MUZEUL BRĂILEI

ISTROS XVIII

MUZEUL BRĂILEI EDITURA ISTROS

BRĂILA 2012

REDACTIONAL BOARD:

Prof. Dr. VICTOR SPINEI – „Al. I. Cuza” University of Iaşi and Institute of Archaeology Iaşi, member of Romanian Academy (Romania), honour president.

Prof. Dr. JAN BEMMANN – Institut für Vor - und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie, Rheinische „Friedrich-Wilhelms” - Universität Bonn (Germany), honour member.

Prof. Dr. JAN BOUZEK – „Charles” University Prague (Czech Republic), honour member. Prof. Dr. FALKO DAIM - Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz (Germany), honour member . Prof. Dr. DIANA GERGOVA – The National Institute of Archaeology and Historical Museum Sofia (Bulgaria), honour member. Prof. Dr. ION NICULIŢĂ - The State University, Chişinău (Rep. of Moldova), honour member. Prof. Dr. IONEL CÂNDEA – „Lower Danube” University of Galaţi and Museum of Brăila (Romania), editor in chief. Dr. VALERIU SÎRBU, Museum of Brăila and Institute of Archaeology „V. Pârvan” Bucharest (Romania), scientific secretary. Dr. CRISTIAN LUCA – „Lower Danube” University of Galaţi (Romania), member. Dr. STĂNICĂ PANDREA - Museum of Brăila (Romania), member. Dr. COSTIN CROITORU - Museum of Brăila (Romania), member.

Computer processing: EVDOCHIA SMAZNOV

Orice coresponden\` referitoare la revista ISTROS se va adresa: Muzeul Br`ilei, Pia\a Traian 3, 810153, BR~ILA, e-mail: sediu@muzeulbrailei.ro

Any remark concerning ISTROS must be adressed to: Muzeul Br`ilei, Pia\a Traian 3, 810153, BR~ILA, e-mail: sediu@muzeulbrailei.ro

ISSN: 1453-6943

CONTENTS

Prehistory. Protohistory. Antiquity

NONA PALINCAŞ, Investigating Bronze Age Social Organisation in the Lower Danube Region. The Case of the Žuto Brdo – Gârla Mare Area ........................................................................................ 13

ELENA FIALKO, A luxury Calaf from the Barrow Bolshaja Bliznitsa: the interpretation of personages ...................................... 39

EMANUEL PETAC, AUREL VÎLCU, Syrian wars and the beginning of Lysimachus – type staters at Tomis ............................................... 51

JAN BOUZEK, The KIPBEI bowls – where they were made?................................................................................................ 65

VALERIU SÎRBU, MONICA CONSTANTIN, Geto-Dacian materials from Piscul Crăsani (Crăsanii de Jos, com. Balaciu, Ialomiţa county). Bogdan and Alexandru Ştefan Collection .......................... 77

VALERIU SÎRBU, DIANA DAVÂNCĂ, Un poignard du type sica decouvert dans l’enceinte sacrée de Pietroasa Mică – Gruiu Dării, dép. de Buzău ........................................................................ 113

LIANA OŢA, VALERIU SÎRBU, La céramique dacique dans les tombes sarmatiques de Valachie ...................................................... 125

CRISTIAN GĂZDAC, ‘War and peace’! Patterns of violence through coin hoards distribution. The Middle and Lower Danube from Trajan to Aurelianus ........................................................................ 165

GEORGE NUŢU, COSTEL CHIRIAC, Late Roman brooches from Dobroudja ........................................................................................ 199

Varia archaeologica

IONEL CÂNDEA, COSTIN CROITORU, Preliminary results of the systematic archaeological researches from Măxineni, Brăila County, 2011–2012 Campaigns ....................................................... 215

Miscellanea historica

VASILE MĂRCULEŢ, «Qui inde egressi, Vulgarum gentes, quae super Danubium, bello adgrediuntur». Considérations concernant une action militaire arabe au Danube (l’automne 718) .................. 229

IONEL CÂNDEA, The Christian inscriptions from the Fundu Peşterii cell, commune of Bozioru (Buzău County) ........................ 237

DUMITRU ŢEICU, The Nera valley medieval ecclesiastic geography .. 275

ALEXANDRU SIMON, Old and New Powers in Quest of Danubian and Pontic Hegemony in the 1440s …………................................. 297

PAUL DANIEL NEDELOIU, The first logofăt of Stephen the Great: Dobrul and his family ...................................................................... 305

ADRIAN MAGINA, The hapsburgs’ religious policy in the Banat (1551–1552) ..................................................................................... 323

GIANLUCA MASI, Nuovi documenti riguardanti la presenza di Simone Genga in Transilvania ......………………………….......... 335

ŞTEFAN AFTODOR, A model of social ascension in 17th century Wallachia: Radu Cocorăscu ............................................................ 359

VLAD ANDREI MARAVELA, The use and the interpretation of sources for dating Wallachian nobiliary residences during the 17th century ............................................................................................. 377

CRISTINA SPINEI, Bukowinisch-europäische Zeitschriften als Vehikel plurikultureller und transnationaler Wahrnehmung .......... 391

Merchants, Trade and Society in the Romanian Principalities during the 16th–18th centuries

CRISTIAN NICOLAE APETREI, Greek merchants in the 16th century Romanian Principalities. New case study: the Vorsi Family …...... 405

CLAUDIU NEAGOE, The Greek merchants and usurers in Wallachia during the second and third decades of the 17th century ...................... 435

LAURENŢIU RĂDVAN, Foreign merchants in Iaşi (17th–18th centuries) ......................................................................................... 453

CRISTIAN LUCA, On the activity of Greek merchants in Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries: the trade in paper, printed works and small wares …….............................................................................. 481

MARIUS PĂDURARU, The Grand Treasurer Matei Ciorogârleanu, a descendant of an important family of merchants from Wallachia ....... 499

Interdisciplinary Sciences

DAN ŞTEFAN, GEORGE GÂRBACEA, DUMITRU IOANE, Geophysical survey of a flattened mound located in Brăila’s plain ..................... 529

SIMINA STANC, LUMINIŢA BEJENARU, Animal resources exploited at the beginning of the second millennium in the area between the Danube and the Black Sea: archaeozoological data ....................... 535

Book Reviews

Italy and Europe’s Eastern Border, 1204–1669, edited by Iulian Mihai Damian, Ioan-Aurel Pop, Mihailo St. Popović, Alexandru Simon, Peter Lang International Academic Publishing, Frankfurt am Main–Berlin–Bern–Bruxelles–New York–Oxford–Wien, 2012 [“Eastern and Central European Studies”, I] (RAFAEL–DORIAN CHELARU) ......................................................................................... 549

Obituaria

COSTIN CROITORU, Ion T. Dragomir (1923–2012). A lifetime dedicated to archaeology and museography ................................... 563

INVESTIGATING BRONZE AGE SOCIAL ORGANISATION IN THE LOWER DANUBE REGION

THE CASE OF THE ŽUTO BRDO-GÂRLA MARE AREA

NONA PALINCAŞ (BUCHAREST - ROMANIA)

Keywords: social organisation, social inequality, entrepreneur society, Late Bronze Age, ‘bread-like’ idols, agency, power. Abstract. The first part of the paper reviews the state of the research on social inequality in the Romanian Bronze Age and concludes that previous studies were based more on stereotypes than on theoretically informed approaches. Further the paper presents the model considered more suitable for the present analysis – that by Brian Hayden. The paper then takes the Žuto Brdo-Gârla Mare Culture as a case study and argues that wealth generated through participation in supra-regional exchange was the basis of social inequality. It also raises the problem of agency in the construction of social power and suggests that a particular category of objects – the so-called ‘bread-like idols’ (Brotlaibidole) – were used to control access to exchange partners and thus prevent usurpation of the position of elites.

A LUXURY CALAF FROM THE BARROW BOLSHAJA BLIZNITSA: THE INTERPRETATION OF PERSONAGES

ELENA FIALKO (KIEV – UKRAINE)

Keywords: the Amazons, Calaf, Greek-Scythian art, kurgans, the Scythians Abstract. The Calaf with gold decoration was found in the kurgan, known as Bolshaja Bliznitsa. It was located on the Tamanskij peninsula. The plot of the image is defined as a battle scene, or griffinomachy. The composition is conventionally divided into six groups (2-3 figures). There are two versions of the definition of anthropomorphic characters, depicted on a gold decoration of Calaf. According to one version the warriors were men. In another version anthropomorphic characters were women. The presence of several details in the images allows us to consider these warriors as armed women - the legendary Amazons. The battles of the Amazons with the griffins belong to the items that were popular in the Bosporus in the second half of 4 BC. It is believed that this plot resonates with the scenes of laceration animals by griffins, is well-known in works of the so-called Greek-Scythian art. These images appear to illustrate some local versions of myths about the Amazons, well known not at the mainland Greece but at the periphery of the ancient world (southern Italy, Thrace) and on the Scythian lands.

SYRIAN WARS AND THE BEGINNING OF LYSIMACHUS - TYPE STATERS AT TOMIS*

EMANUEL PETAC (BUCHAREST - ROMANIA) AUREL VÎLCU (BUCHAREST - ROMANIA)

Keywords: Tomis, Gold staters, Lysimachus, Syrian wars Abstract. The authors discuss several third century BC Lysimachus-type staters from Tomis, Four were struck before the introduction of the trident in the exergue, with city ethnics or TO (linked by a common obverse die) and secondary signs or N. Four belong to another series, with the ethnic under the throne and decorated trident in the exergue (monograms or AI). On the reverse dies of both series Athena’s spear may be present or absent, a pattern repeated at Mesambria, Odessos and Byzantium. The shift in power in the Black Sea between the Second and Third Syrian Wars, from a Seleucid to a Ptolemaic hegemony, could explain the transition from Alexander-type to Lysimachus-type staters in the entire region, until the rule of Antiochus Hierax.

THE KIPBEI BOWLS - WHERE THEY WERE MADE ?

JAN BOUZEK (PRAGUE - CZECH REPUBLIC)

Keywords: Megarian bowls, Hellenistic pottery, Black Sea, Kirbei Summary. The Megarian bowls signed KIPBEI date from the second half of the 2nd century BC and were apparently made in the north-western part of the Pontic area, most probably in Olbia. Besides the main exporting centres (Athens, Ephesus, Pergamon) lesser quality bowls, partly copied from better models, were made by local potters in many North Aegean and Pontic Greek cities.

GETO-DACIAN MATERIALS FROM PISCUL CRĂSANI (CRĂSANII DE JOS, COM. BALACIU, IALOMIŢA COUNTY)

BOGDAN AND ALEXANDRU ŞTEFAN COLLECTION

VALERIU SÎRBU (BRĂILA - ROMANIA), MONICA CONSTANTIN (BUCHAREST -ROMANIA)

Keywords: Piscul Crăsani, Ştefan Collection, Geto-Dacian and Hellenistic artefacts Abstract. In this article we will present the most illustrative Geto-Dacian items, first as a repertory, followed by some general considerations. In order to include these discoveries in the site’s general frame, their complete analysis will be made when the first volume will be published.

UN POIGNARD DU TYPE SICA DECOUVERT DANS L’ENCEINTE SACRÉE DE PIETROASA MICĂ –

GRUIU DĂRII, DÉP. DE BUZAU

VALERIU SÎRBU (BRĂILA –ROUMANIE) DIANA DAVÂNCĂ (HUNEDOARA –ROUMANIE)

Mots-clés: poignard sica, enceinte sacrée, Géto-daces Resumé. La pièce que nous publions maintenant a toutes les caractéristiques typologiques (dimensions, forme, canal pour l’écoulement du sang) pour être incluse dans la catégorie des poignards du type sica. Nous nous sommes proposé de présenter cette pièce en raison de son importance toute particulière: a) on l’a trouvée dans une enceinte sacrée, b) elle se date au Ier siècle ap. J.-C., un siècle qui n’a pas fourni jusqu’à présent trop de pièces de ce genre.

LA CERAMIQUE DACIQUE DANS LES TOMBES SARMATIQUES DE VALACHIE

LIANA OŢA (BUCAREST- ROUMANIE), VALERIU SIRBU (BRĂILA - ROUMANIE)

Mots-clés: Valachie, tombes sarmatiques, céramique dacique Résumé. La présente démarche tente de remplir, au moins partiellement, ce manque et de proposer un débat sur la céramique dacique découverte dans les tombes sarmatiques de Valachie. Le terme « dacique » n’est aucunement une étiquette ethnique, mais un terme général qui désigne en fait toutes les populations se trouvant dans l’espace géographique habité par des tribus que les Romains appellent génériquement « Daces ».

‘WAR AND PEACE’! PATTERNS OF VIOLENCE THROUGH COIN

HOARDS DISTRIBUTION. - The Middle and Lower Danube from Trajan to Aurelianus -

CRISTIAN GĂZDAC (CLUJ-NAPOCA - ROMANIA)

Keywords: coins hoards, peacetime, wartime, Middle and Lower Danube, mapping hoards Abstract. This study is seeking to point out the general and specific patterns of hoards burial and non-recovery in peacetime and wartime by analysing the discovery of coin hoards from the Middle and Lower Danube in the period from Trajan to Aurelianus – a period that correspond to the Roman administration of the province of Dacia – when the Roman monetary system knew the longest period of a certain stability.

In order to serve best the aim of this study the period of study was subdivided in chronological segments according to major historical events that took place on the area under study.

Combining mapping of hoards by periods with the information from ancient authors and the context of discovery this study, a preliminary work on a larger research project on Roman Europe, will establish the impact of historical violent events on certain areas at certain time.

LATE ROMAN BROOCHES FROM DOBROUDJA

GEORGE NUŢU (TULCEA - ROMANIA), COSTEL CHIRIAC (IAŞI - ROMANIA)

Keywords: Scythia, dress accessories, fibulae, ‘Zwiebelknopffibeln’ Abstract. A tendency of current scholarship is to recover the historical information by publishing archaeological objects discovered in unknown conditions, within museum storehouses or particular collections. The current study follows the same line; it presents a group of late Roman fibulae (‘Zwiebelknopffibeln’) discovered on the current territory of Dobroudja (Scythia) outside a stratigraphic context. They were purchased partly by the Museum of National History and Archaeology in Constanţa and it represents an important contribution to enriching the repertory of fourth-century AD clothing accessories in the Danubian–Pontic area.

PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE SYSTEMATIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES FROM MĂXINENI,

BRĂILA COUNTY. 2011–2012 CAMPAIGNS

IONEL CÂNDEA (BRĂILA – ROMANIA) COSTIN CROITORU (BRĂILA – ROMANIA)

Keywords: archaeological researches, Măxineni, Brăila County, funerary inventory, Wallachia.

«QUI INDE EGRESSI, VULGARUM GENTES, QUAE SUPER DANUBIUM, BELLO ADGREDIUNTUR».

CONSIDÉRATIONS CONCERNANT UNE ACTION MILITAIRE ARABE AU DANUBE (L’AUTOMNE 718)

VASILE MĂRCULEŢ (MEDIAŞ - ROUMANIE)

Mots clés: Arabes, Bulgares, les bouches du Danube, le Khaganat Bulgare, le Khaganat Khasar, l’Empire Byzantin. Abstract. In the autumn of 718, most likely around Spetember-October, after the failure at the siege of Constantinople (August 717-September 718), the Arabs undertake a military campaign against the Bulgarians of the Danube, the allies of the Byzantine Empire at the time. The forces landed against the Bulgarians were defeated by them, and most of the Islamic fleet was distroyed by the storm, the military action ending with a real disaster. The region targeted by the Arab campaign in the autumn of 718 was, most likely, the Danube’s mouths area, known for its strategic and military importance. The establishment of some Arab bases at Danube’s mouths would have allowed the Arab Caliphate to exert a strong pressure on the two allies of the Byzantine Empire: the Bulgarian Khaganate in the Balkan Peninsula and the Khazar Khaganate in northern Black Sea. The annihilation of the two allies of Constantinople would have allowed the Arabs the realize the encirclement of the Byzantine Empire, the center of European civilization of this Age. But the defeat suffered by the Islamic forces against the Bulgarians in the autumn of 718 annihilated forever this danger (Theodora Mărculeţ).

THE CHRISTIAN INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE FUNDU PEŞTERII CELL, COMMUNE OF BOZIORU

(BUZĂU COUNTY)

IONEL CÂNDEA (BRĂILA – ROMANIA)

Keywords: inscriptions, Fundu Peşterii cell, Bozioru (Buzău County), Orthodox monastic complex, Wallachia.

There are few archaeological and historical sites in Romania where researches began as early as it was the case with the hesychast monastic complex from Buzăului Mountains. It was surveyed in 1871 by Alexandru Odobescu, accompanied by the painter Henri Trenk, but, however, it had been previously visited by C. D. Aricescu in 1870 and perhaps also by seneschal Constantin Cantacuzino before 17001.

THE NERA VALLEY MEDIEVAL ECCLESIASTIC GEOGRAPHY

DUMITRU ŢEICU (REŞIŢA – ROMANIA)

Key-words: Orthodox Church, Franciscan Convent, fortress of Caraş, border, the 14th – 16th centuries Abstract. The river of Nera’s flow was a geographic corridor and a cultural passage that connected the Banat with the Danube valley. In the 14th century Catholic parish churches and Franciscan convents were built around the fortress of Haram or Caraş placed at the Nera and the Danube confluence. The Orthodox monasteries Zlatiţa and Cusici were build in the 15th century within the Nera passage. The archaeological research set those monuments planimetry and their rapprochement with the medieval Serbian architecture models.

OLD AND NEW POWERS IN QUEST OF DANUBIAN AND PONTIC HEGEMONY IN THE 1440s

ALEXANDRU SIMON (CLUJ-NAPOCA – ROMANIA)

Keywords: Genoa, Venice, Ottoman Empire, Murad II, Moldavia, Crusade. Abstract. Venice attempts to end the Pontic monopoly of her Genoese rivals increased in number and in impact in the late 1420s and early 1430s, in the context of the mounting tensions between the Republic of Saint Mark and the Ottoman Empire (the traditional protector of the Genoese in the East). These attempts were supported by the rapprochement initiated after years of conflict between Venice and Buda (the traditional anti-Ottoman center of East–Central Europe), as well as by a significant decrease of Hungarian–Moldavian hostilities (the Moldavian fought to diminish the control of the Genoese over their colonies which had come under Moldavia’s nominal rule). These evolutions set the stage for John Hunyadi’s later policy as well as for most of the later conflicts of the 1440s, when the eventual failure of anti-Ottoman crusading and of the Union of Florence helped to maintain the Pontic balance of power in favour of the Ottoman state and its associates.

THE FIRST LOGOFĂT OF STEPHEN THE GREAT: DOBRUL AND HIS FAMILY∗

PAUL DANIEL NEDELOIU (IAŞI - ROMANIA)

Keyword: Petru the Second, voivode, Stephen the Great, Borzeşti Abstract. One of the first officials of Stephen the Great was Ioan Dobrul, high logofăt in the interval 1457 – 1468. He has been written about even since the inter – war period by historians such as Mihai Costăchescu and I. C. Miclescu-Prăjescu, the latter also having created a genealogical tree of the family Prăjescu, in which he includes Dobrul, emphasizing his ascending branch on the paternal line.

This study emphasizes his ascending branch on the maternal line, the relations from his mother’s side to the families Tăbuci and Stârcea, land owners in the county of Cernăuți, the possible relation to Stephen the Great, suggested by the title of honour which is granted to him (vlastelin and jupan) and his capacity of first counsellor (1466), and also the subsequent relations of his descendants, namely to the families Movilă, Stroici and Hâra.

THE HAPSBURGS’ RELIGIOUS POLICY IN THE BANAT (1551 – 1552)

ADRIAN MAGINA (REŞIŢA-ROMANIA)

Key-words: the Banat, the Hapsburgs, church, the Reformation, Catholicism Abstract. In 1551, within the existing politic context, the Banat fell into the Hapsburgs’ hands. They had in view to consolidate their power in the province by asking the religious element service. In essence, the religious politics of the Austrian dynasty aimed two aspects: to support the Roman-Catholic Church and to eliminate the heresy from the Reformation sphere. The anti-Protestant measures from 1551 had disintegrated the Reformed community from Timişoara which never succeeded to come back to the anterior organizational shape. The Ottoman conquest in 1552 would put an end to the Hapsburgs’ political and confessional involving in the southern of the Mureş river province.

NUOVI DOCUMENTI RIGUARDANTI LA PRESENZA DI SIMONE GENGA IN TRANSILVANIA

GIANLUCA MASI (FIRENZE - ITALIA)

Parole-chiave/Keywords: Simone Genga, Fabio Genga, Flaminio Genga, Giovanni Battista Genga, Principato di Transilvania, Granducato di Toscana. Riassunto/Abstract. New documents concerning the presence of Simone Genga in Transylvania. This articles uses as a primary source the unpublished correspondence of Simone Genga, i. e. letters and reports sent to the Great Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand I de’ Medici, and to the ducal secretary Bartholomew Vinta. Moreover, the author also analyses the letters Simone and his brothers Fabio and Flaminio sent to their family. Most often, the addressee of these letters was the senders’ brother, Giovanni Battista Genga, who resided in Rome. These sources bring new light upon the foreign policy of the prince of Transylvania, Sigismund Báthory, and upon the evolution of the anti-Ottoman military campaigns of the states that were part of the Christian alliance, the Holy League.

A MODEL OF SOCIAL ASCENSION IN 17TH CENTURY WALLACHIA: RADU COCORĂSCU

ŞTEFAN AFTODOR (BRĂILA – ROMANIA)

Keywords: Radu Cocorăscu, Wallachia, high officials, real estate, social ascension, 17th century. Abstract. Radu Cocorăscu was one of the most important high officials in Wallachia in the first half of the 17th century. Radu chancellor began his career as prince Radu Şerban’s favourite, and he managed to hold the most important offices in the state during the reigns of Matthew Basarab and Constantine Şerban: second treasurer, grand treasurer and grand chancellor (logofăt). This paper aims to present a less highlighted aspect of his career: the way in which these high offices enabled him to acquire a solid economic base, the ground for the consolidation of his political and social position in the Wallachian society. At the same time, Radu Cocorăscu is the representative of a typical boyar family who were maintained at the forefront of political life through the access to dignities, in the spirit of “faithful services” to the voivodes.

THE USE AND THE INTERPRETATION OF SOURCES FOR DATING WALLACHIAN NOBILIARY RESIDENCES DURING

THE 17TH CENTURY*

VLAD ANDREI MARAVELA (GALAŢI - ROMANIA)

Keywords: Wallachia, nobiliary residences, sources, historiography, 17th century. Abstract. When carrying out the documentation during a historical research, one must consider the distinction between primary historical sources and secondary literature. The recourse to primary sources is essential in order to verify the suppositions contained in the works of various specialists and to enrich historical knowledge in a quantitative way. The reconstruction of the image and the manner in which nobiliary residences were built is possible by processing the information and by using a wide variety of archaeological and written historical sources.

BUKOWINISCH-EUROPÄISCHE ZEITSCHRIFTEN ALS VEHIKEL PLURIKULTURELLER

UND TRANSNATIONALER WAHRNEHMUNG∗

CRISTINA SPINEI (IAŞI - RUMÄNIEN)

Keywords: Bukowina, Mitteleuropa, Plurikulturalität, Modernisierung Abstract. Die Bukowiner Zeitungen und Zeitschriften berichten von den politischen Entwicklungen und ihren Ursachen, den Intrigen und aufdringlichen politisch-sozialen Gesprächen, deren Zeuge die Gesellschaft wurde. Somit wird auf das Thema und die Botschaft deren Schrifttum hingewiesen. Zum einen verstehen sie die eigene Rolle als Wächter der plurikulturellen bukowinischen Tradition, zum anderen zeugen sie davon, dass sie zur Modernisierung und Urbanisierung des Kronlandes beitragen. Zwar darf man die vielfache Differenzierung innerhalb der ethnischen Gruppen nicht außer Acht lassen, jedoch es ist der soziale und kulturell bestimmte Habitus der Verwendung der deutschen Sprache, sowie eine spezifische Mentalität, die die Bevölkerung verbinden. Das Objekt dieser Überlegungen ist demnach eine Schilderung des bukowinischen geschichtlich-kulturellen Kontextes, der in vielfacher Hinsicht ein ausgeprägtes modernes Bewusstsein aufweist, in dem die deutsche Sprache als grundlegendes Element der Selbstwahrnehmung und Identitätsbildung fungiert. Dabei wird das kulturelle Bild der habsburgischen Provinz als einen Bereich konfrontiert, der ein Gewebe des oft schwierigen, komplizierten, dennoch pluralen und höchst dynamischen Alltags bilden sollte.

GREEK MERCHANTS IN THE 16TH CENTURY ROMANIAN PRINCIPALITIES. NEW CASE STUDY:

THE VORSI FAMILY*

CRISTIAN NICOLAE APETREI (GALAŢI - ROMANIA)

Keywords: merchants, trade, Greek diaspora, Moldavia, Vorsi Abstract. this research has brought to light a family of Greek tradesmen originating in the Island of Chios, who started their activity, at the latest, during the seven decade of the 16th century. In the beginning they had modest business and it was only when they settled in Moldavia that they took the leap to the large traffic of goods and acquired the status of merchants. The fact they gave loans to the princes of the Romanian Principalities created the conditions for privileged positions in the local administrative, financial and economic systems: grand customs officer and prince’s merchant. From these positions, the Vorsis capitalized all the opportunities that Moldavia could provide at the end of the 16th century. The most obvious and profitable were leasing the right to levy customs taxes on behalf of the prince and carrying out trading operations exempted from customs duties to Moldavia: the export of cattle to Poland, the export of cattle skins, beeswax and wool to Italy; the import of Western fabrics from Poland and Italy; the transit of Malmsey, Oriental fabrics and other Turkish goods to Poland; the transit of Western fabrics to the Ottoman Empire. The obvious success of all of these businesses would lead the family’s second generation to a rapid social rise that would rapidly bring with it involvement in the politics of that time. Finally, the Vorsis are portrayed in the classical image of the merchant involved in long-distance trade, as described by Fernand Braudel: educated and well informed, opportunist through his openness towards all categories of goods that could bring good profits, he teams with state authorities when he can, and when fortune smiles on him he shows high social ambitions.

THE GREEK MERCHANTS AND USURERS IN WALLACHIA DURING THE SECOND AND THIRD DECADES

OF THE 17th CENTURY*

CLAUDIU NEAGOE (PITEŞTI - ROMANIA)

Keywords: Wallachia, Greeks, merchants, usurers, real estates, 17th century. Abstract. The restoration the Ottoman domination over Wallachia since 1611 had important consequences regarding the economic and social development of major cities in this Romanian Principality situated between Danube and the Carpathians. Thus, in the second and third decades of the Seventeenth century, permanent fairs in Bucharest, Târgovişte, Craiova, Târgu-Jiu, Argeş and Câmpulung were thronged with foreign merchants, especially Greeks, who came from the Ottoman Empire. Using the acquired capital gained from merchant activities and usury, some of them managed to acquire properties in variable length, vineyards and orchards in different districts of Wallachia, shops, house lands and gardens in the most important cities. Others even managed to acquire the status of indigenati through matrimonial ties established with the members of inland manorial and urban families. The current article attempts to reveal the ways used by the Greek merchants and usurers, once arrived in Wallachia in the years 1611–1631, to engage in trade and economic activities of major cities, and also the degree of involvement and infiltration of some of them in the economic, political and social structures of the country.

FOREIGN MERCHANTS IN IAŞI (17TH–18TH CENTURIES)*

LAURENŢIU RĂDVAN (IAŞI - ROMANIA)

Keywords: merchants, craftsmen, foreigners, urban society, Greeks, Moldavia. Abstract. The present study focus on the presence of foreign merchants in Iasi in the 17th–18th centuries. We have chosen this category since it was one of the most present in towns, and was also – owing to the specifics of the trade – well-represented in the sources of the time, as well as very mobile. It included both commoners, who were engaged in small trade, stable or travelling, and members of the well-to-do, who “moved” large amounts of money, owned land in towns, and even domains in the countryside (some even hoped to become boyars), conducted business in the country and abroad etc. In the 17th century, Iaşi had become the capital of Moldavia, the largest and most dynamic town in the country, and it became very appealing to some foreigners who sought to make a living here. Religion and ethnicity played their part in Moldavian urban society, with the communities of townspeople including members of various religious origins and faiths: Orthodox Romanians, Greeks, Serbs, and Bulgarians, Catholic or Protestant Germans and Hungarians, Armenians, Jews etc. The present study will focus more on occupation and ethnicity. In the 16th century, as the religious Reform unravelled, the number of Germans and Hungarians decreased; however, owing to the close connections with the Ottoman Empire, the number of those Oriental in origin increased: Greeks, Vlachs, Albanians, Turks or Jews. All Moldavian towns, and Iaşi in particular, were a true magnet for all kinds of foreigners, who were drawn here mainly for economic reasons (there are of course individual cases, of people leaving their homeland for religious reasons). Many of them are naturalized in Moldavia. They marry (if they weren’t already) and enter the local families, amass wealth, buy and sell houses, stores or land, make donations, behaving just like other townspeople. The wealthy and the influential obtain positions in guilds, while other seek to become boyars. The world of the Moldavian town in the two centuries which came under our attention was a motley one, with locals and foreigners (who will become locals after several generations), with wealthy and poor, with merchants, craftsmen, but also boyars, servants, and soldiers. The ruler dominated this entire picture, an authoritarian figure which tried to bring order to this world, but also to profit from it.

ON THE ACTIVITY OF GREEK MERCHANTS IN TRANSYLVANIA, WALLACHIA AND MOLDAVIA DURING

THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES: THE TRADE IN PAPER, PRINTED WORKS AND SMALL WARES*

CRISTIAN LUCA (GALAŢI/BUCHAREST - ROMANIA)

Keywords: Greek merchants, trade, Eastern Europe, Romanian Principalities, Venice. Abstract: Paper produced in the Venetian territories, renowned for its quality and resistance (texture), was greatly valued on the European markets. Several types of writing paper and paper for the printing press were exported to the Ottoman Levant and to Eastern and Central Europe. Until the end of the Eighteenth century, Venetian paper was preferred as an import in these areas, due to its high quality and high resistance to humidity; this held true even in Vienna, though paper made in France or the United Provinces dominated Western markets in terms of sales volume and varieties on offer. Printed works were another Venetian product exported to the northern Danubian territories, either by sea via Constantinople and the Lower Danube ports, or overland through the Balkans. This category includes religious books printed in Greek – meant for Orthodox believers in Eastern and Central Europe – historical or philosophical works, and the Greek and Latin classics, all for a limited market. The “small wares”, as they were called in the custom records where they were taxed by quantity (per “load”) were mercer’s wares, intended for a specialised clientele (Morocco leather craftsmen, harness makers, tailors and skinners), and cosmetics, also targeting a small number of clients. The Greek merchants were greatly involved in trading these goods, though such wares played only a marginal part in their business, textiles and glassware being the main Venetian goods sold in the Romanian Principalities and in Transylvania. On the basis of unpublished Italian sources, this paper will provide some quantitative and qualitative data on the imports of Venetian paper, printed works and “small” wares in Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries.

THE GRAND TREASURER MATEI CIOROGÂRLEANU, A DESCENDANT OF AN IMPORTANT FAMILY OF

MERCHANTS FROM WALLACHIA*

MARIUS PĂDURARU (PITEŞTI - ROMANIA)

Keywords: Matei Ciorogârleanu, Grand Treasurer, merchants, boyars, Wallachia. Abstract: After reaching a certain economical status, the wealthy merchants tried to reach a new social status by marriages with descendants of great boyars who were their business partners. This is why we cannot talk about “dynasties” of merchants in Wallachia who perform the activity along time in successive generations. Such merchants were the Pătru and Ghioca brothers, having probably Greek origins, the founders of the Ciorogârleanu boyar’s family. The patronage of Matthew Basarab, ruler of Wallachia, as well as his skills as merchants and some advantageous marriages permitted to Pătru Ciorogârleanu to become a grand boyar, as a member of the ruler Council and Grand sluger. His son, Matei, continued to walk the way of his father by buying estates, serves, houses, and gypsies. He married with Păuna, the sister of Cornea Brăiloiu, one of the most important boyars of Constantine Brâncoveanu. Later he became a member of the prince’s Council as Grand Treasurer. He was the member of Ciorogârleanu Family, who climbed higher the social hierarchy but, paradoxically, he also was the last link of this family, as long as he didn’t have descendants.

GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY OF A FLATTENED MOUND LOCATED IN BRĂILA’S PLAIN

DAN ŞTEFAN (BUCHAREST - ROMANIA) GEORGE GÂRBACEA (BUCHAREST - ROMANIA)

DUMITRU IOANE (BUCHAREST - ROMANIA)

Keywords: geophysics, magnetic survey, georadar, tumulus Abstract. In this paper we present the results of a geophysical survey conducted in a small area threatened by construction activities, located 25 km west of the city of Brăila. The aim of this study was to detect the exact location and size of a flattened mound, previously identified during a surface field survey by the team of archaeologists from the Museum of Brăila. In addition, it also intended to identify any potential funerary areas inside the tumulus. The surface was surveyed using a dual array fluxgate gradiometer. Magnetic data was complemented by magnetic susceptibility measurements and georadar profile.

ANIMAL RESOURCES EXPLOITED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND MILLENNIUM IN THE AREA BETWEEN THE

DANUBE AND THE BLACK SEA: ARCHAEOZOOLOGICAL DATA

SIMINA STANC (IAŞI - ROMANIA), LUMINIŢA BEJENARU (IAŞI - ROMANIA)

Keywords: Archaeozoology, quantification, fishing,hunting, animal husbandry Abstract. The paper presents a zooarchaeological synthesis for settlements from the beginning of the second millennium in Dobrudja area:Dumbrăveni, Oltina (Altinum), Capidava, Isaccea (Noviodunum), Hârşova (Carsium), Piatra Frecăţei (Beroe), Nufăru (Prislava), for which archaeozoologicalanalyses had been made. The fauna remains from these samples are mollusc, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals; the greatest number is represented by mammal remains. The presence of fish, bird (wild and domestic) and mammal(wild and domestic) remains is an indicator of activities such as fishing, hunting and animal husbandry made by the people in these settlements. The most important activity is that of animal husbandry in six of the settlements. Among domestic animals, for six settlements the higher frequency (as number of remains) is represented by cattle (Bostaurus) and for the settlement of Dumbrăveni the highest preponderance is of sheep/goat (Ovisaries/Capra hircus), followed by cattle.

Among wild mammals, the red deer (Cervuselaphus), the wild boar (Sus scrofaferus) and the roe deer (Capreoluscapreolus) appear in all samples, the first two having the largest share. The aurochs (Bosprimigenius) and the beaver (Castor fiber), lived in Dobrudja area at the beginning of the second millennium. The red deer had reduced a lot in time its areal range because of the forest clearance and is to be found today only in the Carpathian area.

Among wild bird species, the black vulture (Aegypiusmonachus) had disappeared from our country's fauna and others – the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetusalbicilla), the swan (Cygnus cygnusand Cygnus olor), the white pelican (Pelecanusonocrotalus), the cormorant (Phalacrocoraxcarbo), the lesser spotted eagle (Aquila pomarina) are currently species strictly protected by the law.

There have been identified 12 species of fish belonging to Acipenseridae, Esocidae, Cyprinidae, Siluridae, Percidae families; all species of Teleostei live in sweet waters, being fished in the Danube, the lakes and rivers in the neighbourhood area; the Cyprinidae fish are the most representative in number.

BOOK REVIEWS

Italy and Europe’s Eastern Border, 1204–1669, edited by Iulian Mihai Damian, Ioan–Aurel Pop, Mihailo St. Popović, Alexandru Simon, Peter Lang International Academic Publishing, Frankfurt am Main–Berlin–Bern–Bruxelles–New York–Oxford–Wien, 2012 [“Eastern and Central European Studies”, I]