Gheorghe Duca Hospodar of Moldavia and the Hetman of the Ukraine, 1678-1684
Part of : Balkan studies : biannual publication of the Institute for Balkan Studies ; Vol.31, No.1, 1990, pages 73-86
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73-86
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Articles
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Chronicles, annals, eyewittness accounts point out the fact that the MoldavianHospodar Gheorghe Duca was appointed by the Turks to take overthe responsibility of administration and colonization of the conquered andruined part of the Right Bank Ukraine in 1681 with the new title of “Lord ofMoldavia and the Land of the Ukraine”. The Turkish choice was not a pure coincidence. The Romanian principality of Moldavia enjoyed friendly relationswith its neighbour the Russian Borderland of the Ukraine and its freedom-loving Cossacks for a long time. It is a well known fact that they sharedthe same Eastern Orthodox religion and used the same Slavic (Cyrillic) alphabet.A traditional close cooperation between the two close neighbourscontributed to their common struggle against the military imperialism of theTurkish Ottoman Empire, the Tatars, Poland, and Hungary, who sometimestried to impose their control and religion. The appointment of HospodarDuca was also an effort by the Sublime Porte in Constantinople to counterbalancethe growing prestige and influence of the Russian Czardom as thechampion and protector of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the RussianBorderlands of the Ukraine, the Romanian principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia,Transylvania, and the numerous Christian nationalities of the Balkans.Hospodar Duca was used by the Turks to secure a diplomatic neutrality ofthe Russian Czardom during the second siege of Vienna in 1683. When Ducatried secretly to obtain the protection and even possible suzerainty of theKingdom of Poland or the Russian Czardom, he was threatened with the lossof the autonomy of Moldavia under Turkish suzerainty and its possiblechange into a Turkish Pashalik (Turkish province). The balancing act ofHospodar Duca is amazing. Facts are established by critical evaluation andappraisal of all possible evidence available : synthesizing and integrating these facts into a thorough study of these historical events in seventeenth century Eastern Europe.
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Μολδαβία-Ουκρανία 1678-1684
