The Foundational Politics of the Wallachian Voivodes in the 15 Century: the Case of the Princely Churches from Argeş and Târgovişte
The Foundational Politics of the Wallachian Voivodes in the 15 Century: the Case of the Princely Churches from Argeş and Târgovişte

Summary/Abstract: The first concern of a voivode, as soon as he acceded to the throne, was to build the church where he was to be buried. The fact that some voievodes chose to build at Târgovişte, like the case of Alexandru Aldea, who thus affirmed the tradition continuity with his father, Mircea the Ancient, and others at Argeş, like Vlad Dracul and Neagoe Basarab, reflect not only a religious attitude, but also a political and dynastical one. The towns Târgovişte and Argeş mirror the beginnings of rival dynasties, in the same way in which, at the beginning of the XVI century, the monasteries from the same towns, rebuild by Radu the Great and Neagoe Basarab, mark, in the founder’s intention, the symbol of other dynasties. Therefore the foundation illustrates in many cases the desire to associate to a tradition, and building a church, that according to the foundational right will become the family necropolis, can legitimate the right to the throne of an illegitimate voivode. Next to the religious signification, the churches had a powerful social and political signification. Only in this way can we explain the violent attitude that some rulers, like Vlad Dracul and Mihnea the Evil, had towards their predecessors and rivals foundations, like in the case of Târgşor or Bistriţa. In our presentation we wish to underline some of the significations of the attitude that the Wallach voivodes from the XV and the beginning of the XVI century had towards the churchly foundations, mostly those from the towns Târgovişte and Argeş, where the metropolitan seats were.

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