North moldavian volosts and the struggle for the prince's throne at the end of the 1530s - the beginning of the 1570s

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to highlight the military and political situation of the northern territories of Moldavia (Chernivtsi and Khotyn Volosts) during the struggle for the prince’s throne in the late 1530s – early 1570s, based on the analysis of sources and monographic literature. The research methodology is based on the principles of a concrete historical approach – historicism, objectivity, comprehensiveness, integrity and systematicity, as well as on the methods of analysis and synthesis, historical and comparative, problem-chronological methods. The scientific novelty consists in a comprehensive study of the course and consequences of the armed struggle of various claimants to the Moldavian prince’s throne, which affected the territories of Chernivtsi and Khotyn Volosts of Moldavia, which has been carried out in Ukrainian historiography for the first time, and a new periodization of military and political processes on the territory of Bukovyna in 1538 – 1572 has been introduced. The Conclusions. In the first third of the 16th century, relations between Turkey and Poland in Central-Eastern Europe normalized. As a result, since 1538 Moldavia had fallen into a vassal dependency of Porta. However, the Polish kings tried to keep Moldavia in their sphere of influence, supporting their proteges on the Moldavian throne and using anti-Turkish sentiments in the state. The territory of Chernivtsi and Khotyn Volosts found itself in the vortex of this struggle, as it was located on the Polish-Moldavian border and was the first on the way to the capital Suceava. The Poles, the Cossacks, foreign mercenaries, on one hand, and Turkish-Tatar troops, on the other, inflicted significant damage, destruction and robbery on these lands from time to time. The Khotyn fortress again began to play an important strategic role as an outpost on the Polish-Moldavian border. Therefore, at that time the Northern Moldavian (Bukovynian) lands became the arena of struggle between claimants to the prince’s throne from both the Ottoman Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, since both countries during the years of 1538 – 1572 sought to extend their power to Moldavia, and later to the territory of Chernivtsi and Khotyn Volosts.