Înalta Poartă și țările române

Michał Wasiucionek looks at ties that shaped power across borders. They linked the Ottoman court, Poland, and the Romanian lands. His study runs from the late sixteenth century to the early eighteenth. This book on the history of power centres on Moldavia and Wallachia. It traces these ties through case studies.

He looks at patronage: how those with power backed others. He asks how social ties worked and where groups sought power. Elites sought money and troops from allies abroad. They also sought help to gain power and beat rivals. These ties helped shape Eastern Europe as well.

He argues that these ties explain why the lands stayed distinct. They did so despite the sway of the Ottoman court. In his view, strife between states explains less. So does the balance of power. Factions, or groups that sought power, had their own aims. They did not follow the same rules as states.

He traces ties between local boyars, or nobles, and other groups. Some were nobles from Poland-Lithuania; others served in Ottoman posts. Moldavia and Wallachia lay at the edges of power and trade. Their boyars had less to draw on than peers abroad. So help from abroad mattered more to them. This also made its effects easier to trace.

Poland and the Ottoman court both sought sway in these lands. He compares Polish-Moldavian factions with ties to the Ottoman court. This shows how Ottoman sway differed.

Lia Decei translated this edition from English. The work's title in English is The Ottomans and Eastern Europe.