Un logofăt din cancelaria lui Constantin Brâncoveanu: Constantin Conţescu. Contribuţii documentare şi genealogice
A Scribe from Constantin Brâncoveanu’s Chancery: Constantin Conţescu. A Documentary and Genealogical Contribution

Summary/Abstract: The present study explores a less-researched topic in the Romanian scholarship: the families of scribes involved in the everyday activities of the Wallachian princely chancery. The article takes as a case study one of the most important scribes from Constantin Brâncoveanu’s chancery, Constantin Conţescu. A genealogical investigation reveals that Constantin Conţescu was the son of a former chancery’s scribe, Mihai Conţescu, who was active during Brâncoveanu’s predecessor, Şerban Cantacuzino (1678-1688). The article assembles the extant primary sources, both edited and unedited, in a historical and genealogical dossier of this important family of chancery’s scribe. The most edifying sources are edited for the first time, in extenso, in the documentary appendix of the article. Based on these new sources, the history and genealogy of the Conţescu family can be traced back more accurately to the mid seventeenth century. Due to their lucrative activity in Constantin Brâncoveanu’s chancery, Constantin Conţescu, together with his two brothers, Grigorie and Pană, improved their social and economic status. Nonetheless, although the family bought some lands and climbed the social ladder, especially during the 18th century, it did not break into the ranks of the grand boyars.

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