Abstract
HIGH OFFICIALS OF MOLDAVIA AT MID18TH CENTURY (1741 – 1749)
Nobility has always been a central topic of research for historians from all over the world, and Romanian historians are no exception to this rule. In the Middle Ages, chroniclers dealt almost exclusively with nobility, since it was the only social category that mattered. In modern times, the interest for the study of the elites continued, because in most States, nobility preserved their dominant position. After World War I, starting with “the entry of the masses into history”, the interest for the formerly ruling class began to decrease, and during the communist period it was almost “thrown to history’s garbage bin” (at least in the States that were “privileged” with this regime). After 1989, nobility regained importance as a topic of research for historians in the former communist countries as well.
This paper provides a presentation of the high officials within the Moldavian Principality that held the main political positions in the mid-18th century. The focus was mainly on the period comprised between 1741 and 1749, until the third reign of Constantin Mavrocordat, who managed, through his reforms, to define the official condition of the Romanian nobility, for the first time in the Romanian Principalities.