Peter V the Lame (; 1534 – 1 July 1594) was

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

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 ...

from June 1574 to 23 November 1577.Constantin Rezachevici - ''Cronologia critică a domnilor din Țara Românească și Moldova a. 1324–1881'', Volumul I, Editura Enciclopedică, 2001, p. 432 He also ruled 1 January 1578 to 21 November 1579 and 17 October 1583 to 29 August 1591. He was known as "the Lame" due to a physical deformity. Raised by the Turks in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and hardly knew of his country of origin before gaining the throne of

Voivode of Moldavia

Anxious to rule like his brother

Alexandru II Mircea Alexandru II Mircea (3 March 1529 – 11 September 1577) was a Voivode or Prince of Wallachia from 1568 to 1574 and 1574 to 1577. He was the father of Mihnea II Turcitul. His parents were Mircea III Dracul and Maria Despina. Raised by the Turks ...

, Petru was elected prince of

in 1574. However, unlike most of his ancestors, he was a weak prince and eventually gave up the throne in order to live comfortably in the west.

Family life

His first marriage to Maria Amiralis from

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

, was already arranged in his childhood, but later failed. They had one daughter, Maria, who married Peter Bornemisza de Kápolna. Petru soon fell in love with a Roma girl named Irina who became his mistress during his first marriage. Marriage to a Roma slave at that time was impossible. He had Irina freed from slavery and baptized, nicknaming her "Botezata" (the Baptized). After he gave up the throne, together they moved to the city of

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

in present-day Italy's Tyrol. Sadly for Irina, Peter soon fell in love with a seductive Circassian named Maria, a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

at his mini-court in exile. Irina died at 25 and was buried in a small cemetery in Bolzano. Their son Ștefăniță never ruled in Moldavia. He was raised as a Catholic and placed in a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. He was known to be an obedient student, but died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1602. He is buried beside his parents in Bolzano.

Death

Two years after the death of Irina, Peter died of

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

. He is laid to rest beside her and on his tombstone is the inscription: "I, Prince Peter, descendant of the royal Corvinus family of Wallachia...who abandoned the throne of my own will, having obtained asylum from the House of Austria, reathed my laston July 1, 1594."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter The Lame Monarchs of Moldavia 1594 deaths House of Drăculești Year of birth unknown Royalty and nobility with disabilities Deaths from syphilis 16th-century monarchs in Europe People from Istanbul 16th-century Moldavian people