Ștefan The Great

picture info	Ștefan The Great Stephen III, better known as Stephen the Great (; ; died 2 July 1504), was Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II, who was murdered in 1451 in a conspiracy organized by his brother and Stephen's uncle Peter III Aaron, who took the throne. Stephen fled to Hungary, and later to Wallachia; with the support of Vlad III Țepeș, Voivode of Wallachia, he returned to Moldavia, forcing Aaron to seek refuge in Poland in the summer of 1457. Teoctist I, Metropolitan of Moldavia, anointed Stephen prince. He attacked Poland and prevented Casimir IV Jagiellon, King of Poland, from supporting Peter Aaron, but eventually acknowledged Casimir's suzerainty in 1459. Stephen decided to recapture Chilia (now Kiliia in Ukraine), an important port on the Danube, which brought him into conflict with Hungary and Wallachia. He besieged the town during the Ottoman invasion of Wallachia in 1462, but was seriously wounded during the siege. Two y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Voroneț Monastery The Voroneț Monastery is a medieval monastery in the Romanian village of Voroneț, now a part of the town Gura Humorului. It is one of the famous Painted churches of northern Moldavia, painted monasteries from southern Bukovina, in Suceava County. The monastery was constructed by Stephen III of Moldavia, Stephen the Great in 1488 over a period of 3 months and 3 weeks to commemorate the victory at Battle of Vaslui. Often known as the "Sistine Chapel of the East" for its vivid frescoes, Voroneț's walls feature an intense shade of blue known in Romania as "Voroneț blue." The monastery is located to the south of Gura Humorului in Suceava County, in the valley of the Voroneț River. The legend of the origin of the church unites two men central to Romanian history: the founder of the monastery, Stephen III of Moldavia, Stephen the Great, and Daniil Sihastrul, Saint Daniil the Hermit, the first abbot of the monastery. The tomb of Saint Daniil is located within the monastery. The c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Battle Of Vaslui The Battle of Vaslui (also referred to as the Battle of Podul Înalt or the Battle of Racova) was fought on 10 January 1475, between Stephen III of Moldavia and the Ottoman governor of Rumelia, Hadım Suleiman Pasha. The battle took place at Podul Înalt ("the High Bridge"), near the town of Vaslui, in Moldavia (now part of eastern Romania). The Ottoman troops numbered up to 30,000 or 120,000, facing about 40,000 Moldavian troops, plus smaller numbers of allied and mercenary troops. Stephen inflicted a decisive defeat on the Ottomans, with casualties according to Venetian and Polish records reaching beyond 40,000 on the Ottoman side. Mara Branković (Mara Hatun), the former younger wife of Murad II, told a Venetian envoy that the invasion had been the worst ever defeat for the Ottomans.''Istoria lui Ştefan cel Mare'', p. 133 Stephen was later awarded the title ''Athleta Christi'' ("Champion of Christ") by Pope Sixtus IV, who referred to him as ("the true defender of the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]