Rulers of Moldavia

From about the middle of te 14th century until the beginning of the 17th century the rulers of Moldavia bore their personal arms. From the end of the 14th century they also bore the arms of Moldavia, being a bull’s head between a star, a rose and a crescent (Æ see Part 1). In the time of Ottoman suzereinty and the rule of Phanariot governors (1711-1821) this was sometimes combined with the arms of Walachia, as many governors of Moldavia had also been invested with the governorship of Wallachia before. This resulted in a coat of arms per pale of Moldavia and Walachia  or these coats of arms in alliance. (Æ Romania Part 1)

Only at the end of the eighteenth century these devices came to be augmented with a personal device.

(In Moldavia) “wonen böß und grimmig leut darin/die ein sunder geisel seind der Siebenbürger. Man findt groß kriegsvolck darinn/ die al zeit zu streit bereit seind. Die hauptstatt darin ir hertzog wont heißt Sossavia/zu deutsch Sotzschen. Es ist ein onüberwindlich land. Es ist künig Mathias von Vngern mitt grossem volck auß den Siebenbürgen darin gezogen/ das er sie straffet und under sich brachte / aber sie namen sich einer flucht an/ und do sich die Vngern ire feyend gar nichts besorgten/ kereten sie umb und fielen in sie und brachten sie fast all umb.” [1]

Dragoş

1345/1359 -1353/1361

The dates are of the conquest and rule of Moldavia by Dragoş, formerly voievode of Maramures. In 1352-’53 he was enfeoffed by Louis the Great of Hungary with some marks in the N.W. of the realm, probably with Baia as its centre

It is thought that the first voievodes - Dragoş and Sas – used a bull’s head (head of an aurochs, - Bos primigenius primigenius) together with their own coat of arms being Azure with an arrow supported by a crescent with a star on each point. [2]

Arms of Dragoş

These arms are known from the 15th century Bartholomeu Drágffy, the arms supported by two dragons of the Order of the Dragon.

Sas

Voivode of Moldavia 1353/1360-1357-1364

Balc

1359/1364

House of Muşat

Nor of Dragoş nor of Sas a coat of arms is known with certainty. Also the first rulers from the House of Musat did not bear a coat of arms. However it is true that Louis the Great printed a symbol for the realm on  coins. On the reverse of them is the Hungarian double-cross between two bull’s heads with a star between their horns.

Coin of Louis the Great (1342-’82), 1365ca.

Obv.: Marten running to the right and above it a crown, below a cloverleaf. The inscription reads: MONETA NICOLAI BAN. NI.

Rev.: Double cross Below the lower arms two bull’s heads with a cross between the horns, in chief two crescents.

Munt 2. 1|2 van Arpad en dubbelkruis op drie heuvels

Bogdan I

~ 1363-1367

The House of Bogdan, commonly referred to as the House of Mușat, was the ruling family which established the Principality of Moldova with Bogdan I (c. 1363 - 1367), giving the country its first line of Princes, one closely related with the Basarab rulers of Wallachia by several marriages through time. The Mușatins are named after Margareta Mușata who married Costea, a son of Bogdan I. For a long time it has been thought that Mușata was a daughter of Bogdan I and Costea was a member of House of Basarab who bore the name Muşat, all speculations unsupported by any documents.

The House is named after the mother of Peter I, Margareth (Muşata).

Latzko

1367-1375

Peter I Muşat

1375-1391

In 1387 Peter Musat accepted the suzerainty of the Polish king (Wladislaw II Jagiello 1386-1434).

Moldavia (principality) ~silver Groschen 1375-1391

Obv.: Bull’s head between five-pointed star, rose and crescent. Legend: X SIMPETRIWOIWOD

Rev.: Arms: Per pale the dexter barry of seven, the sinister two roses per bend Legend: [*SI]MOLD[AV]IENSIS

Another gros of Peter I

Obv.: Bull’s head between five-pointed star, rose and crescent. Legend: ?

Rev.: Arms: Per pale the dexter barry of seven, the sinister two roses per pale. Legend: ?

Arms: Per pale the dexter barry of six, the sinister two fleurs de lis per pale

Crest: Bull’s head between five-pointed star, rose and crescent.

According to Gorovei, (p. 266) the arms are barry Vert and Or and the sinister half of France. The arms would have been granted by Charles Robert of Hungary (1308-1342) because after his death the relations between the Moldavian rulers and Hungary deteriorated quickly.

Roman I

1391-1394

Called himself: Great Lord, sole ruler of the Moldavian Lands from the Mountains to the Sea

Stefan I Musat

1394-1399

Arms: 1|2 Barry (6) and strewn with fleurs de lis (like Bogdan I  (Gorovei, p. 267))

Iuga

1399-1400

Son of Roman I

Alexander cel Bun (Alexander the Good)

1400-1432

Son of Roman I brother of preceding

Renewed the suzerainty of Poland

W.: 1/2 of a barry and France. Crest: A bull’s head between a sun, a star and a crescent. [3] 

Civil Wars Period

Ilias I

†1448

1432-1433

Son of Alexander the Good

Gros of Ilias I

Arms:. n_n, In chief a cross moline

Crest: A bull’s head between a rose, a star and a crescent

Legend: ELIAS WAIWODA

Stefan II

Ilias I Musat

Petru II

1433-1447

1435-1442

1444-1445

Sons of Alexander the Good

Arms of Elie I Musat

Arms:  1|2 of a barry and France .

Crest: A bull’s head between a sun, a crescent and a star [4]

Arms: 1|2 of a barry and a double cross (Hungary) [5]

Roman II

Petru II

1447-1448

1447

Grandson of Alexander the Good and son of Ilias

Arms: 1|2 of a barry and a bull’s head

Crest: A bull’s head between a crescent, a sun and a star :

W.: 1/2 van Arpad en een stierenkop (Gorovei p. 267)

Gros of Roman, Voivode [6]

Petru II

Alexandrel

1434-1438; 1435-1443; 1443-1444; 1444-1445; 1445-1447

Stephen II (or Ştefan II) †13 July 1447) ruled alone between September 1434 and August 1435, jointly with Iliaş of Moldavia from August 1435 to May 1443, alone from May 1443 to May 1444, in association with his brother Petru from May 1444 to 1445, and alone until July 1447.

Arms: 1|2 1. Two fleurs de lis conjoined  (thunderbolt); 2. Barry

Bogdan II

1449-1451

Son of Alexander the Good

Gros of Bogan II

Arms: A mace and a sword per pale

Crest: A bull’s head between a rose, a star and a crescent

Petru III Aron

†1470

1451-1452

Son of Alexander the Good

Gros of Petru III. Aron (1451 - 1452/1454 - 1457)

Arms: A mace and a sword in saltire

Crest: A bull’s head between a rose, a star and a crescent

Legend: Obv.: X MON3tA·P3tRI, Rev: X WAWIWOD3 MOL

Alexandrel

1449/1452; 1455

Son of Ilias and grandson of Alexander the Good.

Petru III Aron

1454-1455

Alexandrel

1455

Petru III Aron

1455-1457

Ştefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great)

1457-1504

Son of Bogdan II and grandson of Alexander the Good

Tributary of the Ottomans until 1473

Vassal of Poland 1459-

Tributary of the Ottomans from 1486

Sword of Stephen the Great

On the knob of the hilt there are the arms of Moldavia, the bull’s head and the inscription ”Io Ştefan Voievod domn al Ţării Moldovei” (I Stephen, voievode and lord of Moldavia)

Sword hilt with a knob which had a medallion in the middle, possibly of a precious stone or a coat of arms. On the margin of the disk the engraved inscription in slavonic script “† I|an´ ŞStefan´ voevoda g” continued on the back: “ospodar´ zemli Moldavskoü” represented in “Spada lui Ştefan cel Mare” in “Accente”.  Chişinău,  2004.

More:  adev.ro/nsmx4v

Apparently the first princes have used the bull’s head together with their own coat of arms: Azure, an arrow upright Argent supported by a crescent, two stars on its points Or in base. A sword, at present in a museum in Istanbul has such arms on one of its sides and on the other side a bull’s head of archaic design with no other figures. This, and also the presence of the two heraldic emblems makes us to attribute that sword to one of the first princes of the first Moldavian House, 

Arms: a. Parted per bend, in sinister chief a barryu; in dexter base a cross and a rose.

       b. A double cross

In the matter of the succession in Hungary in 1458 Stephen took the side of Matthew Corvinus. Later however he became his opponent and defeated hiim in 1465 at Baia.

Arms:  a. 1|2 1. a cross and a crescent; 2. Barry. [7]

1470 b. 1|2 1. A cross and a rose; 2. Barry

Silver coin of  Stephen the Great (1470 ca)

Obv.: Bull’s head with star between the horns between a sun and a crescent. Legend: X MONETA MOLDAVIE.

Rev.: Arms: Per pale, the dexter a cross patée and a rose; the sinister barry of six. Legend: X STEFANUS VOIEVODA

A censer from Putna monastery, 1470

The arms on the foot of the censer are:

Arms: Per pale, the dexter a cross patée and a rose; the sinister barry of six.

Stone to the memory of the construction of the gate of the city of Cetatea Alba, 1476

Arms: 1|2 1. Three roses, fleurs de lis or thunderbolts; 2. Barry

Crest: A bull’s head 

The inscription reads:

În anii de la întruparea

Domnului 6984 (=1476) s-au săvârșit marea

poartă, în zilele cuviosului I(oan) Ș-

tefan voevod și în zilele

panului Luca și panului Herman.”

That is:

In the year since the Creation of the

Lord 6984 (= 1476) the great gate was committed

in the days of the venerable

voivode I (oan) Stephen and in the days of

Ban Luca and ban Herman.

Stone with inscription of 1479 from Cetatea de Alba

Arms: 1|2 1. Three crosses patée; 2. Barry

Crest: A bull’s head 

The inscription reads:

În zilele cuviosului și de Hristos iubitorului și de Dumnezeu

dăruitului și de toată lauda

vrednicului Ioan Ștefan voevod,

domn a toată Țara Moldovei,

fiu al lui Bogdan voevod,

s-a început și s-a sfârșit acest zid,

pe vremea pârcălabilor Duma și

Hârman.”

That is:

In the pious days and of - the loving Christ and God

Giver and all praise

John Stephen worthy Voivod

lord of all Moldavia,

son of Bogdan Voivod

this wall was started and was finished,

In the time of  the bans

Duma and Harman."[8]

Arms above the entrance of the tower of Putna Monastery, 1481

Arms: Per pale, the dexter a double cross, the sinister a thunderbolt

Crest: On a helmet a bull’s head with acrescent and five-pointed star between its horns, a rose on its sinister.

Legend: Binecinstitorul domn a toate tara Moldovei, Io Stefan Voievod, fiul lui Bogdan Voievod, a zidit si a facut turnul acesta şi zidul in jurul manastirii in anul 6989 (1481).  (The honourable lord of all Moldavia, I Prince Stefan, son of Prince Bogdan (II, †1451) has built and made this tower and building within the monastery in the year 6989 (= 1481).

In the upper corners a sun and a crescent

After the loss of his two strategically important cities, Chilia on the north bank of the mouth of the Danube and Ceta­tea Alba (Akkerman / Bel­gorod Dnes­trovski) on the mouth of the Dnestr (opposite Odessa) in 1484 to the Ottomans, he was obliged to pay public homage to Grand Duke Kasimir IV of Lithuania and king of van Poland. As a result the arms of the Jagelones: Azure, a double cross Or,  appeared on his coinage.

Double denar of Stephen the Great

Æ 14 mm; 0.61 g, silver

Obv.: Bull’s head with star between the horns between a sun and a crescent. Legend: +MONETA MOLDA.

Rev.: Shield with double cross (Jagiello) Legend:  X STEFANUS VOIEV

Bronze bell with the arms of Stephen the Great in Bistriţa

The coat of arms of Stephen the Great on a bell cast for the chapel of his palace in Bis­tritsa. The arms are a quarterly with a bull´s head for crest. A description and a representation of these arms are in a bible made in 1502 for Stephen in Zografu monastery on Athos by a certain Father Philip. [9]

It is:

1502 Arms: ¼: 1. Azure a double cross bottony Or (Jagiello); 2. Or, three fesses Vert (Basarab); 3. Vert, three roses Or fimbriated Gules per bend; 4. Azure, a thunderbolt Or per bend sinister. In fess point a sun radiant .

Crest: A bull’s head with a six-ponted star between its horns between a sun radiant and a crescent Or.

The patriarchal cross Or on a blue field, is the blason of the Jagellones of Poland/Lithuania.

In his later rule Stephen the Great quarreled with John Albert of Poland (1492-1501) with which he made a truce in 1497. The arms with the bull´s head were used by both the rulers of Moldavia and Poland. The crest of a bull´s head by the rulers of Moldavia only.

Page with the arms of Stephen the Great in the Gospels of 1502

given by Stephen II the Great to the Zograf Monastry of Mount Athos [10]

The text reads:

"I prince Stephen, with the mercy of God ruler of Moldavia, son of prince Bogdan and lover of Christ's words, out of love to Him wanted and was forced to write the Four Gospels and bound it and had given it for prayer for himself, for his wife Mary and his son Bogdan, to the Holy Mountain, to his church, in the Zograf monastery of the patron Saint and Glorious Great Martyr and Victorious George, in the year of the creation of the World 7010 (= 1502) and the 46th year of his current reign. Written by the hand of the most sinful among men the monk Philip, asking for forgiveness if not, with all reverence for God, all possible has been done ". [11]

Bogdan III cel Orb (the One-eyed)

1504-1517

Son of Stephen the Great

Gros of Bogdan III. (1504 – ‘17)

Obv.: Bull’s head with star between the horns between a sun and a crescent. Leg.: T²W ?O??aNa BOEBO?a ?OC, Rev:: Shield with double cross (Jagiello) Leg.: +?O?aP ?EM?H MO??aBC. MBR, S. 86/761. 1,01g. Selten. Fast sehr schön.

Became tributary to the Ottoman sultan in 1513. His tomb is in the church of Putna monastery, meant to be the crypt of the family of Stephen the Great. On it is a coat of arms of a bull’s head with star between the horns between a sun and a crescent.

The legend reads: “Acesta este mormintul binecredinciosului domn, Io Bogdan voievod, Domnul Tarii Moldovei, fiul lui Stefan voievod, ctitorul acestui sfint locas, care s-a mutat la vesnicile lacasuri in anul 7025 luna aprilie 20, la miezul noptii.” (= 1517). 

(This is the tomb of the pious lord prince Io Bogdan, Lord of Moldavia Country, son of prince Stephen, founder of  the sanctuary who passed away in the year 7025 on the 20th of April at midnight)

Stephen the Young (cel Tinar)

1517-1527

Petru Rareş Muşat

1527-1538; 1541-1546 

Son of Stephen the Great and ally of the Ottomans.

Golden bull of Petru Rareş [12]

Arms: As Stephen the Great, the upper quarters exchanged

Crest: A bull’s head, a five-pointed star between its horns Or, between a sun and a crescent.

Stefan Lacusta

1538-1540

Petru Rareş Muşat

 2nd time 1541-1546

Ilias II Rareş

1546-1551

Son of Petru, conversed to Islam

Arms of Ilias II Rareș on the entrance tower of Probota monastery, 1550

The crest of Moldavia, the arms unreadable

Stefan Rareş

1551-1552

Ioan Iacob Heraclid nicknamed Despot Voda

*1511-†1563

1561-1563

(Jacob Basiliscus Heraclides)

On his seal was the usual coat of arms with a bull’s head between a star, a sun and a crescent. [13]

Golden ducat of Despot Voda, 1563 [14]

Arms: ¼ 1. A tower; 2. A tree and a serpent; 3. A lion; 4. A fish. In nombril point: a bull’s head

Supporter: A two-heade eagle

Thaler of Ioan Iacob Heraclid. 1563

On this gold taler is a crowned coat of arms with a two-headed eagle charged with a quarterly. In the first and fourth we see the arms as on the golden ducat and the second and third quarter, also quarterly: 1. The arms of Stephen the Great; 2 The two-headed eagle of the Empire; 3 a latin (double-) cross; 4. the crown of a Moldavian prince. The blasons in the third quarter somewhat rearranged.

The two-headed eagle may be for his dignity of Knight and Count Palatine which he received from Charles V in 1555 for his service at the battle of Renty under the command of Günther von Schwarzburg in 1554. At the same occasion his genealogical tree was recognized by the chancellery of the empire.

The golden thaler of Despot Voda, 1563

With the legend: HERACLIDIS DESPOT PATRIS PATRIIE 1563 / VINDEX ET DEFENSOR LIBERTATIS PATRIE

Alexandru IV Lapuşeanu

1st time 1552-1561

2nd time 1564-1568

Son of Bogdan III, grandson of Stephen the Great

Arms: ¼: 1. barry; 2. a double cross; 3. 3 roses per bend; 4 athunderbolt per bend sinister.In fess pointL a bull’s head.. [15].

Arms on the façade of the church of St Dumitru in Suceava, 1559

Arms: ¼: Azure a double cross Or; 2. Barry Gules and Or; 3. Gules, three roses per bend Or; 4. Azure, a thunderbolt per bend sinister Or. In nombril point rays of the sun shining downwards Or.

Crest: A bull’s head a five-pointed star between its horns Or, between a sun and a faced crescent.

photo HdV ’97

Stone with the arms of Alexandru VI Lapuşeanu, Putna Monastery, 1559

Arms: Parted per bend in sinsiter chief a rose; in dexter base a thunderbolt.

Crest: A bull’s head with a five-pointed star between a rose/sun and a lion passant.

Bogdan IV Lapuşeanu

1568-1572

Ioan Voda cel Viteaz Musat (The Terrible)

1572-1574

Petru Schiopul

1574-1577; 1578-1579; 1582-1591

Son of Mircea III of Walachia

Ioan Potcoava

1577

Ioan Potcoavă or Nicoară Potcoav († 16.06.1578) has been a lord of Moldavia between 18 november and december 1577. He was a brother of  Ioan Vodă cel Viteaz. (the Brave)

Iancu Sasul

1579-1582

Son of Petru Rareş

Aron Tiranul

1591-1592; 1592-1595

Son of Alexandru Lăpușneanu

Sigismund Bathory

*1572-†1613

Voivode 11.05.1581-1586

Prince of Transilvania 1586-1597

Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia 03.06.1595

Knight of the Fleece n° 284  1596

Prince of Transilvania 1598 – 1599

1601 – 26.97.1602

Son of Christofor Bathory and Elizabeth Bocskai. He was elected, still minor, a prince of Transilvania at the diet of Transilvania in Klausenburg (Cluj) and reigned from 1588 after he had been declared of age at the Diet of Mediasch.

In 1588 he attained his majority, and joined the league of Christian Princes against the Turks. The obvious danger of such a course caused no small anxiety in the principality, and the diet of Torda even went so far as to demand a fresh coronation oath from Sigismund. Upon his refusal to render it, the council members threatened him with deposition. Ultimately Báthory got the better of his opponents, and executed all whom he got into his hands (1595).

In 1595, at Gyulafehérvár (today Alba Iulia), Sigismund Báthory signed a treaty with Michael the Brave, the Voivod of Wallachia, in which Wallachia came under sovereignty of Transylvania, requiring Sigismund to send Michael the Brave an aid for fighting the Ottomans.

On August 13, 1595 at the Battle of Călugăreni near the Neajlov river, Michael defeated a Turkish army led by Sinan Pasha. Despite the victory Michael, having too few troops to continue the war, retreated toward Transylvania. Joining Sigismund Báthory’s 40,000-strong army led by István Bocskay, they liberated Târgovişte (8 October 1595), Bucharest (12 October 1595) and Brăila. Wallachia was liberated on 29 October 1595.

The turning-point of his career was his separation from his wife, Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria (1574-1621) (daughter of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria), in 1599, an event followed by his own abdication the same year. It was on this occasion that he offered the throne of Transylvania to Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary, in exchange for the duchy of Opole in Silesia. As Duke of Opole he also was a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

In April 1598 Sigismund resigned as Prince of Transylvania in favor of Emperor Rudolf, reversed his decision in October 1598, and then resigned again in favor of Cardinal Andrew Báthory, his cousin. This allowed Transylvania to fall under the influence of the King of Poland. Michael the Brave reestablished an alliance with Emperor Rudolf, began a campaign against Andrew on October 5, 1599, and became Prince of Transylvania in November 1599, while the Habsburg general Giorgio Basta entered Transylvania from the west at the same time.

In 1600, however, Sigismund at the head of an army of Poles and Cossacks, attempted to recover his throne again, but was routed by Michael the Brave, voivode of Moldavia and Wallachia, at Suceava. In February 1601 the diet of Kolozsvár (today: Cluj-Napoca, Romania) reinstated him, but again he was driven out, after the Battle of Goroszló, by Michael the Brave and general Giorgio Basta, never to return. He died at Prague in 1613

Æ For the arms of Sigismund Bathory see Romania

Ieremia Movila

1595-1600; 1600-1606

Dragomirna Monastery, 1602-1609

Mihai Viteazul (The Brave)

1600

The mother of Michael, Theodora Kantakouzene was a member of the Kantakouzenoi, a noble family present in Wallachia and Moldavia, and allegedly descended from the Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (1292-1383).

The Kantakouzenos family bore lions supporting a sword as its heraldic emblem.

Arms of Kantakouzenos by Conrad Grüneberg, fol. 144. [16]

This branch of the Kantakouzenoi bore, according to Conrad Grüneberg:

Arms: Azure, two lions Or, supporting a sword upright, proper.

The legend above the arms, identifying the bearer, reads:

“Contta von Cussinus der ist der xii Sebherrenn ainer des kaiserthumb zu Constantinopel.”

(That is: Kantakouzenos is one of the 12 sebastokrators of the Empire of Constantinople)

Ieremia Movila

1600-1606

Ottoman Suzerainty 1618-1812

From the first decennia before Ottoman Suzerainty until its last few decennia the rulers did not expose any personal arms.

Alexandru Mavrocordato

1782-1785

Alexandru Ioan Mavrocordato Jr.

1785-1786

Achievement of Moldavia above  the entry of the St Spiridon Hospital in Iaşi, 1786

Achievement of  Alexandru Ioan Mavrocordat

on his portrait by J. Eberspach

Achievement

Arms: ¼; 1. Moldavia; 2. Walachia; 3. Vacaresti; 4. Mavrocordat

Crown: A princely crown

Supporters: A peacock, a sword, a mace, standards and armory in saltire.

The arms of Văcăreşti Monastery show an eleptical shield  of a base chequy 3´2, two mountains and a cross in chief, supported by an angel

The arms of Mavorcordat are: Azure, a phenix Or. [17]

Seal, 1786

Æhttps://tiparituriromanesti.wordpress.com/2013/03/21/hrisov-de-danie-al-lui-alexandru-ioan-mavrocordat-voievod-catre-manastirea-secu-1786/

Alexandru Ipsilanti

1786-1788

Manole Giani Ruset (Rosetti)

1788-1789

Alexandru Moruzi

1792

Mihai I Suţu

1793-1795

Alexandru Callimachi

1795-1799

Constantin Ypsilanti

1799-1801

Alexandru Nicolae Suţu

1801-1802

Alexandru Moruzi

1802-1806

Russo-Turkish War 1806-1812

Scarlat Callimachi

Lord of Moldavia 1806; 1807-1810;1812-1819

Lord of Wallachia 1821

Bottom of his seal-box, 1814 [18]

The text on the socle reads: We Scarlat Alexander Callimachi voievod, Februari 1814

Alexandru Moruzi      1806-1807

Alexandru Handjery  1807

Russian occupation of the principalities and separation of Bessarabia at the Peace of Bucarest, 1812

Mihai II Suţu 1819-1821

Ioan Sandu Sturdza

1822-1828

Arms of the Sturdza family

Grădina Cișmigiu (București)

Arms: Per pale of Moldavia, the field Azure; and Sturdza: Gules, a crowned lion rampant holding a sword upright, Or.

Crown and regalia: A Princely Crown and a mace and a sword in saltire

Supporters: Two dolphins respecting

Motto: UTROQUE CLARESCERE PULCHRUM  (Shining everywhere and exquisitely)

Mantle: Purpure fringed and tasseled Or, placed on a trophy with banners and cannon etc. in saltire

Russo-Turkish War 1828-1829

Pavel Dimitrievic Kiseleff

1828-1834

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829 Kiselyov was appointed to command the Russian occupying troops in Wallachia and Moldavia, and appointed Plenipotentiary President of the Divans in Wallachia and Moldavia (de facto governor) on 19 October 1829 (he was in Zimnicea at the time). He remained the most powerful man in the Danubian Principalities until 1834, when Mahmud II, the Ottoman Sultan, appointed new hospodars, Alexandru II Ghica in Wallachia and Mihail Sturdza in Moldavia.

Achievement of Pavel Kiseleff.

Mihai Grigore Sturdza

1834-1849

Princely achievement 1834-1849

Arms: Per pale of Moldavia, the field Azure; and Sturdza: Gules, a crowned lion rampant holding a sword upright, Or.

Crown and regalia: A Princely Crown and a mace and a sword in saltire

Supporters: Two dolphins respecting

Motto: UTROQUE CLARESCERE PULCHRUM  (Shining everywhere and exquisitely)

Mantle: Purpure fringed and tasseled Or, placed on a trophy with banners and cannon etc. in saltire

The same, on a publication, 1843

Grigore Alexandru Ghica

1849-1853/1854-1856

Coat of arms of Grigore Alexandru Ghica

After his seal, 1849 [19].

Æ In the head of this article the arms of Grigore Alexandru Ghica, at the cemetery of  La Mée s-Seine: (France):

Arms:  Per pale: The the dexter per fess Gules and Azure, a bull’s head [Sable] with a five-pointed star between its horns Or; the sinister per fess Azure and Gules, an eagle [Or] on its breast an escutcheon Vert, twelve lance-points or tears, six and six reversed Argent, separatet by six besants (Or).

Crown and regalia: A ducalcrown and two sceptres in saltire

Supporters: Two dolphins respecting, heads in base

Mantle: [Purpure, fringed and tasseled Or] royally crowned and posed on a trophy of cannon, banners etc. in saltire. [20]

Ghica