- Petru Aron
Petru III Aron (died 1467), bastard son of
Alexandru cel Bun , was aVoivode (Prince) ofMoldavia on three separate occasions: October 1451 to February 1452, August 1454 to February 1455, and May 1455 to April 1457. The first two were during a civil war with Alexăndrel.Background
Aron ascended to the throne after assassinating
Bogdan II - at a wedding. Immediately, his rule was challenged by Alexăndrel, whom Petru managed to defeat in March 1455, forcing Alexăndrel to take refuge in the fortress atCetatea Albă .Petru confirmed his father's commercial privileges awarded to Polish traders in Moldavia, and took an oath of
vassalage to King Casimir IV. In 1456, Petru agreed to pay the Ottomans atribute of 2,000 gold ducats, in order to ensure his southern borders, thus becoming the first of the Moldavian rulers to accept the Turkish demands.The real challenge to his throne came with Bogdan II's son
Ştefan cel Mare . The young prince had been given the protection ofKingdom of Hungary captain-generalJohn Hunyadi and, after John's death, that ofVlad III Dracula (Vlad Ţepeş) - the new Prince ofWallachia . According to the interpretation of the account in theChronicle ("Letopiseţ") ofPutna , Vlad had offered Ştefan his full support for his venture. In April 1457, after two battles, Petru was deposed and had to flee, taking refuge first in Poland and then inSzékelyföld . There, he played a part in increasing the tensions between Ştefan cel Mare and King Matthias Corvinus. Following Matthias's incursion and subsequent defeat at theBattle of Baia (December 15 1467), Petru was captured and executed.Petru Aron issued new
billon andcopper currency - on thegrosh design but struck in bettersilver , probably as a part of a reform inmonetary standard s. [ [http://monederomanesti.cimec.ro/paron.htm "Petru III (Petru Aron)" "Monedele Moldovei si Valahiei" ("The Coins of Moldavia and Wallachia") 1 January 2004] ]Popular Culture
* Petru appears in the game
Legendary Warriors . He is portrayed as an "evil uncle" ofStefan cel Mare , very cunning and crafty. He is not particularly close, however, to his brother,Bogdan (introduced inBallad of Heroes ). He wields a pair of swords.Notes
References
*Brezianu, Andrei and Spânu, Vlad (eds.) (2007) "Petru Aron (?-1469)" "Historical Dictionary of Moldova" (2nd ed.) Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, USA, p. 284, ISBN 978-0-8108-5607-3
External links
* [http://genealogy.euweb.cz/balkan/balkan18.html Muşatin family]
* [http://romaniancoins.ancients.info/paron.htm Coins of Petru Aron's mint]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.