suceava Suceava () is a Municipiu, city in northeastern Romania. The seat of Suceava County, it is situated in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Bukovina and Western Moldavia, Moldavia, northeastern Romania. It is the largest urban ...

. Ștefan Tomșa was claimed the ruler of Moldavia on 8 August 1563. Suceava fell to Ştefan Tomșa's forces in October 1563, and the new ruler killed his predecessor with a mace. Ștefan Tomșa defeated an invasion by the neighbouring

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

n prince Petru cel Tânăr, but was unable to obtain recognition by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

as ruler of Wallachia. Alexandru Lăpușneanu, who had been deposed by Ioan Iacob in 1561, was returned to power with Ottoman assistance in January 1564, and Ștefan Tomșa fled to neighbouring Poland. Tomșa was imprisoned with his boyars in Buczacz. On the request of the Sultan boyars were sent to Turkey. The Sultan wanted also Ștefan Tomșa. Tomșa on the request of the Polish King

Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...

was sentenced to death and beheaded in

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

on 5 May 1564. He was buried in

. His sons were later rulers of the principalities,

Ștefan IX Tomșa Stefan Tomşa IX (or II), (? – after 1623) of Moldavia was List of rulers of Moldavia, Prince of Moldavia for two reigns, in 1611–1615 and in 1621–1623. His reigns were concurrent with the period of Romanian and Eastern European history kno ...

in Moldavia, and Leon Tomșa in Wallachia.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefan Tomsa Monarchs of Moldavia 1564 deaths Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Place of death missing 16th-century Moldavian people