Bogdan I

Bogdan I, known as the Founder (b. before 1307 – d. c. 1367), was voivode of Maramureș and the first ruling prince of independent Moldavia. He is considered the founder of the medieval Moldavian state, the man who wrested Moldavia from the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Hungary, turning it into the second independent Romanian country, after Wallachia.

Voivode in Maramureș

Before 1343, Bogdan was voivode in Maramureș, with his residence at Cuhea (today the village of Bogdan Vodă), ruling a knezate comprising several villages. Initially loyal to the king of Hungary, he entered into open conflict with the Angevin authority. The documents of the time mention him as a former voivode who had become „unfaithful” to the Hungarian crown, which eventually led to the confiscation of his estates in Maramureș.

The crossing and the founding of Moldavia

Between 1359 and 1365, Bogdan and his men crossed the mountains from Maramureș into Moldavia, a territory then under the rule of Sas, a vassal of King Louis I of Hungary. Bogdan drove out Balc, the son of Sas, and took the throne, refusing to recognise Hungarian suzerainty. Moldavia thus became a state in its own right, with its residence at Baia. In reprisal, the king of Hungary confiscated in 1365 the property he still held in Maramureș — an act which, paradoxically, attests to the success of Moldavia's separation.

After the name of its founder, Moldavia was also called „Bogdania”. Bogdan I died around the year 1367 and, according to tradition, was buried at Rădăuți, at the church he had transformed into a monastery and which was to bear his name — Bogdana. Through his deed, he opened the way for the dynasty that was to rule Moldavia for centuries.

The significance of the founding

The founding of the Moldavian state by Bogdan I was preceded by a first political organisation under Dragoș and his successors, installed as a defensive march of the Kingdom of Hungary. Bogdan's act, however, transformed this dependent formation into a sovereign state, led by a dynasty of its own, which was to give Moldavia rulers such as Alexandru cel Bun and Ștefan cel Mare. Historical tradition places Bogdan I at the foundation of Moldavian statehood, and his memory has been preserved across the centuries — his native village in Maramureș bearing today the name Bogdan Vodă.