The fortresses of Moldova

 The article was written by Ion Chirtoaga, doctor in history

In the second half of century XIV, the period of the constitution of the state east of the Carpathians reached its final stage. First Bogdan removed from Baia (1363 or 1364) Bale, a protégé of the Hungarian royalty. Then Petru Muşat (shortly before 1386) extended his authority to the Dniester and the Black Sea. And during the time of Alexander the Good (not long before 1403) under the authority of the lord of Moldavia he reached Chilia with the northern part of the Danube delta.

After a small population (of about 400 thousand inhabitants) was included in the composition of the Country of Moldova and borders were established on natural borders (Carpathian mountains, Dniester rivers, Danube and on the Black Sea coast) the rulers of Moldova began to create a defence system. During the time of Peter I, the son of Musate, wooden fortresses were built in Suceava, which in the meantime had become a seat fortress.

From now on in the first half. a sec. XIV with a population of about one hundred families Suceava could be a residence of a local authority from the period of state formation. In the middle century, the settlement is surrounded by a fortification, formed by a palisade and a ditch, the palisade being built of two wooden walls, between which was beaten earth. Establishing his capital in Suceava, Peter I of Moldavia erected several buildings. First, he built a wooden castle on the northeastern outskirts of the city. In the western part of Suceava, the voivode erected a stone wall to protect it from Hungarian pressure. Craftsmen from Poland were brought to build the fortress, and not from Transylvania as was done in other cases. At the Royal Court and near it sat dignitaries in the voivode's entourage. Numerous armed men appear in the city, who have to defend both the Court and the fortress, as well as the craftsmen and merchants, who provided the voivode, his Court and the army with what was necessary.

Another fortress was built by Peter I near the Carpathians, in an area where there were such cities as Tîrgul Neamţ and Piatra Neamţ. The Neamt Fortress is mentioned in the vassalage homage paid by Peter I to the King of Poland (1387), and the Neamt Fair and Piatra Neamt - in the Russian chronicle Voskresenskaya, dated between 1387-1392. Craftsmen brought from abroad were usually used to build Moldovan cities. but much of the skilled and less skilled work was done by local craftsmen and thousands of peasants here.

Among the main localities of Moldova in the Voskresenskaya chronicle is mentioned Hotin, a city on the northern border of the country. First mentioned in 1310, Hotin together with the so-called land of Şepeniţ, around the middle. sec. XIV became part of Moldova. And in the time of Peter I with a recently rebuilt fortress, he became a trusted guard at the northern border of the country.

There were other fortresses in Ţara Şepeniţului. One of them was Ţeţina, mentioned in the list drawn up in 1387-1392 of the main localities of Moldavia. Tetina was also mentioned in the letter of the great Moldavian boyars (Şendrea, Stanislav, Braţul and Mihail). In 1395 these boyars promised Vladislav not to make any more claims to Pocutia, which according to the agreement of 1388 was to return to Moldavia for a debt of the Polish king to Peter I. about 17 km from Chernivtsi. Khmeliov was a fortress of wood and land on the border with Poland, built in the second half. a sec. XIV of Moldovans. Tetina continued to be among the main localities of Moldova in the first half of century XV. In the act of Alexander the Good from August 1. 1404 also mentions "pan Hotco de la Ţeţina" who together with other great boyars was to maintain the vassal relations of the ruler of Moldavia with the king of Poland. 

Another fortress was built at Roman. At the beginning of his reign, near the mentioned locality, Roman I (1392-1394) built a fortress, which will bear his name. On March 30, 1392, the ruler issued a deed "to our fortress, to Roman voivode". And in the list of Moldovan cities in the Voskresenskaya chronicle is mentioned "Roman's Fair on Moldova". The Roman fortress was located on the left bank of Moldova, at a height of 10 m above river level. It is a wooden palisade with interior constructions of the same material. The palisade had a length of 15 m and a height, together with the huts of 5-7 m, being supported by a wave of earth. in the south, the fortress was protected by the course of Moldavia, and in the west - by a ditch that protected the entrance to the fortress, where there were two more wooden towers.

According to M. D. Matei, Roman I couldn't have been able to build a strong fortress in a short time. The fortress was built on a territory recently annexed to Moldova, in which Roman I was a representative of the central state power, perhaps even an associate in the reign. In such a position, Roman I would have set himself the goal of building a fortress for himself. On the other hand, taking into account the fact that the fortress was still built in a territory recently annexed to Moldova, disputed by other countries (Hungary, Wallachia), the fortress was built of wood and earth, but not of stone as in Suceava and Neamt. In his turn, P. Parasca launched the idea that Roman I issued the first deed from the locality of the same name, in which he declared himself ruler from the mountains to the sea, although he was not yet ruler of the whole country.

The Roman city had a more favourable geographical position than that of Suceava, because it is a considerable distance from the Polish border. It is not excluded that this also allowed the Roman ruler to negotiate more favourable conditions in his capacity as a vassal of Vladislav Iagello. In such a situation, the positions of Moldova in international relations are strengthened. During the time of Roman I, the garrison of the fortress consisted of foreign, who came to Moldova with the support of the Polish king Vladislav Iagello. The number of foreign of German origin was not very large. They used pottery and weapons brought from their homeland. Towards the end of the first decade of the century. XV German soldiers no longer used foreign pottery. Gradually, they adapted to the living conditions in the country, accepting the use of locally produced objects used by the natives. 

The defence system, which was established on the territory of Moldavia, was to be tested by the new king of Hungary, Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387-1437). The pressure of the Hungarian king on Moldavia reached its peak at the beginning of the reign of Stephen I (1394-1399). The new lord concluded a treaty of vassalship with Poland, being forced to accept a possible fight "against the voivode of Bessarabia" (Mircea the Old) and to give up Pocutia (southern part of Galicia). These sacrifices were resorted to, because exactly in the month when the mentioned treaty was concluded, the Hungarian king, crossing the Carpathians from Oituz, invaded Moldova, and in a month (in February) he was at the Neamţ Fortress. On February 2, 1395, Sigismund of Luxembourg issued a royal deed located as being written: "in front of the Neamt Fortress". A month had passed since the crossing of the mountains (around January) until the issuance of the respective act. Therefore, the siege of the Neamţ Fortress lasted for several weeks. The resistance of the garrison from the Neamţ Fortress allowed the ruler of Moldova to gather enough forces to give the invaders due to retaliation. In Hindău, today the village of Ghindăuani near the Neamţ Fair, after "many waves of Christian blood flowed", the Moldovans defeat the king and force him to retreat. On February 14, the king was in Brasov.

Not long before 1386, the White Fortress was included in the composition of the Country of Moldavia together with a political party from the south-eastern part of the Carpatho-Dniester area. This fact is recorded in the income and expenditure register of Caffa, which mentions a message to the White Fortress to contact "Constantin and Petro Voyvoda", ie the Lord of Moldova Peter I and Constantine, the direct administrator of the White Fortress. The mission aimed to attract Moldova to the Genoese side in the fight against the Mongols. The location of the White Fortress under the authority of Peter I is also confirmed by the fact that it is included in the list of Moldovan cities, drawn up in 1387-1392. The name of the administrator Constantin is related to the construction of the first fortification at the White Fortress, as it appears from a Greek inscription placed on the tower of a high citadel in which it is stated that the fortification was built by the boyar Costea, in 1399, during the reign of Iuga. the colossal works for that time, carried out at the erection of the construction, were completed.

Chilia, another city in the southeastern part of the Carpathian-Dniester area, was gradually integrated into the composition of the Country of Moldova. First, Chilia began to circulate the money issued by Peter I. On May 28, 1403, in the accounts of Pera (Constantinople) is mentioned Iacoppo Bontempo "massarius" (accountant) of Licostomo, and in the summer of the same year - Nicolo Fieschi , former consul of Licostomo. These two people were reminiscent of the Genoese autonomous community in Chilia. In Chilia, the authority of Alexander the Good gradually strengthened. In 1412 Chilia was certainly part of the country, because the treaty of Lublau (1412) provided for the division of Moldavia, part of it, together with Chilia, to return to the Hungarian kingdom. It should be noted that at that time Chilia was primarily in the delta, where a strong fortress was also built.

The fortifications at Chilia and the White Fortress played an important role in repelling the Ottoman attacks, including that of 1420. It appeared much later than the city and was built not so much by the mayors and the population of the city as by the state apparatus of Moldavia. with the help of the whole country, the fortress of the White Fortress occupied a distinct position that did not go unnoticed by foreigners. In 1421 the Flemish traveller Guillberte de Lannoy relates that he arrived "at a fortified fortress and port on the Black Sea called Moncastro or Belgorod, where Genoese, Romanians and Armenians live", and in 1445 the Burgundian Vallerand de Vavrin reported that he arrived called the White City, where there was a city and a fortress ". This small but beautiful fortress of 35 x 37 m and a height of 15 m, with a garrison led by representatives of the central power, allowed the lord to effectively control the political situation in the city and its surroundings.

Alexander the Great continued the works to strengthen the capital, defended by the stone day (in the west), by the rivers Suceava and Căcăina. A new palisade with a deep ditch was built around the city. The entrance was only through a few gates that barred the main access roads. The new reinforcement covered an area four times the size of the previous one. In addition to the houses of the townspeople, the fortification was meant to protect part of the land used for growing vegetables and maintaining cattle during the siege. The ditch was paved with beams, which protected the walls from collapsing during torrential rains.

People with administrative and military missions were based in the cities. Thus we find in 1403 Şandru de la Neamţ, and in 1415 Stanislav Rotompan, one of the politicians, whose career began in the time of Peter I. According to the reports of a foreign chronicler, Rotompan would have had his coat of arms, which in It featured a crenellated fortress gate and a dog, a symbol of the guard. It is considered that this Stanislav Rotompan would have been one of the representatives of Alexander the Good who took care to build the defence system of Moldova through the parts of Neamt.

During the reign of Alexander the Great and his successors, local state bodies began to consolidate to consistently promote the central policy of the lord in the territory. In this sense, a special role is given to the director of the foreman, who is in charge of the administration of the county and the garrison of the city of residence. One of them was Duma, son of Limbădulce, who between 1436 and 1449 is recorded in documents as a neamţ of Neamţ and a member of the royal council.

Towards the middle of the 15th century, the central and local power of Moldova paid special attention to the strengthening of the border on the lower Dniester River, where the Tartars were trying to enter the country. Works are being carried out to strengthen the White Fortress, a stage of which was completed by the installation in 1440 of a plaque, in which it was mentioned that they were carried out during the reign of Stephen II by his representative in the territory - Teodorca. Another representative of the lord, Iurghici, being in 1444-1447 at the White Fortress, built a fort at the ford at the mouth of the Dniester, which sometime later will bear his name. The "Fortress of Iurghici" was meant to prevent the Tartars from passing to the Netherlands.

The clash between the Ottoman Empire and Moldova became inevitable. After the victory of Baia (1467) over the Hungarians and from Lipnic (1470) over the Tartars, Stephen the Great felt able to begin the fight to unite the forces of the two extra-Carpathian Romanian Lands to counteract the Ottoman danger. The moment seemed favourable, as the Ottomans were in a long war with Venice (1463-1479) and the Turkish state of Ak-Koyunlu (White Mill) in Asia. Venice was also supported by the pope, the Neapolitan Kingdom, Hungary, Cyprus. In 1470 Stephen the Great began military action with Radu the Beautiful, an exponent of the Ottoman Empire. In 1472 the lord of Moldavia established alliance ties with Uzun Hasan. He then married Maria de Mangup, a small Byzantine state of Crimea, also threatened by the Ottomans. After the victory at Sochi (1473) over Radu, Stephen the Great helped him to ascend the throne of Muntenia, ceasing to pay tribute to the sultan. Moldova is an open and active member of the anti-Ottoman coalition. According to the great lord, Moldova was "a gateway to Christianity", that is, to European civilization.

First, the leadership of local constituencies with strong cities on their territory is strengthened. At the White Fortress, for a time there were royal relatives: Vlaicu and Duma, uncles and cousins ​​of the lord, respectively. It is beginning to practice the appointment of two horsemen in a constituency. For example, in the years 1465-1468, in Chilia as Ischalabi were Isaiah and Buhtea, and in 1469 in Cetatea Albă - Mîrzea and Zbierea. In connection with the increase of the Tartar danger, Stephen the Great took energetic measures to stop their possible penetrations on the territory of the country through the favourable crossings on the lower Dniester, joining the local military forces under the authority of a pirate based in Orhei. On April 1. 1470 is attested "pan Gangur de Orhei", which was part of the royal council, and on 26 November. 1470 - hold. Orhei. The natural fortress near the village of Trebujeni (Orhei), called "Orheiul Vechi" and the buildings from the time of the Mongol-Tartars, renovated: the citadel building, the fortifications at the entrance, etc. were used as a residence. The garrison is equipped with artillery, two bronze cannons, being discovered by archaeologists. In 1466 new fortifications were built at Roman, called the "New Fortress". in 1466 and 1467 Oancea is mentioned as a leader of the New Fortress.

In 1474 Mehmed II ordered the lord of Moldavia to cede Chilia and the White Fortress to the Ottomans. Finding out that Stephen the Great had refused to comply with his demands, Mehmed II ordered Rumelia Suleyman's son-in-law to take part in a military campaign. The well-known battle of Vaslui followed, in which Stephen the Great gained a brilliant victory over the Ottomans. The crushing of the Turks could not go unanswered by Mehmed II. Aware of the gravity of the situation in which Moldova finds itself, Stephen the Great took vigorous measures to resist a future attack. He began to build new fortifications in Suceava, to complete those from the time of Peter I and Alexander the Good. Being limited in time, the lord erected in the eastern part of the city a stone wall with a thickness of 1.5 m, supported by several towers placed at distances of about 2 m from each other. There was no time left to dig a new ditch in front of the wall. Also during this period, Stephen the Great built new stone fortifications at the Neamt Fortress able to withstand an attack by the enemy equipped with firearms. Another fortification was erected at Bîrlad, where the Ottoman army could be stopped if it entered the country in 1475, moving along the river Vaslui. The place I had to serve for the defence was surrounded by a double fence of thick stakes, placed about 2 m from each other. Between the walls were placed slabs 20 cm wide and 3 cm thick, and the space between the fences was filled with earth, thus building a wall of imposing dimensions. the height of the wall reached 2.5 meters outside, the palisade was continued by waves and ditches that increased the possibility of defending the fortress.

Near the citadel of Bîrlad was placed the "big army", made up of tens of thousands of peasants. but unlike the previous year, in 1476 the Ottoman army led by Mehmed II advanced not on the valley of Bîrlad, but on that of Siret. Under such conditions, Stephen the Great withdrew his troops, ordering that the fortress of Bîrlad be demolished so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy, who would have used it to strengthen the Ottomans east of the Carpathians. The peasants of the large army in this area went to defend their families from the Tartars who had invaded the country from across the Dniester. The small army of about 6,000 soldiers tried to block the Ottomans' path to the White Valley, where a wooden fort had been hastily erected. Suffering defeat, Stephen the Great and more than two-thirds of the army withdrew from the battlefield. During his campaign, the sultan encountered more deserted places, as Moldovans with their families and cattle retreated to forests and mountains. The Ottomans attacked first Suceava, then the Neamţ Fortress, but they resisted. At the same time, some Ottoman troops tried to attack Chilia. But with the help of the White Fortress, the attack was repulsed. Returning to the White Fortress, the citizens defeated the Tartars, who, returning with booty, passed by the Dniester estuary! And the Ottomans, whose food supplies were running low, also headed for the border. Meanwhile, Stephen the Great, who had managed to regain his strength, pursued the Ottomans to the Danube, taking their prey and causing them losses. In this way, the great lord countered the attempt of the Turks and Tartars to subdue Moldova. An important role in this success was also played by the country's defence system.

Clashes with the Ottomans did not end and the lord continued to strengthen the defense system. In 1476 the gate of the White Fortress was built, and in a few years - its civil walls. The fortress of this city now occupies an area of ​​9 ha, and can include within its walls the citizens and a large part of the inhabitants of nearby villages. After the fortification in the delta was demolished in 1479, a new fortress was built on the left bank of the Chilia arm. In 1483 Stephen the Great enlarged the fortress of Roman.

In 1484 the Ottomans attacked Chilia and the White Fortress. They had large ground, naval, and effective combat techniques. After several days of heroic resistance, both cities were forced to surrender. Stephen the Great tried unsuccessfully to recover the White Fortress. In 1486 the Moldo-Ottoman peace was concluded. At the same time, the Ottomans came into the possession of the "Iurghici Fortress", later called Palanca Ianic Hisar, or, simply, Palanca.

An important role was played by the Moldovan defence system during the Moldovan-Polish war of 1497-1499. In 1497 the Polish king Lan Albert and his army allegedly entered Moldavia to retake the White Fortress but began to besiege Suceava. Unable to occupy the country's capital, the Poles, returning to their homeland, were attacked by Moldovans and crushed at Codrul Cosminului. After the peace, new battles were expected with the Turks and Tartars. Under such conditions, Stephen the Great began to build new fortifications on the banks of the Dniester to protect the country and its state institutions from Tatar attacks. In 1499 he built a wooden and earth fortification at Soroca. A riot broke out in Cioburciu, which was to coordinate the actions of defending the Moldovan military forces against the Turks at the White Fortress.

Archaeological research conducted in the postwar period found a small square fortification of wood and earth, surrounded by a deep ditch. It was built under the watchful eye of Costea, the only member of the state who was a foreman of a city of wood and earth. Costea pîrcălab de Soroca was also highly valued by Bogdan II, who gave him a deserted Ioc on the bank of the Răut.

The source of the information is the book Localities of the Republic of Moldova, volume 9: N-O, pages 19-28.