Mihai or Mihail Racoviță (c. 1660 – July 1744) was a
Prince of
Moldavia on three separate occasions (September 1703 – February 23, 1705; July 31, 1707 – October 28, 1709; January 5, 1716 – October 1726) and
Prince of
Wallachia on two occasions (between October 1730 and October 2, 1731, and from September 1741 until his death). His rules overlapped with the accession of
Phanariotes in the
Danubian Principalities
The Danubian Principalities ( ro, Principatele Dunărene, sr, Дунавске кнежевине, translit=Dunavske kneževine) was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th ce ...
– he is considered himself a Phanariote for the duration of his last rule in Moldavia and his rules over Wallachia.
Biography
First rules
A local
boyar
A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
of the
Racoviță House (and the father of
Constantin Racoviță), closely related to the
Cantacuzino family
The House of Cantacuzino (french: Cantacuzène) is a Romanian aristocratic family of Greek origin. The family gave a number of princes to Wallachia and Moldavia, and it claimed descent from a branch of the Byzantine Kantakouzenos family, specifica ...
and the son-in-law of
Constantin Cantemir
Constantin or Constantine Cantemir (1612–1693) was a Moldavian nobleman, soldier, and statesman who served as voivode between 25 June 1685 and 27 March 1693. He established the Cantemir dynasty which—with interruptions—ruled Moldavia p ...
, Mihai Racoviță was appointed ruler of Moldavia by
Ahmed III
Ahmed III ( ota, احمد ثالث, ''Aḥmed-i sālis'') was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of Sultan Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687). His mother was Gülnuş Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at H ...
, the
Sultan
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 ...
of the
Ottoman Empire, but had to continue fighting off other candidates for the throne, as well as their boyar supporters. To counter these, the Prince relied on
Greek supporters: notably, his allies were the first members of the
Rosetti family.
These conflicts brought an increase in
taxation, as well as new fiscal demands. He was replaced by
Antioh Cantemir, who, by contrast, was seen as an exceptional ruler. Again on the throne, Racoviță was deposed on orders from the Sultan, and recalled to
Istanbul on pressures from
Russia's
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
; he was replaced by
Nicholas Mavrocordatos.
He was returned to rule in
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
upon the outbreak of the
Austro-Turkish War, given his image as an enemy of the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
. When the Habsburg troops entered Moldavia, Racoviță suffered heavy losses, and called on help from the
Nogai Tatars in
Yedisan. Subsequently, he was able to defeat the infiltrating forces, and had the Habsburg commander executed together with those boyars who had risen against him.
Transylvanian campaign and late rules
He was ordered by the Ottomans to pass into
Transylvania with Crimean Tatar assistance, where he was to help
Francis II Rákóczi in his anti-Habsburg rebellion; his campaign met fierce Habsburg resistance in
Bistrița, and his retreat was marked by another Habsburg invasion, as well as by the wide-scale plunder of boyar estates by the Nogais (allowed by Racoviță as payment for their participation in combat). After the incident, he was ousted from the Moldavian throne after his rival Mavrocordatos appealed to the Sultan, was jailed and replaced with
Grigore II Ghica.
In 1726, Racoviță presided the Iași trial of four
Jews from the
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
n borough of
Onițcani
Onițcani is a village in Criuleni District, Moldova.
Onițcani village is located in a picturesque location on the banks of the Dniester. The first mention in the annals found in 1604. The village is famous for its large number of springs. Some ...
, who stood accused of having
ritually murdered a five-year-old child on
Easter. The defendants were eventually
acquitted following diplomatic protests (notably, the
French ambassador to the Porte,
Jean-Baptiste Louis Picon, remarked that such an accusation was no longer accepted in "civilized countries").
[Oișteanu, p. 211–212]
His ascension to the throne in
Bucharest came in the context of
Patrona Halil's Ottoman rebellion, which had toppled Ahmed III and brought
Mahmud I
Mahmud I ( ota, محمود اول, tr, I. Mahmud, 2 August 1696 13 December 1754), known as Mahmud the Hunchback, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1730 to 1754. He took over the throne after the Patrona Halil rebellion and he kept goo ...
as Sultan; Halil's downfall in the following year almost brought about Racoviță's, but he successfully furnished the
Porte
Porte may refer to:
* Sublime Porte, the central government of the Ottoman empire
* Porte, Piedmont, a municipality in the Piedmont region of Italy
* John Cyril Porte, British/Irish aviator
* Richie Porte, Australian professional cyclist who compe ...
with income provided by raised taxes. He died in Istanbul.
Notes
References
*
Ion Neculce, ''Letopiseţul Ţării Moldovei'', Chapters XV-XVIII, XXI
*
Andrei Oișteanu, "«Evreul imaginar» versus «Evreul real»" ("«The Imaginary Jew» Versus «The Real Jew»"), in ''Mythos & Logos'',
Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1998, p. 175–263
{{DEFAULTSORT:Racovita, Mihai
Rulers of Moldavia
Rulers of Wallachia
Mihai
1744 deaths
18th-century Romanian people
Rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia
Year of birth missing
Place of birth missing