1
At the Border between Two Worlds.
Hungarian and Polish Influences upon the Wallachian and Moldavian
Mediaeval Heraldry (fourteenth – sixteenth centuries)*
Tudor-Radu TIRON
The purpose of this study is to investigate how heraldry appeared in the
principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, under the impact of the Western armorial
practices interfered by the neighboring kingdoms of Hungary and Poland. The text will
come across the place of the problem in the Romanian profile literature, then will
describe the political and cultural background of the apparition of the heraldic
phenomenon, and finally will approach each category of coats of arms, focusing on the
characteristic features.
The issue of the origins of the local heraldry has been fairly addressed by the
Romanian researchers of the last one century and a half. The approach has been uneven,
as the overall works already published have been drawn mainly to the origins of the state
coats of arms1, little on civic arms
2 and very little on the ecclesiastic
3 and noble arms
4.
However, since Emil Vîrtosu’s realized his reference-study on Romanian sphragistics5
(this one too with pluses and minuses), no overview was actually dedicated to the
beginnings of the heraldic phenomenon in general. This type of approach is
supplementary ‘cumbered’ by number of problems. Of these, there could be mentioned
* This work has been supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific
Research, CNCS – UEFISCDI, project number PH-II-RU-TE-2011-3-0250. 1 D. Cernovodeanu, Ştiinţa şi arta heraldică în România (Bucureşti 1977), 25-36 (general
approach of the profile litterature). 2 D. Cernovodeanu, I. N. Mănescu, ‘Noile steme ale judeţelor şi municipiilor din Republica
Socialistă România’, Revista Arhivelor, XXXVI, 1-2 (1974), 7-11. Also, Şt. S. Gorovei, ‘Am pus pecetea
oraşului’, Magazin Istoric, XII, 2 (131) (februarie 1978), 35-38, 55. 3 D. Cernovodeanu, ‘Heraldica bisericească în ţările române’, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, XCIII,
1975, 7-8, 962-963. Also, P. Zahariuc, ‘Note de sigilografie ecleziastică moldovenească’, HERB. Revista
Română de Heraldică, I (VI), 1-2 (1999), 171-172. 4 L. Şimanschi, ‘Cele mai vechi sigilii domneşti şi boiereşti din Moldova (1387-1421)’, Anuarul
Institutului de Istorie şi Arheologie Iaşi, XVII (1980), 141-158. 5
E. Vîrtosu, ‘Din sigilografia Moldovei şi a Ţării Româneşti’, Documente privind Istoria
României. Introducere, II (1956), 333-366 (origins and development of the princely seals), 458-496
(origins and development of the civic seals).
2
the little number of already published specialized collections of sources (on seals, coins,
epigraphic works etc.)6, the lack of common opinions of the specialists on several
important issues (such the origins of the Romanian princely coats of arms), the poor
reception of the foreign theories regarding the origins of heraldry in neighboring
countries (with the exception of several studies written in Romanian7, or in languages
accessible to the Romanian researchers8).
Affirmed as distinct political entities during the fourteenth century, the
principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (which formed the core of the present
Romania), knew since their beginnings the features of Western and Central-European
civilization – as illustrated by the old Romanian art and architecture, where these features
interfered with the local patterns of culture. Although the heraldry in the Orthodox world
was far of having the importance gained in the West, in the above mentioned century the
coats of arms were already assumed and used by the upper classes of the Serbian and the
Bulgarian states, of Lithuania and the Russian territories. Under these two ‘poles’ of
influence, namely the feudal and Catholic kingdoms of Hungary and Poland, the heraldic
phenomenon was gradually adapted to the vernacular pre-existent totems, emblems,
monograms or geometric signs, whose results remained to this day characteristic to the
resulted national armorial systems.
Wallachian and Moldavian mediaeval coats of arms were mainly connected with
the ruling princes, the nobles (boyars) and the local communities (the Church used
devices with images of saints, upon the seals of the monasteries, while the upper clergy
used monograms derived from an old Byzantine usage)9. All these three political
6 As example, while the state numismatics has been suitably approached (Gh. Buzdugan, O.
Luchian, C. I. Oprescu, Monede şi bancnote româneşti, Bucureşti 1977), only the princely sphragistics has
been similarly faced (L. Şt. Szemkovics, M. Dogaru, Tezaur sfragistic românesc, I, Sigiliile emise de
cancelaria domnească a Ţării Româneşti (1390-1856), II, Sigiliile emise de cancelaria domnească a
Moldovei (1387-1856), Bucureşti 2006). There hasn’t yet been published any ‘corpus’ on noble, civic or
ecclesiastic seal. 7 As example, S. Jakó, ‘Sigilografia cu referire la Transilvania (până la sfârşitul secolului al XV-
lea)’, Documente privind Istoria României. Introducere, II (1956), 561-633 8 As examples, the studies of Sz. de Vajay on the origins of Hungarian heraldry: ‘L’héraldique
hongroise’, Archives héraldiques suisses – Schweizer Archiv für Heraldik, LXXIV (1960), 2-6, then ‘Les
sources numismatiques de l´héraldique d´Etat hongroise’, Recueil du IXe Congrès International des
Sciences Généalogique et Héraldique, Berne, (30 juin - 6 juillet) 1968, Berne (1968), 149-167. 9 T. R. Tiron, ‘Un vechi odor al Sfintei Mănăstiri Putna. Note pe marginea folosirii monogramelor
şi a ‘semnelor geometrice’ în emblematica şi heraldica medievală românească’, Analele Putnei, III, 1
(2007), 109-152.
3
categories used European style coats of arms. So, which were the reasons to determine
the apparition and development of heraldry in the space delimited by the Carpathians, the
Danube and the Black Sea, within a society who knew no tournaments, no rolls of arms
or other Western opportunities for the armorial display?
The background
The beginnings of the heraldic phenomenon in Wallachia and Moldavia are little
known. The local rulers had been the first to be in contact with the armorial usages, since
the thirteenth century. A direct evidence – such the coat of arms attributed to a ‘Roy de
Blaqui’ (= ‘king of the Land of the Vlachs’) in the Wijnbergen Roll (1265-1280)10
(Fig.
1) – is disputable: there is no clear and direct proof that this shield was actually used.
However, people were aware of the existence of the heraldry, since coats of arms were
carried in battle, upon the Romanian soil, by the troops of the neighboring Hungarian and
Polish kingdoms. As example, the Illuminated Chronicle of Vienna (b. 1360), shows a
detail from a miniature representing the so-called battle of Posada (1330), where the
warriors of the Wallachian prince Basarab attracted and decimated the troops of the
Hungarian king Charles Robert11
(Fig. 2). Seeing the disaster of his army, the monarch
changed his warfare with one of his magnates, who lost his life in order to insure the
retreat of his sovereign (‘…Rex autem mutauerat armorum suorum insignia quibus
induerat Deseu filium Dyonisii, quem putantes esse regem crudeliter occiderunt…’).
Thus, we can see the corps of the deceased royal substitute, with the crested helmet of the
Angevine dynasty, while the real king was actually indicated by a shield of the Hungarian
arms. Despite the fact that this was then the way to conceive and illustrate such a
historical episode, it is no less true that foreign armies, Western-like equipped, brought in
the lands inhabited by the Romanians a living, military heraldry. Besides this, the episode
of 1330 testimonies about the rich spoils of war captured from the Hungarian army,
including a very large number of weapons, sword-belts and expensive clothes
10
P. Adam-Even et L. Jéquier, ‘Un armorial français du milieu du XIIIe siècle : L’armorial
Wijnbergen’, Archives héraldiques suisses – Schweizer Archiv für Heraldik (1951), 49-62, 101-110 and
(1952), 28-36, 103-111 (general approach). Also, D. Cernovodeanu, ‘Das Armorial Wijnbergen und die
Heraldik der walachischen Dynasten’, Tappert (1975-1979), 1, fig. I-III (Romanian approach of the
subject). 11
Gh. Popa-Lisseanu, Izvoarele istoriei românilor, XI. Cronica pictată de la Viena (Bucureşti
1937) 104, 111, 236.
4
(‘…Vlachi… acceperunt plurima arma uetesque pretiosas omnium elisorum… et
beltheis…’)12
. Most of these objects were undoubtedly ornamented and personalized with
armorial decorations and most probably determined the Wallachian upper class to think
about the usage of coats of arms – with or without the specific reasons that actually
determined, in the Western typical feudal society, the rise of heraldry...
But coats of arms were not known only from the back and forth of the Hungarian
and Polish armies. The political process that led to the apparition of the principalities also
had a demographical dimension, with individuals, families and even entire communities
moved from Transylvania to the new-founded principalities13
. Because of the little
number of preserved documents, the genealogy of such families – which were settlers,
but also conquerors of the land – can hardly be reconstructed, so it is practically
impossible to trace clearly the Transylvanian roots of a Wallachian or a Moldavian
lineage. There are however enough arguments in this respect (offered by the
onomatology or the toponymy), both regarding the genealogy of the rulers of the
Principalities, as well as that of the noble houses14
, and these arguments are additionally
enforced by the heraldic sources.
Princely coats of arms
The oldest Romanian coats of arms belonged, in Wallachia, to the princely house
of Basarab (since the reign of Vladislav I) (Fig. 3) 15
, and in Moldavia to the princely
houses of Dragoş (Fig. 4)16
, and then Bogdan (since the reign of Petru Muşat – Fig. 5)17
.
These achievements were used upon the state seals and coins, as well as upon
inscriptions, precious goods etc. In the cases of both principalities, the mediaeval
chroniclers retained and transmitted the legend of the ruler who had come from ‘beyond
12
Popa-Lisseanu, Izvoarele 111, 236. 13
Şt. Meteş, Emigrări româneşti din Transilvania în secolele XIII-XX. (Cercetări de demografie
istorică) (Bucureşti 1971) 3-5 14
M. M. Székely, ‘Familii de boieri din Moldova de origine transilvăneană (secolele XIV-XVI)’,
Arhiva Genealogică, I (VI), 1-2 (1994), 102-104. 15
Buzdugan, Luchian, Oprescu, Monede 8-16. 16
We exemplify using the shield represented upon the obverse of the pommel of a sword
belonging to un unidentified member of Drágffi (Dragoş) family, object with a controversial history, which
is conserved in the Museum of Eski Serai, Istanbul – M. Beza, Urme româneşti în Răsăritul ortodox,
(Bucureşti 1937) 99. 17
Buzdugan, Luchian, Oprescu, Monede 43-57.
5
the mountains’ (that is to say from Transylvania and the adjacent regions), settled the
country and founded the dynasty18
. Besides the legend – which seems to be in all
probability true, as accepted by the historiography, particularly in what that concerns
Moldavia’s foundation19
– it is important to notice that the historic Wallachian and
Moldavian coats of arms (the bird of prey and the aurochs) evince clear similarities with
the totemic-like old Hungarian heraldry – a system reflecting the totemic symbolism of
ancient nomadic tribes, as previously referred to by the regretted Dr. Szabolcs de Vajay20
.
Thus, despite different other origins which were proposed by several authors21
, the
Moldavian aurochs head’s (Fig. 6)22
most probable source of inspiration should been
searched in the heraldry of Maramureş23
, a region ruled by the Hungarian kings but
largely inhabited by Romanians, whose elite was deeply involved in Moldavia’s
foundation24
. Even three centuries ago, the Moldavian chronicler Miron Costin was the
first to suggest the idea of the displacement of the aurochs head from Maramureş to
Moldavia25
. Also, the Wallachian bird of prey (Fig. 7) may have originated from the
space of the Hungarian heraldry, reminding the mythical bird Turul of the tribes ruled by
Árpád. But the same bird could be also imagined as a response to the Royal ostrich-head
crest of the Angevine kings, the latter being conceived for indicating supremacy, since
the ostrich was considered to ‘engorging everything’26
– including the political opponents
of the monarchy, as prince Basarab, who defeated king Charles Robert in 1330.
18
N. Stoicescu, ‘«Descălecat» sau întemeiere? O veche preocupare a istoriografiei româneşti.
Legendă şi adevăr istoric, Constituirea statelor feudale româneşti (Bucureşti 1980) 97-110. 19
C. Rezachevici, Cronologia critică a domnilor din Ţara Românească şi Moldova – a. 1324-
1881, I, secolele XIV-XVI (Bucureşti 2001) 411-415 (the historiography about the origins of prince Dragoş
of Moldavia). 20
de Vajay, ‘L’héraldique’, 2. 21
S. Andrieş-Tabac, ‘Tradiţia mitică în istoriografia românească despre originea stemei Ţării
Moldovei’, Tyragetia, III (XVIII), 2 (2009), 23-30. See also *** Simbolurile naţionale ale Republicii
Moldova (Chişinău 2010), 35 and note 8. 22
We exemplify with the seal of Alexander the Good, prince of Moldavia – see Szemkovics,
Dogaru, II, 24-25. 23
T. R. Tiron, Din nou despre originile stemei Moldovei, lecture presented upon the occasion of
the meeting of the National Committee of Heraldry, Genealogy and Sigillography of the Romanian
Academy, Iaşi Branch, in 17 May 2005 (to be published in Buletinul Societăţii Numismatice Române). 24
R. Popa, Ţara Maramureşului în veacul al XIV-lea (Bucureşti 1997) 224-225. 25
M. Costin, Opere (Bucureşti 1958) 209. 26
Sz. de Vajay, ‘L’héraldique, image de la psychologie sociale’, Atti della Accademia Pontaniana,
XVI (1966-1967), 42-43.
6
The Hungarian influence was also visible in the shields figured upon the coins
minted by the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries Romanian princes27
. The structure of
both shields was similar (per pale, with the first – or the second half – barry of four, six
etc.), with the main difference that the Moldavian princes had also several fleurs-de-lis –
which made their shield to be actually the same with that of the Angevine kings – while
the Wallachian princes omitted these flowers in their arms (however the fleur-de-lis
appear to have been widespread in the Wallachian’, second half of the fourteenth century
Court art, as shown by the mobile and immobile patrimony of that time)28
. The
explanation is that, despite of the conflict rapports between the rulers of these
principalities and the Hungarian monarch – their suzerain de jure – the political, cultural
and organizing influences were undeniable (as testimonied by the European style
portraits of two of the Wallachian rulers of the fourteenth century, the prince Nicholas
Alexander29
and the so-called ‘beheaded knight’, both from St. Nicholas Princely Church
of Curtea de Argeş30
. Per fas et nefas, until the end of the fourteenth century, when both
Principalities freely assumed the suzerainty of the Polish king, the local rulers remained
the ‘satellites’ of the powerful Western neighbour, who at least was their ultimate support
in the face of the Ottoman danger31
. Even more, the alternative name of Wallachia, used
since 1374 by the princely chancery, was Ungrovlachia, showing without any doubts the
strong influence that St. Stephen’s Crown still had between the Danube and the
Carpathians32
. Thus, there were enough reasons for the local princely heraldry to be
strongly – if not entirely – inspired by the Hungarian royal arms.
27
We exemplify using the shield (detail) from the obverse of a ducat from Vladislav I, prince of
Wallachia, reproducing the so-called IIIrd type commun. We also exemplify using the reverse of a dublu
groş from Alexander the Good, prince of Moldavia, reproducing the so-called IIIrd type – Buzdugan,
Luchian, Oprescu, Monede 9, 60. 28
R. Theodorescu, Bizanţ, Balcani, Occident la începuturile culturii medievale româneşti
(Secolele X-XIV) (Bucureşti 1974) 322-323. Also, N. Iorga, Istoria românilor, III, Ctitorii (Bucureşti 1937)
247 (mention about the fleurs-de-lis, initially embroidered in gold and excavated from a princely grave of
the 14th century in St. Nicholas church of Curtea de Argeş, respectively the fleurs-de-lis represented upon
the crown worn by an unknown prince, represented into a mural painting of the same time). 29
D. Barbu, Pictura murală din Ţara Românească în secolul al XIV-lea (Bucureşti 1986) 11-12
and Rezachevici, Cronologia 71. 30
D. Onciul, ‘În chestiunea Bisericii Domneşti de la Curtea de Argeş’, Buletinul Comisiunii
Monumentelor Istorice, IX (1916), 60-61, fig. 14. 31
D. C. Giurescu, Ţara Românească în secolele XIV şi XV (Bucureşti 1973) 393-398. 32
Giurescu, Ţara Românească 17.
7
So, the apparition of the Romanian princely heraldry can be explained from both
the genealogic and the political points of view: a) the ruler who had come from ‘beyond
the mountains’ brought in his new country the arms of his family; b) whatever the origin
of these arms had been, there were several influences, mainly from the Hungarian royal
heraldry (we can only notice the influences, however we have no reasons to think about
any awards of armorial diplomas).
Noble coats of arms
Less studied than the princely coats of arms, the arms belonging to the upper
aristocracy (the dignitaries, which were also great landowners), confirm what we have
already seen, regarding the two great ways for the apparition of the princely heraldry.
Similar conclusions can be traced about the noble arms. As an example, when looking at
the seal of captain Giulea (1384, 1387), dignitary of the Moldavian prince Peter I –
containing a helmet crested by a lion – it is reasonable to infer that an image having no
other correspondent in the Romanian medieval sphragistics should rather come from the
Hungarian heraldry, as the name of this personage (derived from the Hungarian form
Gyula) denotes an ancestry in Maramureş, the region then placed under the rule of the St.
Stephen’s Crown (we also take into account the fact that it was estimated that 100-200
families of local rulers – cnezi – from Maramureş were involved in the foundation of
Moldavia, and Giulea should have belonged to the second generation after the settlers of
the country)33
.
The historic research agreed the fact that the noble class in Wallachia and
Moldavia had multi-ethnical roots, this being a consequence of the complex process of
the foundation and the consolidation of the states, process that involved people coming
from the Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Tartar areas a. s. o. Because of the very reduced
number of documented sources about the families of the local boyars, the researcher
should consider the indirect information, as given by the anthroponomy or the names of
the estates, in order to find out more about the origins of each noble family. Interesting
things should be noticed when examining the images inscribed upon the seals.
33
Şt. S. Gorovei, Întemeierea Moldovei. Probleme controversate (Iaşi 1997) 31.
8
Several dozens of seals have been preserved, particularly upon the solemn State
documents, issued by the Moldavian chancery from the late fourteenth century to the
early sixteenth century34
. Inspired by the Polish and Hungarian chanceries35
, the usage of
seals of the dignitaries, sometimes qualified in documents of the time as ‘barons’36
(besides the princely seal) (Fig. 8)37
, gives the image of a living heraldry, certainly not
identical, however similar with that of the Western and Central Europe. The majority of
these noble seals had a heraldic decoration, the achievements being – as far as proven by
the genealogical connections – transmissible hereditarily38
. The Western influences are
visible when examining the good quality of the rendering, the important number of
inscriptions using Latin letters (instead of Cyrillic) and – last but not least – the fact that
these were individualized seals, that is to say ordered and manufactured by each
dignitary, and not borrowed, bought no matter where, or even randomly found. The
Romanian boyars were indeed aware of the Western heraldic usages.
The images represented upon these noble seals are particularly important here,
considering the symbolic meaning which can be reasonably presumed. As example, it
was noticed that the seals of Moldavian dignitaries as Andriaş (1393) (shield with a
griffin), Mihail of Dorohoi (1395-1437) (cross and crescent), respectively Boguş
Nesteacovici (1434, 1436) (shield inside another shield), clearly remind the achievement
used by the Polish nobles belonging to the coats of arms (herbowe) Gryf, Szeliga and
Janina. There are no clear proofs that the mentioned dignitaries or their ancestors were
actually received in these Polish coats of arms, as their seals could equally bear a griffin,
a cross and a crescent or another shield, which were in fact common charges all over the
Continent. Yet, on the other hand, there are mentions about solemn moments that marked
34
E. Vîrtosu, ‘Despre cosigilarea actelor domneşti’, Anuarul Institutului de Istorie şi Arheologie
Iaşi, VI (1969), 151-157. Also Vîrtosu, ‘Din sigilografia’, 405-437. 35
Vîrtosu, ‘Despre cosigilarea’, 417. 36
I. Bogdan, Documentele lui Ştefan cel Mare. Volumul 2. Hrisoave şi cărţi domneşti (1493-
1503), tractate, acte omagiale, solii, privilegii comerciale, salv-conducte, scrisori (1457-1503) (Bucureşti
1913) 327 (see the formula barones moldavienses, appearing into a report of king Mathias Corvin’ envoys,
dated on 25 June 1475). 37
We exemplify with the document issued on 13 December 1421, by Alexander the Good, prince
of Moldavia, and his Council boyars, in the benefit of the prince’s ex-wife, Rimgaila, sister of the king of
Poland – Documenta Romaniae Historica, A, I (1384-1448) (Bucureşti 1975), 69-72. The original
document is preserved at Archiwum Glówne Akt Dawnych (Warsaw), perg. 5308. 38
L. V. Lefter, T. R. Tiron, Boierii lui Ştefan cel Mare – începuturi şi descendenţe. Conexiuni
genealogice şi moşteniri heraldice, lecture given at the XIIth edition of the Colloquiums of Putna
Monastery, on 12 July 2012 (to be published in Analele Putnei).
9
the relationship between the Moldavian princes and the Polish monarchs, their suzerains
(end of fourteenth century – end of fifteenth century), as the ceremonial of Colomeea (15
September 1485), reported in detail, when prince Stephen the Great paid the homage in
front of the Polish king Casimir Jagiełło. Even if the moment when the Moldavian
dignitaries also paid their homage and received ‘chivalric signs’ from the king (‘…eo
facto Regia Maiestas omnes Palatini armigeros, uniuersam denique Curiae Suae
iuuentutem militiae Symbolis insigniuit…’)39
, was hastily interpreted as a testimony of the
existence of a grant of arms (collective or individual)40
– and the presumption isn’t
reasonable in the context – this doesn’t mean that conferring a coat of arms to a
Moldavian boyar or accepting him (as well as his lineage), inside a Polish coat of arms
was totally impossible. Unfortunately, clear mentions in this direction don’t occur until
the late sixteenth century, the starting time for a clearly documented series of Polish
grants to several Moldavian princes and boyars41
.
Returning to the category of the noble seals – which is the widest example of
Romanian medieval heraldry – one can also notice the presence of seals decorated with
the so-called ‘geometrical signs’, a familiar presence for the Polish, Lithuanian or
Ukrainian heraldic systems (and even with the Tartar damgas or tamghas). The list of
Moldavian dignitaries of the fourteenth – sixteenth centuries having armorial seals with
this kind of signs is considerable42
, and there are clear visual connections with the Polish
noble coats of arms. Because of the lack of information on genealogical connections
between the Moldavian boyars and the aristocracy of Polish nobles, any direct reference
to the herbowe such as Sas, Lis, Kościesza remains questionable. However, when
examining the variations of the Polish coat of arms Sas – itself immortalizing the memory
of Sas, son of Dragoş, the founder of the Moldavian state, who left descendants in Galicia
(Galicja, Halicz)43
– we can notice that the basic coat of arms found number of
39
V. Eskenasy, ‘Omagiul lui Ştefan cel Mare de la Colomeea (1485). Note pe marginea unui
ceremonial medieval’, Anuarul Institutului de Istorie şi Arheologie Iaşi, XX (1983), 257-267. 40
Şt. S. Gorovei, ‘Cu privire la heraldica medievală românească’, Arhiva Genealogică, II (VII), 1-
2 (1995), 281-282. 41
C. Rezachevici, ‘Indigenatul polon – o formă însemnată de integrare a nobilimii româneşti în
cea Europeană în Evul Mediu’, Arhiva Genealogică, III (VIII), 3-4 (1996), 207-208, 212 42
O. Odnorozhenko, Rodova gheraldika Ruso-Vlahii (Moldavskogo gospodarstva). Kintzia XIV-
XVI st. (Kharkiv 2008), passim. 43
L. Wyrostek, Réd Drágow-Sasów na Wegrzech i Rusi Halickiej (Kraków 1932) 31, 128-129,
150 and also Rezachevici, Cronologia 413-414.
10
alterations. Same thing could happen with the Moldavian noble arms, these could have
been derived versions of real Polish arms, due to some untraceable blood connections.
Anyway, with or without proofs of family connections with the Polish aristocracy,
the noble Moldavian coats of arms of the fifteenth – sixteenth centuries denote some
sources of inspiration in the feudal heraldry of the Northern neighboring state. The co-
sealed documents addressed to the Polish kings were generally issued within the
Romanian Principalities44
. However, some documents – as the homage act issued by five
great boyars of prince Peter I of Moldavia, on 26 September 138745
– were expressly
issued and sealed abroad. So, when the dignitaries of the time used to travel outside the
boundaries of their country, they sealed the documents as the Polish or Hungarian barons
did. They also had court and military ranks of Western inspiration46
as marscalcus,
comes, captain, keeper of a castle etc.; briefly, they were aware of the features of the
Central-European and Catholic civilization, including the usage of arms. We can
reasonable presume that number of noble seals – as well as number of princely seals –
were commissioned to Polish or Hungarian (Transylvanian) workshops, as clearly
indicate the good quality of the execution of many original seal-matrix.
Civic coats of arms
Last category of Moldavian and Wallachian coats of arms denoting Western
influences is that of the communities’ heraldry. We consider here only the achievements
actually depicting coats of arms, which are by all means the most ancient (local
authorities used also seals which with other types of symbols, such as iconographical).
Although their number is limited and they are attested upon documents subsequent to the
timelines of the present study, seals as these of the boroughs of Câmpulung in Wallachia
(Fig. 9)47
or Roman and Baia (Fig. 10) in Moldavia have certain origins in the fourteenth
44
In the case of Moldavian co-sealed documents, there are 23 pieces sealed by the princes and the
boyars (between 1393 and 1553), then 11 pieces separately issued by the boyars, and also several pieces
issued by pretenders to the throne (between 1387 and 1510) – Vîrtosu, ‘Din sigilografia’, 432-437 45
*** Documente privitoare la istoria românilor, I, 2 (Bucureşti 1890) 297. The original
document is now preserved at Archiwum Glówne Akt Dawnych (Warsaw), perg. 5333. 46
N. Stoicescu, Sfatul domnesc şi marii dregători din Ţara Românească şi Moldova. Sec. XIV-
XVII (Bucureşti 1968) 46-47. 47
Vîrtosu, ‘Din sigilografia’, 459-461. The original seal-matrix is now preserved at Muzeul
Judeţean de Istorie Prahova, nr. 64-11957.
11
or fifteenth centuries48
, as testimonied by the Gothic display of the image and the legend
in Latin and not in Cyrillic letters. Besides this, the first and the third above-mentioned
urban communities were at some point capital cities of Wallachia and Moldavia, having
also a remote Catholic minority that dated as far as the foundation of both Principalities.
The ‘birth’ of civic heraldry occurred under the influence of Western customs, but in the
same time it was noticed that – at least in the case of Moldavian boroughs of Roman and
Baia – each seal exemplified a hunting legend, of the boar and of St. Hubertus’ stag. But
in the same time, the apparition of the Moldavian aurochs head was also explained by the
legend of a beast followed and killed by Dragoş, the legendary ruler who crossed the
mountains from Maramureş (under the rule of the Hungarian king), hunted the aurochs
and assumed his face but also founded the country and its dynasty. Mirroring the legend
of the foundation of the State, the legend of the foundation of the first local communities
was equally illustrated by assuming arms having a hunting explanation. Equally
interesting is the bird of prey of the Wallachian borough of Câmpulung, whose visual
similarity with the bird of prey of the principality denotes commons origins, that probably
precedes the foundation of the country and is reminiscent also of the totemic symbolism
of ancient Hungarian tribes.
*
Conclusion
The present study reevaluated an issue little approached by the Romanian profile
bibliography: the origins of the heraldic phenomenon in Wallachia and Moldavia, in the
first centuries of their existence as mediaeval states. Appeared upon the political map of
the region only by the middle of the fourteenth century, these principalities were
traditionally depending to the Eastern features of culture and civilization. However, even
since their foundation, the Western influences interfered by Hungary and Poland were
enough strong to leave durable traces in the local civilization.
Placed at the boundaries between the Orthodoxy and the Catholicism, the local
mediaeval society of Walachia and Moldavia was aware of the heraldic phenomenon,
although the upper classes knew only a little part of the Western chivalric traditions. As a
consequence of the lack of both heraldic authorities and armorial legislation, the use of
48
Cernovodeanu, Mănescu, ‘Noile steme’, 7-11.
12
arms developed slowly. However, in the fourteenth-fifteenth centuries, the coats of arms
were present upon seals, coins and monuments connected with the princes of the lands,
the members of the noble class and the most important communities.
The neighbouring countries as Hungary and Poland could be considered the main
‘entrance gates’ of Western heraldry in Walachia and Moldavia. It should be stressed that
the foundation and the growth of these principalities were deeply influenced by the
regional policy of the above-mentioned kingdoms, with multiple consequences connected
with the displacement of elites and import of Western customs, of which the usage of
heraldry.
As a general consequence, coats of arms appeared in the territories between the
Carpathians, the Danube and the Black Sea together with the families that had already
assumed them in the regions of their origin. This must have been the ‘scenario’ for the
apparition of the princely achievements, as well as for the apparition of an important
number of noble arms. Having in their mind some genealogical connections – provable or
not in our days – or simply inspiring them by the heraldic customs of the Hungarian or
Polish nobles, the local boyars began to assume arms, to commission seal-rings and to
use them for the State affairs. Less developed than the princely or noble coats of arms,
the armorial bearings of the local communities also offers interesting and fine examples
of civic heraldry, conceived accordingly with the Gothic style but adapted to the local
historic realities.
Based on clear evidences of what it was heraldry at its beginnings, this study tried
to answer to several questions, namely when, how and why coats of arms appeared in
Wallachia and Moldavia. The issue is certainly open to further approaches; however the
premise of the Western influences is undeniable, the same as the determinant role of the
kingdoms of Hungary and Poland in the apparition and development of the local heraldry.
Illustrations
Fig. 1. – Coat of arms attributed to an unidentified ‘Roy de Blaqui’ (= ‘king of the Land
of the Vlachs’) in the Wijnbergen Roll (1265-1280).
Fig. 2. – Western mediaeval heraldic warfare in the Romanian Principalities. Miniature
from the Illuminated Chronicle of Vienna (b. 1360), showing an episode of the 1330 fight
13
between Basarab, prince of Wallachia (1324-1352), and the Hungarian king Charles
Robert.
Fig. 3. – Dynastic coat of arms of the princely house of Basarab in Wallachia, upon the
reverse of a ducat minted by Mircea the Elder, prince of Wallachia (1386-1418).
Fig. 4. – Dynastic coat of arms of the princely house of Dragoş in Moldavia, upon a face
of a pommel belonging to the lineage of Dragoş, first prince of Moldavia (<c. 1347> –
<c. 1354>).
Fig. 5. – Dynastic coat of arms of the princely house of Bogdan in Moldavia, upon the
reverse of a groş minted by Peter, prince of Moldavia (1375-1391).
Fig. 6. – State (territorial) coat of arms of Moldavia, upon the great seal of Alexander the
Good, prince of Moldavia (1400-1432).
Fig. 7. – State (territorial) coat of arms of Wallachia, upon the great seal of above-
mentioned Mircea the Elder, prince of Wallachia.
Fig. 8. – Example of solemn document issued by the Moldavian chancery, sealed with
the princely seal and co-sealed by the great boyars of the realm. This document, dated 13
December 1421 (Alexander the Good, prince of Moldavia, conferred several rights to his
ex-spouse, Rimgaila, sister of the king of Poland), attested that the great boyars of
Moldavia used at that moment individualized heraldic seals, several of these
achievements being hereditary.
Fig. 9. – Heraldic seal-matrix of the borough of Câmpulung in Wallachia (fifteenth-
sixteenth centuries). Example of coat of arms belonging to a former capital of the
principality, having the achievement connected with the state coat of arms.
Fig. 10. – Heraldic seal-impression of the borough of Baia in Moldavia (seventeenth
century, resulted from a matrix much older, now lost). Example of coat of arms
belonging to a former capital of the principality, with the achievement illustrating the
immemorial legendary hunt – a theme also met with the beginnings of the land of
Moldavia.
Keywords:
Wallachian and Moldavian heraldry, coat of arms, seal, coin, Western influence
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Fig. 1
Fig. 2
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Fig. 3
Fig. 4
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Fig. 5
Fig. 6
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Fig. 7
Fig. 8
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Fig. 9
Fig. 10