Șerban Cantacuzino
Şerban Cantacuzino I., name variants Servan Cantacuzenos, Cantacuzene, Cantocuzino (* 1640, † October 28, 1688 in Bucharest ) was a Wallachian Voivode, who reigned 1678-1688.
Life
The prince was descended from the Romanian branch of the Greek family Cantacuzenus, who came also the Byzantine Emperor John Cantacuzenus. Since he and his country were from the Ottoman Empire depends, he had to participate with a contingent of troops on the side of the Turks at the Second Siege of Vienna in 1683. Before Vienna his troops were situated in the suburbs Roßau, Cantacuzino had set up his residence at Servite. He is at the other end of the city, have set up a wooden cross in the so-called gate Hölzl now in the district Meidling before which he is said to have prayed in secret. This so-called Moldavian cross was found after the siege and re-erected.
Cantacuzino let the trapped Viennese several times about the number of troops, the combat power and inventories of the Turks to come, which is not insignificant helped to hold out of the besieged. Cantacuzino encouraged the Vienna directly to persevere.
After the retreat of the Turks and the military successes of the Austrians Cantacuzino parted with his troops by the Turks, trying to realize Austria and the Ottoman Empire, but this led to considerable confusion within the Romanian boyars, princes of the independent politics between the major powers regarded as unpredictable. Rumor has it that he may have been poisoned because of this.
His son Gheorghe Cantacuzino ruled later than Ban the Oltenia.
Importance
As a lasting achievements Cantacuzinos apply:
- His contributions to the city of Vienna during the Turkish siege in 1683. grateful to reminder was named in 1906 in Vienna Cantacuzinogasse after him, which bore this name until 1919. 1983, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary celebrations of the second Turkish siege was set up on the initiative of the Romanian community living in Vienna at the Moldovans cross a bust of Şerban Cantacuzino.
- The introduction of maize production in Romania
- The establishment of printing houses in Bucharest and thus to be commissioned to complete Bible translation in Romanian 1688. these Cantacuzino Bible or the Bucharest Bible ( Biblia Adeca Dumnezeiasca Scriptura a Vechiului şi Noului Testament) was written by the brothers Radu and Şerban Greceanu in Cyrillic and had a major role in the formation of a Romanian literary language. She remained a long time the standard translation of the Romanian Orthodox Church.