George Ducas

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George DucasTemplate:Efn (c. 1620Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". – 31 March 1685) was the prince (voivode) of Moldavia (1665–1666, 1668–1672, 1678–1684) and the prince of Wallachia (1674–1678). He also served as the hetman of Ottoman Ukraine (1681–1683).

He was married to Anastasiya Dabizha, the daughter of Prince Eustratie Dabija, and later to Dafina Doamna; George Ducas fathered Constantine Ducas.

File:Manastirea Cetatuia Iasi 01.JPG
Prince Gheorghe Duca built the Cetățuia Monastery in Iași (capital of the Principality of Moldavia). It was completed in 1672.

First two rules in Moldavia

File:Mănăstirea Cetăţuia24.jpg
The fortified palace of the monastery was destined to the lodging of the Prince. It houses a typical 17th century Turkish Bath.

Gheorghe Duca was of Albanian origin and like many others of his generation who had migrated to the Danubian principalities he rose thanks to his links to other Albanians of high positions. In his youth, another Albanian, Vasile Lupu (voivode of Moldavia) took him to his court where Duca was raised.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Supported by Dafina Doamna and some of the boyars, he came to the throne in Iaşi after Dabija's death, but was soon ousted after his opponents appealed to the Ottomans, unjustly claiming Duca's rule was corrupt.

File:Mănăstirea Cetăţuia5.jpg
The monastery church.
File:Mănăstirea Cetăţuia42.jpg
Gheorghe Duca, his wife Anastasia Dabizha and some of their children on a mural of the church.

He contracted large debts in order to reclaim the throne, which he managed to following Iliaș Alexandru's rule. The policy of increased taxation led to the uprising of Mihalcea Hâncu in October 1671, crushed the next year after Ducas received Ottoman help. But, as Ducas failed to provide supplies needed for the War against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the Sultan Mehmed IV's life placed in peril at the attack of Kamianets-Podilskyi, the Ottomans swiftly replaced him with Ștefan Petriceicu.

File:Sultan Mehmed IV (2).jpg
Sultan Mehmed IV, ruler of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687.

Rule in Wallachia

In 1674, through the intervention of the Cantacuzino boyars, he was awarded the throne in Bucharest; soon however, the alliance between the Cantacuzinos and Ducas crumbled, the prince being replaced by Șerban Cantacuzino.

Last rule in Moldavia and rule in Right-bank Ukraine

File:Vienna Battle 1683.jpg
The battle of Vienna in 1683, by Frans Geffels (1625–1694)

He was soon back on the Moldavian throne, following Antonie Ruset (Rosetti)'s reign. George Ducas had plans of extending his rule over right-bank Ukraine, where Ottoman gains had started with the acquisition of Podolia in 1672. His overlord appointed him as hetman over the newly gained regions, in 1680 or 1681, after much bribery strained the Moldavian treasury as much as the request that Ducas had placed on the taxed categories that they contribute to his daughter's dowry.

In 1683, Ducas joined the Ottomans in their march at the Battle of Vienna. Helped by his absence and aware of the complete failure of the Ottoman plans, boyars throughout the land rebelled, following Ștefan Petriceicu's command, and welcomed the invading Poles and Cossacks.

On his way back, Ducas was captured on 25 December 1683 and sent to a prison in Poland, where he died one year later.

File:Mănăstirea Cetăţuia10.jpg
Burial of Prince Gheorghe and his daughter Maria, at the Cetățuia Monastery.
File:Duca Voda.JPG
Ducas Voda, Prince of Moldavia and hetman of Ukraine, on Romanian stamps from 1941

Notes

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Bibliography

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Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check Prince/Voivode of Moldavia
1665–1666 Template:S-ttl/check
Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check Prince/Voivode of Moldavia
1668–1672 Template:S-ttl/check
Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check Prince/Voivode of Moldavia
1678–1684 Template:S-ttl/check
Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/checkTemplate:Succession box/check Prince/Voivode of Wallachia
1673–1678 Template:S-ttl/check
Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by

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