Constantine Ducas (, ''Kōnstantínos Doúkas''; ; ? – 1704) son of

George Ducas George Ducas ( – 31 March 1685) was the prince (List of monarchs of Moldavia, voivode) of Moldavia (1665–1666, 1668–1672, 1678–1684) and the List of Wallachian rulers, prince of Wallachia (1674–1678). He also served as the hetman of ...

, was a

Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

(

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

) of

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

between April 1693 and December 18, 1695 and September 12, 1700 – July 26, 1703.

Life

Although backed to the throne by his father-in-law,

Constantin Brâncoveanu Constantin Brâncoveanu (; 1654 – August 15, 1714) was List of Wallachian rulers, Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714. Biography Ascension Constantin Brâncoveanu was the son of Pope Brâncoveanu (Matthew) and his wife, Stanca Can ...

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

, Constantine Ducas had indebted himself to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

creditor A creditor or lender is a party (e.g., person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim on the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some propert ...

s. This made him raise taxes and reintroduce the '' văcărit'' (the confiscation of every tenth head of cattle). He sealed matrimonial alliances with the Costineşti

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

family (to which

Miron Costin Miron Costin (March 30, 1633 – 1691) was a Moldavian (Romanians, Romanian) political figure and chronicler. His main work, ''Letopiseţul Ţărâi Moldovei

e la Aron Vodă încoace E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plur ...

' (''The Chronicles of the land of Moldavia Cantemirs, the family of his predecessor Constantin Cantemir">Constantin Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, ...

. After delaying payments of the tribute and ordering the killing of the inspecting ''kapucu,'' Ducas was deposed by the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman overlord. He came to the throne for a second time, after Brâncoveanu had obtained the removal of their common rival

Antioh Cantemir Antioh Cantemir (4 December 1670 – 1726), better known in English by the anglicized form Antioch Cantemir, was a Moldavian noble who ruled as voivode of Moldavia (18 December 1695 – 12 September 1700 and 23 February 1705 – 31 Ju ...

. Yet again reacting against the Cantemireşti (who fled the country), doubling taxes and enforcing the ''văcărit'', Ducas only fell into disgrace after his relations with Brâncoveanu soured.

Ancestry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ducas, Constantine Monarchs of Moldavia Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 17th-century monarchs in Europe 18th-century monarchs in Europe 17th-century Moldavian people 18th-century Moldavian people