George Ducas.
Voivode Gheorghe Ducas (Greek: Γεώργιος Δούκας, Romanian: Gheorghe Duca) (d. 1685) was three times Prince of Moldavia (September 1665 – May 1666, November 1668 – 20 August 1672, November 1678 – January 1684) and one time Prince of Wallachia (1673 – 29 November 1678).
He was married to Anastasia, the daughter of Eustratie Dabija, and later to Dafina Doamna; George Ducas fathered Constantin Duca.
First two rules in Moldavia[]
A Greek, Gheorghe Duca had been kept in Vasile Lupu's retinue and slowly overcame the obstacles set by his modest social origin.
Supported by Dafina Doamna and some of the boyars, he came to the throne in Iaşi after Dabija's death, but was soon ousted after his opponents appealed to the Ottomans, unjustly claiming Duca's rule was corrupt.
He contracted large debts in order to reclaim the throne, which he managed to following Alexandru Iliaş' rule. The policy of increased taxation led to the uprising of Mihalcea Hâncu in October 1671, crushed the next year after Ducas received Ottoman help. But, as Ducas failed to provide supplies needed for the War against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the Sultan Mehmed IV's life placed in peril at the attack of Kamianets-Podilskyi, the Turks swiftly replaced him with Ştefan Petriceicu.
Rule in Wallachia[]
In 1674, through the intervention of the Cantacuzino boyars, he was awarded the throne in Bucharest; soon however, the alliance between the Cantacuzinos and Ducas crumbled, the Prince being replaced by Şerban Cantacuzino.
Last rule in Moldavia and rule in Right-bank Ukraine[]
Duca Voda, Prince of Moldavia and hetman of Ukraine, on Romanian stamps from 1941
He was soon back on the Moldavian throne, following Antonie Ruset's reign.
Gheorghe Duca had plans of extending his rule over Right-bank Ukraine, where Ottoman gains had started with the acquisition of Podolia in 1672. His overlord appointed him Hetman over the newly-gained regions, in 1680 or 1681, after much bribery strained the Moldavian treasury as much as the request that Ducas had placed on the taxed categories that they contribute to his daughter's dowry.
In 1683, Duca joined the Ottomans in their march and the Battle of Vienna. Helped by his absence and aware of the complete failure of the Ottoman plans, boyars throughout the land rebelled, following Ştefan Petriceicu's command, and welcomed the invading Poles and Cossacks.
On his way back, Duca was captured on December 25 and sent to a prison in Poland, where he died in the following year.
| Preceded by Eustratie Dabija |
Voivode of Moldavia 1665–1666 |
Succeeded by Iliaș Alexandru |
| Preceded by Iliaș Alexandru |
Voivode of Moldavia 1668–1672 |
Succeeded by Ştefan Petriceicu |
| Preceded by Antonie Ruset |
Voivode of Moldavia 1678–1684 |
Succeeded by Ştefan Petriceicu |
| Preceded by Grigore I Ghica |
Voivode of Wallachia 1673–1678 |
Succeeded by Şerban Cantacuzino |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Duca, George |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | |
| DATE OF BIRTH | c1635 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1685 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
| This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at George Ducas. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |