Constantine or Constantin Hangerli (also known as Constantin Hangerliu; died February 18, 1799) was a 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...

 between 1797 and the time of his death. He was the brother of Alexander Hangerli

Alexander Hangerli

Alexander Hangerli or Handjeri was a Phanariote Greek Dragoman of the Ottoman Empire, and Prince of Moldavia between March 7 and July 24, 1807. He spent the latter part of his life as a refugee in the Russian Empire, where he became noted as a linguist...

, who served as 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...

 in 1807.

Early life and investiture

A Phanariote

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...

, Hangerli claimed heritage from the 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...

 family of the Palaiologos

Palaiologos

Palaiologos , often latinized as Palaeologus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family, which produced the last ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. After the Fourth Crusade, members of the family fled to the neighboring Empire of Nicaea, where Michael VIII Palaiologos became co-emperor in 1259,...

. He was married to Doamna Roxana, who survived his death. According to one account, the surname Hangerli (Hanjeri) had been assigned to one of his ancestors by 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...

 Mehmed IV

Mehmed IV

Mehmed IV Modern Turkish Mehmet was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687...

, after allegedly rescuing his life by curing him of a potentially fatal illness. The name was based on the word handjer, which was indicative of closeness to the Sultan's person. The Hangerlis were related to other high-ranking 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....

 families, including the Ypsilantis and the Mourousis

Mourousis family

The Mourousis or Moruzi are a family which was first mentioned in the Empire of Trebizond. Its origins have been lost, but the two prevalent theories are that they were either a local family originating in a village which has a related name or else one that arrived with the Venetians during the...

.

After serving as 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...

 of the Ottoman Empire

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...

's Fleet, Constantine amazed foreign diplomats through his appointment to the throne in 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....

, in competition with the much more prestigious Alexander Ypsilantis

Alexander Ypsilantis (1725-1805)

Alexander Ypsilantis was a Greek Voivode of Wallachia from 1775 to 1782, and again from 1796 to 1797, and also Voivode of Moldavia from 1786 to 1788. He bears the same name as, but should not be confused with, his grandson, the Greek War of Independence hero of the early 19th century...

. He probably owed this rise to the influence of his friend and former associate, Kapudan Pasha

Pasha

Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...

 Husein Küçük: the latter had been dispatched to quell the rebellion of Osman Pazvantoğlu

Osman Pazvantoglu

Osman Pazvantoğlu was a Bosnian Ottoman soldier, a governor of the Vidin district after 1794, and a rebel against Ottoman rule...

 in Rumelia

Rumelia

Rumelia was an historical region comprising the territories of the Ottoman Empire in Europe...

, and requested that Wallachia be made secure through the investiture of a trustworthy prince.

Hangerli reached Bucharest on January 4, 1798, breaking with local custom by entering the city area through Podul Mogoşoaiei

Calea Victoriei

Calea Victoriei is a major avenue in central Bucharest. It leads from Splaiul Independenţei to the north and then northwest up to Piaţa Victoriei, where Şoseaua Kiseleff continues north....

, instead of Calea Şerban Vodă. Bucharesters believed this to be a bad omen

Omen

An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...

, indicative of an "unwise rule". Like all Phanariotes, he stopped at Văcăreşti Monastery to prepare for the official inauguration. For unknown reasons, he stayed in there more than a month, before temporarily settling in the Saint Sava Monastery, where he remained until Curtea Nouă

Curtea Noua

Curtea Nouă was the residence of the Princes of Wallachia between 1776 and 1812.Located near the Mihai Vodă Monastery, on Dealul Spirii in Bucharest, it was built between 1775-1776 during the rule of Alexander Ypsilantis, and it meant to replace the old princely court at Curtea Veche.Curtea Nouă...

 was completely repaired.

"Hangerli's winter" and conflicts with Husein Küçük

Hangerli increased tax

Tax

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...

es to a very high level; new fees were created, including a special one for widowers. These measures were prompted by the substantial demands of the Porte, who was faced with Pazvantoğlu's major military successes, as well as by the prince's wish to increase his own revenue.

The taxation reached its peak with the re-introduction of the despised văcărit tax (per head of cattle owned), which had been dismissed for perpetuity by his predecessor, Constantine Mavrocordatos

Constantine Mavrocordatos

Constantine Mavrocordatos was a Greek noble who served as Prince of Wallachia and Prince of Moldavia at several intervals...

 - Hangerli purchased the lifting of a curse

Curse

A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...

 on the latter (cast in 1763) from Gregory V

Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople

Gregory V was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1797 to 1798, from 1806 to 1808 and from 1818 to 1821. He was responsible for much restoration work to the Patriarchal Cathedral of St George, which had been badly damaged by fire in 1738...

, Patriarch of Constantinople

Patriarch of Constantinople

The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....

. Despite this, the tax continued to face stiff opposition from the part of Orthodox

Romanian Orthodox Church

The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...

 clergy and Metropolitan Dosiftei Filiti. The boyars also refused to sign the decree, and Hangerli had to bribe four of them (among them Nicolae Brâncoveanu and Cornescu) in order to agree to countersign it; so as to avoid a rebellion against Hangerli, all the boyars were subsequently exempt from this new tax.

The early months of 1798, during which princely envoys raided the country while peasants attempted to hide their livestock, became known as "Hangerli's winter". Results of the inventory showed an abundance of cattle, but the population lacked access to currency. As a result, Hangerli enforced extortion

Extortion

Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...

 through torture

Torture

Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

 (it is probable that several peasants were killed in an attempt to collect their entire possessions - "if they pay, no one will get killed" was supposedly a reply uttered by Hangerli himself).

The war ensuing between Ottomans and Pazvantoğlu brought several defeats for the former, prompting Husein Küçük to take refuge in Bucharest. Fearing the anger of Selim III

Selim III

Selim III was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV...

, he attempted to throw the blame on Hangerli for not having raised enough funds. Catching news of this, the prince tried to intrigue against Küçük, but was disfavored after a coalition of his political adversaries began campaigning against him. According to the chronicler Dionisie Eclesiarhul, Hangerli attempted to buy back Küçük's protection by having him attend a banquet during which prostitutes

Prostitution

Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

, disguised and introduced as members of the most powerful boyar families, competed for the pasha's attention.

Execution

On February 11, 1799, the sultan issued a firman to execute Hangerli on the spot, and a kapucu

Kapucu

Kapucu was designated official envoy of the Ottoman Sultan in medieval Wallachia and Moldovia. His missions are mostly associated with, but not limited to, the recalling of subject Hospodars ....

was dispatched to Bucharest, accompanied by an executioner

Executioner

A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...

 (whom Dionisie described as "a frightening Moor

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

"). The pair made efforts to travel in secrecy, and, upon their arrival, spent three days in seclusion at the Beilic Inn.

Dismissing the warning of his postelnic

Postelnic

Postelnic was a historical rank traditionally held by boyars in Moldavia and Wallachia, roughly corresponding to the position of chamberlain...

(according to a contemporary account), Hangerli, after being read the firman, was attacked by the two as he was attempting to call his guards: he was strangled by the Moor, shot twice in the chest and stabbed once by the kapucu, and finally decapitated. The guards, who stormed in after hearing the shots, were shown the firman, and could no longer intervene. The kapucu displayed Hangerli's head for all witnesses to see, stating: "Here is the dog that ate away the sultan's rayah

Rayah

A rayah or reaya was a member of the tax-paying lower class of Ottoman society, in contrast to the askeri and kul...

". He then presented it to Roxana, with the words: "Here is the head of your husband".

Hangerli's remains were exposed in the palace's courtyard for a few days; a passer-by aimed a para

Para (currency)

The para was a former currency of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Montenegro and Albania, and is the current subunit, although rarely used, of the Serbian dinar....

 at the severed head, and was recorded saying: "Here, gorge on money" (Satură-te de bani). The prince was ultimately buried in the Bucharest church of St Spyridon the New

Saint Spyridon the New Church

The Saint Spyridon the New Church is a Romanian Orthodox church in Bucharest, Romania on Calea Şerban Vodă, no. 29. Originally built with gothic influences, it was strongly modified by Patriarch Justinian .-Gallery:...

.

Zilot Românul, who wrote his verses sometime after, praised Sultan Selim for having "made good out of evil" by "unwittingly deliver[ing] us from the angarea [or angarà, an antiquated word referring to heavy taxes]".