Pârvu III Cantacuzino, also known as Pârvul, Părvul, Purvul or Pîrvu Cantacuzino (Romanian Cyrillic: Първȣ Кантакȣзинȣ or Кантакȣзинo;Albumul familieĭ Cantacuzino, pp. iv, vi. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1902 , Pyrvu Matveyevich Kantakuzino; – December 1769), was a high-ranking Wallachian statesman who served intermittently as Spatharios and Ban of Oltenia, primarily known as the leader of an anti-Ottoman rebellion. Holding sway over a Russophile faction within the Wallachian boyardom, he briefly served as an officer in Russia's Imperial Army during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774. Pârvu was a member of the Cantacuzino family, which made him a descendant of several Wallachian Princes, and was joined in all of his political and military actions by his younger brothers, the Vistier Mihai and Clucer Răducanu Cantacuzino.
Exiled by Prince Matei Ghica in the early 1750s, Pârvu and Mihai became known for their protests against the abuses of Phanariote rulers and their retinue. They experienced success, then imprisonment, under Constantin Racoviță, and became highly popular for resisting the tax policies of Ștefan Racoviță. Helping Pyotr Rumyantsev and Nazary Alexandrovych Karazin in their occupation of Bucharest, the Cantacuzinos also arrested Grigore III Ghica; in the aftermath, Pârvu served as civilian governor of Wallachia. He commanded a part of the Wallachian military forces, which he reorganized around voluntary units, whose officers included Sofronie of Cioara; at least one contemporary source mentions that these were ragtag units, with a level of unpreparedness that astonished Karazin.
Assisting against the Ottoman army on the road to Giurgiu, Pârvu and his Jäger infantry were ambushed and killed on the way to Comana Monastery, which became their burial place. Remembered as a tragic hero and passionate nationalist in contemporary chronicles, he may also have contributed to the Cantacuzinos' role in Romanian culture as the uncredited author of a historical chronicle that was plagiarized by Naum Râmniceanu. His family branch, headed by Mihai, survived mostly in exile, joining the ranks of Russian nobility and calling for Wallachia's annexation to Russia. It included Pârvu's nephew Ioan Cantacuzino, the poet and politician, who returned for a while to take over as leader of the Russophile faction. The Russophiles maintained a presence in Wallachian politics to , but frictions between the Empire and the boyars pushed the party a steady decline.
Biography Origins and rise The Cantacuzinos were a family of Greek refugees, though probably related, through their patriarch Andronikos Kantakouzenos, with the local late-16th-century Prince, Michael the Brave.Djuvara, pp. 28, 336–337; Stoicescu, pp. 41, 64, 136 Their exact relationship with the original Kantakouzenos, from whom they claimed descent, remains disputed.Djuvara, p. 337 Pârvu and Mihai descended directly from Drăghici Cantacuzino, brother of Șerban Cantacuzino, who was Prince in the 1680s, and of the scholar-politician Constantin II.Rezachevici II, p. 45; Rizo-Rangabé, pp. 18, 22–23, 26; Stoicescu, pp. 135–145 Drăghici, his brother Șerban, and their father, Constantin I Cantacuzino had been involved in various schemes during the 1650s and '60s, culminating in open conflict with Prince Grigore I Ghica. The latter ordered Constantin I hanged at Snagov Monastery, and mutilated Șerban.Stoicescu, pp. 135–137. See also Djuvara, p. 336; Rezachevici I, pp. 14–15; Rizo-Rangabé, p. 18 This prompted Drăghici to take refuge in Istanbul. He died there in 1667, either from the plague outbreak or (as it was rumored) from poison administered by the boyar Nicula Sofialiul.Stoicescu, pp. 137–138 Through this connection, Pârvu was also a maternal descendant of Prince Radu Șerban and of the high-ranking courtier Diicul Buicescul.Stoicescu, pp. 135, 137. See also Djuvara, p. 28; Rezachevici II, p. 45; Rizo-Rangabé, pp. 20, 22; Tănase & Muscariu, p. 248
Pârvu hailed from the "Măgureanu" Cantacuzinos, whose origin is traced to one of Drăghici's sons, also named Pârvu (or Pârvu II). This prominent boyar and diplomat under several Princes married Ilinca, daughter of Mareș Băjescu, the Ban of Oltenia.Rizo-Rangabé, pp. 22–23. See also Stoicescu, pp. 110, 144 The couple's youngest son, Matei, also served as Ban from 1735. He fell ill in 1740, while overseeing works on the border with the Habsburg monarchy at the Cerna, and died before the year's end.Bujor Surdu, "Granița turco–austriacă din Banat în secolul al XVIII-lea", in Anuarul Institutului de Istorie din Cluj, Vol. XII, 1969, p. 270 From his marriage to the boyaress Păuna (Pagona) Rustea, he had a daughter, Maria, and four sons, of whom Pârvu III was second.Rizo-Rangabé, pp. 22–23. See also Pascu, p. 66 Constantin, the eldest, left for Moldavia in 1733, establishing a Cantacuzino branch there before his death in 1761. Remaining in Wallachia, Pârvu, Mihai and their youngest brother, Răducanu,Iorga (1911), p. 213; Rizo-Rangabé, p. 23 went on to occupy high offices of the court.
The Cantacuzino brothers' political ascendancy came at the height of a Phanariote regime, when Princes were directly appointed by, and subservient to, the Sublime Porte—deepening the Ottoman vassalage that Wallachia and Moldavia had accepted in the previous centuries. According to historian Neagu Djuvara, the Cantacuzinos were technically Phanariotes, but emphasized their matrilineal connection to the House of Basarab. As such, they "would soon come to lead a 'national party', one hostile to the growing influence of the Greeks".Djuvara, p. 28 Architect and genealogist Dan D. Ionescu suggests that Pârvu III's birth year was anywhere between 1710 and 1715,Ionescu, p. 39 which also coincides with the debut of Phanariote rules. His first contribution to the Wallachian military forces came during Constantine Mavrocordatos' third reign (1735–1741). He was ordered to take up arms during the 1737 campaign against Russia; in fact, the army's role was to intervene between the Bucharest populace and the Ottoman army, policing against pillage and rape.Iorga (1911), p. 215
This period inaugurated Pârvu's participation in Russophile politics and intrigues. Appointed Serdar in April 1737, he signed his name to Vornic Preda Drăgănescu's memorandum which requested from Anna Ioannovna, Empress of All Russia, pleading with her to "liberate us [...] by any means".Vianu, p. 22 From June, the Habsburg monarchy joined the war as a Russian ally, and invaded Wallachia, prompting the Prince and boyars into exile; several of those still present in Bucharest were arrested by Habsburg General Barkóczy, and deported into Transylvania. Pârvu and his father were among those who signed a letter of protest to the Russians, asking them to curb their allies' abuses.Vianu, pp. 22–23 The document was successfully delivered by Dimitrie Scutari at Kiev—along with another memorandum which asked for Wallachia to be made a Russian protectorate.Vianu, p. 23
Fluctuating Phanariote alliances At the height of the war, in July 1737, Pârvu donated pastures on his estate at Zamura to be used perpetually by Sinaia Monastery.A. G. Gălășescu, Sinaia. 15 august 1695/1895, p. 113. Bucharest: Tipografia G. A. Lazareanu, 1895 He soon after married for a first time—to Maria, daughter of a Moldavian boyar, Andronic Palade.Rizo-Rangabé, p. 23 The wedding took place on October 28, 1739, in the church outside Curtea Veche, with Prince Mavrocordatos appearing as Pârvu's godfather.Kaisarios Dapontes, Ephémérides Daces ou chronique de la guerre de quatre ans (1736–1739), p. 383. Paris: École des langues orientales vivantes & Ernest Leroux, 1881 Maria died shortly after, in or before 1741. The widower was favored during Mavrocordatos' fourth reign, in 1744–1748, when, alongside the Phanariote Ștefanachi Cremidi and a number of local boyars, he began a lucrative activity in collecting the tax on sheep. All of them were persecuted for this activity after 1748, when Grigore II Ghica was sent in as the new Prince; Pârvu was reportedly preparing a letter of protest to be read by Sultan Mahmud I,Filitti, p. 108. See also Pascu, p. 66 just as Ghica suddenly died in August 1752. Matei Ghica took the throne before the end of the year, forcing Pârvu and Mihai into exile to Moldavia for almost a year.Pascu, p. 66 By 1759, Pârvu had married Elena (or Eleni) Hrisoscoleu, making him in-laws with Serdar Canache.Cornelia Bodea, Paul Cernovodeanu, Horia Nestorescu-Bălcești, Vatra Bălceștilor. Studii și documente, pp. 12–13. Bălcești pe Topolog: Nicolae Bălcescu Memorial Museum, 1971.
Moving from Moldavia to Wallachia in 1753, Prince Constantin Racoviță took the Cantacuzino brothers with him to Bucharest. He reinstated Pârvu as a Paharnic in 1753, also advancing Mihai (married into the Văcărescu family) as his trusted treasurer, or Vistier.Pascu, pp. 66–67. See also Florescu, p. 585; Lapedatu, p. 22; Rizo-Rangabé, p. 23 By 1761, with Mavrocordatos again on the throne, Pârvu was serving as the highest-ranking Logothete. In October of that year, he and his relative, the Medelnicer Toma Cantacuzino, exchanged property in Bucharest, making Pârvu owner of the "parental homes" in Șerban-Vodă mahala—located outside Lipscani, and named after their shared ancestor, the Prince Șerban.Giurescu, p. 357Mariana Lazăr, "Contribuții documentare privind patrimoniul unui descendent al principelui Șerban Cantacuzino", in Revista Istorică, Vol. XXI, Issues 5–6, 2010, p. 492 This acquisition included Șerban's wooden chapel, which Pârvu rebuilt out of brick, and which went as dowry to his daughter Maria. Mihai Cantacuzino was also an amateur historian, and there is indication that Pârvu also authored at least one work in the field. Scholars have deduced the existence of Istoria Țării Românești ("History of Wallachia") as a manuscript dating back to 1763, and have attributed it to Pârvu.Chiper, passim
Racoviță returned on the throne in 1763, by which time the brothers had a running feud with Iordachi Stavrachi, who was Constantin Racoviță's representative to the Sublime Porte. As a result of his intrigues, both Mihai and Pârvu were imprisoned in Bucharest, but simply released by the Bucharest populace upon the Prince's death in January 1764.Filitti, pp. 110–111; Pascu, p. 67 The throne went to Constantin's brother Ștefan Racoviță. As a show of his munificence, he welcomed both Pârvu and Mihai in Istanbul, where the two assured him that they would help him increase fiscal revenues; in exchange for this pledge, they obtained that Stavrachi be hanged.Filitti, p. 111 Mihai could return as Vistier under this reign, which covered 1764–1765, but only after proving himself capable of increasing the fiscal revenue by some 7,200 bags of gold. He was again imprisoned, alongside nine other boyars, when he refused to apply the dreaded tax on chimneys. This abuse caused another burghers' revolt in Bucharest, prompting Sultan Mustafa III to intervene; Prince Ștefan hurried to release Mihai and the others, but was still garrotted for his insubordination.Pascu, pp. 67–68
Even before he could take his throne as Racoviță's replacement, Scarlat Ghica made Pârvu his Logothete, reconfirming Mihai as Vistier.Pascu, p. 68 Under his successor Alexandru Ghica, Pârvu went on to serve command offices in the military, as Oltenian Ban, and was also curator of Pantelimon Hospital, alongside Badea Știrbei.Georges Bibesco, Roumanie. 1843–1859. Règne de Bibesco. Lois et décrets, 1843–1848, insurrection de 1848, histoire et légende, Vol. II, pp. 330–331. Paris: E. Plon, Nourrit & Co., 1894 In 1767, he married a third and final time to another Palade boyaress, Smaranda (or Esmeralda), who was also the granddaughter of Moldavian Prince Antioh Cantemir.Eșanu et al., pp. 142–143. See also Rizo-Rangabé, p. 23 Răducanu, meanwhile, served as a Clucer, marrying Caterina, daughter of John Mavrocordatos.Levit, pp. 30–31; Rizo-Rangabé, p. 24
Revolt