Ruxandra Lupu (also Roksana, Rozanda, Roxanda) (1630–1686) was a

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 ...

n princess. She was born to Lady Tudosca and

Vasile Lupu Lupu Coci, known as Vasile Lupu (; 1595 – 1661), was the voivode of Moldavia between 1634 and 1653. He was of Albanian and Greek origin. Lupu had secured the Moldavian throne in 1634 after a series of complicated intrigues and managed to h ...

, the voivode of Moldavia. In the midst of intense political - and military - manoeuvring, her father was forced to betrothe her to the son of the Cossack hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, after Bohdan had invaded Moldavia. Vasile Lupu tried to prevent the marriage from taking place, as it would damage his Polish alliances. He was appointed a part of the Polish nobility, and in return swore to not allow the marriage to occur. Even the Polish army became involved, however, after the army suffered defeat to the Cossacks, no intervention was possible. In 1652, Ruxandra married Bohdan Khmelnytsky's son

Tymofiy Khmelnytsky Tymofiy Bohdanovych Khmelnytsky or Tymish Bohdanovych Khmelnytsky (; 1632 — 15 September 1653) was a Zaporozhian Cossack military commander. He was the eldest son of the Ukrainian Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. He was married to the Mol ...

. The groom died a year later, from an infected battle-wound. Ruxandra's eventual fate is unclear. Some tellings purport that, many years later, she was captured and beheaded by Polish forces.

References

* Marcu, George (coord.) - Dicționarul personalităților feminine din România, Editura Meronia, Bucharest, 2009. 1630 births 1686 deaths 17th-century Moldavian women 17th-century Moldavian people Daughters of princes regnant {{Europe-royal-stub