Consideraţii asupra unui lot de monete bătute la Severin, dintr-un tezaur de la sfârşitul domniei lui Mircea cel Bătrân

  • Subiect: Remarks on a lot of coins issued at Severin, from a hoard from the end of Mircea the Elder’s reign. In the summer of 1985, ten Wallachian silver minted coins, from the time of Mircea the Elder, were presented to me, as part of a hoard. The coins are of the effigy on the obverse type. Nine out of the ten coins have a Latin letter inscription on their reverse, while one has a Slavonic letter inscription. Unfortunately, we have information regarding only eight items of the ten coins, all bearing Latin inscriptions. These coins were issued in the Fortress of Severin, to the end of Mircea I of Wallachia ’s reign. All items feature an intriguing detail - on their reverse appear a mysterious character, who could be the co-issuer of the coins. His name was read in many different ways: Petrusian, Petruslan, Petrus Ian, Petru Stan or even Rotislav. We are in favor of the penultimate choice. But who was Petru Stan? Ion Stîngă is the opinion he was the ruler’s brother, an associate to the throne, considering several documents dating from 1409-1422, where a certain Master Stan is referred to as Mircea’s brother or Radu II of Wallachia’s uncle. He says that the Prince’s brother took the name of Petru (Peter) because of its royal sounding and that he was associated to the throne and was given authority upon the Banat of Severin province, as a ruler. We agree with Ion Stîngă up to some extent. Master Stan, an intimate of Prince Mircea, could have been his brother, but also his brother-in-law, for which the term brother was used in the Middle Age, as well. The name of Petru sounded royal in Moldavia (in the I4th-i5th century). We are the opinion that Petru Stan was the Ban of Severin, most likely between 1416-1417, and that he was requested by Mircea to mint coins in the Fortress of Severin for the trade with the neighboring countries. We presume that this character, the actual Master Stan from the records, was rather the brother of Prince Mircea’s Catholic wife, Lady Mara. He was the Ban of Severin and made an attempt to take the throne of Wallachia, abusively adding his name on the minted coins. He was, at most, a presumptive usurper. His intentions were timid, almost overlooked at the time, for at least two good reasons: - he had survived the reign of Prince Mircea. - the chronicles mentioned nothing in this regard. It is possible that he took the name of Petru to highlight his affiliation to the Catholic Church, as Peter was the name of the first Bishop of the Catholic Church, a disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ. There are also coins with Mircea’s son, Prince Michael I of Wallachia, where the same name of Petru Stan appears on the reverse. They are extremely rare and we believe they are the result of some misuse of older coin molds. Petru Stan remains a mysterious character, so far known under this name only on coins. Further investigations will reveal his true identity.
  • Limba de redactare: română (şi un rezumat în engleză)
  • Secţiunea: Numismatică / Numismatics
  • Vezi publicația: Revista de Cercetări Arheologice şi Numismatice: RCAN
  • Editura: OSCAR PRINT
  • Loc publicare: Bucureşti
  • Anul publicaţiei: 2017
  • Referinţă bibliografică pentru nr. revistă: III; anul 2017
  • Paginaţia: 336-344
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