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Paul Tereshkovich
V. Stati in detail describes the ruling methods of the great sovereign. “The lord (hos-
podar) was extremely cruel when punishing those who tried to undermine his authority
and the foundations of the country. 16.01.1471 was the day when by his order promi-
nent boyars were beheaded: Isaya vornik, Negrile chashnik, and Alexa stolnik
**
who had a
malicious intent against the lord and the state. The lord’s discontent with many boyars,
important and unimportant, was revealed already in 1467: some boyars betrayed him
on the battlefield
(the battle at Bay], others openly opposed the ruler in the southwest
of the country. After the victory at Bay for their treachery or inadequate fulfillment
of the battle task Stephen executed 20 large boyars who were beheaded and 40 small
boyars who were impaled. Even by the end of his life the ruler did not allow boyars to
revise his decisions. At the beginning of June, 1504 Stephen III the Great appointed his
younger son Bogdan to be his successor. Some boyars opposed this decision. By Ste-
phen’s order they were beheaded. The times were severe. Moldova was under a constant
threat.” V. Stati ascertains that, “it was necessary to constantly consolidate the centralized
power to preserve independence.” The author does not hide the fact that Stephen the
Great was “a person of a low height, irascible who quickly spilled innocent blood; during
feasts he often killed without trial.” So what? “He was a human being with all features
characteristic for people and for masters of those times: he had all human qualities.” It is
an interesting human trait “to spill innocent blood”. But all the same, V. Stati emphasizes,
“Stephen III due to his well-known military operations and sonorous victories, skilful
diplomatic, political actions, cultural, spiritual acts really was and remains GREAT. Even
when we shall remind that the Great Âîåâîäà like any political person had envious and
malignant people around him. (He still has them even today. Modern envious people have
stolen him from Moldova and have transformed him into “a Romanian”).
Which of the “heroes” can be compared with Stephen? Partly, “the ancestors of Mol-
davians, free Dacians who were not in Roman chains, they kept their language, traditions,
a way of life, and then in the form of Eastern Karpattya Romanians peacefully coexisted
with the Slavs in the 10-12 centuries.
All other rulers, especially in the intellectual sense look bleak and schematical in
comparison with Stephen the Great, even Nikolau Milesku Spataru, the first Moldavian
scientist, writer, diplomat who achieved world popularity, and Dimitre Kantemir, a scien-
tist of the encyclopedic knowledge, the author of the fundamental work “Description of
Moldova”. The only exception is “one of the
first ethnologists of Europe,
great Moldavian
chronicler Miron Kostin who for centuries outstripped the theory of the XX century. Even
from the point of view of the 3
rd
millennium his heritage deserves recognition… as he is
the author of the first ethnologic treatise about Moldavians in the Moldavian language
“About the tribe of Moldavians”. He is still the author … of the only monograph about eth-
nic history, about the origin of Moldavians. Unsurpassed. Ignored. Consigned to oblivion.
**
Vornik, chashnik, stolnik are palace servants to the ruler.