WALACHIA

Part 1

 

 

INTRODUCTION

HISTORY

HERALDRY

The Aquila Valahica

The Arms

The Achievement

  Rulers

 

Back to Romania

Introduction

 

The name Walachia initially referred to several territories inhabited by rumanian speaking people. Sebastian von Munster writes in 1550: “Walachy stoßt gegen mittag an das wasser Histrum/ das ist die Tonaw/ und gegen mitnacht reicht sie an die völker Royanos / die man jetzunt die Ruthen und Reussen nennt”. (Walachia borders in the south to the Histrum waters, that is the Danube and it reaches in the north to the Royanos peoples who are called now the Ruthenians or Russians.)

 

Of this Walachia there are several parts:

 

1. Great Walachia = Thessalia

2. Little Walachia = Etiolia and Acarnania = W. Sterea (Greece)

3. Upper Walachia  = Northern Epirus

4. Hungarian Walachia = Banate of Severin = the territory between the Danube and the Olt. This was called Little Walachia  in the 18th century and belonged to the Habsburg empire from 1718-1739. (= Oltenia)

5. Kumenia = present Valachia east of the Olt (= Munte­nia). (Kumenia (until 1240) = later Khanate of the Golden Horde)

6. Ardelean Walachia = Transilvania

7. Moldavia = the territory between the Carpates and the Dnjester (originall also Kumenia).

 

About the Nova Plantatio  Cernevodeanu p.52 vv pl. V p.217

 

Walachia and surroundings in the time of Mircea the Elder(1386-1418)

 

In this chapter only the territories will be treated situated in present Rumania, formerly known as the Principality of Walachia. Today they are called the Rumanian Lands  (Ţara Româneas­ca) consisting of  Oltenia and Muntenia or the  Banat of Severin and Kumenia.

 

History

 

Walachia on both sides of the Olt was captured by a Wlach Prince, a certain Tihomir, at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century. He recognized the suzereinty of the King of Hungary.

The son of Tihomir, Basarab I the Founder, declared himself independend from the Hungarian crown. His descendants ruled over Walachia until the end of the 16th century.

The son of Tihomir, Basarab, declared himself independent from the Hungarian crown in 1330. His descendants would reign over the territory until the beginning of the 16th century.

Instead of with the Hungarians the Bassabi had to cope now with the Turks advancing to the north. In 1396 Mircae the Old became their tributary and in 1415 a vassal of the Porte in spite of the several alliances he had cocluded with the Byzantine Emperor and te Polish king and also in spite of his many military successes.

After the death of Mircea the Elder in 1418 Walachia became a bone of contend of his successors and many voivodes could maintain themselves only for a short term of office. It is not very clear what role Hungaria and the Porte played in this contest but an important political goal of Matthias of Hungary was to drive the Turks out of Europe and it is possible that he succeeded for a short time in Valachia.

In the 16th and 17th century the princes of Valachia succeeded each other in a great pace. This period came to an end with the long reign o Constantin Brâncoveanu  (1688-1714) who profited from the capture of Transilvania by Leopold of Habsburg in 1690. Oltenia (Little Valachia) even came for a short time in the hands of the Habsburgs (1718-'39).

After the reign of Brâncoveanu  Moldavia and Valachia were administered alternately by the Phanariots who were granted only short terms of office by the Porte quite often ending with their execution.

The Phanariot era ended in 1821 when they were replaced by local princes. After the Turkish-Russian War of 1828 the country was occupied by the Russian Army (1828-'34).

The revolutionary unrest of 1848 was expressed in Valachia by the resistance against Turkish rule. The princely administarion was restored quickly and eleven years later Valachia was united with Moldavia  which in the end resulted in the independence of Romania.

 

Heraldry

 

The Aquila Valachica.

 

The bird sejant reguardant which has been the symbol of Walachia for such a long time is derived from the Roman eagle, revived by a Hungarian prince and adopted by Walachian rulers, vassals of the Hungarian kings

 

Legio quinta Macedonica (the Fifth Macedonian Legion) was a Roman legion. It was probably originally levied in 43 BC by consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Octavian (later known as the Emperor Augustus). It was based in the Balkan provinces of Macedonia, Moesia and Dacia. In the Notitia Dignitatum records from beginning of the fifth century, the legion was still stationed in Dacia, with detachments stationed in the east and Egypt.

 

While staying in Potaissa (a castra in the Roman province of Dacia, located in today's Turda, Romania). for most of the 3rd century, V Macedonica fought several times, earning honors.Valerian gave the Fifth the name III Pia III Fidelis; his son, Gallienus gave the legion the title VII Pia VII Fidelis, with the 4th, 5th and 6th titles awarded probably when the legion was used as a mobile cavalry unit against usurpers Ingenuus and Regalianus (260, Moesia).

 

Philip II AE 19 mm of Dacia. Dated Year 2 (247-‘48 AD). IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS CAES, bare headed, draped bust right / PROVINCIA DACIA, AN II in exergue, Dacia standing left, holding curved sword & one standard inscribed DF (Dacia Felix), flanked by an eagle with a crown of laurel & a lion.

 

This coin was issued by Roman emperor Gallienus (253-’68) to celebrate the V Macedonica, whose symbol, the eagle, is crowned by Victoria. The legend on the reverse says LEG V MAC VI P VI F, which means “Legio V Macedonica VI times faithful VI times loyal”

 

The legion returned to Oescus (on the south bank of the Danube) in 274, after Aurelian had retired from Dacia. It guarded the province in later centuries, becoming a comitatensis unit under the Magister Militum per Orientis..

The cavalry unit created by Gallienus was definitively detached by Diocletian, and became part of his comitatus. This unit was sent to Mesopotamia, where it successfully fought against the Sassanid Empire in 296, and then to Memphis, where it remained until becoming part of the Byzantine army.

 

Arms of Legio V Macedonica  (420AD ca)

As in Notitia Dignitatum fol 181 r°

 

Legio V Macedonica is mentioned again in the Notitia Dignitatum, stationed in Dacia Ripensis (today’s north-western Bulgaria), with detachments in the Oriental Field Army and in Egypt.

Legio V Macedonica is again mentioned in both Antaeapolis and Heliopolis in inscriptions, which seem to have been detachments of the units in Memphis. The last inscription provides the date of 635 or 636, indicating that at least part of the Legion was in Egypt until just before the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs began in 637. This would make Legio V Macedonica the longest-lived Roman Legion known in history, spanning 680 years from 43 BC to 637 AD; the entire history of the Roman Empire in the Classical Era.

 

Bela IV *1206-†1270

 

Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. Being the oldest son of King Andrew II and Gertrude of Merano (1185-1213), he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his father's lifetime in 1214.

Béla was made a duke of Transylvania by his father in 1226. As a Duke of Transylvania, Béla adopted an expansionist policy aimed at the territories over the Carpathian Mountains. He supported the Dominicans' proselytizing activities among the Cumans, who dominated these lands. In 1227 he crossed the mountains and met Boricius, a Cuman chieftain, who had decided to convert to Christianity. At their meeting, Boricius and his subjects were baptized and acknowledged Béla's suzerainty. Within a year, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania was established in their lands.

Béla had long opposed his father's "useless and superfluous perpetual grants", because the distribution of royal estates destroyed the traditional basis of royal authority. He started reclaiming King Andrew's land grants throughout the country in 1228. The Pope supported Béla's efforts, but the King often hindered the execution of his son's orders. Béla also confiscated the estates of two noblemen, brothers Simon and Michael Kacsics, who had plotted against his mother Gertrude.

Béla invaded Bulgaria and besieged Vidin in 1228 or 1232, but he could not capture the fortress. Around the same time, he set up a new border province, the Banate of Szörény (= Severin, Romania), in the lands between the Carpathians and the Lower Danube. In a token of his suzerainty in the lands east of the Carpathians, Béla adopted the title “King of Cumania” in 1233. Béla sponsored the mission of Friar Julian and three other Dominican monks who decided to visit the descendants of the Hungarians who had centuries earlier remained in Magna Hungaria, the Hungarians' legendary homeland

King Andrew died on 21 September 1235. Béla, who succeeded his father without opposition, was crowned king in Székesfehérvár on 14 October

In 1240 invading Mongols demanded Béla's submission to their Great Khan Ögödei, but Béla refused to yield and had the mountain passes fortified. The Mongols broke through the barricades erected in the Verecke Pass (Veretsky Pass, Ukraine) on 12 March 1241.

Duke Frederick II of Austria, who arrived to assist Béla against the invaders, defeated a small Mongol troop near Pest. His intervention however proved counter-productive because it resulted in the retreat of the Cumans, the main allies of Bela IV. After Frederick II had forced him to cede some of his territories, Bela sent letters to Pope Gregory IX, Emperor Frederick II, King Louis IX of France and other Western European monarchs, urging them to send reinforcements to Hungary. In the hope of military assistance, he even accepted Emperor Frederick II's suzerainty in June 1241 (which lasted until 21.8.1245). The Pope declared a Crusade against the Mongols, but no reinforcements arrived.

The Mongols crossed the frozen Danube early in 1242. A Mongol detachment under the command of Kadan, a son of Great Khan Ögödei, chased Béla from town to town in Dalmatia. Béla took refuge in the well-fortified city of Trogir (on the Adriatic coast). Before Kadan laid siege to the town in March, news arrived of the Great Khan's death. Batu Khan wanted to attend at the election of Ögödei's successor with sufficient troops and ordered the withdrawal of all Mongol forces..

 

Obol of Bela IV 1235-‘70

Royal portrait on the obverse and eagle statant  reguardant on the reverse

The eagle on the obole of Bela IV can be explained in several ways.

 

In the first case the eagle, which has such a peculiar attitude, may refer to the eagle of the Roman Empire as represented on the coins to honour Legio V Macedonica which had camped for such a long time in Dacia, as well in the middle of  the principality of Transilvania of the tme of Bela IV, as well as on the Danube on the eastern border of the Banate of Szörény founded by Bela

 

Secondly the eagle may have been the badge of rank of Bela IV when a vassal of emperor Frederick II (1241/1245) the attitude of reguardant for difference or to symbolize looking for help from the West.

 

A third possiblity is that the eagle was the eagle of the duke of Merano of which his mother was a daughter. That eagle was Azure, an eagle Argent, and perhaps the reguardant was meant to symbolize Bela remembering his mother who was assassinated in 1213.

 

A fourth possibility is that with such a bird a socalled Caladrius is meant.

 

Caladrius

in the Bestiary from Giraldus Cambrensis, 2nd quarter 13th cent.

British Library, Harley MS 4751, Folio 40r

 

A Caladrius is, according to Bartholomew Anglicus:  [1]

As the philospher sayth, the birde that hyghte Kaladrius is whyte of colour and hath no parte of blackness. And nether parte of his legge clenseth and purgeth dymnes of the eyen. His kynde is suche, when a man is holde in greatte sykness this byrde Kaladrius tornethe away his face fro him that is seke and than without dowte the man shal dye. And if the syke manne shall escape, the byrde Kaladrius setteth his syght on him and beholdeth hym, as is were faunynge and playsynge. And this byrde is other than the byrde that hight Calandra, that syngeth as a thrustelle.”

 

The author citing this section continues:

“Other bestiarists have improved upon the bare account given by Bartholomew, and the commoner version is that the Caladrius, having drawn the sickness out of the patient, flies up towards the sun, the heat of which consumes the sickness and restores the man to health. The moral drawn from this is that in like manner Jesus Christ, on whom there is neither spot nor wrinkle, came down from heaven and turned his face away from the Jews, but looked with favour upon the Gentiles, healing them of their spiritual infirmities. A bird of such remarkable qualities was, naturally, of considerable interest to our ancestors, and representations of it, sometimes perched upon a sick-bed and sometimes flying towards the sun, are to be found in several churches in Western Europe and in many medieval manuscripts. One minnesinger even likened his lady love to the Caladrius, declaring that it was a question of life or death whether her face was turned towards him or away.”

 

In the fourteenth century South-eastern Europe was treated by the Turks. In 1362 they captured Thracia with Adrianople and in 1382 Sofia. In the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 the Serbians were subjected. In that sense Walachia was one of the last outposts of the christian world and the survival of christian rule in Walachia of the greatest importance  for the West. Therefore it was of importance if the Walachian Caladrius would be dirtected to the sick (chistian) west, which would imply a recuperation, or to the Turks which would imply the occupation of Hungary. Such was the case mutatis mutandis also for the cornered Byzantine Emperor.

So there is much to say for that the bird on the helmet of the 14th century Walachian princes to be called a Caladrius. Only the colour, which has to be of a spotless white, remains a problem to solve.

 

The Arms

 

Mircea the Elder (Mircea I cel Bătrân)

*1355-†1418

1st term1386-1394

2nd term 1397-1418

 

Seal of Mircea I the Elder,

on a treaty of 1390 with the Polish King, Władysław Jagiełło

(fotocopie, Biblioteca Academiei Române, Peceţi, F-VIII-1,)

 

Arms: Bird reguardant standing before a latin cross in chief, in sinister chief  a crescent-and-sixpointed star

Legend: X S IGILLUM MIRCZE WAIWODA TRANSALPIN I BAN I DE CZWRINIO MIRCE WAIWO ODA [2]

 

Vlad the Usurpator (Vlad I Uzurpatorul)

1394-1397

Seal of Vlad the Usurpator, 1395

 

Dan II

1st rule 1422-1426

 

 

1424 Wapenzegel W.: Een omziende vogel voor een kruis, in de linkerbovenhoek een wassenaar en 5-puntige ster. (1. nov. 1424 Arh. Stat. Brasov Privilegii, nr. 774; 2. dd. 1425, BARSR Peceti F-LIII-8)

 

 

Vlad II the Dragon (Vlad II Dracul)

1st rule 1436-1442

 

Seal of Vlad II the Dragon, 1437

BRSR Manusacrise, Fotocopii, III/3A

 

Arms: Standing bird reguardant befor a russian cross  in dexter chief a crescent-and-fivepointed star.

Legend: X S WLAD FILIUS:  MERCE: TRANSALPINIS: VAIVODA: ET: DOMINUS DE  FOGARAS. [3]

 

Seal of Vlad II Dracul voievod

on a letter of 2 august 1439

Arhivele Naţionale ale României, Fonduri personale şi Colecţii, Depozit 1C

 

Arms and legend as before

 

Radu IV the Great (Radu cel Mare)

1495-1508

 

 

1497 Zegel van Radu de Grote  dd.  maart 1497: Wapen: een omgewende omziende staande vogel voor een kruis, in de rechtebovenhoek een vijfpuntige ster boven een liggende wassenaar. (Arh.Stat.Buc. Fond. M-rea Govoru, VIII/2)

 

Seal of Radu the Great on a letter of 25 January 1499

 

Arms: Bird to the sinister  reguardant before a latin cross, in dexter chief  a crescent-and-fivepointed star.

Legend: X I RADU VOIEVOD AND LORD OF ALL RUMANIAN LANDS SON OF VLAD THE GREAT VOIVODE in slavic. [4]

 

Neagoe Basarab

1512-1521

 

His seal of  March 1517

Arh. Stat. Brasov, Privilegii, nr. 781

  

Arms: A bird statant reguardant to the sinister, a latin cross in its beak, between a sun and a crescent in chief.

Gravestone of Neagoe Basarab, 1521

Curtea de Argeş Monastery

 

Sun emblem and patriarchal cross on socle being the emblem of the realm and the emblem of administrative and religious authority.

 

Patrascu the Good

1554-1557

son of Radu Paisie

 

Zegel van Patrascu de Goede dd. 1557. Wapen: Een omgewende staande vogel met een kruis in de snavel, in de rechterbovenhoek een afnemende maan en in de linkerbovenhoek een zespuntige ster. (Mus.Ist.Cluj)

Tiparul sigilar al lui Pătraşcu cel Bun

 

(confecţionat din bronz aurit, a fost descoperit la Gilău în 1900, în grădina măcelarului János Balogh. Legenda diferă de textul legendei de pe sigiliul aplicat pe documentele din perioada 1554-1555. Bucureşti, Muzeul Naţional de Istorie a României  nr.inv.54213)

 

 

/† IO SINHRISOE · LI · PETRASKO VOIVOD I Gń ·· B ·· EI ZEMAN GRO BLAHIONCKI/

 

Mihnea II the Turk

2nd rule 1585-1591

 

Szigmond Báthory

*1572-†1613

Voivode 11.05.1581-1586

1st term Prince of Transilvania 1586-1597

Prince of Wallachia 03.06.1595

Knight of the Fleece n° 284  1596

Prince of Transilvania 1598 - 1599

1601 - 26.07.1602

 

 

Szigmond Báthory a few times chased the Turks from Walachia and Moldavia. On his seal of 1595 the arms of his captured territories are represented that is: on the dexter a per fess of the Szekely and the Saxon Nations and on the sinister a per fess of the eagle of Walachia and the emblem called of the Nova Plantatio. In base the bull’s head of Moldavia and in chief his own coat of arms.

 

Here the coat of arms of Walachia is the same as the arms for Walachai of his predecessors, that is: an eagle to the sinister reguardant with a patriarchal cross in his beak, between a sun and a cresent in chief.

 

In zijn wapen als 284e ridder van het Gulden Vlies (1596) is het kwartier voor Walachije  goud, de vogel zwart. Zon en maan ontbreken,  het kruis is dubbel.

 

Het blijft inmiddels de vraag of met de Aquila Valachica wel een adelaar bedoeld is. Noch aan de snavel, noch aan de poten is dat eigenlijk af te lezen. Johan Chiflet (Insignia Gentilitia Equitum Ordinis velleris aurei, Antwerpen 1632, p. 155) noemt de vogel in zijn beschrijving van het wapen van Sigismund Bathory een kraai en geeft tegelijketijd voor het eerst (!) de kleuren:

 

            Corvin (sic): Au III d’or, a un corbeau contourné, de sable, la teste retournée a dextre; tenant au bec une double croix de geuelles, au pied long, mis en bande.   [5]

 

....waarbij dus vastgesteld moet worden dat Chiflet het wapen verkeerd toeschrijft en bovendien de zon en maan in het schildhoofd vergeet. ...

 

Vitéz Mihály

*1558-†09.08.1601

Voievode of Walachia 1593-1601

Lord of Transilvania 1599-1600

Lord of Moldavia 1600

 

Alexandru Iliaș 

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1616-1618

1627-1629

 

The arms of Valachia

On a document of Alexandru Iliaș for Snagov Monastery, 1628 [6]

 

Matei Basarab 

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1632-1654

 

 

Evanghelie învăţătoare, Govora, 1642 [7]

 

Gravestone of Matei Basarab

By Elias Nicolai, 1658. Arnota monastery

 

Crowned arms of Walachia and triple cross.

 

Antonie Vodă din Popești 

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1669 - 1672.

 

Șerban Cantacuzino 

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1678-1688

 

Arms of Valachia on a document of Șerban Cantacuzino, 1683  [8]

 

Arms of Valachia crested with a crowned two-headed eagle with a mace and a sword in its claws.

 

Constantin Brâncoveanu 

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1688-1714

 

Goldcoin of Constantin Brâncoveanu 1713

 

The arms of Valachia ducally crowned Habsburg style.

[9]

 

Arms of Valachia on a publication of Constantin Brâncoveanu, 1713 [10]

 

Arms of Valachia crowned valachian style, behind the shield sword and mace in saltire.

 

Alexandru Ipsilanti

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1774-1782

1796-1797

 

Arms of Valachia on a publication of Alexandru Ipsilanti 1778 [11]

Lid of a box of a seal, 1774

 

The legend of the seal reads: † IO ALECSANDRU IPSILANTI VOIEVOD CU MILA LUI DUMNEZEU DOMN AL ȚARI ROMȂNEŞTI. [12]

 

Achievement of Walachia

On a letter of Bistrița Monastery, 1799

 

Arms of Walachia on a document of Alexander Ypsilanti, 1779 [13]

 

 

Mihail „Draco” Suțu 

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1783-1786

1791-1793

1801-1802

 

Alexandru Moruzi

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1793-1796

 1799-1801

 

Ioan Gheorghe Caradja

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1812-1818

 

Russian Occupation

1828-1834

 

 

Alexandru II Ghica

Prince of Valachia 1834 - 1842 .

 

In 1834, Wallachia's throne was occupied by Alexandru II Ghica - a move in contradiction with the Adrianople treaty, as he had not been elected by the new Legislative Assembly; removed by the suzerains in 1842, he was replaced with an elected prince, 

 

Eagle in the head of the Buletin Gazeta Oficial, 23.02.1840

 

Gheorghe Bibescu

1843-1848

 

Eagle on the frontispiece of the Regulamentul Organic of George Bibescu, 1847

 

Revolution and Provisional Government of 1848

 

Early on 23 June, Bibescu also attempted to regain the loyalty of his Militia forces by an order to take a renewed oath of allegiance - the officers agreed to do so, but added that under no circumstances did they agree to shed the blood of Romanians. In the afternoon, the Bucharest populace, feeling encouraged by this development, rallied in the streets; around four o'clock, the church bells on Dealul Mitropoliei began sounding the tocsin (by banging their clappers on only one side of the bell). Public readings of the Islaz Proclamation took place, and the Romanian tricolor was paraded throughout the city. At ten o'clock in the evening, Bibescu gave in to the pressures, signed the new constitution, and agreed to support a Provisional Government as imposed on him by Frăția. This effectively disestablished Regulamentul Organic, causing the Russian consul in Bucharest, Charles de Kotzebue, to leave the country for Austrian-ruled Transylvania. Bibescu himself abdicated and went into exile.

On June 25, the two proposed cabinets were reunited into a Guvernul Vremelnicesc (Provisional Government), based on the Executive Commission of the Second French Republic; headed by the conservative Neofit II, the Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia. It consisted of Christian Tell, Ion Heliade Rădulescu, Ștefan Golescu, Gheorghe Magheru, and, for a short while, the Bucharest merchant Gheorghe Scurti. Its secretaries were C. A. Rosetti, Nicolae Bălcescu, Alexandru G. Golescu, and Ion Brătianu.

The Government was doubled by the  Ministerul Vremelnicesc (the Provisional Ministry), which was divided into several offices: Ministrul dinlăuntru (the Minister of the Interior, a position held by Nicolae Golescu); Ministrul dreptății (Justice – Ion Câmpineanu); Ministrul instrucției publice (Public Education – Heliade Rădulescu); Ministrul finanții (Finance – C. N. Filipescu); Ministrul trebilor dinafară (Foreign Affairs – Ioan Voinescu II); Ministrul de războiu (War – Ioan Odobescu, later replaced by Tell); Obștescul controlor (the Public Controller – Gheorghe Nițescu). It also included Constantin Crețulescu as President of the City Council (later replaced by Cezar Bolliac), Scarlat Crețulescu as Commander of the National Guard, and Mărgărit Moșoiu as Police Chief.

 

 

Seal of the Provisional Government

Arh. Stat. Buc. Arh. Ist. Centr., Bibl. F.V. III/36

Seal of the Provisional Government 28,06.1848

Arh. Stat. Buc. Arh. Ist. Centr.., dos. 865/1847, part II, f. 605

Seal op the Temporary Government 1848

Arh. Stat. Buc. Arh. Ist. Centr., sigilii administr. jud. Ilfov, nr. 3032

Seal of the government ad-interim 1848

Arh. Stat. Buc. Arh. Ist. Centr., Fond,. Ministr. de Interne, Administr. vechi, dos. 3/1848, f. 211[14]

 

Joint Russian Ottoman Occupation of Valachia 1848-1851

 

Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbei

Prince of Valachia 1848–1853

 

Russian occupation of Wallachia and Moldavia 1853-1854

 

Ottoman Occupation of Wallachia 1854

 

Austrian occupation of Valachia 1854-1856

 

Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbei

Prince of Valachia 1854–1856

 

Alexandru II Ghica

Caimacam (regent) 1856 - 1858

 

Seal of the Regency of the Romanian Lands

Arh. Stat., Arh. Ist. Centr., Sig. Administr. Jud. Ilfov, nr. 3050

Seal of the Regency of the Principality of Valachia

Arh. Stat., Arh. Ist. Centr., Sig. Administr. Jud. Ilfov, nr. 3049

 

The Achievement

 

 

1422 – 1424

 

Seal: Two crowned heads

Legend: Unreadable. (AS Brasov Pec. n° 3. Pl V.1 & p. 53)

 

Seal of Vlad Dracul 1444

Arms: A lily between two crowned heads. L.: Z IO ?? : WLAD : WAYVODA. (Pl. V. 2)

Legend: S WLAD FILIUS MERCE TRANSALPINIS VAIVODA

2. Locul numelui vânzătorului este lăsat liber. Satul a fost o colonie germană (Friwald/Freiwald/Pădure Liberă) şi distrusă în anul 1385 (pare să fi fost opera moravienilor).  În decursul secolelor XV- XVII descendenţii şoltuzului din Friwald sunt menţionaţi cu numele Walach, Mouc (Moţ), Klopan şi Frivaldszky.

 

Seal of 1476

1476 Figuurzegel: Een palmtak tussen twee gekroonde mannen ten halve. (Bibl. Ac. RSR Sig. n° 773 F-LIII-5 A,B,C. Pl. V

 



1530 Figuurzegel: Cypres tussen twee gekroonde mannen. L.: io vlada voevod   mlc...  Iu bzjniu n gospodin. (pL. V.4) 

 

Seal of Alexandru II Mircea (1574-‘77

 

Mihnea II the Turk

2nd rule 1585-1591

 

Seal of Mihnea the Turk with achievement of Valachia, 1587

Achievement:

Arms: Strewn with stars an eagle statant to the sinister, reguardant, standing on a winged globe, a latin cross in its beak and four pennons in its sinister claw; in chief a sun radiant and a crescent

Crown: A princely crown of three fleurs de lis and two leaves

Supporters: Two lions armed with swords upright

 

On a letter of 1587 (V. Arh.Stat. Buc., Peceti, nr 17.)

Seal of Mihnea, 1589

 

Seal:  Cypress between two crowned princes

Crest: Walachian eagle between sun crescent

L.: ?. (Cern Pl. V. 5)

End of Basarab rule 1591

 

Sigismund Bathory

1595

 

Sigismund Bathory, 1596

 

Gavril Movila

1618-1620

 

Seal of december 1619 (Cern. Pl. XX 4)

 

Seal of Radu Mihnea, 1623

 

1623 V 10 Figuurzegel: Cypres tussen een ongekroonde en een gekroonde man en gehouden door twee leeuwen. Er boven de A.V. tussen een maan en een zon. L.: IO RADUL VOEVOD ASNMIHN L........NL SIETNIS E MEVLIKOS. (Pl. V.6)

 

Matei Basarab 

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1632-1654

 

 

Seal of Matei Basarab, 1640 ca

 

On this rather damaged seal there seems to be an achievement resembling the achievement of Mihnea II, the swords of the lions as a crest in saltire.

 

1643

1645

 

Grigore I Ghica

 1st term 1660-1664

 

Antonie Vodă din Popești 

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1669 – 1672.

 

Achievement of Valachia

On a document of Antonie Voda, 1669 [15]

 

Grigore I Ghica

2nd term 1672-1673

 

Seal of Grigore I Ghica, 1672

 

Achievement: Emblem:  Eagle rising with latin cross between a sun radiant and a crescent in chief  and supported by two angels.(?)

Crown: Princely crown

 

Şerban Cantacuzino

1678-1688

 

Seal of Şerban Vodă Cantacuzino, October 1683

Bibl. Acad. R.R. Filiala Cluj, Arh. familiei Nemeş

 

Crowned arms crested with a two-headed eagle with sword and mace. Two princes for supporters. [16]

 

Şerban Cantacuzino was an ally of Emperor Leopold of Habsburg against his Ottoman suzerain at the Battle of Vienna in September 1683.

 

Achievement of Şerban Cantacuzino, 1688

Frontispiece of “Acts of Lord Şerban Cantacuzino”. Museum of Bucarest City. [17]

 

Arms and crowned two-headed eagle with sword and mace for supporter.

 

Coat of arms of the Great Ban Gheorghe sin Șerban Cantacuzino

as Grand Master of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George. [18]

 

For his role at the Siege of Vienna he received praise from General Wallenstein and the Habsburg Emperor himself and also earned the title of  “Defender (or Count) of the Holy Roman Empire”. Thanks to his contributions and the Polish intervention, Vienna was saved. The Austrians therefore promised him the throne of Constantinople after the Turks were driven out.

 

 

Constantin Brâncoveanu 

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1688-1714

 

After the Peace of Karlowitz (26-01-1699) Walachia even further drifted away from the Ottoman Empire.

 

Seal box of a seal of a documentt of 1711

From the chancellery of Constantin Brâncoveanu

 

Arms of Walachia supported by the Imperial Eagle [19]

 

Ioan Stefan Cantacuzino

1714-1716

 

Seal of Stefan Cantacuzino, 1714

 

Achievement: Emblem:  Eagle rising with latin cross between a sun radiant and a crescent in chief,  and supported by two angels.(?)

Crown: Princely crown, crested with a two-headed eagle

This achievemen on an oval shield royally crowned.

Legend: ΙѠΑΝ ΨΕΦΑN ΚΑΝΤΑΚΟЗИΝΟ ΒΟΕΒΟΔΑ БЖΙЮ ΜΑΤΙЮ ΓΔΡZΒΜΑИ ȢΓΡΒΑΧΗ

 

From: Staats-siegel des Walachischen Woewoden Ioan Stefan Kantakusino. In: Der Deutsche Herold, 1880, pp. 99-100

 

Achievement with two-headed eagle and lions for supporters, 1715

Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României, MNAR

 

After the killing of Stefan Cantacuzino  Phanariot rule in Wallachia was established as a way to ensure a tighter Ottoman control over Wallachia.

 

Phanariot rulers of Walachia

 

Nicolae Mavrocordat

1715-1716

Johan Mavrocordat

1716-1719

Nicolae Mavrocordat

1719-1730

Constantin Mavrocordat

1730

Mihai Racovita

1730-1731

Constantin Mavrocordat

1731-1733

Grigore II Ghica

1733-1735

Constantin Mavrocordat

1735-1741

Mihai Racovita

1741-1744

Constantin Mavrocordat

1744-1748

Grigore II Ghica

1748-1752

Matei Ghica

1752-1753

Constantin Racovita

1753-1756

Constantin Mavrocordat

1756-1758

Scarlat Ghica

1758-1761

Constantin Mavrocordat

1761-1763

Constantin Racovita

1763-1764

Stefan Voda Racovita

1764-1765

Scarlat Ghica

1765-1766

Alexander Ghica

1766-1768

Grigore II Ghica

1768-1769

Manuci Rosetti

1770-1771

 

Alexandru Ipsilanti

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1st term 1774-1782

 

Alexander Ipsilanti, Voivode of Wallachia (1774-’82 & 1796-’97).

Anonymous contemporary copperplate  (Bibl. Acad. R.S.R. Bucureşti, Cabinetul de Stampe).

 

Crowned arms with sword and mace and  crowned lions for supporters

 

Seal of Alexandru Ipsilanti, 1776

 

Crowned arms with sword and mace, and crowned lions for supporters

 

Charter for the settlement of Land and Monasteries.

By the grace of God, I, voivode Alexandru Ioan Ypsilanti and lord of all Rumanian Land [20]

 

Nicola Caradja

1782-1783

 

Mihail „Draco” Suțu 

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1783-1786

1791-1793

1801-1802

 

Achievement of Mihail Suțu  on „In Memoriam” of Cozia monastery

Beginning of a list of Fathers of the Church and princes of Walachia from Radu I the Black (1377-’85) until 1794.

 

Crowned arms with sword and mace and angels for supporters.

 

Nicolae Mavroyeni

1786-1788

 

Portrait of Nicolae Mavrogheni, 1787 ca..

By Grigore Popovici (National Museum of Romanian Art, Bukarest) [21]

 

Crowned arms with mace and sword, lions for supporters

 

Michael Sutsu

1791-1793

Alexandru Moruzi

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1793-1796

Alexander Ipsilanti

2nd term 1796-1797

Constantin Handjery

1797-1799

Alexander Moruzi

 2nd term 1799-1801

Michael Sutsu

 2nd term 1801-1802

 

Constantin Ipsilanti

1802-1806

 

Achievement of Valachia on a publication of Alexander Moruzi, 1805

 

Crowned arms with lions for supporters, the arms augmented with banners in saltire.

 

Ioan Gheorghe Caradja

Lord of the Romanian Lands 1812-1818

 

Seal of Ioan Caragea 1812

Achievement of Walachia and the emblems of its districts [22]

 

  Ć To be continued in Romania

 

Walachian provinces in the 20th century

 

Ținutul Argeş

Ținutul Olt

Ținutul Marii

 

These arms were adopted 13 December 1938 [23]

 

 

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 © Hubert de Vries 2018-02-20

 

 

 



[1] Dennys, Rodney: The Heraldic Imagination.  Barrie & Jenkins Ltd. London, 1975.p. 174.

[2] Dogaru, Maria: Sigiliile, marturi ale trecutului istoric. Ed. Stintifica si encyclo­pedica. Bucuresti, 1976. Pp. 20-21

[3] Dogaru op.cit. 1976, P. 25

[4] Dogaru op.cit. 1976, P 27

[5] Chiflet, Johan Jacob: Insignia Gentilitia Equitum ordinis velleris aurie. Antwerpen, MDCXXXII, p. 155; Maurice, Jean Baptiste: Le Blason des Armoiries de tous les Chevaliers de l’Ordre de la Toison d’Or. Den Haag, 1667,  p. 299. 

[6] https://tiparituriromanesti.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/alexandru-ilias-decide-impreuna-cu-sfatul-tarii-sa-nu-inchine-manastirea-snagov-muntelui-athos-1628/ Alexandru Iliaș decide împreună cu Sfatul țării să nu închine mânăstirea Snagov Muntelui Athos (1628)

[7] https://tiparituriromanesti.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/crv61.jpg

[8] https://tiparituriromanesti.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/apostol-bucuresti-1683/

[9] Jefarovic, Christofor Izobrajenie Uruji Illyriceskich Avtorom Pavlom Ritterom v dialekt latinskom izdanoje na ckrit i po ego urajdenio na slavsno serbski jezije. 1741.. N° 54

[10] https://tiparituriromanesti.wordpress.com/2014/07/20/pilde-filosofesti-targoviste-1713/

[11] https://tiparituriromanesti.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/mineiul-pe-luna-noiembrie-ramnic-1778/

[12] Dogaru op. cit, 1976. P. 39

[13] https://tiparituriromanesti.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/mineiul-pe-luna-ianuarie-ramnic-1779/

[14] Cernovodeanu, Dan: Stiinta si Arte Heraldica in Romania. Editura Stiintifica si Encyclo­pedica. Bucureșsti, 1977pp.. 240-241

[15] http://vechi25.rssing.com/browser.php?indx=11885631&item=38 Hrisov prin care Antonie Vodă întemeiază o școală în Câmpulung (1669)

[16] Cernevodeanu op.cit.. Pl. XX, 5

[17] https://tiparituriromanesti.wordpress.com/tag/serban-cantacuzino/page/2/

[18] From: Cartea de Aur a Ordinului Constantinian ("Golden Book of the Constantinian Order"). Iași National Archives.     

[19] Dogaru op.cit 1976. Pp.106-107

[20] https://tiparituriromanesti.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/dionisie-eclesiarhul-condica-manastirii-bistrita-jud-valcea-1795/

[21] https://www.artmark.ro/grigore-popovici-zugravul-portretul-domnitorului-nicolae-mavrogheni.html

[22] https://tiparituriromanesti.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/caragea-2.jpg

[23] Der Herold, 1940 p. A40.