Roumania Past and Present

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'Blows are heard resounding at the outer gate.
'Tis the hour of midnight; whose the voice so late?
"Hasten, dearest mother"--ha! that well-known sound--
"From the host I'm driven, bleed at every wound!
Fearful was our fortune, terrible the fray,
Scattered all my army, fled they in dismay.
Mother, open quickly; infidels pursue,
Icy is the night wind, purple blood their cue."
"Ha! what say'st thou, stranger? Stephen's far away,
Dealing death, strong-handed, where he stands at bay.
Of him the mother I; such my son is he.
Be thou who thou may'st, my son thou canst not be.
(Yet can Heaven have fated, dealt this fearful blow?
Can his soul be craven, quail before the foe?)
If in truth thou'rt Stephen, faint returning home,
Not within these portals shalt thou ever come.
Hasten to thy brave ones; for thy country fall;
Then maternal love with wreaths shall deck thy pall!"
Once more Stephen rallies; lusty sounds his horn;
Heroes flock around him on the battle morn.
Fierce and dire the slaughter; on that glorious day
Falls the Moslem chivalry like the new-mown hay.'

Notwithstanding the great victory which he obtained, the Moslem power
was too strong for him, and he is found, before the century's close,
allied with them against Poland, to whose sovereign he had but a few
years previously sworn fealty, and into which he now made a raid. In
1504 he died a natural death, and it is said that before his decease,
either from fear of the Turks, or distrusting the power of his son
Bogdan, he advised the latter to make a permanent treaty with the Porte,
which he did shortly after his death.[135] The most favourable traits
in Stephen's character seem to have been his courage and patriotism,
notwithstanding the story which is told of his flight to Niamtz. Like
Mircea, he organised an army which is estimated at about the same
strength, with the addition of irregular troops. That he was pious after
a fashion is most likely, but that he also practised the tyrannic
cruelties of his age is undoubted. Shortly after his advent to the
throne, the Tartars entered his dominions, carrying fire and sword
everywhere, but they were eventually repulsed and driven out by Stephen.
In the course of this campaign he took a son of the Tartar chief
prisoner, and when envoys came to treat for his liberation he ordered
the prince to be decapitated in their presence, a deed which may have
been justified as a lesson to the ruthless tribe who had invaded his
country. Not content with this, however, he impaled all the envoys but
one, whose nose and ears he cut off, and sent him back to his master in
that dreadful condition. 'But,' adds the chronicler, 'Stephen, who was a
man of his period, only regarded this act as a manifestation of zeal in
the faith. Shortly afterwards he built the monastery of Putna, dedicated
it to Jesus and the Virgin, and caused to be transported thither the
wooden chapel which Dragosch had constructed at Volovitz.' 'These were
the ordinary practices of the age,' remarks another commentator; 'and if
such treatment was reserved for the high and noble, one may guess what
was the fate of the humble.'

[Footnote 135: For the terms of this treaty see Appendix II.]

VI.

What that fate was may easily be imagined by anyone who follows the
narrative of the wars which devastated the land. But, before treating of
the condition of the country and the customs of the period, we must
refer to one or two voivodes whose rule was pacific, and whose energies
were directed to the promotion of civilising influences. Concerning
these, too, we have the trustworthy records already cited in our
description of the cathedral of Curtea d'Ardges. One of them was Neagu
Bassarab,[136] the other John Radul, known as Radul d'Affumati, and both
were voivodes of Wallachia.

The first-named, Neagu, came to the throne either in 1511 or 1513, and
died a natural death in 1520, a rare event in those days. He was
conspicuously a man of peace in a country and age of war and bloodshed,
and was eminently pious and benevolent. He repaired several churches,
restored the cathedral of Tirgovistea, roofed other churches with lead,
both in and out of Wallachia, and built the beautiful cathedral of
Curtea d'Ardges, the erection of which, as we have heard, was attributed
by tradition to Radu Negru, the reputed founder of Wallachia. The tablet
in his memory has already been referred to elsewhere. In war he never
took any personal part, and, as we have already remarked, he died
peacefully in his bed.

He was followed on the throne by 'Radu the Monk,' who met with the usual
fate, having been slain by the Turks; and this prince was succeeded by
the Radu d'Affumati above named, a nephew of Nyagu (1522), who occupied
the throne for seven years.

War, war was still the cry; he had numerous vicissitudes during his
short reign; participated in the defeat of the Hungarians and Poles in
the battle of Mohacs, 'which witnessed the slaughter of a king, seven
bishops, five hundred nobles, and twenty thousand soldiers; not only
laid open the whole country to the inroads of the Turks and established
them for nearly a century and a half in its capital, but changed the
reigning dynasty of Hungary and introduced for the first time a German
sovereign to the Hungarian throne.'[137] Radu was dethroned, and in his
attempt to leave the country he was seized by two of his nobles and
decapitated. During part of his reign, however, Wallachia enjoyed some
tranquillity, and Radu continued the works begun by his uncle; amongst
others, as we know, he completed the cathedral of Ardges.

After the battle of Mohacs the Turks began to encroach more openly upon
Roumanian (Moldo-Wallachian) territory. They occupied and fortified
Braila, Giurgevo, and Galatz; interfered in the election of the princes,
in one or two instances securing the appointment for men whose sole
claim to the crown was their willingness to pay a heavy bribe. One of
those was a Saxon Lutheran of Transylvania, who was, however, a
favourable example of the princely race. He was elected Voivode of
Moldavia about 1580, and built a church for the Lutherans. In addition
to the intrigues for the voivodeship, internecine wars broke out between
the two Principalities, and the boyards made lawless raids upon one
another. In these civil broils the Turks intervened, adding to their own
influence, and rendering the princes more and more subservient to their
will. This state of things lasted until the end of the sixteenth
century, when another hero, Michael the Brave of Wallachia, restored
tranquillity and independence to the Principalities, and raised them for
a season in the esteem of surrounding nations. As his victories were
solid, and the heroic age in the early history of Roumania may be said
to have closed with his death, we feel justified in making more than a
passing reference to his exploits and career, more especially as in so
doing we shall also be able to present a trustworthy account of the
condition of society in his day.

[Footnote 136: Called also Nyagor, Negoje, Nyagoe.]

[Footnote 137: Paget, vol. ii. p. 8.]

CHAPTER XII.

THE TIMES AND CAREER OF MICHAEL THE BRAVE.

The state of society--Greater and lesser boyards--Taxation and
oppression of the peasantry--Immorality of the boyards--The
priesthood--Officers of State--Classes of peasantry--Rise of the
towns--The soldiery--Aggressions of Turks and Tartars--Michael the
Brave--His rise to power--Accession to the throne
(1594)--Remonstrances with the Porte--Alliance with Hungary and
Poland--Massacre of the Turks--Anecdote--Conspiracy against Michael
quelled--The Turks attacked and routed on the Danube--Invasion of
Wallachia by Achmed Pasha--His defeat--Michael swears fealty to
Sigismund of Transylvania--Second Turkish invasion by Sinan
Pasha--Determined stand of Michael at Giurgevo--Retreat of Michael
and battle of Kalugereni--Defeat of Sinan--Retreat of
Michael--Occupation of Wallachia by Sinan--Michael and his allies
take the offensive--Flight of Sinan and slaughter of the Turks at
Giurgevo--The Turks expelled--Peace in Wallachia--Intrigues of
Michael--Accession of Andreas Bathori--Invasion and conquest of
Transylvania by Michael--His triumph--Michael, Prince of
Transylvania--Further intrigues--Invasion and conquest of
Moldavia--Michael in the zenith of his power--Feud with the
nobles--Michael encounters them at Miriszlo--Their Austrian ally,
General Basta--Defeat and flight of Michael--Anecdote--Continued
misfortunes of Michael--Petitions the Emperor--Is permitted to
visit him--Recall of Sigismund Bathori--Michael reinstated by the
Emperor--Invades Transylvania in alliance with Basta--Defeat of the
nobles at Gorozlo--Quarrels of the victorious generals--Basta
determines to remove Michael--Employs a Walloon officer to
assassinate him--Michael murdered in his tent (1601)--Flight of his
boyards--The German Court refuses to reward Basta's treachery.

I.

As the state of the northern Danubian territories before the foundation
of the Principalities has been compared by us to the present condition
of what is called Independent Tartary, and at a subsequent period to
that of the early Saxons, so in the reign of Michael the Brave
(1593-1601 A.D.) the state of society resembled that of England
under the Norman kings; indeed, there is a remarkably interesting
agreement in some of its phases. As in England there were greater and
lessor barons, so in Moldo-Wallachia there were greater and lesser
boyards. These seem to have possessed all the rapacity of our robber
barons, with but little of their _reputed_ chivalry. They oppressed the
peasantry, who since the time of Vlad the Impaler were to a large extent
serfs, with unbearable taxes, and endeavoured on all occasions to shift
the burdens of the State upon those whose shoulders were the least able
to bear them. One of these imposts was the poll-tax, similar to that
which gave rise to Wat. Tyler's riots in the time of Richard II., but
which, strange to say, still survives in Roumania, to the
dissatisfaction of all her right-minded citizens.

[Illustration: EQUESTRIAN STATUE MICHAEL THE BRAVE AT BUCAREST.

(FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANZ DUSCHEK.)]

Besides the poll-tax, there was the 'Standard gift' (Poklon), which was
levied at the installation of the Voivode; the Easter present; the extra
tax (_ajutorita_), which was raised when the other taxes ran short.
Moreover, there were taxes in kind on malt, salt, fish, cattle, and
horses, payable to the prince. The landlord (boyard) was entitled to
land and pasturage tax, the tenth of the earth's productions, feudal
service, bee, pig, and sheep taxes, and in addition to these a rate was
levied upon bees, pigs, tobacco, wine, and sheep, for the benefit of the
prince.[138] Whilst these imposts and the extraordinary levies and
ravages of war often reduced the whole of the peasantry to the most
abject poverty, bordering on starvation, the boyards lived in
comparative ease, and led a life of immorality and self-indulgence.
Concubinage widely prevailed, and many boyards had, besides their
legitimate wife, ten or a dozen mistresses. They appear to have been
gradually growing in influence, and the greater boyards filled all the
chief offices of State as well as the leading military posts in the
districts. Personal distinctions existed also, the leading boyards being
allowed to wear long beards, a practice which was forbidden to the
lesser boyards.

Besides the boyards and their serfs there was hardly any native
population worth speaking of, and no middle class whatever; all trade
being in the hands of Greeks, Jews, and Armenians. There was, however, a
priesthood, who were as ignorant as the peasantry; indeed many of them
followed both occupations, the only exceptions being the metropolitan
and the higher clerics, who possessed considerable influence there as
elsewhere in the middle ages. The power of the prince had no definite
limits, and, with the exception of the counteracting influence of the
boyards, it was practically absolute. There was a council of twelve
boyards, whose signatures along with that of the prince were visually
appended to all important State documents.

In the time of Stephen (some writers say, at an earlier period), the
various offices of State were established, which were maintained down to
a recent date, both in Wallachia and Moldavia; and as it is impossible
for the reader to interest himself in any question bearing upon the past
history of the country without finding some mention made of one or other
of them, it may be useful here to enumerate a few of their titles.

1. The Ban of Craiova was Viceroy of Little Wallachia, and his authority
reached back, in all probability, to the foundation of the principality.
2. The Vel-Vornic, or Minister of the Interior, was Governor of the
Carpathians and of the neighbouring districts. 3. The Great Vornic was
governor of the lowlands. 4. The Logothet, or Chancellor, was Minister
of Justice. 5. The Great Spathar was Minister of War. 6. The Great
Vestiar, Treasurer and Master of the Robes. 7. The Great Postelnik,
Master of the Post. 8. The Paharnic, chief butler and cup-bearer (this
was a title of Hungarian origin). 9. The Great Stolnik, chief cook. 10.
The Great Comis, Master of the Horse. 11. The Aga, Chief of Police. 12.
Great Pitar, Inspector of Commissariat. 13. Serdar, general of infantry
of three districts (3,000 men). In Moldavia the Spathar was called the
Hettman; in both principalities there were minor offices, and in
Stephen's time the first six only formed the Council of Ministers.[139]

Although, as we have said, the peasantry were chiefly serfs, there were
differences in their condition. The chief body were called Scutelnici,
and the peasantry generally were divided into two classes, those who
possessed land of their own, and those who worked on the estates of the
prince, the boyards, or the monasteries. Part of the latter were free to
move about in search of employment, and the rest were absolutely serfs
attached to the soil; the term of service in every case was fixed at
forty-eight days in the year. The towns were growing in importance, the
capital being Tirgovistea, but Bucarest (to which place Constantine
Brancovano transferred his capital about a century later) was already an
important place, owing chiefly to its situation. Another town or large
village was Curtea d'Ardges. But the Wallachian Voivodes shifted their
'capital' as it suited their pleasure, and the removal in those days was
probably not a very onerous undertaking. It appears that Vlad Dracul
(the Devil) preferred Tirgovistea, whilst another Voivode, Michna,
favoured Ardges.[140] Other towns of note Craiova, Ploiesti, Buzeu, and
two or three ports on the Danube. In Moldavia, Iasi, Suceava, and Roman
were the chief towns. The government of the towns was carried on by a
burgomaster, or mayor, a prefect, and a council of twelve citizens.

The army was very heterogeneous both as regarded its nationalities and
its armament. It was then, or perhaps at a somewhat later period,
divided into three sections, the regular army,[141] the militia, and the
landsturm, the last-named being without pay and only called out in times
of great danger, and it consisted mainly of the servants and slaves of
the boyards. The arms of the regular soldiers were originally, as in
this country, bows and arrows and lances, but in Michael's time there
were already musketeers and primitive artillery. Besides the native
soldiery there were mercenaries, namely, Hungarians, Szeklers, Poles,
Cossacks, Servians, Bulgarians, Albanians, cavalry as well as infantry.
The whole country was at that time divided into military districts
answering to the present Judeztu or departments, each district being
under the control of a captain who united military, administrative, and
judicial power in his own person. The names of most of the districts
remain unchanged to the present day.

To this account of the state of Moldo-Wallachia it is only necessary to
add that in time of war, and that was the normal condition, the people
were subjected to terrible privations. When an army advanced, the
peasantry were laid under contributions for the troops; when it fled
before the enemy, everything was burned or destroyed in its retreat, so
that the pursuing force might be checked for want of supplies.

Schools for the people there were none, and all the knowledge that
existed was confined within the walls of the monasteries, which were,
however, numerous and well endowed. At no period of its history was
Wallachia in such a deplorable condition as when Michael ascended the
throne. Besides possessing the suzerainty of the principality the Turks
completely occupied the whole southern bank of the Danube, along with
some posts and what is known as Temesvar, on the northern side. The
Transylvanian slopes of the Carpathians and the country beyond were a
fief of the German, or, as it was called, the Roman Empire, over which
at that time Rudolph II. reigned, whilst the territory north of Moldavia
formed part of Poland. But although Wallachia was nominally autonomous,
and was allowed to choose its own rulers, it was in reality an oppressed
province of Turkey. The treaties had been completely set at defiance.
Mosques had been erected and houses built by Turkish residents, contrary
to the stipulations of the Treaty of Nicopolis, with the connivance of
the voivodes, who, as we have said, were raised up and deposed as it
suited the greed or policy of the Porte. Their fortresses and garrisons
on the Danube served as centres from which the Ottomans made raids into
Wallachian territory, spreading desolation far and wide, and in addition
to this scourge the suffering inhabitants had from time to time hostile
visits from the Tartars. Hordes of these savages were in alliance with
the Turks against Hungary, and it was not unusual for them to deviate
from their route, fall into the plains of Wallachia, and renew the
scenes of rapine and outrage which had characterised the passage of the
Eastern barbarians.

Michael, who was probably the posthumous son of a former voivode of
Wallachia called Petraschko, was born about the year 1558, and in 1583
he married the widow of a boyard, by whom he had at least one, if not
two sons, and a daughter. He occupied several honourable positions in
the State, and was Ban of Craiova before he ascended the throne of
Wallachia. This step he accomplished through intrigues at Constantinople
with the aid of his father-in-law, whereby he succeeded in deposing his
predecessor Alexander. Some marvellous tales are told concerning the
hairbreadth escapes of Michael in his struggles for the ascendency, one
being that, when he was captured by Alexander and ordered for execution,
the headsman was so terrified at the majesty of his countenance that he
dropped the axe and fled, and no one else was to be found willing to
undertake the odious duty. Be that as it may, he succeeded eventually in
removing his rival, and mounted the throne of Wallachia in 1593. For
some time after his accession Michael addressed remonstrances to his
suzerain at Constantinople concerning the lawless proceedings of the
Turkish and Tartar soldiery, but, finding these to be of no avail, he
sought the alliance of Sigismund, Prince of Siebenbuergen[142]
(Transylvania), and Aaron, Voivode of Moldavia, and determined to rid
his country of the oppressors. Aaron of Moldavia, it should be added,
was a feeble prince, who would not have joined Michael but for the
circumstance that, having been attacked and defeated by the Poles, he
was compelled to seek refuge at Michael's court. After the alliance
between the three princes was completed the first blow was struck for
independence, and on November 12 or 13, 1594, all Turks who were found
in Bucarest or Jassy were slaughtered without mercy. Michael is said to
have invited a large number of true believers, who were pressing for the
settlement of unlawful claims, to meet him in a khan in Bucarest, and
when they were assembled he had them all put to the sword, and this was
the signal for a massacre throughout the Principalities. A few Turks
escaped through the humanity or friendship of private individuals, and
one instance of this is specially recorded. The Cadi of Giurgevo, who
happened to be at Bucarest, was walking out on the morning of November
13, when he was stopped by a Wallachian friend who said,
'Ali-Gian-Hogea, how many years have I eaten of thy bread and salt?'
'About twenty years,' answered the Turk. 'Well, then,' said his friend,
'out of gratitude I will give thee a word of counsel.' 'Speak,' said
Ali. 'Do not stay in this city until three or four o'clock; neither
remain in Giurgevo, but hasten thee as speedily as possible to Rustchuk'
(on the opposite bank of the Danube). 'But wherefore?' enquired the
Turk. The Wallachian walked away, but, turning round and seeing his
friend still undecided, he called out: 'Forget not what I have told
thee!' Wandering on in the city, the Turk could not help noticing
greater activity than usual in the streets; suspecting mischief, but
without saying a word to any person, he ordered his horses to be
harnessed and fled to Giurgevo. The interior of Wallachia having been
thus cleared of the Turks, Michael proceeded to attack their positions
on the Danube. First he stormed Giurgevo and compelled the Turks to
leave it, some crossing over the Danube, and others taking refuge in the
fortress which was situated on an island in the river; but this latter
he was unable to capture, as troops, ammunition, and provisions were
sent into it from the Bulgarian side. Content, therefore, with his
victory, he retired to Bucarest.

[Footnote 138: Teutschlaender, from whose excellent little treatise,
_Michael der Tapfere_ (Wien, C. Graeser, 1879), these details are taken,
mentions many customs as existing in the time of Michael which were in
all probability only introduced at a later period. The tobacco-tax is
clearly one of them.]

[Footnote 139: The reader will find full accounts of the officials and
their various duties, as well as a description of the investiture of the
princes, in Raicevich, p. 62. In Wilkinson, p. 55, he will find that in
his day there had been a great multiplication of the offices; there were
second and third Logothets, second and third Vestiars, &c.]

[Footnote 140: Reissenberger, p. 39, in part quoting Engel.]

[Footnote 141: Some modern Roumanian historians affirm that Mircea
already had a regular army, but Roesler and others treat the assertion
with ridicule. As to Michael, the reader will judge for himself whether
or not it would have been possible to accomplish what he did without a
disciplined force.]

[Footnote 142: Siebenbuergen was so called from seven forts erected
there.]

II.

Shortly afterwards a conspiracy against Michael was set on foot by
adherents of the Turks, and under the pretence of desiring simply to
march through the country, a Turkish Emir, with two thousand men,
entered Bucarest. Michael, who know of the conspiracy, made a pretence
of acquiescence in this movement, but shortly afterwards withdrew
quietly to the camp of the allies, and returning with a sufficient force
surrounded the house of the chief conspirator, in which the Emir and his
escort were quartered, and put them to the sword. The fury of his troops
was unbridled, and no quarter was given, the last of the enemy being
put to death. But Michael did not stop here. In order to protect
Wallachia from Turkish inroads, he determined to clear both banks of the
Danube of their garrisons. With this view he sent the noted and
successful Transylvanian general, Albert Kiraly, with a sufficient
force, who took, plundered, and burned the Turkish town at the mouth of
the Jalomitza, where it falls into the Danube. The fortress, however, he
was obliged to leave in the hands of the Turks. Michael, following with
the remainder of the army, crossed the river itself and besieged
Oroschik (now Hirschova). This place was strongly reinforced by the
Turks, but after an obstinate battle, which was fought partly on the
frozen waters of the Danube, the allies were victorious, and retired
across the river with an immense booty.

Shortly afterwards he moved up the river to Silistria, where he a second
time encountered the Turks, gained a victory, and reduced the place to
ashes. These victories of Michael struck terror into the rulers at
Constantinople, and an Ottoman army, under Achmed Pasha, was sent to
Rustchuk, whilst the Khan of the Crimea, an ally of the Turks, was
ordered to enter Wallachia from the east, the Porte hoping by these
vigorous measures to reduce its rebellious vassal to submission. The
Turks did not, however, know of what material Michael was made. Dividing
his army into two parts, he succeeded, by the rapidity of his movements,
not only in keeping the allies asunder, but in completely routing both.
The Tartars were twice defeated, and their fugitives spread terror
amongst the Ottoman forces. Michael next gave the Turks battle at
Rustchuk with his whole force, defeated and dispersed them, and slew
their general. After these exploits he returned in triumph and with
great booty to Bucarest.

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