Moartea „ducelui Valahiei”: situaţia din Moldova în informaţiile Casei de Habsburg din vara anului 1496
The Duke of Wallachia death: News from Moldavia arrived at the Court of Vienna in the summer 1496

Summary/Abstract: Alexander, the son and – first – heir of Stephen III the Great of Moldavia, remains a highly controversial figure. Officially, he died on 26 July 1496, whilst with the host. The reports sent from Hungary to Stephen’s ally, Maximilian I of Habsburg (prior to 22-24 August 1496), and – most importantly – to his royal councillor Johannes Fuchsmagen (14 July 1496), show however that Alexander died at least a month earlier. He probably died on 26 June, as recorded in one of the chronicles of the Putna Monastery, Stephen’s necropolis, but not the burial place of Alexander (who was laid to rest at the Bistriţa Monastery). The impact of Alexander’s demise was considerable. His death was initially deemed that of Stephen himself, to the utmost concern of the House of Habsburg. Allegedly, both the Ottoman Turks and Sigismund Jagiello, the brother of Wladislaw II, king of Hungary and Bohemia, and of Jan Albert, king of Poland, were ready to occupy Moldavia. Within a year, Jan Albert did indeed attack Stephen, who had to be replaced with Sigismund as ruler of Moldavia. The Jagellonian plan was foiled by the conspiracy of Maximilian and Stephen, supported by the military intervention of Bartholomew Drágffy, the voivode of Transylvania as well as – between 1489 and 1496 – the father-in-law of the late Alexander.

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