This is a list of rulers 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 Centra ...

, 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 s ...

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

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

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 ruler's bastard sons – being defined as ''os de domn'' – "of

domn ''Domnitor'' (Romanian 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 word "''domn''" ...

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 info ...

" (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 ...

''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 s ...

, 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 A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin D ...

s, and became obsolete with the Phanariote epoch, when rulers were appointed by the Ottoman Sultans. Between 1821 and 1862, various systems combining election and appointment were put in practice. Moldavian rulers, like Wallachian and other

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the 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 Russia, wh ...

an rulers, 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, the term

Domn ''Domnitor'' (Romanian 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 word "''domn''" ...

(from the

'' dominus'') was used). Most rulers 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 ruler 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 rulers, following the documented studies of Ștefan S. Gorovei and Constantin Rezachevici.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

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 Ba ...

Houses of Basarab ( Drăculeşti line) and Bogdan-Muşat

Houses of Basarab ( Drăculești 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 ...

Various dynasties

Phanariotes (1711–1821)

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 Rulers Of Moldavia Rulers Moldavian rulers