Alexander Ypsilantis (1725-1805) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Alexander Ypsilantis was a Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia

Wallachia

Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...

from 1775 to 1782, and again from 1796 to 1797, and also Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia

Moldavia

Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...

from 1786 to 1788. He bears the same name as, but should not be confused with, his grandson, the Greek War of Independence

Greek War of Independence

The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...

hero of the early 19th century. The Ypsilantis were a prominent family of Phanariotes

Phanariotes

Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Phanariote Greeks were members of those prominent Greek families residing in Phanar , the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is situated.For all their cosmopolitanism and often Western education, the Phanariots were...

Reign

In 1774, as a diplomat in service to the Porte, Ypsilanti took part in the signing of the Kuchuk-Kainarji peace treaty with Russia

Russian history, 1682-1796

-The era of Russian palace revolutions :Peter changed the rules of succession to the throne after the death of his son, Aleksey, who had opposed his father's reforms and served as a rallying figure for anti-reform groups. A new law provided that the tsar would choose his own successor, but Peter...

; a year later, he was rewarded for this and other services by being appointed dragoman

Dragoman

A dragoman was an interpreter, translator and official guide between Turkish, Arabic, and Persian-speaking countries and polities of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts...

. Still in 1775, he was awarded the throne of Wallachia. This could only happen as the Russian troops were ending their occupation of Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

, begun in 1771. The throne had been vacant throughout this period, a hiatus provoked by Emanuel Giani Ruset

Emanuel Giani Ruset

Emanuel or Manolache Giani Ruset was a Prince of Wallachia , and Prince of Moldavia . He was a Phanariote and member of the Rosetti family....

's agreement with Catherine II

Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...

at the start of the war.

As principal acts of his reign in Wallachia, Ypsilanti enforced a series of reforms. Several laws are grouped in the Pravilniceasca condică, called "Syntagmation nomikon" in its Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

version (roughly: "The Code

Legal code

A legal code is a body of law written by a governmental body, such as a U.S. state, a Canadian Province or German Bundesland or a municipality...

of Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

customary laws

Custom (law)

Custom in law is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law." Customary law exists where:...

"). Issued in 1780, the Code sought to amend fiscal, administrative, judicial and political flaws. During his judicial reform, Ipsilanti created civil courts in each Wallachian county. What was in fact a radical redefinition of legal boundaries had to make occasional reference to Byzantine norms (the traditional laws in the two Principalities), due to resistance from conservative

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

boyars in the Assembly (the Sfat). Most notably, the new laws tried to impose salaries

Salary

A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis....

for public offices, a measure intended to reduce fiscal burdens on the taxed social categories (that had been supposed to provide revenues for the fiscal agents, usually boyars, in an economy in which land ownership had become less of an asset than holding office) and ensure a more professional administrative structure.

Ypsilanti's reigns coincide with a critical moment in Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

history. In August 1787, Russia resumed hostilities (see Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)), and the Porte faced a large-scale invasion of its Danubian territories

Danubian Principalities

Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...

as the Habsburg Empire joined the fighting (9 February 1788). A secondary effect of this event was the granting of military command over Turkish troops in the region to Ypsilanti: the gesture is also significant as a temporary re-shaping of status in the relations between Prince and Sultan

Ottoman Dynasty

The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...

for the context of Phanariote rule.

Sources suggest that Ypsilanti was considering an alliance with Austria, and had been negotiating with emissaries of Emperor Joseph II

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...

. However, as the Austrians occupied Iaşi

Iasi

Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...

in April, all contacts ceased and the Prince was kept in custody in Brno

Brno

Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

up to the signing of the peace treaty at Sistowa

Svishtov

Svishtov is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svishtov Municipality...

(autumn of 1791).

Reign

See also