La chute d’Étienne le Grand de son cheval: l’accident vu comme divinum iudicium ou signe envoyé par Dieu
The Fall of Stephen the Great from His Horse: The Accident Seen as Divinum Iudicium or a Sign Sent by God

Summary/Abstract: Many Romanian chronicles relate how Stephen the Great fell down from his horse during the battle at Scheia (6 March 1486), being in danger of not only losing his throne, but also his life. This accident was regarded as a divine sign (signum or divinum iudicium), which meant that the voivode of Moldavia had lost the support of God for a moment. The fact that he managed to restore things in his favour thereafter took place with the same support of the divine providence, after the common opinion of the same sources. The thesis of this paper is confirmed by many other examples taken from the history of Western Europe, of Byzantium and of the Slavic World. Anointed and crowned by God, a medieval sovereign was at the same time under His protection, which He could retire at any moment. Indeed, this happened at a very critical moment for the Voivode Stephen, as the Turks also brought a dangerous pretender to the Moldavian throne with them. Closely connected to the chivalrous world of the Middle Ages, the event of a sovereign or knight accidentally falling from the horseback often appears in the medieval sources, nearly always with the same signification. It was a supernatural sign warning the sovereign suffering it that he had lost the heavenly protection, or was about to lose it, along with his sovereign dignity. But sometimes, what seemed a desperate situation could turn into a favourable one, like it was the case of Stephen the Great at Scheia.

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