Instituţia martorilor în testamentele din Țara Moldovei (sec. al XVII-lea - începutul sec. al XIX-lea)
The institution of witnesses in wills in the Principality of Moldavia (the 17th century - beginning of the 19th century)

Summary/Abstract: The article covers the issue of the institution of witnesses reflected in the wills drawn up in the Principality of Moldavia in the 17th century - the beginning of the 19th century. As a legal document, a will had a clear form and structured text, and an integral part of this structure was the indication of witnesses. Witnesses played a key role in the process of confirming the truthfulness and validity of a will, certifying that the testator expressed his will freely, without coercion. They identified the testator, as they were present when the will was drawn up, which was mentioned in the document. The presence of witnesses was a mandatory condition, especially in cases where the testator was illiterate. Based on the results of the study of wills drawn up in the Principality of Moldavia from the 17th to the beginning of the 19th century, the presence of 3, 5 or 7 witnesses is noted, as prescribed by the Ecloga, but sometimes 2, 4, 6, 8, 9 or more witnesses were indicated. Although the law provided for the presence of only men as witnesses, women are often mentioned in wills, which indicates changes in the mentality and the daily life. Witnesses could be both priests, for example, confessors, and laymen, especially representatives of the boyars and authorities or neighbors of the testator. These documents are a valuable source for the study of legal relations in society and intra-family relations, as well as for studying the history of administrative institutions and local history.

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