Leon Tomșa, also known as Leon Vodă ("Leon the Voivode") or Alion,Dumitrescu, p. 338; Papazoglu & Speteanu, p. 299 was the Prince of Wallachia from October 1629 to July 1632. He claimed to be a son of Ștefan IX Tomșa, and as such a Moldavian, but was generally identified as a Greek of lowly origins, and reportedly an oyster-monger. He was imposed on the throne by the Ottoman Empire, one of a line of Princes who were primarily subservient to Ottoman power. In his first year, he also supported the political ascendancy of Greeks and Levantines, many of whom made their way into Wallachia's traditional aristocracy, or boyardom. This upset the local boyars, who were further alienated and impoverished by Leon's fiscal policies, which in turn reflected Ottoman demands for tribute. The regime was threatened by an Oltenia-centered rebellion, initially led by Ban Aslan, and later by Matei Basarab. Though often depicted as an anti-Greek movement, it had Greeks and Romanians fighting on either side.
In its second phase, Leon's rule became more conciliatory, granting massive fiscal privileges to the administrative class, the clergy and, selectively, the serfs. The Prince also issued a ban on Greek immigration, though he was still lenient toward naturalized Greeks; he ended some of the privileges granted to Mount Athos, and made foreigners subject to taxation, while also reinforcing special rules against the social integration of Muslim converts. Such measures failed to convince the boyar rebels, who organized an invasion of Wallachia from over the border, in the Principality of Transylvania. They managed to occupy Oltenia and threatened Bucharest, but were routed by Leon in August 1631. Aslan abandoned the cause, while Matei continued with his plotting from Transylvania.
In his final months, Leon, persuaded that he owed his triumph to Saint George, was a noted patron of religious art, building Slobozia Church and refurbishing Viforâta Monastery. His contribution also extended to lay themes, and he was one of the first Wallachians to sponsor Western-style portrait painting, employing the services of a master Benedetto. He was nevertheless deposed by Sultan Murad IV; his later life and date of death are unknown. In the 1660s, his presumed son Radu Leon ascended to the Wallachian throne, and initially also pursued the Hellenophile line. After an extended conflict with the Cantacuzino family, he was forced to reinstate Leon's ban, and, like Leon, was ultimately deposed. Leon's alleged grandson, Ștefan Radu Tomșa, was titular Hetman of Right-bank Ukraine, and a nominal heir to the Moldavian throne.
Reign Context Little is known about the Prince's early life, beyond clues suggesting he was not a local. Visitor Paul Strassburg described him an Ottoman Greek.Papazoglu & Speteanu, p. 48; Popescu-Băjenaru, p. 177; Theodorescu, p. 170 The 1660s chronicler and compiler Macarios Zaim sees him as entirely a "Greek foreigner" from Istanbul,Cândea, pp. 678, 691 while other authors believe that he was at least half-Greek, on his father's side.Rezachevici (1978), p. 73 However, Leon viewed himself as the son of Ștefan IX Tomșa, who had served as Moldavian Prince in the 1610s and had died in exile in Istanbul.Iorga (1899), p. 174 He therefore also regarded himself as brothers-in-law with the Moldavian boyar Pătrașco Boul, who had wed Ștefan's daughter, and whom he invited to Wallachia.Stoicescu, p. 353 Apparently, Leon also took with him one of Ștefan IX's Greek advisers, known locally as Alexandri,Păun, pp. 164, 188 though the identification remains uncertain.Stoicescu, p. 339
Leon's genealogical claim was already widely discredited in his lifetime, with various accounts showing that he had worked as an oyster-monger.Iorga (1899), p. 174; Rezachevici (1978), p. 73 In such sources, he is sometimes referred to as Leon Stridie ("Leon the Oyster"), Leon Stridiacul ("Leon of the Oyster"), or Pescarul ("Fisherman"). According to scholar Constantin Rezachevici, Leon's claim of princely descent was "formulaic", with a minimal effort to ensure legitimacy under the Wallachian canons.Rezachevici (1996), pp. 108–109 Nevertheless, a lity of Probota Monastery, compiled in 1781 and rediscovered in 2008, confirms at least that Ștefan and his wife Axanina had had a son of that name. The list also mentions Leon being married to a Lady Roxanda, and having a son, Bogdan, who was probably dead by 1630.Ștefan S. Gorovei, "Un nou izvor genealogic și prosopografic: pomelnicul Mănăstirii Probota", in Analele Putnei, Vol. X, Issue 2, 2014, pp. 287–290
Leon's life coincided with a decline of sovereignty in both Wallachia and Moldavia, which were already tributary states of the Ottoman Empire (see Early Modern Romania). Ștefan, his supposed father, had been a loyal exponent of "Ottomanization" in both his state policy and his private life, and signed his documents with a tughra-like ornament.Michał Wasiucionek, "Conceptualizing Moldavian Ottomanness: Elite Culture and Ottomanization of the Seventeenth-Century Moldavian Boyars", in Medieval and Early Modern Studies for Central and Eastern Europe, Vol. 8, 2016,, pp. 73–74, 78 In 1629, both countries were still struggling with the consequences of the Long Turkish War, when Michael the Brave and Radu Șerban successively attempted to restore Wallachian independence. As historian Ion-Radu Mircea notes, "a grave conflict opposing Wallachia to the Sublime Porte had occurred in 1595–1611, provoked by heavy feudal duties and the Turks' ever-increasing interference in country affairs".Mircea, p. 78 Radu Mihnea, as the first Prince of Wallachia directly appointed by the Porte, had helped to "relaunch these antagonisms" in the 1610s and 1620s.Mircea, pp. 78–79 As scholar Neagu Djuvara notes, the Ottomans made sure that both Wallachia and Moldavia were "militarily insignificant" by this moment in time, on their way to becoming "mere pawns in games of the great powers".Djuvara, p. 25
In both countries, Ottoman fiscal demands had declined after the Long War, stabilizing themselves at possibly a third of the previous decade (see Transformation of the Ottoman Empire).Murgescu, pp. 32–40, 54 Nevertheless, a European-wide contraction of the cattle trade brought recession, especially in Wallachia.Murgescu, p. 46 The increase in Ottoman political controls also came with a cultural and social shift, which generated internal conflicts. According to social historian Răzvan Theodorescu, Radu Mihnea's takeover marked a "Levantine wave" and "Oriental cultural climate", also preserved under Alexandru Coconul, then under Alexandru IV Iliaș.Theodorescu, pp. 105, 109–111, 207–208, 219–220, 234–235, 242 Scholar Radu G. Păun argues that Greeks and Phanariotes were "indispensable" as experienced diplomats. Păun concludes that, for this reason, foreigners were over-represented among the most powerful boyars, accounting for 14 out of 30 Wallachian Chamberlains (Postelnici, singular Postelnic) in 1600–1700.Păun, p. 168
Both the local boyardom and peasantry acted against this state of affairs, and more specifically against the influx of Greeks. Resentments peaked under Iliaș, with violent revolts centered on Oltenia. One was led by Paharnic Lupu Mehedințeanu, and another by a commoner or a boyar's son, Paisie.Giurescu, p. 69; Rezachevici (1978), pp. 64–72, 83–84 Historian Constantin Iordachi counts three "violent anti-Greek plots" in the 1611–1618 interval.Iordachi, p. 67 Under Alexandru Coconul, the peasant cavalry, or Călărași, staged a tax revolt, and was only narrowly defeated, by other branches of the Wallachian military forces, outside Buftea.Giurescu, p. 69; Rezachevici (1978), pp. 81–82
Rise and clientele
One account suggests that Leon engaged in bribing the Ottoman officials, who would have ensured his appointment as Prince, running into massive debt.Papazoglu & Speteanu, p. 284; Popescu-Băjenaru, p. 177 Eventually, Sultan Murad IV ordered Alexandru IV to step down and proclaimed Leon as the Prince; he took the throne at some point before October 15, 1629,Cernovodeanu & Vătămanu, p. 25 and continued the process of Hellenization. Aside from questions regarding his own ethnic origin, his Princess-consort, Victoria, was referred to as a "Levantine".Iorga (1971), p. 167Aurel I. Gheorghiu, "Note. Mănăstirea Viforîta", in Buletinul Monumente și Muzee, Vol. I, 1958, p. 253 His controversial overtures toward Greek culture included dedicating Ghiorma Church in Bucharest to the monks of Pogoniani, who reportedly used it as a major source of income.Papazoglu & Speteanu, p. 289 However, in early 1630 he also intervened to protect the local monks of Strâmba, who had been persecuted and dispossessed under Alexandru IV.Gheorghe Lazăr, "Mănăstirea Strâmba și ctitorii ei. Noi contribuții documentare", in Analele Științifice ale Universității Alexandru Ioan Cuza. Istorie, Vol. LX, 2014, pp. 209–211, 214, 218–222
Leon's own court was largely perceived by adversaries as a "Greek" cabal, but, according to Rezachevici, this point is rhetorical, not factual: "We must not view 'Greeks' as meaning only persons of this background, but generally south-of-the-Danube people, and even Romanians, who were loyal to the Prince." Iordachi also describes Leon as having been "accompanied by a large Greek clientele".Iordachi, p. 101 However, "the meaning of generic terms such as 'Greeks' [...] changed gradually, both in the official imperial discourse and in the self-understanding or self-identification of the peoples living in the empire, from predominantly social categories in the pre-nationalist age to modern ethno-national categories in the age of nationalism."Iordachi, p. 73
As Rezachevici notes, in 1630 Leon's Boyar Divan comprised four Greeks, including Postelnic Alexandri and Paharnic Balasache Muselim, four Romanians, and one Albanian—Miho, brother of the more famous Leca Racotă. Among the leading courtiers was Vistier Necula Catargiu. He was a member of a culturally Greek family, described by chronicler Matthew of Myra as "archons of the Eastern Empire",Gheorghe G. Bezviconi, Boierimea Moldovei dintre Prut și Nistru, Vol. I, p. 188. Bucharest: Fundația Regele Carol I, 1940 but may have actually had Gagauz origins.Anatol Măcriș, Găgăuzii, pp. 9, 15, 17–18. Bucharest: Editura Paco, 2008; Anatol Petrencu, "Găgăuzii: aspecte istoriografice ale istoriei și culturii", in Svetlana Suveică, Ion Eremia, Sergiu Matveev, Sorin Șipoș (eds.), Istoriografie și politică în estul și vestul spațiului românesc, p. 90. Chișinău & Oradea: Editura Cartdidact & Editura Universității din Oradea, 2009. In February 1630, he received from Leon a share of the Bucharest princely vineyards.Giurescu, p. 318 Part of Wallachia's army was led by Ghiorma Alexeanu, an orphaned adventurer of Phanariote origin.Stoicescu, p. 105 Leon's retinue also included a Muslim convert, Apostolos or Kürt Salman Çavuş, who was the son of a Ban Iane,Mircea, p. 79; Țighiliu, p. 138 and as such probably a renegade member of the Cantacuzino family.Stoicescu, p. 64; Radu Ștefan Vergatti, "Mihai Viteazul și Andronic Cantacuzino", in Alamanah Bisericesc (Episcopia Giurgiului), 2013, pp. 230, 238 The regime was endorsed by a Bosnian banker, identified in sources as Matei "Latinul" ("the Latin") of Saraybosna. He was recognized by Leon as the owner of Pleașov village, while also serving as Postelnic.Donat, p. 214Lia Lehr, "Camăta în Țara Romînească pînă în secolul al XVIII-lea", in Studii. Revistă de Istorie, Vol. 23, Issue 4, 1970, p. 700
Aslan's revolt Early stages