''Postelnic'' (, plural: ''postelnici,'' from the
Slavic ''postel'', "bed"; cf.
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
''
postelnichy'') was a
historical rank traditionally held by
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 ...
s in
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 ...
and
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 ...
, roughly corresponding to the position of ''
chamberlain''. It was also known as ''stratonic'' (plural: ''stratonici''), and the office was known as ''postelnicie'' or ''statornicie''.
Initially, ''postelnici'' had as their main attribute tending to the sleeping quarters of monarchs (at both the
Moldavian and
Wallachian courts). In time, the office became associated with organizing
audiences
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...
at both courts, and, during the 19th century, became the equivalent of a
foreign minister
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
.
Romanian noble titles
Romanian words and phrases
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