EVOLUȚIA STATUTULUI POLITIC AL PÂRCĂLĂBIEI HOTINULUI ÎN SECOLUL XV

Abstract

The earliest mentions of Hotin pârcălabs amongst the members of the Moldavian prince’s council from the beginning of the 15th Century put them on far more modest positions than their homologues from another northern Moldavian fortress of Țețina. One of the possible explanations for the far bigger importance of Țețina in the eyes of the princes could be the direct contact of the local pârcălab with the old section of Moldavian-Polish border, while Hotin controlled the border with Western Podolia – a peripherical region, that more recently became a part of Poland since 1394. The ascension of Hotin pârcălabs happened in the middle of 15th Century due to the context of internal political struggle between the heirs of Alexander the Good and the rise of a new political factor in Podolia, represented by the Buczacki clan, whose members held key positions in Kamianets, Pocutia and Ruthenia, having become main intermediaries between the Polish Crown and the Moldavian princes. Because of that fact and of the close contact between the administrators of Hotin and Kamianets, the pârcălabs of the Moldavian fortress became as well important figures in the internal politics of Moldova and in the Moldavian-Polish relationships