Udriște Năsturel, first name also Uriil, Uril, Ioriste, or Oreste, last name also NăstureloviciConstantinescu, pp. XXI, 4, 123, 165; Nicolescu, p. 35. See also Călinescu, p. 9; Gane, p. 238; Theodorescu, p. 44 (1596 or 1598 – ca. 1658), was a Wallachian scholar, poet, and statesman, the brother-in-law of Prince Matei Basarab through his sister Elena Năsturel. Together, the three staged a cultural revival centered on Bucharest and Târgoviște. Năsturel had risen through the ranks of the Wallachian bureaucracy and had served Radu Mihnea's government in Moldavia, being kept as Logothete by Matei Basarab. In office, he had international correspondence and went on diplomatic travels through Central Europe, also overseeing the printing presses. He was the titular boyar of Herăști, known in his day as Fierești and Fierăști, where he built a palace that stands as a late example of Renaissance architecture, and earned him a regional fame.
Năsturel was primarily an advocate of Old Church Slavonic, the courtly language. He was one of its last exponents in Romanian literature, and taught it to students at the school in Târgoviște. His favorite forms of expression were the essay and the rhyming preface, but he also perfected a Slavonic answer to the blason, which remained influential for two centuries and was, by some accounts, the first known poem by a Romanian. Năsturel, who made mention of the people's Latin origin, also used the Romanian vernacular, in which he notably produced a translation of Barlaam and Josaphat. In his original works, his themes and his linguistic obscurities show a Baroque streak, while his core ideology has been linked to Renaissance humanism. An Eastern Orthodox theologian and a ktitor within the Wallachian Metropolis, he was nevertheless attracted to Counter-Reformation ideas, and published Catholic-inspired propaganda against Calvinism. Năsturel was versed in both Renaissance Latin and classical scholarship, putting out a Slavonic rendition of The Imitation of Christ.
Udriște's firstborn, Mateiaș, was adopted by the princely couple and groomed as heir to the throne, but died in 1652, before reaching maturity. This event inspired the Logothete to write his last poem, a conventional epitaph. His sister died in 1653, and his brother-in-law a year later. Năsturel survived the rise of Constantin Șerban, being for a while reappointed as Spatharios, although he was cousins with the rebel leader Hrizea. A new Prince, Mihnea III, identified Năsturel as one of the boyars standing in the way of his political projects and included him in his murderous purge. The Spatharios was strangled at Curtea Veche, and his body was desecrated in the streets of Bucharest. He was survived by another son, Radu Toma, who held major political offices under George Ducas. His direct line of descent was maintained until the 1874 death of Constantin Năsturel-Herescu.
Biography
Origins Despite its claim to have originated in Roman DaciaGane, p. 235; Papazoglu & Speteanu, pp. XIV, 43, 225, 252 and its alleged links to the Fogoras nobility,Sorin Iftimi, Vechile blazoane vorbesc. Obiecte armoriate din colecții ieșene, pp. 191–192. Iași: Palatul Culturii, 2014. the Năsturel clan was first attested as belonging to boyardom in the late 15th century. A period document by "Vlad Vodă", brother of Radu the Great, confirms that, by 1501, the Năsturels were long established as the owners of Herăști (traditionally in Ilfov County,Gane, p. 235 now in Giurgiu) and other Wallachian villages. The same document suggests that Vrăjoghie, the family patriarch, was "of My Highness' own house", namely the House of Basarab. A 19th-century author, Dimitrie Papazoglu, also argued that the family had a deep connection to the village, and later capital city, of Bucharest, suggesting that they were the builders of an ancient church in Dobroteasa mahala. He also proposed that Herăști took its name from a family patriarch, "Count" Herea Năsturel.Papazoglu & Speteanu, pp. 11–13, 43, 226, 229–230, 252 The genealogical link with the ruling princes was in any case enhanced ca. 1600, when Udriște's father, the Postelnic and Logothete Radu Năsturel, married Despina, a cousin or niece of Michael the Brave. According to researcher Constantin Gane, Despina, known as Cala in some sources,Tănăsescu, p. 183 may have been the daughter of boyar Radu Calomfirescu.Gane, p. 235. See also Nicolescu, p. 35
Udriște was probably born in 1596, although other sources also propose 1598.Nicolescu, p. 35 It is also believed that he was a native of Herăști, which he once described as "my parental village".Theodorescu, p. 43, p. 45 Radu and Despina had two other sons, Șerban and Cazan, both of whom were probably older than Udriște.Gane, p. 236; Nicolescu, p. 35; Stoicescu, p. 214 His first name, Udriște, is an archaic, now obscure, derivative from "Adrian". Năsturel, like other scholars, mistakenly believed that it was from "Uriel" and akin to "Orestes", sometimes signing himself as Uri(i)l, Orest, or Ioriste.Constantinescu, pp. 4, 123, 165 His family name originates with nasture ("button"); he sometimes used the variant Năsturelovici, with a Slavic suffix, as was the fashion among intellectual boyars.Constantinescu, pp. XXI, LIII
Șerban, Cazan, and Udriște also had two sisters. One was the future Stanca Popescu.Panaitescu, p. 242 The other, known to have been Udriște's junior, was Elena (Eliana) Năsturel. According to Gane, she and Udriște were the most educated of Radu's children, being taught to read and write in Church Slavonic and Koine Greek, and being introduced to art and history.Gane, p. 236 Their father also displayed an interest in Renaissance literature; he had confiscated or bought a copy of Thomas à Kempis' The Imitation of Christ, in the Latin, while fighting a war in Moldavia.Nicolescu, p. 35; Theodorescu, p. 45 Helped by a private tutor, Udriște used that same book to learn Latin, which he could speak to perfection.Nicolescu, pp. 35–36; Tănăsescu, p. 183 In addition to Latin, Slavonic and Greek, Udriște was fluent in Russian.Nicolescu, p. 36 Some authors have suggested that Năsturel also attended school in Kiev Voivodeship, but this is not attested by any contemporary source.Nicolescu, pp. 35–36
Debut By 1618, Udriște had joined the Wallachian bureaucracy, being attested, alongside his brother Șerban, as a scribe (diac) to the court of Prince Radu Mihnea.Stoicescu, pp. 214, 215 When the latter took over as Prince of Moldavia, Năsturel followed, and, in 1625, was attested as a scribe for the court in Hârlău.Stoicescu, p. 215 Returning to Bucharest, he maintained this function under successive reigns, including that of Alexandru IV Iliaș.Nicolescu, p. 36; Stoicescu, p. 215; Tănăsescu, p. 183 In 1629, Leon Tomșa promoted him to Logothete of his privy council. Also that year, Năsturel published the first of his many Slavonic prefaces, for a Nomocanon edition printed at Kiev.Nicolescu, p. 37 According to historian George Potra, he was the official translator for Prince Radu Iliaș when, in early 1632, Bucharest was visited by Paul Strassburg, diplomat of the Swedish Empire.Potra, p. 101
From 1625, Năsturel had been married to Maria Corbeanu, of the Corbi boyars.Gane, p. 239; Nicolescu, p. 35; Stoicescu, p. 215 He was also brother-in-law of another Logothete, Radu Staico Popescu.Stoicescu, pp. 229–230 At age 35, his other sister, Elena, became Wallachia's Princess-consort. As a teenager (most likely in 1613),Andreescu, pp. 27–28 she had married Aga Matei, later styled "Matei Basarab", who controlled an army of Seimeni mercenaries in Bucharest. In late 1632, at age 53, Matei defeated Radu Iliaș and took the throne for himself.Andreescu, pp. 27–32; Gane, pp. 232–237. See also Filipescu, pp. 116–118; Papazoglu & Speteanu, pp. 43–48; Stoicescu, pp. 208–209; Theodorescu, p. 12 Elena played a direct part in Wallachia's administration shortly after this—namely, during the interval when Matei negotiated his confirmation by Wallachia's suzerain power, the Ottoman Empire.Gane, pp. 235–237. See also Nicolescu, p. 35 Udriște's father, Radu, served as the country's treasurer (Vistier) during the same hiatus.Stoicescu, p. 214
After Matei secured his throne in 1633, Elena turned to cultural endeavors, one of the principal sponsors and promoters of early Romanian literature.Gane, pp. 236–239 Udriște, a Logethete of the court in 1632,Nicolescu, p. 36; Tănăsescu, p. 183 partook directly in her experiment. He is for instance credited with having helped the princely couple set up three printing presses, at Câmpulung, Dealu Monastery, and Băile Govora. As Logothete, he directed the Chancellery, which issued some 1,300 documents during his tenure, all of them surviving. His correspondence attests links with intellectuals of various faiths: the Orthodox Gavrilo Rajić, Macarios Zaim, Peter Mogila, and Meletios Sirigos; and the Catholic Rafael Levaković, with whom he discussed the Nicene Creed. He also had oratorical duels with Constantin Cantacuzino, with bishops Varlaam Moțoc and Ștefan I, as well as with his sister the Princess.
In 1635, Năsturel published a Slavonic ode to the Basarab family, included in the standardized prayer book, or Molitvenic. These lyrics endure as the first Wallachian example of the genre called blason (la stemă) poetry.Călinescu, pp. 9, 46; Papazoglu & Speteanu, p. 323; Tănăsescu, p. 183 This became an incidental record for heraldists studying the coat of arms of Wallachia, describing the bird as a raven rather than as a standard golden eagle.Cernovodeanu, pp. 48–49 The detail may also indicate his familiarity with legends about Radu Negru as the founder of Wallachia.Pavel Chihaia, "A fost Radu Negru un personaj real sau legendar?", in Magazin Istoric, May 1969, p. 51 According to George Călinescu, the blason has the first known rhymes in Romanian literature,Călinescu, p. 46 although the part-Wallachian Nicolaus Olahus is known to have been writing Latin poetry before 1510.Corneliu Albu, "Cuvînt înainte", in Nicolaus Olahus, Corespondență cu umaniști batavi și flamanzi, p. X. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1974. The first lay poems in Romanian appeared some 40 years after Năsturel's piece, and were composed by a Saxon, Valentin Franck von Franckenstein.Horst Fassel, "Valentin Franck V. Franckenstein și barocul românesc", in Steaua, Vol. XXVIII, Issue 1, January 1977, p. 32; Gabriel Țepelea, Credință și speranță. Pagini de publicistică radiofonică: 1943–2004, p. 34. Bucharest: Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company, 2006.
Main work period An "editor by excellence of prefaces to books", but one who "never signed his works", Năsturel is identified as the author of the foreword to Matei Basarab's standard legal code, Pravila de la Govora. Here, he explains the effort to collect and translate relevant literature, deploring the "scarcity and shortage of such books". Scholars also regard him as the author of the preface to another legal code, the 1652 Îndreptarea Legii. The latter text abounds in references to classical lawmakers, from Lycurgus of Sparta and Hippocrates to Justinian I and Leo the Wise.Theodorescu, p. 46 With his activity in the field, he aimed especially at countering the influence of Calvinism, publishing in 1642, and again in 1644, a propaganda booklet called The Learning Gospel. Varlaam Moțoc reports that he collected Calvinist propaganda to document the spread of its "poison, which kills the soul".Călinescu, p. 11; Theodorescu, p. 33; Tóth, pp. 301–302