Simion Movilă (after 1559 14 September 1607), 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 ...

of the Movilești family, was twice

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 ...

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 ...

(November 1600 – June 1601; October 1601 – July 1602) and

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 July 1606 until his death.

Family

He was the grandson of

Petru Rareș Petru Rareș (; – 3 September 1546) or Petru IV was twice voivode of Moldavia from 20 January 1527 to 18 September 1538 and from 19 February 1541 to 3 September 1546. He was an illegitimate child born (probably at Hârlău) to Stephen III of ...

, younger brother of Ieremia Movilă, and father of Petro Mohyla, who became the Metropolitan of Kiev, Halych and All-Rus' from 1633 until his death, and later was canonized as a saint in the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, Romanian and

Polish Orthodox Church The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church (), commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Poland, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. The church was established in 1924, to accommodate O ...

es.

Biography

In the early 1580s, Simion, along with his brothers, built

Sucevița Monastery Sucevița Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox convent situated in the Northeastern part of Romania. It is situated near the Suceviţa River, in the village Sucevița, 18 km away from the city of Rădăuţi, Suceava County. It is located in t ...

. In October 1600, he was put on the throne of Wallachia by Polish forces. In August 1602, Simion was defeated by Radu Șerban and forced into exile to Moldavia. After the death of his brother Ieremia in July 1606, Simion gained the Moldavian throne. By making rich gifts, Simion managed to be recognized by the sultan. While he was ruler of Moldavia, he had hostile relations with the Poles.

Death

He died on September 14, 1607, after a reign of only a year and a few months. His death was suspected to be the result of poisoning, which only further inflamed tensions around succession. This eventually spiralled into war, which was eventually won by his son Mihail after Polish support. Simion was buried at the Sucevița Monastery.

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Bibliography

* * * * * * 16th-century princes of Wallachia 17th-century princes of Wallachia 17th-century murdered monarchs 17th-century Moldavian people 16th-century births 1607 deaths Year of birth unknown People of the Long Turkish War Monarchs of Moldavia Deaths by poisoning {{Romania-bio-stub