Origins It is certain that the future Prince of Moldavia was an ethnic Greek, but his exact origin is unclear. Despot was a noted forger, described by Romanian scholar
Andrei Pippidi as an "ingenious charlatan" and "professional impostor". Historian
Nicolae Iorga also mentions that Despot, an "unusual figure", claimed "rights to all princely thrones in existence." In his quest for recognition, he provided several conflicting accounts on his origins and early life, while also inventing a succession of conflicting genealogies. In separate and conflicting notices, he suggested that his place of birth was
Rhodes or
Samos, in the Ottoman
Eyalet of the Archipelago; elsewhere, he also claimed
Genoese Chios or
Venetian Crete as his homeland. At least one witness heard him say that he was originally from the
Kingdom of Sicily. His family tree, published by Heraclid himself at
Corona in 1558, claimed that he descended from
Polycrates the Samian and the
Branković dynasty, rulers of the
Serbian Despotate. In 1562, the French diplomat Antoine de Petronel recorded Heraclid as a claimant "Despot of Serbia". Later in life, Heraclid more explicitly pretended that he was a nephew of Moldavia's
Stephen the Great, while adding that he descended from the
House of Lusignan. Pippidi identifies some reliable parts in Despot's genealogy, referring to his kinship with the
Byzantine nobility of Rhodes and with potentates from the
Duchy of Naxos—possibly including
Nicholas III dalle Carceri, mistakenly identified by Despot as "Alexios". Another
Neo-Latin source names him as
Iacobus Vasilico di Marcheto. One account in the Maltese series suggests that Heraclid was born at
Birkirkara, and, according to Pippidi, this should be regarded as certain. The Maltese origin is nuanced by Buonfiglio: he recounts that Basilicò was a
Maltese Greek who claimed Rhodian descent. Based on this clue, Pippidi proposes that the Heraclides family had escaped to Malta during the
taking of Rhodes, with the future Despot Vodă being born in exile in 1527. The future Prince's symbolic affiliation with Rhodes is also verified by other details: in 1548, he presented himself as belonging to the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rhodes. Pippidi argues that he only came to depict himself as owner of Samos because, "unlike Rhodes or Malta, it was available, having been deserted by its inhabitants". The latter tradition was perhaps continued by Despot's father, John Heraclides. Scholar
Aleksander Kraushar once hypothesized that Despot was not in fact a son of John, but rather of shipowner Basilikos, who had helped John escape; in this reading, the Heraclides clan adopted Iacob upon Basilikos' death. According to historian Marie Kesterska Sergescu, "Kraushar's information stands to be corrected" by Iorga's later discoveries. Iacob himself circulated two accounts of John's life and death, claiming that he had been decapitated by the Ottomans, or alternatively by Moldavia's
Prince Ștefăniță. The latter variant is viewed as more plausible by Pippidi, who notes that Despot named
Hârlău as his father's place of death, and intended to consecrate a church on that spot. Other authors describe the same Demetrios as an unrelated
Serb or Greek. Historian Matei Cazacu identifies him with
Dimitrije Ljubavić, a deacon and pioneer typographer who was primarily active in
Wallachia. According to this author, the two men were companions and
blood brothers, rather than siblings. An enemy of Despot,
Ferenc Forgách, counted two Basilicò brothers, one of whom was a burglar; the other lived in
Venetian Cyprus.
Scribe, student, fugitive 's French edition, 1555. Heraclid is credited as "Jacques Basilic Marchet" A passing mention by poet-chronicler
Christian Schesaeus suggests that Despot's first language of instruction was "
Argolic" Greek, and that his earliest travels took him to Italy. In adulthood, he could speak as many as six languages, which may or may not have included "
Vlach". Several accounts of the period suggest that he was educated in Chios by
Hermodorus Lestarchus, who introduced him to
Renaissance humanism. In his record of oral history, the 18th-century author
Ion Neculce alleges that Heraclid became a servant of the Brankovićes, with whom he "was not relatives". He claims that Despot passed himself as
Jovan Branković's nephew when it could obtain him a share of the family's inheritance, and also alleges that he stole and forged Branković's personal papers. This story would place young Heraclid in the
Republic of Venice or the
Papal States.
Antonio Maria Graziani, a diplomat of the
Holy See, additionally argues that Heraclid had spent time as a copyist in the
Vatican Library, though he may be confusing him with Diassorinos. Iorga draws a slightly different conclusion: noting that both Despot and Diassorinos were scribes and calligraphers, he argues that they only worked for the
Bibliotheca Regia in
Vienna. Iorga proposes that Heraclid also spent some of his formative years in
Habsburg Spain. According to scholar Eugen Denize, the hypothesis is unverified, but plausible—given Despot's familiarity with Spanish politics. He was later spotted in the
Kingdom of France, meeting and befriending
Justus Jonas, who probably introduced him to
Reformation ideology. In 1548, he enlisted at the
University of Montpellier, where he trained as a physician. A university colleague,
Carolus Clusius, left notes regarding his encounters with Despot, whom he names as
Jacques Marchetti. Clusius depicts Despot as a philanderer and duelist, who married Gilette d'André, widow of a former rival. He accuses the future Prince of infanticide: he had arranged for a wardrobe to fall on his adoptive child. "Marchetti" was forced to abscond from
Languedoc and France, without completing his studies. Clusius implies that this was because of his criminal lifestyle, while
Felix Plater, also a student at Montpellier, suggests that Despot had killed a
canon for mocking Gilette. Platter also recalls that Heraclid was
tried in absentia, sentenced to
death by crushing, and
executed in effigy on September 28, 1554. There is no explicit mention of whether or not Heraclid was involved with the
Huguenots. However, this religious component may explain why Heraclid hid in the
Margraviate of Baden, sheltered there by the Protestant
Philibert. From Baden, Heraclid traveled to the
Upper Saxon Circle of the
Holy Roman Empire, in areas dominated by Lutheran
Landeskirchen. He spent some ten months with the
Counts of Mansfeld, meeting
Günther the Rich and
Philip Melanchthon. Historians debate as to whether or not Heraclid joined Günther on his travel to the
Kingdom of England, but it is certain that he visited the
Habsburg Netherlands. He also made a decisive appearance in the
battle of Renty. According to chronicler Jean-François Le Petit, "Baſilic Marchet, Greek Gentleman & Captain" contributed to the counterattack which forced
Henry II to withdraw his army. His competence was again recognized by Charles. On October 22, 1555, Heraclid was received into the lesser
German nobility as a
Count Palatine, with hereditary rights over Samos and
Paros. Thereafter styling himself "Despot of Samos and Marquess of Paros", he was also entitled to a pension and military retinue at the emperor's expense. His participation in the siege of Thérouanne inspired him to write a book in Latin (
De Marini quod Terovanum vocant atque Hedini expugnatione), which he dedicated to the Emperor's son and main successor,
Philip II. This was later followed by
Artis militaris liber primus ("The First Book on Military Art") and
De arte militaria liber ("Book on the Military Art"). As argued by Denize, all three showed "a very good awareness of Spanish military art"; Medievalist Ștefan Olteanu praises Heraclid's military competence and "genuine theoretical skills", while writer Félix Le Sergeant de Monnecove deems Despot (or "Jacques Basilic Marchet") the writer "too personal and partial to be viewed as a historian". The first of these fascicles was published at
Antwerp in 1555, and then the various parts were circulated as manuscripts which are "similar, but not identical".
Soldier and missionary By 1556, Heraclid was certainly a Protestant, settling in
Wittenberg, capital of the
eponymous duchy and the epicenter of Lutheranism. Here, he met
Joachim Camerarius and
Caspar Peucer, as well as, possibly,
Pier Paolo Vergerio. As noted by historian Maria Crăciun, Heraclid was the first Greek man to contact German Lutherans, appearing to them as the "symbol of a future rapprochement between the Greek church of the East and Central Europe's German Protestantism." According to Clusius, it was at Wittenberg that Despot first developed an interest for the affairs of Moldavia and Wallachia. In mid 1556, Despot switched his attention to the
Kingdom of Poland and
Duchy of Prussia, involving himself in the affairs of the
Polish Evangelical Church. With letters of recommendation from Melanchthon (which described Despot as an "honest and erudite man"), he crossed into
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, teaching mathematics at the
University of Rostock. He may have also spent time in
Lübeck and in the
Danish realm, and in any case one of his letters from Melanchthon was addressed to
Christian III. There are also clues that he visited the
Kingdom of Sweden before finally sailing to
Königsberg in Prussia, where he arrived in November 1556.
Duke Albert also gave Heraclid a warm welcome, but the latter only spent some two months in Prussia, leaving upon obtaining a recommendation to the court of
Chancellor Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł, in
Lithuania. Despot also fought alongside Christoporski in the clashes of 1557, opposing Poland to the
Livonian Order. From
Vilnius, where he met other the major figures of Polish Protestantism—including
Jan Łaski—, Heraclid traveled to
Lesser Poland Province, and made occasional returns to Prussia. In late 1557, he was in
Kraków, where he befriended scientist
Georg Joachim Rheticus and a number of Protestant campaigners—including
Hieronim Filipowski,
Francesco Lismanini,
Stanisław Lutomirski, and
Marcin Zborowski; his project, masterminded by Łaski, was to reunite Evangelical and
Calvinist Churches into a single Polish national church. Beyond his generic Protestantism, Heraclid's own church affiliation is an enduring subject of dispute. The general viewpoints, summarized by Maria Crăciun, are that he was either a Lutheran, a Calvinist, or an opportunist with no clear commitments; a number of authors also list him as one of the
Unitarians or
Polish Brethren, with some noting that he came to these positions only after going through more mainstream Protestantism. Crăciun believes that the most plausible account is provided by theologian Hans Petri. This theory describes young Heraclide as a moderate Lutheran, who embraced the dissident views of
Andreas Osiander while in Prussia, and finally became a Calvinist in Kraków. Crăciun suggests that Radziwiłł's influence pushed Despot into a final,
Nontrinitarian stage, with influences from both Unitarianism and the Polish Brethren. Graziani reported on views allegedly held by Despot, commenting on his
anticlericalism, his derision of all forms of
mass, refusal to believe in
transubstantiation, and dedication to
Bible study. Various Catholic polemicists identified Heraclid as a "Jew" or "not a Christian". As Crăciun notes, this allegation refers to his Unitarian views, which in the popular mind had been identified with
Judaizing currents.
Moldavian intrigue 's castle in
Kesmark (Kežmarok), where Despot planned his attack on Moldavia Despot's plan to take over as Prince of Moldavia by usurping
Alexandru Lăpușneanu was probably hatched at Vilnius: here, he met some
Moldavian boyars who had escaped Lăpușneanu's political persecutions. By 1558, he had also become aware that his genealogical claims made him a nominal relative of
Princess-consort Ruxandra. Scholar Tadeusz Gostyński proposes that one of Łaski's clients,
Cyprian z Sieradza, approached Heraclid with a sketched-out conquest of Moldavia. Gostyński proposes that this is why Despot adopted Cyprian, who was consequently known in Poland as "Bazylik". Historian
Șerban Papacostea argues that Demetrios settled in Moldavia long before Despot, contributing to the spread of Reformation ideas in that country before being chased out by Lăpușneanu's violent repression. Iacob himself arrived in Moldavia in 1558, already an adversary of the regime, probably with support from Poland (especially from Polish Calvinists) and from a coalition of boyars who had supported
Ștefan VI Rareș. As noted by Olteanu, Heraclid's plan was rendered realistic by the anarchic decline of political customs in both
Danubian Principalities under the
Ottoman dominion. In the very last decades of the
Romanian Middle Ages, there were 21 Moldavian Princes, with each averaging "2 years of actual governance." Emperor Charles' other successor,
Ferdinand I, was preoccupied with securing a
Habsburg family realm in
Central and Eastern Europe. His son
Maximilian intended to stand in the
Polish royal elections; he courted the
Polish nobility, whose Protestant factions conditioned their support on Habsburg acceptance of Despot. This overlapped with Heraclid's own political goals, prompting him to assure the Habsburg court of his loyalty. It is unclear if Ferdinand actually backed Despot during the late 1550s. Historian Ionel Bejenaru, who argues that they did, notes that Lăpușneanu perceived Despot as an imperial agent, and that this pushed him to enter negotiations with Ferdinand. Iorga describes Despot as a "useful diversion", which Ferdinand prepared for its perfect moment to deploy. According to Iorga, Despot was a guest at Lăpușneanu's court, charming his hosts with his accounts of Western Europe, and with his own genealogical fabrications, while omitting his criminal past. The attempt was a failure, and Despot was forced to flee Moldavia; according to Iorga, this escape occurred as early as 1558, Initially, he settled in the
Eastern Hungarian Kingdom at the court of
Dowager Queen Isabella Jagiellon. It was here that he first met a fellow adventurer,
Olbracht Łaski. In Iorga's account, this was also the time of Despot's stay in
Corona, and subsequent move to
Zips County, in the
Habsburg parts of Hungary. He arrived at
Kesmark, where he lodged in Łaski's castle. By May, Lăpușneanu had alienated more of his boyars and probably even the
Moldavian Orthodox Metropolis: a delegation representing both traveled to Kesmark, hoping to persuade Ferdinand and Maximilian to intervene, and also expressing support for Despot's candidacy. Arranging a new expedition in Moldavia, planned for late 1560, Heraclid secured military backing from castellan Łaski, who had an understanding with Habsburg loyalists. Despot promised him ownership of
Hotin Citadel, which guaranteed rights to the biggest
octroi in all of Moldavia. Despot bought himself a garrison of Spanish
arquebusiers. Led by a Captain Pierre Roussel (or Rossillio), these remained loyal to him to the last day of his rule. Some 500 Polish Protestants came in as volunteers. News of this reached
Polish King Sigismund II Augustus, who, preferring to maintain Lăpușneanu as his subservient ally, ordered this "mutiny" quashed. During this backlash, Despot dulled his enemies' vigilance by staging his own death.
Deposing Lăpușneanu The final expedition against Lăpușneanu was probably supported from outside the country by Demetrios. Despot acquired an explicit Polish endorsement, and was probably also viewed favorably by the
Sublime Porte, having reportedly spent some 20,000
Goldgulden on bribes. Crucial backing for Heraclid's bid came from
Joseph Nasi, the Ottoman
court Jew and titular
Duke of Naxos, who was on his way to becoming "one of the most influential figures at the Porte". Abela and Buonfiglio both claim that Heraclid was a vassal of the
Knights Hospitaller, having been propped up by
Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette. Pippidi believes that this act of
fealty is not unlikely, but also notes that Heraclid may have paid similar homage to other European monarchs. Historian Robert Mifsud Bonnici argues that Heraclid may have returned to Malta as a monarch, to meet with Valette. However, according to Pippidi, it is improbable that such an encounter ever took place. Despot now had a larger force—comprising many
Zaporozhian Cossacks, on one of their first-ever appearances in Moldavian history. Łaski mobilized this multinational force with his Latin oratory, depicting them as a liberation force, and Lăpușneanu as a tyrant. On November 18 (
Old Style: November 8), 1561, Despot's coalition defeated the
Moldavian military forces in the
Battle of Verbia, obtaining full control over much of the country. In his biography of Heraclid,
Johann Sommer noted that arquebus firepower won the day: "most of [the Moldavians] had never before even seen those
handheld bombards, and so they and their horses could catch sound of them without the greatest distress." Despot was also favored by an act of betrayal: the Moldavian
Ion Moțoc, with his entire cavalry force, switched sides during the clashes. A secondary fight opposed
Hungarians in Despot's service to Lăpușneanu's contracted
Janissaries. The latter barricaded themselves in the townhouses of
Botoșani, but the Hungarians surprised them by leaping over fences, and decimated them. Despot and his men soon descended on the capital,
Suceava, where Metropolitan Grigorie II de la Neamț and "all the populace" stepped out to greet him. Lăpușneanu escaped from battle and took refuge in
Silistra Eyalet, at
Kilya; the Ottoman garrison of that town had him deported to
Istanbul. and finally to
Vaslui. On December 2, he issued his
edict of toleration toward all branches of Christianity, inviting Protestants who were persecuted elsewhere to join him in Moldavia. Despot immediately canceled Lăpușneanu's program of forced conversions to Orthodoxy and restored Protestant churches to their owners, being celebrated as a protector by the Hungarian,
Saxon, and
Armenian communities of Moldavia. He personally appointed a bishop for the
Saxon Lutheran Church, whose first task was to rebuild churches demolished by either Rareș or Lăpușneanu. Shortly after his takeover, Despot wrote Ferdinand to convince him never to back Lăpușneanu, exposing the latter as an indiscriminate murderer and Orthodox fanatic, and dwelling on his impalement of seven Protestant missionaries. In other portions of the Vaslui edict, Despot hints at the
origin of the Romanians, encouraging his boyars to live up to the
Roman virtue of their ancestors. He reassured locals that he was fundamentally anti-Ottoman, promising them that he would restore Moldavian rule in the
Budjak, also announcing that he intended to annex Wallachia and then "Greece"—described by some historians as a "
Dacian" plan. According to Iorga, there was a more discreet note to this program: though his proclamations described the
Danube as a frontier, Despot's "grand apotheosis" was to be a restoration of the
Byzantine Empire, with himself as "Emperor of all Eastern Christendom". In the Habsburg parts of Hungary,
Zsigmond Thorda described Despot as a most reliable ally who, it was hoped, would counteract and help discipline the Eastern Hungarians. The Moldavian troops, Thorda reported, were fully loyal to, and financially supported by, the Habsburgs; however, they could not be used against Eastern Hungary, for fear of angering Despot's Ottoman overlords. Diplomat Ferenc Zay was more enthusiastic about the project, arguing that Despot could incapacitate resistance by attacking in
Partium while the Habsburgs took other regions. After confronting both sides of the argument, on February 15 Ferdinand appointed
Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq as his rapporteur on the Moldavian matter.
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent finally recognized Despot as his vassal on April 24, with a ceremony outside Suceava. The affair was not without some tensions:
Kapucu Ferhat, who presented Despot with his "regnal banner", received from him a bribe of some 15,000 ducats and 100 horses; As noted by Iorga, Despot was embarrassed by the ceremony, and in his correspondence pretended that the "banner" signified an Ottoman
order of chivalry, rather than a label of submission. Chronicler
Nicolae Costin claims that, once informed that Zápolya had been incapacitated by illness, Despot marched his 700-strong army toward the Transylvanian border; news of Zápolya's recovery arrested his advance, somewhere on the
Trotuș River. He eventually backed out of his invasion plan, sending the boyar Orăș to negotiate a peace between Zápolya and the
Székelys. However, he gave a free hand to another one of his mercenaries, Paul Székely, to act as a seemingly independent warlord of Székely Land; this scenario was prevented by Zápolya, who resumed control of the areas before autumn. Around that time, Despot began sending envoys, including his confidant Pierre Roussel, to the courts of Western Europe, requesting support for an anti-Ottoman
crusade. He also defied the
Crimean Khanate, reducing the Moldavian annual tribute to a gift consisting of two honey barrels, and made a public show of his contempt for Ottoman merchants. Despot had fathered an illegitimate son by "a Greek woman", or, according to other readings, had an infant daughter. He also wanted to have a more conventional line of succession. During the first half of 1562, he planned his marriage to Princess Dobra, sister of
Peter the Younger,
Prince of Wallachia. For this he approached Peter's mother,
Doamna Chiajna. His envoys were Moțoc and Avram Banilovschi. These two arranged for the dynastic union to take place in August, and brought back a diamond ring as Peter and Chiajna's gift for Heraclid. Later, Wallachia's
Vornic Radu Socol traveled to Suceava, bringing Despot two steeds, a
kuka hat with precious stones, and 24,000 ducats. Heraclid intended to make his wedding a grand ceremony. His "extravagant parvenu's idea" involved sending out invitations to the leading royal houses of Europe. Among the projected guests were Philip II, Duke Albert, and
Hungarian Archbishop Nicolaus Olahus. The wedding was eventually called off, prompting a swift deterioration in relations between Wallachia and Moldavia. Historians disagree on the reasons for this breakdown in negotiations. Claudiu Neagoe believes that Chiajna was probably informed that Despot intended to depose Peter and bring his own alleged brother, Demetrios, on that throne. Another project pursued by Despot was to establish a
personal union between Moldavia and a restored
Kingdom of Cyprus. Also in 1562, the Venetians captured and executed Diassorinos, who was instigating a Cypriote revolt and had asked for Maltese and Ottoman assistance—Despot probably intended to make Cyprus an Ottoman client state.
Proselytism controversy in Moldavia, showing the minority Calvinist,
Catholic, and
Hussite groups "Despot's mission", Crăciun notes, "was to execute, in one go, the Protestant policy of Wittenberg and of the Polish nobility, together with the Emperor's anti-Ottoman policy. [...] Despot was depicted as a determining factor for the spread of Protestantism in the east". Already in December 1561, Despot had extended an invitation to Filipowski, Lismanini, and other Polish colleagues, urging them to visit Moldavia. Soon after, the regime introduced new laws and customs, including an effective ban on divorces. This policy was also reflected in the theology of a Protestant preacher, Jan Lusinski, who arrived in Moldavia as bishop of the local Calvinists; Lusinski and his German colleague, Johann Sommer, evolved from Calvinism or Lutheranism to a Unitarian approach, which they also imposed on their congregation. Heraclid made repeated attempts to establish Moldavia as an educational center of Eastern European Reformation, inviting Lestarchus, Jonas, Rheticus, and Peucer to come and teach there. Sommer was director of Despot's
collegium (or "academy"), set up at
Cotnari. This establishment was designed to train a generation of Protestant preachers, and possibly also the administrative elites. Demetrios also made his return to Moldavia, probably in January 1562, interrupting his wider mission to spread Protestantism in the
Balkans. He set up base at Cotnari, where he taught Greek. As Crăciun notes, it remains a matter of scholarly debate whether Cotnari should be viewed as Moldavia's first institution of higher learning, a local replica of the
Platonic Academy, or a mere school. As Sommer himself explained, Despot offered state scholarships to Moldavia's youth. Historians disagree on whether this meant that the regime was consciously drawing them away from Orthodoxy, or simply indifferent to their beliefs. The princely court and government apparatus included
Logothete Luca Stroici, who had probably embraced Lutheranism. However, various researchers agree that Despot never made an effort to mass-convert the Orthodox population. Overall, he allowed Reformation ideas to appear in the mainstream, giving Moldavians a chance to come into direct contact with them, and hoping that they would convert on their own. Polish reports and his own letters attest that he had pledged himself to make Moldavia Protestant, but also show that he never delivered on that promise. One point of the program which was consistently pursued by Despot was the repression of
Moldavian Catholicism: his transfer of Catholic property into Lutheran hands was recorded by
Giovanni Botero and
Jan Dymitr Solikowski. Despot was still probably on friendly terms with Grigorie II, though the lesser clergy slowly came to resent both of them. As shown by the contemporary
Chronicle of Azarie, Moldavians understood him to be "of the same creed as his advisers", namely a "Lutheran" and "God's scourge". The Orthodox
Nicolae Costin took a dim view of Despot's stance on divorces, concluding that it made him an "awful, unrepentant tyrant". Despot angered his subjects when he began confiscating
reliquaries,
rizas and
chalices, melting them for
bullion. This remained his one documented attack on Orthodox institutions: primarily patrimonial in nature, it also reflected Despot's intention to simplify religious practice. In Orthodox and Catholic historiography, the confiscations were also regarded as proof of Despot's
Protestant iconoclasm. Heraclid was aware of the mounting hostility. He survived several assassination attempts, masterminded by Lăpușneanu: in April 1562, he had
Hussar Voina impaled for such an attempt in the city of
Roman; in 1563, there were two other documented strikes, occurring during his military maneuvers. His clampdown on dissent included the killing of Andreica, a former
Stolnic, whom he regarded as a serious competitor for the throne. His lynching was staged by the Hungarian garrison of Suceava on
Saint George Day 1562, and applauded by a handpicked civilian audience. Administrative letters show that, during early 1562, the Prince and Łaski had imprisoned some seven grand boyars, effectively purging his
Boyar Council; later documents suggest that they were killed in custody. However, Despot still kept his Protestant faith secret, or not immediately apparent, performing the actions of an Orthodox monarch—including taking part in the
Epiphany and bowing to kiss the Gospel. In March 1562, he restored to
Humor Monastery the estate of
Feredeni, which he had confiscated from Andreica. Also that year, he gave a rude reception to Wolfgang Schreiber, sent by
Hans von Ungnad on a mission to convert Orthodox Christians to Lutheranism. His veto effectively took Moldavia out of the project to establish a Protestant presence in Eastern Europe at large. Crăciun proposes that this episode reflects, on one hand, Despot's attempt to placate his Orthodox subjects and, on the other, his growing and genuine dislike of the
Magisterial Reformation.
"King" and Polish vassal In October 1562, Heraclid invaded Wallachia and routed the
Wallachian army sent to repel him. He now also intended to place a "son of Basarab" on the Wallachian throne, as a puppet ruler; historians agree that this is a reference to
Banul Mărăcine or
Nicolaus Bassaraba, two exiled
Craiovești. Despot made a public show of his supposedly
precognitive dream, in which three angels brought him three crowns, or, in the version provided by the 17th-century chronicler
Miron Costin, "two gilded crowns [fell] from the skies for him to take". In June 1562, Despot accused the mercenary Jean Villey of having stolen all his
regalia. In tandem, Zápolya made efforts to convince the Porte that Heraclid was a Habsburg loyalist who conspired with Emperor Ferdinand, noting that "this Despot has manned the forts with Germans and Hungarians", and that "all bandits from Transylvania and Poland gathered under him". The solution, Zápolya argued, could only be Lăpușneanu's return to his throne. During this exchange of information, the Porte discovered that its Hungarian correspondence had been copied and read by Ferdinand's regents, which sparked a brief diplomatic crisis, at the end of which Suleiman insisted that Ferdinand remove his mercenaries from Moldavia. Ferdinand complied, and Despot was only left with 800 non-German mercenaries, most of them Hungarian. Faced with Zápolya's intrigues and Chiajna's complaints, Despot also withdrew his troops from Wallachia. On January 6, 1563, Despot made another display of his respect for Orthodoxy, with a coronation ceremony at
Suceava Cathedral. According to Iorga, Despot was an "actor" who "altogether lived too little in the real world", and his ambitions (such as inviting all neighboring monarchs to witness his anointment) "would normally stir laughter." At the coronation and after, Despot reportedly used a non-traditional title, that of Moldavian "King". In addition to coins, he minted for himself a new crown and a distinguishing seal. His portrait on coinage also had a
circlet, a sword, and a scepter, and carried his dedication as
Herclis Despote Patris Patriae. Various other documents have him as more simply
Ioan ("John") and "
Voivode": was his signature in
Church Slavonic,
Iohann Waiwoda was one of his Latin names. While
Ioan was in regular use as a
regnal particle for all Princes, it was extremely rare as an actual name. His matrimonial projects then shifted focus, with Despot contemplating a stronger alliance with Polish nobility. He courted a daughter of
Marcin Zborowski, sending some of his mercenaries to retrieve her, but his conflicts with the
magnates put a stop to all such overtures. Also in January, Despot designated Łaski as his heir, though this recognition was conditioned on the Prince having no legitimate male children. Over the following weeks, their relationship tottered over payments of Despot's debts to Łaski. By February, Despot had cancelled Łaski's deed to Hotin, and put in his own garrison, ensuring himself against an attack from the rear. Despot centered his attempts on obtaining an understanding with the government of Poland. Sigismund Augustus had since been persuaded that Moldavia was not a threat to him and his own uneasy peace with the Ottomans. Also in 1563, Despot renewed Lăpușneanu's oath of fealty to the Polish crown. This document confirmed Moldavia's obligation to supply Poland with 7,000 soldiers, including in the event of war with the Ottomans. At that stage, Moldavians were also enraged by Despot's new tax of a ducat on every household. By July, although he had duly paid his country's tribute (the
haraç), Despot was also a
persona non grata at the Porte. Papacostea and other authors believe that Despot's downfall was nevertheless accelerated by another factor, namely his pledge to marry Zborowski's daughter. It signified to the boyars that Despot wished to set up a Protestant dynasty in an Orthodox country. The rebels' indictment of the Prince specifically cited him as an enemy of God's law. In a June 1563 document, Despot refers to his succession line as: "whomever of Our children or of Our house is to become
hospodar, or whoever God will select to rule upon Our land of Moldavia".
Downfall and assassination 's princely citadel from the western side. Areni field once stretched on the left-hand side and in the background Schesaeus and
Mathias Miles recount a failed attempt on Despot's life—as the culmination of a plot uniting clergymen, including Metropolitan Grigorie, and boyars. At the
Eucharist of 1563, the plotters mixed the
sacramental bread with poison. Despot was saved by a deserting conspirator, who made sure that Despot would not touch the bread, and invited the clergy to have first servings; according to Miles, all of them, including Grigorie, died within hours of the meal. Schesaeus believes that only "the monks" were poisoned, while boyars were ambushed and stabbed to death by loyalist mercenaries. In its final form, the plot centered on
Hatman Ștefan Tomșa and Moțoc, who co-opted a deserting courtier,
Iosif Veveriță. Another
Hatman, Toma Barnovschi, formerly seen as Despot's "Viceroy", was reportedly threatened with bodily harm in order to join that conspiracy. In another conspiratorial action, the boyars managed to poison Lusinski, who was then buried outside Suceava. During that summer,
Dmytro Vyshnevetsky,
Hetman of the
Zaporizhian Sich,
intervened in Moldavia with the probable intention of seizing Despot's throne. Alarmed, Despot offered Vyshnevetsky peace, promising a gift of 1,000 horses and some thousands of oxen. Although supported by Łaski, Vyshnevetsky's forces were finally crushed. One account suggests that Vyshnevetsky and Łaski quarreled; the former reached an understanding with Despot, and was delivered by Łaski into Tomșa's hands. The Zaporizhian
Hetman was then dispatched to Istanbul, and impaled on hooks. The army that had defeated Vyshnevetsky then besieged Despot at Suceava for some three months. The boyars had ambushed many of Despot's mercenaries, having invited them to a staged celebration at
Sipoteni. In parallel, Tomșa encouraged an anti-Protestant pogrom, which exterminated Lusinski's widow and child, Despot's son, and a number of Cotnari's Calvinist families. Main targets also included Armenian women, after some were caught praying for Despot's well-being. Sommer recounts that these events came just as Lestarchus, finally answering Despot's invitation, was preparing to enter the country, prompting the scholar to return home. There were several aborted moves to restore the old regime. One version is that Łaski switched sides again, returning to serve Despot and the Habsburg cause in exchange for the return of Hotin. Other authors argue that this never happened, despite Despot's desperate attempts. A more sustained effort came from a Habsburg envoy, Melchior Balassa. Inside Suceava, Heraclid believed that he was facing a mutiny of his infantrymen, and executed their leader, Captain Devay or Dervici. Reportedly, the decision was rash, and actually pushed the troops into rebellion. The chronicler
Grigore Ureche reports that the survivors intended to take their revenge and kill Despot, but feared that they would be decapitated for treason. Eventually, the Hungarian mercenaries inside Suceava turned against Despot, exhausting his capacity for resistance. The Prince then prepared his surrender. His physician, Dyonisus d'Avalos, claimed that just hours before his death, he renounced and denounced Reformation as a whole, deploring his own role in the "mockery of the divine religion" and voicing the wish to withdraw to a monastery. This narrative is partly corroborated in Catholic reports of the period, which claim that Despot's final wish was to be
ordained. According to Crăciun, the exhibition was insincere, a final act in the constant dissimulation of Heraclid's Protestant or Unitarian faith. Despot's surrender and death are dated to November 4–5, 1563. He stepped out of the fortress, dressed in full regalia, and walked toward his enemies. Ureche recounts that Despot met Tomșa just outside the city walls, on the open fields of Areni. In anticipation, the rebel leader had gathered here the
estates of the realm, to approve of his own coronation. According to various accounts, Tomșa personally killed Despot in front of the assembly, striking him with a mace. Ureche and Schesaeus suggest that death came not from the blow itself, but from being left to bleed. Other sources contrarily note that Despot was killed by one or several executioners. An 18th-century chronicle reports that Despot's body was taken for burial at
Putna Monastery, As this occurred, Tomșa also arrested Demetrios, but pardoned him, marking his nose with a cut—since mutilation technically invalidated him from ever taking the throne. ==Legacy==