National University of Arts, Bucharest

Faculty of Art History and Theory

Scientific PhD

PhD Dissertation
(abstract)

SCIENTIFIC COORDINATOR
Acad. Rzvan Theodorescu

BUCHAREST
2013
1

PhD STUDENT
Vitalie Josanu

National University of Arts, Bucharest

Faculty of Art History and Theory
Scientific PhD

PhD Dissertation
A Monument of Romanian Medieval
Civilization by the Great Sea:
Cetatea Alba - Moncastro

SCIENTIFIC COORDINATOR
Acad. Rzvan Theodorescu
2

PhD STUDENT
Vitalie Josanu

Key words: Cetatea Alba, Moncastro, Akkerman, Asprocastro, Belgorod, Moldavia, Black Sea,
The Byzantine Empire, The Golden Horde, The Genoese trade, Bessarabia, fortification, the
Romanian medieval art, Moldovan commercial road, Genoa, Venice, Caffa, Constantinople,
Hungary, Poland, Walachia, Lvov, Trebizond, urban history, the medieval urban autonomy,
Armenians, Romanians, the Ottoman Empire.

Table of Contents
Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................. 5
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter 1: The Economic Revival of the Black Sea from Breaking the Byzantine Monopoly to
the Constitution of the Genoese Colonial System ........................................................................ 22
a.

All Roads Lead to... Constantinople ........................................................................... 22

b.

The First Steps towards Establishing the Genoese Monopoly on the Great Sea ....... 34

c. Another Decision Factor in the Black Sea: the Mongols ............................................... 43

d.

The Genoese Consolidation in the Black Sea ............................................................. 57

e. The Decline of the Mongols Power ............................................................................... 70

Chapter 2: Cetatea Alba Moncastro in the Context of European Economy, from the Tartar
Ruling until the Instauration of the Moldavian States Control .................................................... 79
a.

The Establishment of Commercial Networks Towards the Lower Danube ................ 79

b.
The Increase of the Commercial Importance of Cetatea Alba during the middle of the
th
14 Century, in the context of the disintegration of the Golden Horde................................ 83
c. The Organization and Exploitation of the Moldavian commercial road ........................... 88
d. Trading in Cetatea Alba..................................................................................................... 95
e. Several politico-religious implications, also influenced by trading ................................ 123
Chapter 3: The Exclusion of the Tartars and the Expansion of the Moldavian Authority to the
Black Sea .................................................................................................................................... 128
a. The Anti-Tatar Offensive for Conquering the North-Western Pontic Coastline ............. 133
b. The Essence of Cetatea Albas Political Autonomy ......................................................... 147
c. Parathalassia under the Authority of the Moldavian Country ........................................ 159
d. Another Important Episode for the Assertion and the Consolidation of the Romanian
Statehood at the East of the Carpathians: the foundation of the Moldavian Metropolitanate
16
Chapter 4: The Moldavian Country Fighting for the Defence of Its Borders ............................. 214
a. Around the Treaty of Lublin............................................................................................. 214
b. The First Moldavian-Ottoman Battle and Its Implications.............................................. 223
c. The Watershed Years: the dynastic crisis between 1432 and 1457 ................................. 233

Chapter 5: The Moldavian Country and the late crusade or the price of Kilia and Cetatea Alba
..................................................................................................................................................... 243
a. The Increase of the Ottoman Danger............................................................................... 243
b. Stefan cel Mare and the Preparations for the Anti-Ottoman Defensive .......................... 252
1457-1470 ............................................................................................................................ 278
c. Athleta Christi, Defender of the Moldavian Country .................................................. 278
Chapter 6: The Last Stage of the Ottoman Project for Closing the Black Sea: .......................... 281
The Fall of Kilia and Cetatea Alba ............................................................................................. 294
a. Turkish Military Preparations ......................................................................................... 304
b. The Sieges that Changed the Fate of Moldavia ............................................................... 311
c. My Lord, you whose thought is impenetrable, might there still be a hope or are we going
to perish now altogether? (Miron Costin) ......................................................................... 311
Chapter 7: The Artistic Thesaurus of Cetatea Alba until the End of the 15th century ................ 362
a. The Building Stages of Cetatea Alba ............................................................................... 408
b. The Fortified Complex: Defensive Furniture, Functionality, Origins ............................. 448
c. Civilization and art in the Moldavian Country, 14th and 15th centuries .......................... 450
Chapter 8: About the Issues of Cetatea Alba .............................................................................. 480
a. On Cetatea Albas Toponymy .......................................................................................... 506
b. On Cetatea Albas Political and Juridical Statute .......................................................... 521
c. The Castellans of Cetatea Alba........................................................................................ 538
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 559

Argument

The issue of Cetatea Alba [The White Fortress] constitutes an extensive research topic,
as well as a challenging and varied matter inherently related to the history of the Moldavian
Country. In line with a current tendency that can be felt in Romania of bringing up
monographic historical studies exclusively dedicated to a certain area or monument, an initial
assessment might make the topic seem common. Furthermore, the references to the baseline
study signed by Nicolae Iorga, Historical studies over Kilia and Cetatea Alba, published in
1899, seem to discourage any other enterprise in this direction today. And still, the subsequent
development of these researches has proved that the issue has not been exhausted and that it does
require further developments. It was not by coincidence that, shortly after Nicolae Iorga had
published his work, another great historian, George I. Bratianu, brought up a new fundamental
study concerning Cetatea Alba, which is Recherches sur Vicina et Cetatea Alba. Contributions
l histoire de la domination byzantine et tatare et du commerce gnois sur le littoral roumain de
la Mer Noire. Both authors have added more than once remarks or clarifications upon the same
issue, and, also, other remarkable and mostly unprecedented studies have adjoined their works
while they were yet alive.
The communist regime with all its restrictions on matters regarding the Romanian
territories occupied by the Soviet Union did not manage to hinder the Romanian historians
interest for Cetatea Alba, and, after 1989, the topic returns at the forefront of historiographical
debates. One can mention here the following problems: the still vigorous debates regarding the
continuity between Tyras and Cetatea Alba, and, implicitly, regarding the origin and the founders
of the fortification; the double toponym Cetatea Alba/Cetatea Neagra [The White
Fortress/The Black Fortress]; the stages of construction of the fortified ensemble (despite the
study published by the architect Mariana Slapac) have still not been clarified; the incidental
presence of Demetrius at Cetatea Alba; the martyrdom of Saint Ioan cel Nou [The New John], its
location and the chronological considerations; the historical context in which The Moldavian
Country extended its power to the middle sea and its political connotations; the citys politicolegal statute in the Moldavian Country (the ASPROCASTRU monetary emissions; the Venetian
vice-consul at Moncastro, in 1435; the conquest of Lerici Castle by the people of Moncastro city
in 1455, without the knowledge of the Moldavian Ruler, and so on); the two lists of the fortresss
castellans succession asserted by I. Bogdan and N. Stoicescu show inconsistencies, and so on.
Besides all these debates, new chapters on The Black Sea Art seen in lapidary sculpture and
architecture and its eradiation towards the Moldavian Country through Cetatea Alba have been
opened; there seem to be new opportunities to identify the rulers of Moncastro community,
reconsidering the historical sources; shaping the hinterland constitutes a new issue; new attempts
to locate the mysterious Lerici castle and other incident topics have occurred.
The mere comparison of Cetatea Albas fortifications with other medieval stone
fortresses from the Carpathian-Danubian-Pontic area highlights the most complex architectural
monument of this kind in the Romanian space. Only the preserved plans of Kilia reveal some
5

similarities, but at a reduced scale. A recent analysis shows that the fortifications of the fortress
on the Dniester River present every model of tower known in the 15th century. Moreover, the
storey layout of the curtains and the other defensive elements behind them is one of the most
advanced techniques of the era and includes the fortress in the Constantinopolitan models
category. It is a landmark where the novelties of the era in fortress building have been initiated
and implemented.
Besides the overall aspect of the fortified ensemble, another testimony is the inscription
from 1454 that places Cetatea Alba among the first medieval stone fortresses in Europe where,
after only one year following the fall of Constantinople, measures for adjusting the place for
artillery had been taken and completed. Building works at Cetatea Alba, lasting for 30 years,
until the conquest in 1484, are frequently mentioned in Ottoman chronicles and are also
confirmed by other inscriptions, added at the end of different stages of the resorts expansion
schedule. The experiences acquired here have been useful and have represented the primary
inspiring sources that led to the constitution of the second Stefanian stage, among other things,
identified by exterior yards, bounded by bastion belts, added to the old rectangular forts of
Cetatea de Scaun a Sucevei [The Capital Fortress of Suceava] and Cetatea Neamtului [The
Fortress of Neamt] and even to the integral building of Cetatea Noua a Romanului [The New
Fortress of Roman] and that of Kilia Noua [New Kilia]. Certainly, a monument of such
complexity and with such a wide surface required significant financial investments as well as
human capital and with completely rightful reasons.
The major political actors of 15th century south-east Europe have left a few important
testimonies that highlight the place that the north-west Pontic regiune had among their political
priorities. At least three of them deserve to be quoted: the conqueror of Byzantium, the Turkish
sultan Mehmed II declared that as long as Kilia and Cetatea Alba belong to Romanians and the
Serbian Belgrade to the Hungarians we will not be able to defeat the Giaours; the master of the
first two urban centres, Stefan cel Mare [Steven the Great] claimed through his embassador at
Venice, Ioan Tamblac (8th May 1477), that these two counties represent the whole of Moldavia
and that Moldavia, holding these counties, is a barrier for Hungary and Poland (...) if these two
fortresses are to be held, it might be possible that the Turks lose Caffa and Chersonesos as well.
And it would be easy; the next Ottoman sultan, who managed in July-August 1484 to fulfil
Mehmed IIs goal of seizing the Black Sea, Bayezid II, utters his belief that Cetatea Alba is the
key to defeating the Polacks, the Czechs, the Russians and the Hungarians, a trade centre for the
neighboring lands (...), this victory has made future successive conquests possible for us, as it
has opened our way towards the Polacks and the Czechs, and the Russians and the Hungarians.
The advancement has now become simple, and sending reinforcements without difficulty.
The following events proved that the sultan had been right; after the conquests in 1484,
the Danubian front was neutralized and Moldavia obeyed to the Ottoman Empire (1486); the
Genoese retreated from the Black Sea; the forces of the Ottoman Empire were unleashed
unhindered and managed to conquer the Serbian Belgrad in August 1521; Hungary became a
Pashalik, Transylvania became an autonomous principality (after the battle of Mohacs in 1521),
the Turkish coming to a halt at Vienna in 1529; the Polish-Lithuanian state became a neighbour
of the Ottoman Empire and so the Polish-Ottoman confrontations begun, which had a decisive
role in the gradual unraveling of the kingdom.
The Moldavian Country during its first decades was recognized as a subject of
international law in the Orthodox-Byzantine environment due to Cetatea Alba, and this was
happening while the Kingdom of Hungary was not only refusing to accept the heirs of Bogdan I
6

 who was obstinately named infidelis as dialogue partners, but instead forwarded its own
claims over the young state at the east of Carpathians. The tense relations with the Hungarian
Kingdom, which was invested by the papality with important Christian missions in spite of the
fact that Latcu had become a Catholic, which was seen as an attempt to approach and to reach
direct political recognition from Rome1 practically contributed to obstructing the liaisons with
Rome and with the rest of the Western world. Not even Stefan cel Mare so much praised by the
Pope and greeted as an athlete of Christ, despite the direct diplomatic relations did enjoy the
attention of Rome but through the disadvantageous mediation of Matthias Corvinus.
Since, until the age of Alexandru cel Bun [Alexander the Good], any conciliation with the
Hungarian royalty would have meant the actual abolition of the state an outcome which might
have occurred as per the treaty of Lublin, in 1412 , the Moldavian Country was forced to turn
towards the Kingdom of Poland from the start, during a time when, in the south, the connection
with Constantinople was anathemized for Moldavians insistence on having vladica Iosif
(Bishop Joseph) on the Mitropolitan chair. He was a member of the Moldavian ruling family,
and he had been at first the head of the episcopate in Asprokastron, diocese that had been
founded after 1371 yet outside Latcu Is political domination , and that had played, before all,
the catalytic role of Moldavian unification. Due to the Moldavian supervision imposed on
Paratalassia through Cetatea Alba, which was an outlet for the Polish merchandise at the Black
Sea, Petru I Musatinul (Peter I Musat) had the legal and political basis for a close partnership
with the king of Poland.
The entitling of Alexandru cel Bun draws attention here, as it includes a name which was
distinct from the other known regions, Parathalasia meaning seashore; Roman indicated by
. By far, the situation
his title the control over this region, named in Slavic words
in itself is similar to the one of the Romanian Country [Wallachia] after Dobrogea [Dobruja] was
annexed, when Mircea cel Batran [Mircea the Old] insisted on specifying legally the political
action by assuming the title of despot of the former dynasts from Dobrogea as well, with its
entire political weight and legitimacy. In the Moldavian Country, after the annexation of
Parathalassia, with the centre at Cetatea Alba as Laonicus Chalkokondyles had remembered,
according to a late tradition the voivode or the prince of Suceava assumed the name

, which was the Slavonic translation of the Greek autocrator. Just like in the
case of the Romanian Country, the voievodes or the princes of Moldavia expanded their ruling
over a historical region, Parathalasia, with a certain political identity recognized by
Constantinople, the true centre of the south-eastern European medieval world, who could place
the Caesars mantle on the shoulders of those who needed legitimacy. A reference to Sultan
Mehmed II and his descendants, who, after the conquest of Constantinople in May 1453,
substituted the Basileus and asserted that they were legitimate unifiers of the former dominion of
the Byzantine Empire others being treated as usurpers (see, for example, the situation of
Gheorghe Brancovici of Serbia) , can only reinforce the above remark.
Cetatea Alba was the maritime outlet of the trading route that crossed the Moldavian
Country, from Poland and from Hansa merchants world towards the Genoese colonial system on
the Black Sea, its intensity having as effect the development of the Romanian country from the
East of Carpathians. The building and the urban development, the development of craftsmanship
and trade, the acknowledgment of the Moldavian Metropolitan Church, even the political
1

We can refer here to, for example, the case of Louis IV of Bavaria (1314-1347), over which pope Ioan XXII cast an
anathema and interdicted his naming together with his royal title. Kelnskaja korolevskaja hronika (CHRONICA
REGIA COLONIENSIS), http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/rus8/Koeln_Koengs_Chr/frametext8.htm.

recognition and the actual being of the state, the economic and military capacity, the finalization
of the countrys defence system at the end of the 15th century, the support for the late crusade,
the acceptance of the Ottoman suzerainty etc., all these led to the gates of this important
Romanian city. Therefore, developing and enhancing historical research regarding Cetatea Alba
are among the priority goals of the contemporary Romanian medievalists.
Three major pole-stages were outlined in the first stage of the remarks regarding the
addressed issue and these were the limits within which the historical analysis of the region was
organized, region named during the time of Alexandru cel Bun with the Byzantine name
Parathalassia or the Slavonic
from the entitling of Roman I Musatinul ,
bordered by the circumscription of Cetatea Alba, according to the late indications of The Kadi
Moustafas Report from 1486:
1. 1290 the end of the 14th century the first connections of the West with Cetatea
Alba, registered in writing, their progress and the development of commercial and
political relations under the flag of the Golden Horde.
2. The end of the 14th century 1475 the fulfilment of the political consolidation
process of the Moldavian Country, enforcing control over Cetatea Alba, which
implied the access and the imposition among the Pontic powers. The year 1475
marks the irreversible decline of the Genoese trade on the Great Sea, after the
Turkish conquered Crimea and it main urban centres.
3. 1475 1484 the year 1484 corresponds to the Ottoman conquest of the last
Christian redoubts in Pontus. This period is characterized by the Genoese withdrawal
from the Black Sea and by the enhancement of the defensive actions of the states
interested in maintaining the last strategic and economic corridor in Pontus.
For the medieval history of the Black Sea, the North-western region especially Cetatea
Alba and its hinterland can be singled out from a historical point of view alike other welldefined areas: the Straits, the west Pontic centres, Bessarabia and Kilia, Crimea, south-east of
Azov (Tanais), the Trabzon coastline, the north of Asia Minor.
Despite this individualization, which was more of political essence, research has shown a
cultural and artistic synthesis of the Pontic world, completed right before the Ottoman conquest,
thus the expression unity in diversity being perfectly adequate here as well. Practically, what
contemporary historiography understands by Ottoman culture, which reached its climax during
the 17th century thanks to significant centres as Iznik or even Istanbul, is a continuation of the
artistic phenomenon that occurred before the Ottoman closure of the Black Sea, which, in
essence, represents a Pontic feature of the Byzantine artistic language. In fact, the Ottoman
Turkish had the same cultural sources once they took over Asia Minor together with the centres
at the north of the Black Sea or Cilicia, in the southwest end of the peninsula, where Little
Armenia had existed until the end of the 13th century , then conquered Constantinople and then,
one by one, the other cities around the Black Sea.
As the rest of the Pontic civilization underlining, though, that the Ottomans had an
important part as well the art of the Ottoman Empire was inspired by the great cultural
traditions: Sassanid, Caucasian (particularly Armenian), Byzantine and, of course, Italian.
Therefore, the perpetuation of the Black Sea art hastily attributed to the 15th century conqueror
should be seen as a natural and predictable phenomenon. The contribution of the people exiled
in the major cities of the Ottoman Empire deserves to be remembered as well. The sultan
Mehmed II and his descendents spared the lives of the merchants and the craftsmen from the
conquered Pontic cities, but they were resettled in Istanbul and other major cities, continuing
8

their work under the new authority. This phenomenon opens a new perspective that strengthens
the belief that in fact the Ottoman culture after the 15th century is a perpetuation and a
development of the Pontic features of the Levantine art.
The stretch between the end of the 14th century and 1484, proposed for research within
the pale of a PhD topic, outlines the peak period reached by Cetatea Alba within the boundaries
of the Moldavian Country, together with the second and last stage of Italian activity in the Black
Sea, with the age of the major Ottoman conquests in Europe and of the greatest Christian and
Turkish army commanders.
The PhD thesis topic and the research objectives outlined above suggest a debate within
the limits of the following plan:
Introduction
Taking into account the recent analysis regarding the historiography of Cetatea Alba
elaborated by Ionel Candea and published in two articles, resuming the topic has been avoided in
the present section, especially as, in this case, the novelty elements depend on the new releases.
Then, starting an analysis regarding Russian historiography is risky as it might outline,
improperly, a disproportionate picture of two scientific environments contributions. The notes
above will be, however, completed by a brief overview of the archaeological researches at
Cetatea Alba, as the outcomes of many campaigns are less known. All the same, a significant
extent will be reserved for a brief introduction to the historical monument, a concise exposure of
the scientifical debates related to Cetatea Alba, of the encountered problems, the methods and the
tools that have been used, as well as a few details regarding the stages of evolution of the
researches on the theme.
Chapter 1: The Economic Revival of the Black Sea from Breaking the Byzantine Monopoly to
the Constitution of the Genoese Colonial System
The Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits represent the main access points to the Black Sea.
The Turkish historiographer Halil Inalcik notices from this point of view that the state which
controls these straits has control over the whole Pontic area. The emergence and the spectacular
development of Constantinople, the Eastern Roman Empires wealth and survival for yet another
millennium since the fall of the Western Roman Empire were due to these straits in a great
measure. The same strategic and economic point of convergence has raised the interest of more
than one political force in the medieval world, among which taking into account the reference
period the efforts made by Venice, Genoa or the Ottoman Empire are relevant. Although
Genoa was not one of the states which had effectively occupied and ruled Tsarigrad unlike
Venice (after the Crusade in 1204) and the Ottoman Empire (in 1453) , it was the naval power
which, by supporting Michael VIII Palaiologos in conquering back Constantinople, ensured its
monopoly on business in the Black Sea and managed to subordinate the entire Byzantine
economy for two centuries. The relation system established in the Black Sea area after 1261
determined other agents as well to focus their attention to this major boarder of the world. Even
though they could not enforce their effective control over Constantinople, the khans of the
Golden Horde have known how to put pressure by establishing powerful military effectives at
the Lower Danube, commanded by the dreaded Nohay. The sultan Baybars of Egypt, who had
ensured that he had the Basileus willingness in his favour, has acted in the same way after he
9

had occupied the south-west coast of Anatolia and had established its boarder the the threshold
of the Metropolis in the Straits.
Cetatea Alba as well as many other medieval fortifications in Pontus is the result of
conjunctures and of the system of political alliances created around the Straits. That is why it has
been considered as necessary to present briefly the regions situation, which was at the origin of
the Genoese trading system in the Black Sea.
a. All Roads Lead to... Constantinople
The first subchapter, thus entitled, treats a short description of Constantinople, the great
metropolis of the medieval world, which impressed its contemporaries by its location and its
extraordinary development. It was the convergence point of the most important commercial sea
and land routes, which connected the East with the West and the Northern Merchants with the
ones from across the Mediterranean Sea. It was a genuine capital towards which caravans of
traders, diplomatic missions, scouts, groups of pilgrims, adventurers towards the Holy Places,
but also warriors strived. It was the environment that offered models for the worlds craftsmen, a
centre of medieval arts and sciences in various fields, the heart of eastern Christianity, the path to
recognition on the political scene, but also the place of the most hidden and insidious intrigues.
This city represented the tradition and the former fame of the Roman Empire, it was the place
where Christianity admitted the divine source of the emperors power and recognized him as a
mediator of different religious issues that occurred in Orthodoxy this being one of the ways in
which the Basileus exerted his control beyond political boundaries. All these were part of the
daily life in the Metropolis, making it highly attractive to the most various kinds of people and
global powers.
b. The First Steps towards Establishing the Genoese Monopoly on the Great Sea
The debate advanced here continues the thread and outlines the process through the
pressures brought to bear on the Latin Empire of Constantinople that was founded after the
Fourth Crusade with the purpose of eliminating the Venetian control of the Straits by. The main
actors on this stage among which there were the Empire of Nicaea, the empire of Thessaloniki
and the Bulgarian Tsardom emphasize the particular importance and the attraction of
Constantinople, which was the holy core of Orthodoxy, found at the mercy of the Latins. The
events that contributed to the fall of the Latin Empire and to the return of the Basileuses to
Constantinople, with the support of Genoa, are presented here broadly. Genoa was drawn into
the conflict not only by thirst of revenge for the ban of its merchants from the eastern
Mediterranean after the conflict in Accra in 1257, but especially because of the Basileus
willingness to offer them the Black Sea as a solution for reviving their business with the Orient.
c. Another Decision Factor in the Black Sea: the Mongols
The treaty of Nymphaion ensured unrestricted access to the Pontic area for the Genoese,
but the shores were dominated greatly by the Tartar-Mongolians, the ones who had invaded and
frightened the entire Europe in 1241. The main points that marked the Black Sea region after the
Mongol invasion in 1241 are brought up here. Aspects related to the organization of the Golden

10

Horde, the khans openness towards traders, the political and economic relations between the
Sarai and the Mongol rulers from the northeast Pontic region.
d. The Genoese Consolidation in the Black Sea
The Genoese presence in the Black Sea area and the colonial system they created did not
imply an actual political domination. The colony represented at first a fondaco (a warehouse) and
a community of merchants settled in a place leased by the landlord in exchange for tax payment.
During the initial stage, particularly between 1261 and 1318, the Genovese trading centres were
open settlements, without a defensive design. If at first the Genoese colonies were few in
number, around the year 1290 an actual numeric boom of these settlements along the entire
coastline was recorded. The phenomenon is related to the fall of Little Armenia (Cilician) caused
by the strikes of the Egyptian Mamluks in 1285, which determined the emigration of a
significant part of the Byzantine urban civilization in the Black Sea area. The event in question
and the hostility of Sultan Baybars of Egypt towards the merchants also determined the primarily
orientation of Genoa towards the business in the Great Sea area, which implied a diversion of the
market outlets of the Asian trade routes towards Trebizond and Caffa.
Almost simultaneously, during the first decades of the 14th century due to the arbitrary
relations between the Mongols and the Genoese merchants and to the exploitation of the
perpetual crisis with which the Golden Horde confronted and which manifested during the early
reign of Uzbek Khan , the Republic of Saint Mark initiated an extensive project for
strengthening the colonies in the Black Sea area. The first walls were built around Caffa, which
was followed, one by one, by the rest of the communities, so that in 1347 they were capable of
defying the fury of Janybek Khan.
e. The Decline of the Mongols Power
The vast empire created by the Mongols which, at first, abolished the old trade barriers
between the West and the East was built by conquest by a union of nomadic tribes. From this
reason, the Mongolian model of statehood implied, by its essence, a mobile administrative
superstructure for economic exploitation of those who were conquered, ensured through a
centralized and very well organized military control. The defeated human communities had their
own social hierarchies recognized and authorized by the khan , keeping some administrative,
juridical and religious powers and responsibilities, but also the duty to collect the taxes owed to
the Khan. Seen in the smallest details, the Golden Hordes economy was chaotic and lacked an
overall vision. The slave trade which was practiced by the Mongols during the whole duration of
the Golden Horde and which meant draining the conquered territories by the main source of
income is a proof in this sense.
The Golden Horde but also the Persian Ilhanat benefited from exploiting the merchants
that swarm towards and from the East through a system of taxes and customs they imposed. The
internal crisis that occurred at the end of the 13th century, generated by the battles between the
Khan Toktai and the Emir Nohay, weakened the khans power especially in the north-eastern
area of the Pontic coastline. Thus, the first attempts to resist, encouraged by Hungary and
Poland, occurred at the western borders of the Golden Horde once held under the iron authority
of the dreaded Nohay. The Christian forces, which extended their control at the east of the
Carpathians and down the Dniester, allied, in the middle of the 13th century, with the united
11

forces of the Italians in the colonies that fought against the Tartar-Mongolians from the south.
The second offensive wave of the Christians against the Golden Horde was carried out during the
second half of the 14th century, and this was the context in which the Moldavian country was
founded at the east of the Carpathians.
Chapter 2: Cetatea Alba Moncastro in the Context of European Economy, from the Tartar
Ruling until the Instauration of the Moldavian States Control
The present chapter presents the mercantile and economic side of the political realities,
from the perspective of Cetatea Alba. Even though, in some cases, an overlapping of the
economic, political and military issues can be observed, it has been considered that a distinct
economic part of the account will later prove to have a more efficient explanatory purpose. The
need of constantly referring to aspects of economic nature is avoided this way. These aspects are
discussed in subsections as well, trying to meet a certain chronological order of the account.
a. The Establishment of Commercial Networks Towards the Lower Danube
The topic continues the thread of the account on the Decline of the Tartars Power
targeting in particular the territories from the east of the Carpathians, thus narrowing from a
general framework to the territories and to the monument that are the subject of the historical
analysis. Three factors of major importance, which rushed the development of the commercial
and urban networks at the east of the Carpathians are identified here, namely the Order of the
Hospitallers, who opened the exchange of goods on the thoroughfare that connected Kilia and
the Transylvanian cities, the Saxon colonists and the Armenian refugees from Cicilia, settled in
compact communities in various places at the east of the Carpathians, who boosted the
commercial trade between the north and the south, crossing the territory of the Romanian
Country.
b. The Increase of the Commercial Importance of Cetatea Alba during the middle of the
14th Century, in the context of the disintegration of the Golden Horde
The wars between Christians and Tartars that occurred at the middle of the 14th century
have pushed the front across the Dniester and have disrupted the trade flows that ensured the
connection between Lviv and Caffa. By contrast, the territories on the right of Dniester have
known stability and the state organization was able to provide additional guarantees for the
merchants safety. Beginning with the second half of the 14th century and until at least 1387, the
north-western sector of the Black Sea coastline was the only exchange gate between the Genoese
merchants and those from Central and Northern Europe. The northern Pontic coast, from
Dniester towards the mouth of the Dnieper, did not have major ports, and towards Caffa, the
region had become very dangerous. From the right of the Arm of St. George to the south, the
Genoese met the aversion of the despot Dobrotich and of the Bulgarians, who, in 1318 during
the last moments of ruling over the area up to the Dniester , martyrized a Minorite monk at
Cetatea Alba. These circumstances contributed decisively to the relocation of the Tartar road at
the right of the Dniester and to the growth of the importance of Cetatea Alba in the region,
outrunning Kilia and Vicina. The Moldavian port situated on the bank of the Dniester was about
to play an important role that was stated in the privilege granted to the merchants from Lviv by
12

Petru I Musatinul in 1387, a document which was repeatedly renewed and which was the
foundation of the traditional relationship between Moldavians and Polish.
c. The Organization and Exploitation of the Moldavian commercial road
The concept of Moldavian commercial road implies, in fact, a network of roads that
crossed the Moldavian Country from north to Cetatea Alba. This network followed the flow of
the main rivers and the features of its exploitation created the ideal environment for the
development of boroughs, an intermediate evolutionary form, which emerged from the rural
world but without acquiring fully defined urban characteristics. The places that met the needs for
stationing and sheltering caravans during the night were advantaged that way and gained more
pronounced business features.
d. Trading in Cetatea Alba
The main historical data regarding the commercial business done in the Cetatea Alba
harbour has been analyzed in this subchapter. Identifying the categories of traded goods and to
the possible extent the Cetatea Alba market specialization was attempted. Thereby, it can be
said that besides the great diversity of goods the merchants were specialized in trading
grains, slaves and spices.
Withal, the merchants level of involvement in the trading at Cetatea Alba, but also that
of other ethnicities representatives, was pursued in the present analysis, as well as the economic
orientation of the market, identifying the business partners. Thus, it was concluded that besides
the fact that the Dniesterian city represented an entrance of Lviv towards the Black Sea a
significant exchange of good with Trebizond, a port which represented the maritime outlet of the
trade route that led to China, through Tabriz. From another point of view, historical sources
reveal a special partnership between Caffa and Constantinople (Pera) regarding the grain
production. Even if, at least until now, there are relatively few known documentary notes,
judging by the extent of the slave trade, it seems that the city of Alexandria in Egypt was an
important trading partner of Cetatea Alba.
e. Several politico-religious implications, also influenced by trading
The topic brings into question an incident that is only briefly recorded by historical
sources and that refers to the martyrdom of the Minorite monk Angelo de Spoleto by the
Bulgarians from Cetatea Alba, in 1314. It is not only the nature of the Bulgarian domination up
to the Dniester that interests here, but especially the background of this incident. The
Franciscans were among the first who defied the danger in their search of the legendary country
of Prester John, thought to be somewhere in the Extreme East, and who had, thus, to cross the
areas that were controlled by Tartars.
Their presence in the Extreme East, the only missionaries that had the Popes permission
to behave as the people within whom they were living, is directly related to the first series of
connections between the Western world and Tartar-Mongolians. Following the Friars Minor and
benefiting from the information they had acquired, the Italian merchants ships set in. Among the
schismatics and the pagans, founding monasteries, the Minorite monks performed what in
modern language is called espionage activity in the Popes and the nobles favour, who knew
13

how much such details on the most sought goods, the most profitable business, on the means of
transport, as well as on the climate, the roads, the traditions and the behaviour of the people
within whom they remained meant. The Franciscan Monastery chain in the east seems to have
represented the frame around which the subsequent Genoese colonial system in the Black Sea
was built up.
Chapter 3: The Exclusion of the Tartars and the Expansion of the Moldavian Authority to the
Black Sea
The historical process of the Moldavian Countrys crystallization is still in the middle of
scientific debate. The particularly valuable and prolific series of scientific contributions to this
topic sets Cetatea Alba as a milestone. It is considered without reservation that when the
Musatini extended their control over this centre, in 1392, when voivode Roman I called himself
the only ruler of the entire Moldavian Country, the natural and ethno-graphical borders of
Moldavia were reached. In whole, and pursued from a final stages perspective, the matters seem
to be somewhat clear and set a terminus post quem non. Nevertheless, taking into account the
short reign of Roman I, which lasted for only three years, and certain turning points in the
political and social evolution of Moldavia during a previous stage, the role of the countrys
unifier, with its sanctioned frontiers, seems to have been played by another historical figure.
As proposed below, the analysis focuses on several aspects that are considered to be
essential for the understanding of the formation process of the Moldavian Country, from a
perspective that is essentially related to Cetatea Alba. From this point of view, a few elements
that are usually less debated are emphasized, but also several points of view that can help
clarifying certain issues related to the unification of the Romanian country located at the East of
the Carpathians, as well as the nature of the special relations between the central power and the
community in Moncastro.

a.
The Anti-Tatar Offensive for Conquering the North-Western Pontic
Coastline
Taking into account the multiple studies regarding the formation of the Moldavian
Country, a brief retrospection on the two Christian offensive waves at the east of the Carpathians
during the 14th century proved itself useful. References in this respect have also been made in
previous chapters, especially regarding external factors.
What is especially of interest here is precisely the historical circumstances in which
Cetatea Alba was integrated in the Moldavian state, and, from the analysis of existing data, it
follows that, during an early stage, Bogdan I, who was seen as a rebel by the Kingdom of
Hungary, managed to strengthen his position at the east of the Carpathians with the tolerance of
the official ruler of the area during those times, namely the powerful khan of the Golden Horde,
Berdibek. It was a political context which also drove the sovereign of the Kingdom of Poland,
who was in dispute with the Lithuanians and had become indebted to the Horde after obtaining
Ruthenia, to take a similar solution. The ring that was found in the grave which was assumed to
be of Latcu and which was engraved with the word Allah, but also the bulls head representation
on Moldavian Countrys coat of arms which was very similar to the seal belonging to the Tatar
khan Tokhtamysh are two pieces of evidence that claim increased attention in this direction.
14

The emancipation of the Moldavian Country under the authority of the Golden Horde
seems to have been achieved along with territorial expansion in the context of the Battle of
Blue Waters, in 1363, when the Lithuanian expansion to the left of Dniester put in difficulty the
relations between Moldavia and the Tatars. Thus, the first Moldavian guards were settled along
the superior and the middle course of Dniester, and also, the cooperation of the bishop from
Cetatea Alba rushed the expansion and the establishment of the Moldavian Countrys control to
the seashore without any battles , before the Koriatovichs. This accomplishment of the
Moldavians had to be defended in a confrontation with the Lithuanians in 1377, which ended
with an agreement between the Moldavians and the Lithuanians, strengthening a traditional
relationship that had a deep economic, political and military impact. The Polish-Hungarian
dynastic union in 1370 had a decisive role in the Moldavian-Lithuanian association as it
amplified the danger that menaced the Moldavian Country, a danger that had led to building
several fortresses at the western and northern borders.
b.

The Essence of Cetatea Albas Political Autonomy

The main landmark seems here to be a historical episode little debated in historiography.
It is about the presence of Demetrius, the ruler of a Tatar political entity, who was a refugee after
the Battle of Blue Waters on the right of Dniester. The few documentary guidelines which can
be found in the mails to and from the Kingdom of Hungary were not enough to ensure him an
articulated space in the reconstitution of the historical picture of Cetatea Alba. The fact that the
privilege offered by Demetrius to the merchants from Brasov does not mention expressly Cetatea
Alba added to the confusion, and so other alternatives of location existed as well.
The connection between Demetrius and Cetatea Alba is mentioned, however, by the
privilege accorded by Stefan cel Mare to the merchants of Lviv in 1460, through which the ruler
of the Moldavian Country announced the revocation of the customs duty which was charged by
the Tatar prince at the harbour on Dniester. This surprising reference alludes, in fact, to the
character and the tradition of the special administrative statute of Cetatea Alba within the
Moldavian Country. This Tatar prince is the authority of the city, known in the Italian sources
under the title of dominus, which also conveys, in 1386, one of the holders names: Constantino.
c.

Parathalassia under the Authority of the Moldavian Country

from Roman Is
The word Parathalassia from Alexandru cel Buns title or
is translated as seashore and it has been considered as such for a long time. Nevertheless, it
seems that the word itself represents a distinct historical region, well defined during that era.
Several well-known, but unrelated elements plead in this respect. The Kadi Moustafas Report
from 1486 clearly demarcates such a territory, as per the indications of some elders, and also the
Byzantine historian Laonicus Chalkokondyles considered that Cetatea Alba was the capital of
Bogdania Neagra [Black Bogdania]. The fact that the Ackerman district was bordered by Kilia
district is remarkable, reinforcing the series of observations regarding Bessarabia as a historical
region that corresponded to the Wallachian ruling from the south of the Moldavian Country,
around the harbour on the Danube.

15

d.
Another Important Episode for the Assertion and the Consolidation of
the Romanian Statehood at the East of the Carpathians: the foundation of the
Moldavian Metropolitan Church
The special role that the religious factor had in the state formation and strengthening
process at the east of the Carpathians has been well highlighted in the historiography treating this
problem thanks to the contributions of V. Laurent, R. Theodorescu, St. S. Gorovei and others. It
is, however, required to emphasize here the fact that the expansion of Bogdan Is followers
political ruling was achieved due to an incipient but still shaped network, coordinate by an
ecclesiastical hierarchy.
The way in which this could have been associated to the central power had to respond to
the need for political affirmation. The inclusion of Parathalassia, which implied the emergence of
the term autocrator in the title of Alexandru cel Bun, corresponds to the Asprokastron
Archiepiscopate exercising authority over the region north of the Danube and over the area
between Prut and Dniester.
The tight connection between the political and the religious spheres is also obvious in the
case of the Moldavian Country, and the implications of the community and the city on Dniester
turn out to be decisive in this case as well.
Chapter 4: The Moldavian Country Fighting for the Defence of Its Borders
The Moldavian Countrys final stage of individualization, in the ethno-geographic area
that was bounded by the Eastern Carpathians chain and by the Dniester, implied an important
defence component that was meant to preserve and strengthen the political building of Bogdan
Is descendants. The Hungarian Kingdoms claims over the territory east of the Carpathians and
the way in which Descalecatorul [the one who had dismounted] and his heirs once the
subjects of the King from Buda were perceived as traitors and usurpers required, among other
things, the building of a fortified belt in front of the mountain passes, whereas the eastern borders
facing the Tatars were still defended, mostly and for a long time now, by the Dniester river.
The Polish-Hungarian dynastic union in 1370, after which Louis I of Anjou had become King of
Poland, accounts not only for Latcu Is decision to convert to Catholicism, but also for Petru Is
efforts to build strong fortifications along the Carpathians and along the northern borders. From
this perspective, the episode requires the establishment of a chronological delimitation,
beginning with the reign of Alexandru cel Bun and ending with Stefan cel Mares ascension to
the throne in Suceava.
Alexandru cel Buns diplomatic ability also taking advantage of the strong relation
created by Petru I Musatinul with the Kingdom of Poland had its share in the extinguishment
of the former Hungarian claims. The collapse of the Danubian frontline and the fall of the
Romanian Country under Ottoman suzerainty represented a turning point in the whole of
political relations between Moldavia, Poland and Hungary. The proven inefficiency of the efforts
made by the Hungarian authority at the west of the Carpathians to expand obliged them to
identify the possibilities they had to attract the Moldavian Country on the Crusaders side,
among which the Hungarian royalty had ensured it had a leading role. This objective remained a
priority for the Hungarian politics after the death of Alexandru cel Bun and while the Moldavian
Country plunged into a long dynastic crisis.

16

The Hungarian military interventions in the Moldavian Country, although it was much
weakened, were aiming establishing loyal voivodes, as it happened in the case of Petru II,
Bogdan II and Stefan cel Mare.
a. Around the Treaty of Lublin
The Treaty of Lublin, signed in 1412, after a negotiation phase between Poland and
Hungary that followed the Peace of Torun, signed in the previous year, restated in the secret
annexe the Hungarian claims over the Moldavian Country, which were forwarded to the King
Wladyslaw Jagiello. From the Moldavians point of view, however, this historical moment
records the retreat of the Moldavian Country from the northern European political arena and its
primarily reorientation towards the Black Sea and the anti-Ottoman frontline.
b. The First Moldavian-Ottoman Battle and Its Implications
This shift was required not only by the instability regarding the Moldavian issue of the
Polish Crown in its relations with Hungary, which were obvious after the negotiations at Lublin,
but also and mainly because of the arrival of the Ottoman danger in the proximity of the
Moldavian Countrys borders. The Ottoman invasion at the north of Danube in 1420 had direct
consequences on the Moldavian Country as well, which had to repel a powerful siege near the
walls of Cetatea Alba. The internal crisis that was generated by the death of the Sultan brought
the ruler of the Moldavian Country in a military camp near the Danube, from where he was
watching carefully the events that were happening in the Ottoman Empire, at the same time
taking the first measures for strengthening the southern flank, among which fortifying the
Palanca ford was planned in order to defend Cetatea Alba. Most probably, the plan to replace the
Hungarian garrison and to place the Moldavian flag on the walls of Kilia was also born in this
context, the goal being accomplished several years later, to the Hungarian Kings dismay.
c. The Watershed Years: the dynastic crisis between 1432 and 1457
At the end of Alexandru cel Buns ruling, the Moldavian Country was already stating
itself as an important power in the region. Although he was under the Polish Kingdoms
suzerainty, the voivodes courage to get Pokuttya by force of arms was felt by the Sejm, as well
as the Kingdom of Hungary that also felt compelled to limit to protests for losing Kilia.
Therewith, the involvement in the politics in the Romanian Country by supporting certain
contenders for the throne, the court of Constantinoples interest to attract Alexandru cel Bun
towards the anti-Ottoman front by starting direct negotiations, the role that was played in
supporting the Lithuanian duke Swidrigiello against the King of Poland, but also the certainty
that was proven by disrupting the terrestrial communication means between the Tatars and the
Turkish, all these indicate a stage of stability and consolidation of the Moldavian Country.
This success enabled the crossing of a long stage of dynastic crisis without reaching
territorial disintegration. The Moldavian Country was perceived and functioned as a whole
organism, even during the diarchy that was established during the age of Ilias-Stefan II. The need
to maintain safety along the entire Moldavian trade route, as well as the need to ensure a
17

powerful ally on the Danubian front kept quite aflame the dispute between the Polish and the
Hungarians. The phase in itself highlights before all, however, the political recognition of the
statehood of the Moldavian Country along with the Musatini dynasty by Hungary.
Chapter 5: The Moldavian Country and the late crusade or the price of Kilia and Cetatea
Alba
The Ottoman Empires interest for Cetatea Alba was obvious even since 1420, when the
main Turkish military operations in Moldavia involved the siege of the fortifications along the
Dniester. The voivodes of the Moldavian Country understood that maintaining their ruling over
Cetatea Alba would have led inevitably to a conflict with the Ottoman Empire. The effort
made to consolidate the southern front by conquering Kilia in 1424, but also in 1465, should be
seen from this point of view, the fortress acquiring a double strategic importance: hindering the
Ottoman advancement on land towards north deep in the Moldavian Country , but also
towards Dniester, where the states leading economic power was located Cetatea Alba. It is a
political continuity which seems to have been mainly promoted by the members of the Royal
Council, which had a relatively constant structure. The fortification works at Cetatea Alba,
shortly after the fall of Constantinople, right during the reign of Alexandrel probably the
dullest character among the throne-holders from Suceava during the dynastic crisis , are one
more reason to take such a perspective. It was not by chance that the inscription that was placed
when the first defence structures in Europe against firearms were done awards special merits to
the great noble Stanciu, and not to the countrys ruler.
The early reign of Stefan cel Mare, which ended in the year 1473, contributes to
finalizing the project to reinforce the Moldavian Country and to the military preparations for
entering the anti-Ottoman front. The military actions triggered by Moldavias ruler have a
pronounced defensive character, aiming the emancipation from under Ottoman suzerainty and to
keep Kilia and Cetatea Alba as parts of the Moldavian Country.
From the Ottomans point of view during this stage and having the weakness shown by
Petru Aron by accepting to pay the tribute without a fight as a precedent , the subjection of the
Moldavian Country had to be accomplished by conquering the entire country, a strategy that
failed after the grate battles between the Moldavians and the Ottomans of Vaslui (1475) and
Razboieni (1476). Ensuring Ottoman control over Kilia and Cetatea Alba thus became the goal
that could have been reached through a direct intervention, the Sultan being already convinced
that the success of this operation could have ensured subsidiary that the Moldavian Country
would fall to its knees.
a. The Increase of the Ottoman Danger
The topic in itself is approached from a Moldavian perspective, pointing out several
milestones which after the fall of Yildirim Bayezid and the Empires internal crisis
succeeded in reviving the Ottoman state, until the fall of Constantinople and forcing the frontline
along the Danube. This admirable ability to restore the former fame and power proved by the
Ottomans allowed for the Byzantine Metropolis to be conquered and for a new conquering
campaign that sow fear in the Balkans and in the entire Black Sea world to be triggered. This is
the historical background that explains in great measure the fact that Petru Aron and the Royal
Council yielded without a fight against Sultan Mehmed IIs worship demands. The preserved
18

documents, however, account for the act of obedience through the need for stability necessary for
the Moldavian Country, a time during which the extensive military preparations for resistance
could have been carried out.
b. Stefan cel Mare and the Preparations for the Anti-Ottoman Defensive
1457-1470
The period between 1457 and 1470, even after the dismissal of Petru Aron, is
characterized by the thorough preparations meant to secure Stefan cel Mares reign and the
Moldavian Countrys defence. Although he had been seen at first as representative of the
Hungarian interests, Stefan cel Mare managed to establish once again the relations with the
Polish suzerain and to regain the fortress of Hotin. As the peace was ensured when it came to the
northern borders, the young voivode was able to start again the strategic plan regarding Kilia,
which had been carried out by Alexandru cel Bun, but undone by his descendants. Along with
regaining Kilia, the ruler started the works to increase defence capability by building a new
fortress on Danube, simultaneously planning extensive projects to adapt the old Moldavian
fortifications to the new siege techniques of that age.
c. Athleta Christi, Defender of the Moldavian Country
The European dimension of Stefan cel Mares epic, the one that delayed with almost half
a century the fall of the Serbian Belgrade and the Ottomans advancing toward the centre of
Europe, was captured in his contemporaries praises. The overall diplomatic relations led by the
Court from Suceava, through which the Moldavian Country became an active agent of the
Christian front and imposed itself to the worlds attention thanks to the great victory from Podu
Inalt [The High Bridge], are under review. The vanquisher from Vaslui considered that he had
serious bases for imposing himself as a lawful defender of Crimea, a measurement which
regardless of the Christian allies support, which was strongly demanded through his messenger
at Venice, Ion Tamblac, since May 1477 was aiming to hinder the Turkish avalanche as far
away as possible from the borders of his country.
Chapter 6: The Last Stage of the Ottoman Project for Closing the Black Sea:
the Fall of Kilia and Cetatea Alba
The two Moldavian harbours are the last two fortresses through which, once conquered,
in the summer of 1484, the Ottomans ensured their full control over the Black Sea coast. In order
to accomplish this goal, the Turkish had prepared for almost a decade. Sultan Bayezid IIs
perception over the perspectives that were opened after conquering Kilia and Cetatea Alba,
supplemented by the numerous remarks made by the Turkish chroniclers, in parallel with the
meanings disclosed by Stefan cel Mare and the disastrous consequences for the Moldavian
Country, emphasizes the special significance of these two monuments in the region. The debate
that is proposed here allows similarly to an epilogue some references that enhance the
particular role played by Kilia and Cetatea Alba for the Moldavian Country. In order to regain
them, several reign were won and lost, valiant lives were cut short through savage cruelty,

19

treaties and engagements were signed, some of which to some extent affect our existence
even today.
a. Turkish Military Preparations
The measures taken by the Moldavians and the Turkish for defending or conquering Kilia
and Cetatea Alba are presented here. An issue of particular relevance is emphasized by Istanbuls
success in isolating the Moldavian Country on a diplomatic level, depriving Stefan cel Mare
even of the support of the two powerful Christian neighbours that had asserted their high
protection, Hungary and Poland. The truce obtained by Mathias Corvinus and the warranty that
Casimir received from the Tatars were ensured by the Sultan at the cost of Kilia and Cetatea
Alba.
b. The Sieges that Changed the Fate of Moldavia
The present subchapter recounts a rewording of the Ottoman campaign in 1484 based
on the preserved historical sources , as well as the way in which the two sieges were fought.
Considering the Ottomans behaviour towards the conquered in various instances , but also
the hastily executed fortifications of Kilia, it all leads to the conclusion that the harbour on
Danube fell due to treachery. The besieged benefited from a benevolent treatment from the
Turkish, who were also counting on the psychological effect such a gesture could have on the
defenders of Cetatea Alba. In the case of Cetatea Alba, this incident could occur after a few days
of fierce fighting, which culminated when the two castellans caved in and after the besiegers
managed to create a breach.
Besides the analysis of the known historical data, an attempt to retrace the main
directions and stages of the siege on Cetatea Alba was made, taking into account the features of
the land and of the fortification.
c.

My Lord, thou whose thought is impenetrable, might there still be hope or are we
going to perish now altogether? (Miron Costin)

The phrased used by the great politician of the 17th century draws a perfect picture of a
hectic time in the history of the Moldavian Country after losing the seaside area and of the
stringent actuality of the projects to retake what had been lost. The efforts that were made in this
sense, ever since the reign of Stefan cel Mare and until fairly late, when Dimitrie Cantemir
[Demetrius Cantemir] stated in the treaty signed with Peter I of Russia the Moldavian Countrys
interest to retrieve Kilia and Cetatea Alba, maintain their intensity, animating conscious
although quite risky attitudes, but also adventurers such as Iacob Heraclid Despot. The topic
gets in an obscure place on the Moldavian political agenda once the Phanariot regime is
instituted and returns to the attention of the Romanian elite especially starting with the
second half of the 19th century.
Chapter 7: The Artistic Thesaurus of Cetatea Alba until the End of the 15th century
Commonly, a single point on a map be it a urban settlement integrates and has to be
perceived as a part of a much larger area of civilization. But then, it is true that the developed
20

urban centres manage to bias and generate certain local particularities, more or less pronounced.
The individualization of the urban community is achieved depending on the ethno-professional
structure, on the intensity and the marks left by particular initiatives, on the level of
responsiveness, but also on the incidence of external factors such as: the intervention of the
central power, the interrelationships with other communities and the degree of integration in the
states administrative, economic and socio-cultural system.
One of the cities in the Moldavian country thanks to the economic relations and to its
inhabitants , Cetatea Alba is also a part of the world within which the Genoese colonial empire
was created. It is the Black Sea environment, part of the peripheral Byzantine civilization, which
at the end of 13th century received a strong refreshing breeze, originating in The Armenian
Kingdom of Cilicia. Together with the Genoese contribution and that of the local environment,
the Cilician immigrants groups in the Black Sea area managed to determine a cultural and
economic levelling of the region. More than that, beginning with the end of 14th century, the
Black Sea world already had crystallized particular artistic features that also irradiated in
neighbouring areas.
Exactly these influences in this case, those that irradiated from Cetatea Alba towards
the Moldavian Country are followed up in the present chapter by discussing the topics below:
a. The Building Stages of Cetatea Alba
Until now, no historiographic agreement has been reached regarding the building stage of
the citadel, with the four circular towers on the corners this being the element that is
considered, for good reason, the core of the fortified complex. A chronological interval that sets
the beginnings of this fortress during the reign of Uzbek Khan, during the first half of the 14 th
century, is proposed in this analysis. Withal, the phase established in the year 1421 is questioned
and the Slavonic translation of the khatchkar of 1440 implies erasing a building stage during the
reign of Stefan II.
The inscription of 1454 known to have been the result of doubling walls and arranging
bastions certifies, in fact, the building of the Garrisons Court, which was the first stage in the
development of the fortified complex. Although it represents a landmark by which some experts
established the start of the second phase, which consisted in adjusting the old Musatin fortresses
in the Moldavian Country to artillery, the inscription of 1476 from Cetatea Alba displays,
however, a milessim initially incorrectly read and imposed in a conventional way that places
the end of the work in the year 1484. Recently, a team of archaeologists who carried out research
at the Harbour Court concluded that this sector was built after 1484, by the Ottoman authorities.
All these elements required a proper analysis in order to identify and convincingly document the
building stages of the fortified complex of Cetatea Alba.
b. The Fortified Complex: Defensive Furniture, Functionality, Origins
The subchapter is designed to guide the imaginary along the interior of the fortified
complex and to display a series of remarks that were reached after a field research, carried in
August 2010. A large portion of the commentaries are corroborated with the data regarding the
most important restoration works carried during the Romanian city government, but also
regarding the archaeological research.
21

During the conducted research, several elements, incorrectly interpreted or ignored, have
been identified. Among these, the castles water supply system, mistaken for a heating system,
the wheat warehouse from the Harbour Court, mistaken for a bathroom, the bastions, the
defensive ditch, all these are of particular interest. The comparative study suggested here offers a
series of valuable clues on the influences and the origins of the fortresss defensive elements, but
also of the development model of the fortified complex of Cetatea Alba.
c. Civilization and art in the Moldavian Country, 14th and 15th centuries
Part of the Byzantine civilization, which is shown by its Pontic features, Cetatea Alba has
represented an important outbreak for disseminate this tradition in the Moldavian Country, an
area where along with Bogdan I craftsmen drawn from the Romanesque-Gothic environment,
but also Armenian refugees (craftsmen, townsfolk, merchants) from Little Armenia had
dismounted. These two ethno-professional elements have established the necessary ground of
urban culture that hurried the state formation and strengthening process at the east of the
Carpathians, in many aspects of social life. If the Saxon craftsmen were involved in the
implementation of the central powers investments by their much needed ability to distinguish
, the Armenian groups managed to reinvigorate and nourish the entire Byzantine artistic
foundation, typical for the entire Romanian mass.
Chapter 8: About the Issues of Cetatea Alba
This chapter, separately, has been inserted here with the purpose of rendering fluency to
the exposure, so that the problems submitted to attention in this case have a complementary role,
useful for the overall understanding of the past of Cetatea Alba during the reference period. The
pursued analysis requires browsing and extracting certain references that can be perceived and
accepted much more accurately during this reading stage. There are three fairly consistent and
actual debates in the historiography of the problem, and approaching them can have a double
effect of updating the previous notes, but also presenting the personal options and the raised
arguments.
a. On Cetatea Albas Toponymy
Usually, the current exposure techniques require that the debates on toponymy be inserted
at the beginning of a monographic study. Thus, the ordinary reader has the chance to get
acquainted with the place in itself, in terms of names and of its location on map. In the current
case, the two form in which the fortress on Dniester was known and the multiple derivatives
have generated a lively scientific debate. That is why introducing the reader straight into the
middle of these historiographic debates would have damaged the entire message and the purpose
of this study. Getting acquainted with the fortress in terms of location and names is accomplished
from the first pages without referring to the debate in itself. Also, it has been preferred as per
N. Iorgas model to mention Cetatea Alba under the name given by the quoted historical
source, related to a certain event that was subject to the debate.
The suggestions forwarded by certain experts for identifying two fortresses on the
Dniester, one white and another one black, situated on the right, respectively on the left of the
22

watercourse, are rejected through the analysis brought in here and based on the sources brought
to attention
b. On Cetatea Albas Political and Juridical Statute
Part of the Moldavian Country even since the reign of Petru I Musatinul, Cetatea Alba
enjoyed a special juridical statute in comparison with other Moldavian cities. This remark
belongs to N. Iorga and to Gh. I. Bratianu. Among all the obvious elements that support the
version of Cetatea Albas autonomy, the citys right to coin its own currency has to be mentioned
and several definite external events, of which the intention of establishing a Venetian
viceconsulate on the shore of Dniester in 1434-1435, without involving the ruler, and the
conquest of the Lerici castle, located at the entrance inside Dniepers estuary, by the townspeople
in the summer of 1455 can be mentioned here.
In fact, the topic is related to the subchapter entitled The Essence of Cetatea Albas
Political Autonomy, but approaching it here was preferred due to the characteristic of the
analysis. As a novelty, identifying the name of the urban communitys political authority, as well
as the names of several holders of this dignity, has been attempted here. Also to the extent
permitted by the sources , clarifying the model of urban organization, the structure, the forms of
manifestation and relation with the states central administrative bodies was attempted.
c. The Castellans of Cetatea Alba
The historiography of the problem relates this topic as a list of castellans, in the most
elaborate forms produced by N. Iorga, I. Bogdan, N. Stoicescu. Although the starting point is
mostly the same, the three versions also have a few differences determined by the method of
interpretation of the underlying sources. None of the analyses that have been referred to,
however, imply besides the actual list of castellans the clues that led to drawing up a list in a
certain way as well.
The verifications carried out on the lists of castellans required several important
adjustments, but also emphasized a series of too little previously explored details. Thus, a pair of
castellans previous to the age of Stefan cel Mare ensured by the Perecichi brothers, Costea
and Petru, and, after the conflicts with the Ottoman Empire had started, even three castellans
seem to have resided at Cetatea Alba. Withal, the presence of Stanciu Ponici at Cetatea Alba
between 1453 and 1454 should be reassessed as the documentary sources do not mention him as
a castellan, and neither does the inscription of 1454.
Conclusions
The formation process of the Moldavian Country understanding here not only military
forces movement direction and the very structural being of the medieval Moldavian state were
achieved and maintained through two essential centralized poles: the political core established by
Bogdan I in the north-eastern part of the Eastern Carpathians mountainsides, with the centre
established at Suceava, and Cetatea Alba. Only after reaching the Dniester bank without
Bessarabia, with the centre at Kilia, which was under the Romanian Countrys ruling did the
Moldavian voivodes consider themselves the masters of the entire country, a fact proven by
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Roman Is title. How could have they known, at the end of the 14th century, that this was the
entire Moldavian Country unless there was an entrenched perception and an identity of the space
between the Carpathians and the Dniester? And this would have been possible only through
several essential elements, which existed right before the state formation and strengthening
process was complete typical, in fact, for every case where there is a difference between the
unification process and occupation , such as: ethnic unity, unity of faith and belief, common
customs and habits, all circumscribed in a geographical area able to emphasize their particularity
by landforms and large rivers, unlike other ethno-geographical and cultural environments.
The existence of the two cores of the Moldavian statehood could be seen during the
time when the Moldavian Country was divided between the descendants of Alexandru cel Bun.
From a socio-structural point of view, Cetatea Alba, through the eparchial seat, centralized the
Pruto-Dniesterian region and the area on the right of the Prut, with the land of Falciu, inheritance
taken by the Episcopate of Husi, right before the beginning of the 17th century, founded precisely
for replacing the uprooted Episcopal residence on the Dniester bank. The continuous and
particularly intense communication on a political, economic, religious level between the two
great cities gave a heart rate to the Romanian state at the east of the Carpathians. That is why
losing Cetatea Alba in 1484 represented the irreversible breakdown of the Moldavian Country
and animated constantly the Moldavian political elites efforts for retrieving it. Every ruler that
reigned after Stefan cel Mare was involved or constrained by the nobles to undertake all the
possible endeavours for regaining Cetatea Alba, even at the cost of life. The Moldavian
Countrys very fate depended on achieving this goal and none other than the chronicler Miron
Costin leading political figure and scholar of his age could not have better highlighted this
state of spirit: My Lord, thou whose thought is impenetrable, might there still be a hope or are
we going to perish now altogether?
Without Cetatea Alba, the Moldavian Country was like a bird with a broken wing and
was forced because of this disablement to accept the Ottoman suzerainty. The main antiOttoman diplomatic or military actions pursue first of all retrieving Cetatea Alba, a true
political desideratum of the Moldavians. Even Mihai Viteazul [Michael the Brave], ruler of the
Romanian Country, understood this reality. The Tsars of Russia, Aleksey Mikhailovich and Peter
I, ascertained the same primarily goal of the Moldavian ruling quarters the achievement of
which depended reigniting the desire of the Moldavians to stand up against the Ottoman
suzerainty and ensured through treaties, in front of the representatives of Gheorghe Stefan,
respectively Dimitrie Cantemir, the restoration, the recognition and the guarantee of the
Moldavian Countrys territorial integrity, within the boundaries that existed before the year 1484.
The overwhelming role played by them in the economic development of the medieval
Moldavian society is also reflected in the entire artistic heritage. An entire cultural baggage still
lives in the villages and the cities of the old Moldavia, among which the traditional thesaurus
of decorative motifs found in weaves, sculpture and architecture indicates a great power of
penetration and dispersion in the most various environments. The Seljuk belt, the rosace, the
palmettes, the burgeoning cross with Golgotha, the flowerpot, the grid motif, the decorative way
of organizing individual tombstones, the influences on the Moldavian vaulting system, the
trilobite arches, the style of adorning miniature paintings, all these are so many testimonials of
the Romanian-Armenian coexistence. By comparison, the Romanesque-Gothic style remains an
Auditorium style, distinct from the general artistic particularities in the Moldavian Country.
Therewith, these features of the Moldavian Countrys material culture in the 14th and 15th
century are related to artistic features that can be found in the entire Black Sea area, in
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Byzantium and in Anatolia, approximations which have not only manifested on a material level,
but also on all levels of interpersonal relationships, inconsistently captured by the preserved
historical sources. The customization of a cultural space is, therefore, outlined on a Byzantine
background, a space that included the Moldavian Country within the same limits cultural,
political, and economic as other identities around the Black Sea, the kindredship being ensured
by the cooperation between the Genoese, the Armenians and the Mongolian political ruling.

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