- Alexander the Good
Alexander the Good ("Alexandru cel Bun"; "Alexandru I Muşat") was a
Voivode (Prince) ofMoldavia between 1400 and 1432,cite book|last=Vauchez|first=Andre|title=Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages|publisher=Routledge|date=2001-04-01|isbn=1579582826|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=om4olQhrE84C&pg=PA966&dq=%22Alexander+the+Good%22+1400-1432&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=epBySPXoGp6MjAHCorn2Dg&sig=ACfU3U1sSr3y8c8QVqJ6eHb9f1bblw7etQ] son of Roman I Muşat. He succeeded Iuga to the throne,cite book|last=Williams|first=Henry Smith|title=The Historians' History of the World|publisher=Hooper & Jackson|date=1909|pages=p242|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=sB8QAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA242&dq=%22Alexander+the+Good%22&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=t4lySLnkA4LAigG6g6GCBg] and, as a ruler, initiated a series of reforms while consolidating the status of the Moldavian Principality.Internal politics
Alexander expanded the bureaucratical system by creating the "Council of the Voivode", the
Chancellor y and by adding (in 1403) the institution of "Logofăt " – Chancellor of the official Chancellery.During his reign, he introduced new fiscal laws, by adding commercial
privilege s to the traders ofLviv (1408) andKraków (1409), improved the situation of the trading routes (especially the one linking the port ofCetatea Albă to Poland), strengthened the forts guarding them, and expanded the Moldavian ports of Cetatea Albă and Chilia.He also had a role in ending the conflict of the Moldavian Eastern Orthodox with the
Patriarch of Constantinople , and built the monasteries ofMoldoviţa and Neamţ.Foreign affairs
The main concern of Alexander the Good was to defend the country in wars against superior armies. In order to do that, he forged a system of alliances with
Wallachia and Poland, generally against Hungary (although he had been backed to the throne by Sigismund of Hungary). In 1402, he was swornvassal ofJogaila , the King of Poland.cite book |author=King, Charles H. |authorlink= |editor= |others= |title=The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the politics of culture |edition= |language= |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |location=Stanford, CA |year=2000 |origyear= |pages= p15|quote= |isbn=0-8179-9791-1 |oclc= |doi= |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=ldBFWtuv8DQC&pg=PA15&dq=%22Alexandru+cel+Bun%22&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=E5dySLDxIJOkiwGD_LgO&sig=ACfU3U0UNLvwpqz_l8ihkhNIIDfnv05D4Q|accessdate=] The treaty was renewed in 1404, 1407, 1411 and 1415.Alexander participated in two battles against the
Teutonic Knights : in 1410 at Grunwald and in 1422 at Marienburg . In 1420, he also defended Moldavia against the first incursion by Ottomans atCetatea Albă . He also got involved in the power struggles of Wallachia, by helpingRadu II Prasnaglava in 1418–1419 andAlexandru I Aldea in 1429, mostly in order to prevent the capture of Chilia.Due to a territorial claim of Poland and the previous failure of the Polish king to fulfill his part of the vassality treaty during an Ottoman attack in 1420, Alexander launched an attack on Poland during the
Lithuanian Civil War (1431–1435) . The attack ended with the treaty ofSuceava onNovember 18 1431 .Personal life
Alexandru cel Bun had four legitimate wives – Margareta Loszonc, Ana Neacşa,
Rymgajla (daughter ofKęstutis and sister ofVytautas the Great of Lithuania; divorced in 1421), and Mariana – and at least three concubines. He had twenty-four sons (including illegitimate) – six of them later reigning inMoldavia – and seventeen daughters. He was father-in-law toVlad II Dracul of Wallachia.He died on
January 1 1432 , and was buried in the Bistriţa Monastery.External links
* [http://genealogy.euweb.cz/balkan/balkan18.html Muşatin family]
Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.