Bogdan III the One-Eyed () or Bogdan III the Blind (; 18 March 1479 – 20 April 1517) was

Voivode of Moldavia This is a list of monarchs of Moldavia, from the first mention of the medieval polity east of the Carpathian Mountains, Carpathians and until its disestablishment in 1862, when Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia, it united with Wallachia, the ot ...

from July 2, 1504, to 1517.

Family

Bogdan was born in

Huși Huși (, Yiddish//''Hush'', , German language, German: ''Hussburg'') is a municipiu, city in Vaslui County, Romania, former capital of the disbanded Fălciu County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, Romanian Orthodox Church, Romanian O ...

as the son of Voivode Stephen III (Stephen the Great) and his wife

Maria Voichița Doamna Maria Voichița (1457 – 26 February 1511) was a Princess consort of Moldavia (1480–1511). Life Born into the powerful House of Drăculești, Maria was daughter of Radu III the Handsome and his wife, Maria Despina, who was the ...

. He was his father's only surviving legitimate son.

Conflict with Poland and Tatar incursions

Immediately after Bogdan came to the throne, he expressed his intent to marry Elisabeth, sister of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

King Alexander the Jagiellonian. After being twice refused despite offering generous gifts (including territorial concessions), he raided southern Poland, and Alexander accepted his demands—provided that Bogdan be more lenient towards the status of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in Moldavia—in 1506. Alexander's death and

Sigismund the Old Sigismund I the Old (, ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV and younger brother of Kings ...

's ascendancy led to a breaking of the previous agreement, provoking further incursions on each side. In October 1509, Bogdan was severely defeated on the

Dniester The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...

river; a peace was signed on January 17, 1510, when the ruler finally renounced his pretensions. In the same year, Moldavia suffered two major

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

devastations (they are alleged to have carried away 74,000 as slaves)—in 1511, the Tatars even managed to occupy most of the country. The events forced Poland, still recovering from the great invasion of 1506 (''see

Tatar invasions These are lists of battles of the Mongol invasion of Europe. Lists of battles Mongol invasions of Eastern Europe Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' (1223, 1237–1241) Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria (1223–1236) * 1223: First Mongol ...

''), to send troops as aid, helping Bogdan regain his lands after a victory in May 1512.

Submission to Ottoman rule

In 1514, in order to block the Tatar threat by enlisting the help of a powerful overlord, Bogdan sent

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Tăutu to negotiate the terms of Moldavia's submission to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(then under the rule of Yavuz Sultan Selim, or

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

). The Porte demanded that a certain sum (initially expressed as 4,000

gold coins A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Most gold coins minted since 1800 are 90–92% gold (22 karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, and American B ...

) be paid yearly, together with a ceremonial gift of 40 horses and 40 falcons, additional expenses (such as for the celebration of ''

Eid ul-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the ...

'') and assistance in case of war—Princes themselves were required to lead a 4,000-strong army that would place itself under the orders of the

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

. In exchange for these, Moldavia was allowed a high level of

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

Life

Bogdan was blind in one eye, most likely after a wound received during one of his many battles. While the rules of succession to the throne did exclude an impaired individual, as ''însemnat'' ("marked"), they seem to have applied just to people who had been affected before their candidacy to the throne, and to those with

congenital disorder A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at childbirth, birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disability, disabilities that may be physical disability, physical, intellectual disability, intellectual, or dev ...

s. He was married to Stana, Nastasia and finally to Ruxandra, daughter of

Mihnea cel Rău Mihnea cel Rău (''Mihnea the Wrongdoer/Mean/Evil''; c.1460 – 12 March 1510), the son of Vlad III Dracula (Vlad Țepeș), and his first wife, was Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia from 1508 to 1509, having replaced his first cousin Radu cel Mare ...

, ruling

Prince of Wallachia This is a list of princes of Wallachia, from the first mention of a medieval polity situated between the Southern Carpathians and the Danube until the union with Moldavia in 1859, which unification of Moldavia and Wallachia, led to the creation of ...

. One of his daughters from his third marriage, Polyxena, married Marko Jakšić (d. 1537). He was buried next to his father (and other members of his family) in

Putna Monastery The Putna monastery () is a Romanian Orthodox monastery (one of the most important cultural) religious and artistic centers established in medieval Moldavia; as with many others, it was built and dedicated by Stephen the Great. Putna was founded ...

References

External links