Stephen the Great
Stephen III of Moldavia or Stephen Muşat III (1433 - July 2, 1504), also known as Stephen the Great (Romanian: Ştefan cel Mare; Ştefan cel Mare şi Sfânt, "Stephen the Great and Holy" in more modern versions) was Prince of Moldavia between 1457 and 1504.
During his reign, he turned Moldavia into a strong state and maintained her independence against the ambitions of Hungary, Poland, and the Ottoman Empire, which all sought to subdue the land. Stephen achieved fame in Europe for his long resistance against the Ottomans. He was victorious in 34 of his 36 battles, and was the first to inflict a decisive victory against the Ottomans at the Battle of Vaslui, after which Pope Sixtus IV deemed him Athleta Christi (Champion of Christ) — a title previously awarded to Skanderbeg and John Hunyadi. He was a man of religion and displayed his piousness when he paid the debt of Mount Athos to the Porte, ensuring the continuity of Athos as an independent state.
Early life and rise to power
Stephen was born in Borzeşti, near the town of Bacǎu, as a member of the ruling Muşatin family. His father Bogdan II had ruled Moldavia for two years (1449 to 1451) before being killed in battle by Stephen's uncle, Petru Aron. Between 1451 and 1457, Moldavia was turmoiled by civil war between Petru Aron and Alexǎndrel - a nephew of Alexandru cel Bun. Following the outbreak of the conflict, Stephen took refuge to Transylvania, seeking the protection of military commander John Hunyadi. In 1456, he moved to the court of Vlad III Dracula and, in 1457, managed to receive 6,000 horsemen as military assistence, putting them to use in a victorious battle against Petru Aron at Doljeşti, nearby the Moldavian princely court in Suceava. Aron fled to Poland and on April 14, while Stephen was crowned Prince. Two years later, he led an incursion into Poland in the search for Aron, but was met with resistance. Instead, a treaty was signed between Moldavia and Poland, through which Stephen recognized King Kazimierz IV Jagiellon as his suzerain, while Aron was barred from entering Moldavia.
Rule
Menaced by powerful neighbours, he successfully repelled an invasion by the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus, defeating him in the Battle of Baia (in 1467), and invaded Wallachia in 1471 (the latter had by then succumbed to Ottoman power and had become a vassal). When the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II launched a retaliation attack on Moldavia, Stephen defeated the invaders at the Battle of Vaslui in 1475, a victory which temporarily halted the Turkish advance into the Balkans.
Stephen was defeated at Războieni (Battle of Valea Albă) the next year, but the Ottomans had to retreat after they failed to take any significant castle (see siege of Cetatea Neamţului) and after a plague started to spread in the Ottoman army. Stephen's search for European assistance against the Turks had little success, but his determination "to cut off the pagan's right hand" won him the acclaim of Sixtus IV - the title Athleta Christi.
After 1484 Stephen had to face not only new Turkish onslaughts, but also the Polish and Hungarian designs on Moldavian independence. Finally in 1489 he concluded a treaty with Sultan Beyazid II that preserved Moldavia's self rule, at the cost of an annual tribute to the Turks. From the 16th century on, the Principality of Moldavia would spend three hundred years as an Ottoman vassal.
Though it was marked by continual strife, Stephen's long reign brought considerable cultural development; no less than 44 churches and monasteries were erected by Stephen himself, some of which are now part of UNESCO's World Heritage.
Stephen was seen as holy by many Christians, although it is said that he fathered more than 20 illegitimate children. He has been canonized by the Romanian Orthodox Church under the name "The Right-believing Voivod Stephen the Great and the Saint".
Stephen died in Suceava, and is buried in the Monastery of Putna.
See also
External links
- Muşatin family
- Article in Romanian: Vlad Ţepeş şi Ştefan cel Mare - Prieteni sau duşmani?
- Map of Moldavia under Ştefan cel Mare, 1501
- The Princely Court of Ştefan's son, Alexandru, in Bacău - images, layouts (at the Romanian Group for an Alternative History Website)
- Map of Romania during Ştefan cel Mare