| Nicholas Mavrogenes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prince of Wallachia | |
| Reign | 1786–1789 |
| Predecessor | Michael Drakos Soutzos |
| Successor | Michael Drakos Soutzos |
| Born | 1735 (1735) Paros,Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 30 September 1790(1790-09-30) (aged 54–55) Byala, Ottoman Empire |
| House | Mavrogenis family |
| Religion | Orthodox |
Nicholas Mavrogenes (orMavrogenous;Greek:Νικόλαος ΜαυρογένηςNikolaos Mavrogenis (Greek: "Blackbeard"),Romanian:Nicolae Mavroghenipronounced[nikoˈla.emavroˈɡeni]), (1735 – 30 September 1790) was aPhanarioteDragoman of the Fleet and de facto governor of the Cyclades islands (1744-1759) and laterPrince ofWallachia (reigned 1786–1789). He was the great-uncle ofManto Mavrogenous, a heroine of theGreek War of Independence.
Mavrogenes was born onParos island to a nobleMavrogheni family, and spoke natively one of the manyGreek dialects of theCyclades (Ienăchiţă Văcărescu later attested that he spokeGreek andTurkish poorly, and that he was not able to learn any Romanian). He lived among the sailors,[1] and was chosenDragoman of the Fleet toHasan Pasha, the commander of theOttoman fleet. Hasan, together with his friend,Grand VizierKoca Yusuf Pasha, both important figures in the politics of theOttoman Empire, convinced theSultanAbdul Hamid I to name Mavrogenes prince of Wallachia on 6 April 1786.[2] He left the Ottoman capital accompanied by a huge and ostentatiousretinue.[3]
Unlike otherGreek princes of Wallachia chosen by the Sultan, Mavrogenes was not born inPhanar and, as the Greek elites ofConstantinople (thePhanariotes) saw this as a decrease in their influence, they tried tobribe Abdul Hamid with 4,000 bags of gold, in order to obtain Yusuf Pasha's ousting from office; nevertheless, the sultan disagreed, and the treasurer of the empire, who had proposed the deal, was arrested, tortured and killed.[4]
On 15 May 1786, Mavrogenes reachedVăcăreşti, nearBucharest, and on 17 May he was ceremoniously crowned and settled at the princely residence ofCurtea Nouă. One of his first decrees was issued four days later, when he announced that all the people of Wallachia could address their grievances directly to him. He even set up agazebo inTârgul de afară (Obor), so that peasants could speak to him.[5] He also attempted to erect stakes on all major crossroads, to show the people what would happen to them if they engaged in theft or murder, or if they failed to attend church services.[1] During the same year, he ordered the building of anaqueduct, which, although completed, was destroyed during the conflicts that followed his rule, and never fully rebuilt.[6]
Mavrogenes was also involved in theOrthodox Church, decreeing that places of worship were to be permanently open; according tochronicles of the time (Dionisie Eclesiarhul), churches were always full during service, for the duration of his rule — not because of fear of divine punishment, but rather due to fear of the law. Mavrogenes also demanded that Wallachians should lead an austere life and, as such, forbade his people from feasting or lingering in taverns for more than one hour after sunset. On 10 January 1787 he signed a degree which allowedJews to betax exempt and gave them a plot of land inmahalaua Popescului neighbourhood of Bucharest for them to build asynagogue (seeHistory of the Jews in Romania).[7]
Mavrogenes oftenextorted money from theboyars,[1] for which he cited as pretext his recurring dreams, in which he claimed to have been commanded random killings or banishments, effects which he was allowed to avert only if paid a certain sum. In order to mock the boyars, he even gave his horse the rank ofclucer and assigned him a bedroom right next to his own, on the second floor of the Court Palace.[1] Mavrogenes awarded those people who paid him enough money boyar ranks andprivileges, and even revoked the title for boyars who refused to pay him the amount he demanded.[8] He sometimes stagedincognito inspections, to observe the activities of boyar officials.[1]
On 24 August 1787 the Ottomans declared war on theRussian Empire and imprisoned the Russian ambassador,Yakov Bulgakov, in theSeven Towers. Mavrogenes replicated the gesture of theGrand Vizier, and arrestedIvan Ivanovich Severin, Russia'sconsul in Wallachia. Severin was soon freed, after the intervention ofGeorg Ignaz, Freiherr von Metzburg, theHabsburg consul, who described Mavrogenes as acting maniacally and being terrified by the prospect of being at war.[9]
As the city of Bucharest was spread over a large area and lacked any kind of fortifications, Mavrogenes decided to build some, including the digging of amoat fromCotroceni toOborul Vechi, as well as reinforcing the walls of inns and monasteries (which were thus turned into crude fortresses). Unlike any other Phanariote ruler, he raised his own army, which reached 5–10,000 men and was equipped with severalcannons,[1] but it was unruly and poorly trained. In addition, Mavrogenes asked for theOttoman army to help him seal the border with HabsburgTransylvania and reinforce the borders withMoldavia.[10]
During that period, Mavrogenes used the services of Perdicari, anastrologer whom he trusted, and used both the predictions and his dreams for decisions in time of war, such as attacking the city of Kronstadt (present-dayBraşov).[11]
On 21 November a Habsburg army of 20,000 men, located in theBanat and led byPrince Josias of Coburg, started pressuring the Wallachian border and soon occupied fortified spots such as theTismana andSinaia monasteries;[1] nevertheless, Mavrogenes continued to dismiss evidence of a Habsburg-Russian alliance. Two months later, on 28 January 1788, the boyars were summoned and informed that the Russians, led byAlexander Suvorov, had entered Moldavia, and that 25 of them were to lead military units and leave forFocşani as soon as possible, to engage Russian troops. However, just as the boyar contingents reachedBuzău, they were ordered to return — it became apparent that Mavrogenes was just testing to see if boyars would betray him (indeed, two of them, members of theCâmpineanu andCantacuzino families, fled to Transylvania). In order to avoid other betrayals, Mavrogenes arrested all the Wallachian boyars and dispatched them to an Ottoman fortress.[12]
On 9 February 1788,Joseph II, the HabsburgHoly Roman Emperor, declared war on the Ottoman Empire and started spreadingmanifestos in Wallachia which explained the war's purpose and promised to "free theRomanian people from the Turkish yoke". At that time, Mavrogenes' army had about 11,000 soldiers, and there was also an army of about 15,000 Turks assisting him. With these forces, he obtained a few victories in the battles ofTârgu Jiu andCâmpulung, and was able to prevent a Habsburg invasion for about a year.[13]
These victories, together with the predictions astrologer made him confident in a victory and attacked Kronstadt from July to October 1788, but failed to take the city.[14] As the winter of 1788–1789 was harsh, no further military actions were carried out. After Abdul Hamid died in April, the new sultan,Selim III, gave Mavrogenes about 5–6,000 soldiers fromRumelia.[15]
In the meantime, the Russian army reported victories in Moldavia and rendezvoused with the Habsburg Army inAdjud, advancing toward Wallachia. On 21 July 1789 they fought the Wallacho-Ottoman army led byGrand VizierKoca Yusuf Pasha in theBattle of Focşani, with an undecided result. A second confrontation occurred as theBattle of Rymnik; more than 10,000 died on the Ottomans' side.[16]
Mavrogenes fled Bucharest on 26 October, accompanied by an army of 1,000 men, after appointingDumitru Turnavitu as temporaryCaimacam. Most Wallachians welcomed Prince Coburg's army,[17] and the local boyars accepted a document which basicallyannexed Wallachia, while keeping autonomy to the same level as within the Ottoman Empire.[18] The country was, however, soon hit by a majorplague andfamine; these were still claiming lives after the end of the war and through the early years ofAlexander Mourousis' rule.[17]
In June 1790, Mavrogenes, joined by a new Ottoman invading force, occupied the village ofCalafat, but, after being attacked and defeated by the Habsburg troops, retreated and, all alone, crossed theDanube in a small boat. He wandered from village to village on theBulgarian shore, until September 1790, when akapucu sent by the Sultan killed him in the village ofByala. His body was buried on the shore of the Danube, while his head was sent to Constantinople, where it was impaled on a stake. His bones were later moved by his daughter, Eufrosina, to the Church of the Holy Apostles inBrussa.[19]
Rigas Feraios, the Greek revolutionary who was a clerk for the Wallachian court, considered Mavrogenes "a villain, unworthy to be the ruler of Wallachia";[20] Feraios had begun a lifelong friendship withOsman Pazvantoğlu, futurepasha and rebel leader, who at the time was a soldier in Mavrogenes' service — on one occasion, he defended and rescued Pazvantoğlu from the prince's wrath.Thomas Hope, who knew Mavrogenes personally, made him a character in a novel calledAnastasius, or Memoirs of a Modern Greek.[21]
Mavrogenes remained a controversial figure, and historians' opinions about him are often contradictory. The Romanianradical and historianNicolae Bălcescu considered him an "original and fantastic man, despising thearistocracy, but having pity of the low-ranking and poor people". However, another 19th-century historian,Mihail Kogălniceanu thought of him as "a newCaligula, atyrant for the boyars, priests, merchants and peasants".V. A. Urechia believed him to be in fact "a greatpatriot and organizer", whileA. D. Xenopol saw him as maniacal and cruel.[22]
| Preceded by | Prince of Wallachia 1786–1789 | Succeeded by Habsburg occupation |
| International | |
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| People | |
