Ioniță Cuza

Ioniță Cuza's ethnic origins and ancestry are largely uncertain, subject to several competing theories. Some early hypotheses, centered on the name's resonance, have proposed that the Cuzas were Italians or Lorrainers.[1] Historian N. Stoicescu believes that they were possibly ethnic Greeks.[2] According to genealogist Ștefan S. Gorovei, Ioniță's ancestry is entirely local and can be traced back to January 1588, with the first mention of a "Cozea" from Roșiori. This figure, identified by Gorovei as the Cuza patriarch, made lucrative land deals in other parts of Neamț County, leaving a fortune to his sons. One of these may be Toader Cuza, who is shown to be engaged in commercial exchanges with the boyar Toader Jora.[3] Another genealogist, Gheorghe G. Bezviconi, proposes that the Joras and the Cuzas had a common ancestor, the Vornic Băisan.[4] The family may have branched out into Bessarabia at an early stage, with records showing them as founders and owners of the village Cozești.[5] Unusually among Moldavian boyars, the Cuzas seem not to have adopted a coat of arms of their own,[6] although a tierced per fess shield is attributed to them in Emanuel Hagi-Mosco's album.[7]

The first Cuza to reach high office may have been a Vistier Coza, serving in the 1630s. According to Stoicescu, he was father of the better-known Dumitrașco Cuza (or Cuzea).[8] Contrarily, Gorovei argues that there is "no certain connection" between the Vistier and Dumitrașco, who was the known heir of Toader Cuza.[9] It is also known that Dumitrașco married Safta, daughter of Toader Jora and sister-in-law of the Great Vornic Ioan Sturza (of the Greek Sturdzas).[10] One period writ describes him as the son of Safta Jora.[11] This dynastic arrangement also made Cuza a relative of the powerful Doukas and brought him a large dowry, including 15 estates in Moldavia-proper and Bessarabia.[12] He had a steady climb at the court, being first mentioned in June 1677 as Comis for Prince Antonie Ruset, granted ownership of Vlăicenii village in recognition for his service.[13] He became Spatharios in 1679, under George Ducas, returning as Great Stolnic and Great Spatharios under Constantine Ducas.[14]

Dumitrașco also cultivated a close relationship with the Costin boyars, and in particular with Hetman Ioniță Costin, orphaned son of the writer and politician Miron Costin. Cuza's own three sons, Miron, Toader and Velicico, were involved in cementing such links. Miron Cuza (fl. 1680–1742)[15] may have been named after Ioniță's father.[16] Holding office as Logothete, he married Ilinca, daughter of Ioniță Costin, granddaughter of his namesake and niece of Nicolae Costin.[17] The Costins had been one of the most powerful players after the Moldavian Magnate Wars, keeping Princes as the "instruments of [their] party".[18] Through her mother Ileana, Ilinca also descended from Movilești royalty.[19]

In 1701–1702, Cuza Sr and the Hetman tried to mediate a conflict between Prince Ducas and his Spatharios, Mihai Racoviță.[20] Instead, they came to be detested by the latter. Cuza was sidelined later that year, when Racoviță managed to topple and replace Ducas.[21] Over the following decades, Phanariote bureaucrats acting under the supervision of the Ottoman Empire instituted a regime which cut back on the privileges of established boyar families. Racoviță participated in its creation, returning to rule as a Phanariote in December 1715. However, in 1716, Moldavia was dragged into the Austro–Turkish War. Racoviță and his Seimeni "put up no resistance" to the Imperial Army, which then imposed terror on the city of Iași.[22]

Following this regime change, Miron and Velicico involved themselves in a plot to topple Racoviță, alongside boyar Vasile Ceaurul and the mercenary François "Franță" Ernaut.[23] In January 1717, the Seimeni defeated Ernaut, and resumed control of the country. Racoviță ordered Cuza Sr's hanging,[24] in what was seen by chronicler Ion Neculce as a blind retaliation for his sons' doings.[25] His body was dropped in a mass grave by the side of Cetățuia Monastery.[26] The three younger Cuzas escaped vengeance, but were kept out of political affairs; Toader's sons declined socially, losing their boyar status.[27]

The son of Miron and Ilinca, Ioniță was born at an unknown date, referred to by historians as "before 1720"[28] or "around 1715".[29] He is known to have had a brother, Mihalache, who is recorded as deceased before 1760.[30] His grandfather Costin died late in 1729, leaving Miron an heir to much of his estate.[31] In 1742–1748, Ioniță was a Postelnic, and then a Pitar to 1752,[32] being consulted by Prince Constantine Mavrocordatos during the abolition of Moldavian serfdom (April 1749). The same year, he and other boyars sent three letters of protest to Abdullah Pasha, the Ottoman Grand Vizier, demanding less taxation and fewer privileges for the foreign merchants.[33] According to Gorovei, these letters should be seen as early documents of Romanian nationalism, with Ioniță Cuza included on "something one may call the 'national party', or the homegrown party".[34]

The Pitar's anti-Phanariote sentiments were recorded under the reign of Ioan Teodor Callimachi, whose Spatharios, Iordaki Stavraki, blacklisted Cuza.[35] In 1759, the same Stavraki devised a plan to have Cuza and other 11 boyars removed, sending them on diplomatic mission to the Crimean Khanate, where they were to be kidnapped. The plan was uncovered and the boyars rebelled: as noted by Cuza himself, they had support "from the whole country", obtaining Stavraki's removal and exile; Cuza then reconciled with the Prince, taking over as Stolnic.[36] He was simultaneously Stolnic and Vistier to 1763, also serving as the Ispravnic of Vaslui from 1761 to 1767.[37]

As the head of his house, Ioniță was ktitor of the Moldavian Orthodox church in Negrești. Recognized for his philanthropy, in 1762 he received from the widow Safta Racleș the neighboring village of Bârzești.[38] After 1770, Cuza also became implicated in more controversial credit ventures, earning the reputation of a usurer.[39] The deeds he held in Negrești and Bârzești became the basis for a large Cuza domain, which also included Zăpodeni and Rebricea; he had inherited additional land in Cuzlău, as well as townhouses in Vaslui and Iași.[40] Cuza married a daughter of Pitar Toader Râșcanu, Tudosica, with whom he had five sons.[41] Of these, four are known to have survived into maturity: Nicolae (or Neculai), Arghirie, Gheorghe and Constantin.[42] All were educated at home, by tutors from Golia Monastery.[43]

By 1767, Cuza was again in conflict with the Phanariote regime, which at the time was personified by prince Grigore III Ghica. He and other boyars declared themselves outraged at being sidelined from major offices, and left the country on voluntary exile. The Ottoman envoy, or Kapucu, intervened as mediator; the protesters returned after being promised reparations.[44] Thus, Cuza himself returned to prominence. From 1769 to 1773, he served as Paharnic,[45] ending his term under the early stages of a Russian occupation. The latter period saw Cuza working with other boyars to limit Phanariote abuses by resorting to Russian and Ottoman arbitration under the terms of Küçük Kaynarca. In August 1774, the boyars, gathered at Focșani, nominated Cuza and Enachi Chirica as their envoys to Istanbul, where they were to ask for Ghica's return as Prince. Sultan Abdul Hamid I confirmed Ghica for the throne before they left, rendering their mission redundant.[46]

The citadel of Iași, as imagined in 1686 by Gabriel Bodenehr

Cuza was appointed as Ghica's Spatharios later in 1774.[47] The reign was nevertheless one of major setbacks, beginning with the forced cession of northern Moldavia, annexed by the Habsburg Monarchy and administered as an Austrian duchy. The Prince was assassinated in 1777,[48] with Constantine Mourouzis taking his throne. Cuza preserved his rank and office, but began conspiring against the new monarch. Various foreign sources indicate that the project was of a Masonic inspiration, which would push the history of Freemasonry in Romania to 1770 or even before, to 1740.[49] According to Gorovei, Cuza's scheme involved deposing Mourouzis and placing Vornic Manolache Bogdan on the throne.[50] Another historian, Nicolae Iorga, attributes the initiative to a low-ranking boyar, Iordachi Dărmănescu, Cuza and other boyars being only drawn in by their "politicking".[51] Various other researches have also noted that Dărmănescu was a key figure in the import of Enlightenment philosophy and modernizing political literature to Moldavia.[52]

Mourouzis was informed of the Bogdan–Cuza–Dărmănescu conspiracy, and retaliated: Bogdan and Cuza were apprehended and interrogated under torture by another Spatharios, Constantin Caragea. Exposed to a similar treatment, Dărmănescu admitted to having sent a letter to the Ottoman authorities in Bender, asking for arbitration against Mourouzis. He also incriminated Cuza, who was one of the boyars to have signed that document.[53] Historian A. D. Xenopol notes that Cuza was mainly targeted not for actually siding with Bogdan, but for having protested against the Ottoman army's raids in Moldavia. Prince Mourouzis had also found the Ottoman presence unpalatable, but, Xenopol writes, regarded Cuza's additional complaints as dangerously excessive.[54]

Cuza and Bogdan were decapitated on August 18, 1778.[55] Contemporary records suggest that they were killed at night in Iași's princely court, "in the tower that's facing the Bahlui"; their executioner was a Captain Pavăl from Cosăuți, who then left the severed heads exposed for public viewing, "on a rug by the gate of the court".[56] Dărmănescu received more clemency from the Prince: originally sentenced to have his right arm amputated, he was eventually dispatched to a monastery in Târgu Ocna.[57] Released before 1783, he dedicated himself to translating Masonic literature.[58] Other participants were also given less violent punishments, following requests from the clergy: some, such as the boyars' physician Dracache Depasta, were exiled and had their estates confiscated.[59]