Stroe Leurdeanu, also known as Stroe (sin) Fiera, Stroie Leurdeanu, Stroe Leordeanu, or Stroe Golescu ( 1600 – 1678 or 1679), was a Wallachian statesman and political intriguer, son of Logothete Fiera Leudeanu. He began his career with the Wallachian military forces, serving as Spatharios and seeing action in the Polish–Ottoman War of 1633. Related by marriage to the Craiovești dynasty, he emerged as one of the country's most important officials under Prince Matei Basarab: as Vistier, he was in charge of the princely treasury, and also became a regent (or Caimacam) in 1645. Matei also adopted Stroe's son, Istratie Leurdeanu, but in 1651 turned against the family, and found Stroe guilty of embezzlement. He returned to high favor under a new Prince, Constantin Șerban, who made him his Logothete.
Chased out of the country by the Seimeni rebellion and again during Constantin Șerban's downfall, the Leurdeanus remained at the center of political life into the 1660s. Although he ordered Istratie's execution, Prince Mihnea III used Stroe as his diplomat, causing the latter to be detained as a hostage by the Ottoman Empire. From 1660, he enjoyed the favors of Mihnea's replacement, George Ghica, who kept him as Logothete. Grigore I Ghica appointed Leurdeanu as regent during the Austro–Turkish War. This moment saw the eruption of a conflict between Leurdeanu and the Cantacuzino family. In 1663, he engineered an intrigue which led to the execution of Postelnic Constantin I Cantacuzino.
Sidelined under Radu Leon, Leurdeanu was brought to justice by Antonie Vodă in 1669. Sentenced to death but then pardoned, he was forced to take orders at Snagov Monastery. He escaped and fled abroad, returning to Wallachia as Grigore Ghica retook the throne, and again served as regent during the Polish–Ottoman War of 1672. Befriending Ghica's successor, George Ducas, he was kept by the latter as Logothete, Vornic, and occasional Ispravnic of the throne. He was victorious over the Cantacuzinos in his final years, overseeing the arrest and torture of Constantin II. Leurdeanu probably died as a monk, at some point before December 1679. He had many sons, but only two are known to have survived him. One was Stroe II, who maintained leading positions at the court of Constantin Brâncoveanu, together with his nephew Radu Golescu. The Leurdeanu line was nevertheless extinguished, and survived into modernity through a collateral branch, the Golescu family.
Biography Rise Leurdeanu is seen by various historians as one of the most significant boyars in early modern Romanian history,Novac, p. 214; Stoicescu, p. 204 when Wallachia was an autonomous subject of the Ottoman Empire. He was born around 1600 as the son of Wallachia's Great Logothete, Fiera Leudeanu, and as such a relative of Constantin Șerban, who would become Prince of Wallachia in the 1650s.Stoicescu, pp. 204, 206 Several sources suggest that Stroe's mother was Tudora, Fiera's second wife and previously the paramour of Prince Michael the Brave; if proven, this would make Stroe a half-brother of Michael's boyaress daughter, Marula Cornățeanca.Stoicescu, pp. 181, 204, 206 From his marriages, Fiera also had sons Vintilă, Nedelco and Neagu, none of whom managed to enter titular boyardom; Fiera's daughters include Stanca, who married Balica of Breasta, and an anonymous wife of Vornic Dumitru Dudescu.Stoicescu, p. 203
Leurdeanu's first assignment appears to have been as Postelnic from June 15, 1625, under Alexandru Coconul; he is next mentioned as Spatharios of the Wallachian military forces on January 8, 1627.Stoicescu, p. 204 His father had his final commission in 1626, dying at some point in 1629.Stoicescu, p. 203 During his subsequent ascent, Stroe was married three times. No surviving document mentions the name of his first wife, though she is known to have given birth to his eldest son, Istratie Leurdeanu.Stoicescu, pp. 204, 206 She may also have given birth to two of Stroe's other known sons, Sluger Nedelco and Clucer Costea.Stoicescu, p. 206 Stroe's last two wives are known by name. The first was Vișa Goleasca, related to the Craiovești-Brâncoveanu family—daughter of the Greek Postelnic Fota and niece of Preda Brâncoveanu, she was more distantly related to Matei Basarab, who took the Wallachian throne in 1632.Stoicescu, pp. 170, 181, 186, 188, 203–204, 205. See also Almaș, p. 77; Anghelescu, pp. VI–X; Bengescu, p. 14; Novac, p. 214; Țighiliu, p. 405 According to family tradition, Vișa had in fact been adopted by her princely relative, meaning that Leurdeanu was symbolically Matei's son-in-law.Bengesco, p. 14 From this matrimonial arrangement, Stroe received in 1630 the village of Criva.Iolanda Țighiliu, "Detalii privind domeniul lui Constantin Brâncoveanu voievod", in Revista Istorică, Vol. 6, Issues 3–4, March–April 1995, p. 405 The third and last of Leurdeanu's wives was another one of Prince Matei's relatives, Elina of Prooroci (died 1655).Stoicescu, pp. 204, 205
An untitled boyar during most of Alexandru IV Iliaș's reign, Stroe returned on April 27, 1629, to serve as Logothete. One record also cites him as Great Stolnic between November 21, 1632, and February 8, 1633, but he continued to be cited as a Logothete after that interval.Stoicescu, pp. 204, 205. See also Turcu, p. 322 In October 1633, at the height of a Polish–Ottoman War, he is cited as fighting alongside the Ottoman Army.Bengesco, p. 19; Stoicescu, p. 205 His tenure as Logothete straddled the rules of Alexandru IV, Leon Tomșa, and Matei Basarab, to October 6, 1635. On December 20, Matei made Leurdeanu a Logothete of the treasury, and later simply a treasurer (Vistier); he held those twin offices to March 2, 1641.Stoicescu, p. 204 Banking on his wife's influence at the court, he obtained the village of Slănicul de Jos in Muscel County, ignoring a rival claim stated by the Vlădescu boyars.Anton Manea, p. 18
From November 11 to November 23, 1641, Stroe was Wallachia's Great Stolnic, returning as Great Treasurer on December 24, and serving there to February 25, 1651.Stoicescu, pp. 204, 206 For most of this interval, he was seconded by his son Istratie.Stoicescu, p. 206 Stroe and Logothete Radu Cocorăscu were fully in charge of Wallachia's government in August 1645, while Prince Matei was în priumblare ("taking leave").Stoicescu, p. 205 During this first portion of his career, Leurdeanu became noted as an art patron and ktitor: by 1646, he had constructed the Orthodox church on his wife's land in Golești; he also refurbished Vieroși Monastery, where before 1647 he had buried a son, Necula (died 1633), and a daughter, Axinia.Stoicescu, p. 205. See also Bengesco, p. 17, 19; Iliescu, p. 257 Vișa was also dead by 1655, when Leurdeanu began litigation against his in-laws over her estate.Stoicescu, pp. 204, 205 He held on to Golești, where, the following year, he welcomed Macarios Zaim, the Patriarch of Antioch, and his secretary, Paul of Aleppo.Iliescu, pp. 257–258. See also Almaș, p. 77
First disgrace and return According to various reports, the childless Prince Matei was grooming Istratie to be his heir on the throne.Gane, pp. 239–240; Novac, p. 214; Stoicescu, p. 207 The Craiovești–Leurdeanu alliance soon gave way to violent rivalry, in circumstances that are not entirely elucidated. According to chronicler Georgius Krauss, jealous boyars suggested to Matei that Istratie was plotting to have him killed.Stoicescu, p. 207 A document dated to 1652 clarifies that Stroe was sacked upon revelations of embezzlement or theft—specifically, that he and two boyar accomplices had broken into the crate holding coins that Wallachia owed in Ottoman tribute (the haraç), and taken out 85 bags of gold.Rizescu, pp. 134–136 A 1654 writ left by Constantin Șerban claims that Stroe narrowly escaped decapitation, though he was innocent of the charges.Stoicescu, pp. 176, 204, 205. See also Novac, pp. 214–215; Rizescu, pp. 134–136 Matei, who had no means of covering his losses, only resorted to having the three men cursed and stripped of their offices.Rizescu, pp. 135–136 Historian Vasile Novac notes that the details of the accusation were overall implausible: Stroe was alleged to have taken 42,500 thaler in one single strike.Novac, pp. 214–215
According to writer Constantin Gane, the boyars "did not want" Istratie to rule over them, which led them to fabricate charges against him as well.Gane, p. 240 This looming threat caused Istratie to seek protection in territory more directly controlled by the Ottomans. Prince Matei was allegedly "infuriated" by his behavior, persecuting Nedelco and Costea, and confiscating one of the Leurdeanus' village fiefs.Stoicescu, pp. 206, 207 However, Krauss also claims that the families eventually reconciled when Matei allowed Istratie to return home. In this account, the Prince ensured that Istratie married well, to Ilinca—daughter of Nicolae Pătrașcu and granddaughter of Michael the Brave.Stoicescu, p. 207 This granted the younger Leurdeanu ownership over 24 villages from Michael and Pătrașcu's unclaimed personal estate.Barbu, pp. 105–106 On April 27, 1654, days after Prince Matei's death, Stroe Leurdeanu was made Logothete by Constantin Șerban, who had usurped the throne; the following day, Istratie was reinstated as Postelnic.Stoicescu, pp. 204, 206 Stroe's first diplomatic assignment was a mission to the Sublime Porte,Stoicescu, p. 204 obtaining Șerban's recognition by Sultan Mehmed IV. The delegation, also including Drăghici Cantacuzino, Pană Filipescu, and Preda Bucșanu, "prostrated before the Emperor-sultan Mehmed and Dervish Mehmed Pasha, the vizier, with tears in their eyes and pleading that they allow Constantine Voivode to rule as prince in their country."Axinte Uricariul, p. 56
This ascendancy was interrupted by the Seimeni uprising in February 1655. After February 15, Leurdeanu had left Wallachia and taken refuge in the Principality of Transylvania, at Corona (Brașov),Stoicescu, p. 204 being joined there by his wife and children.Novac, p. 215 The rebels ransacked his Bucharest residence, which was located outside Sfântul Ioan-Grecesc Church, in Tabaci mahala.Cernovodeanu & Vătămanu, pp. 36–37, 44; Novac, p. 215 The attack probably involved the mahalas eponymous tanners.Cernovodeanu & Vătămanu, pp. 36–37 Elina's two sisters later testified that the family's wealth was much affected by the uprising, which also destroyed the villages owned by Stroe and took away his "Gypsies" (see Slavery in Romania).Novac, p. 215
Once Șerban toppled the rebel leader Hrizea of Bogdănei, Leurdeanu could return as Logothete, serving as such from October 13, 1655, to January 30, 1658; during the final year of Șerban's reign, he had again lost his office.Stoicescu, p. 204 His son by Vișa, generally known in sources as Matei Golescu, also climbed through the ranks, serving as Șerban's Spatharios.Stoicescu, p. 186 As Șerban rebelled against the Ottomans in late 1658, Leurdeanu remained by his side. He was attached to Șerban's court as it escaped into Transylvania, but returned by December 9 to be made treasurer by his usurper, Mihnea III.Stoicescu, p. 204 As noted by historian Constantin Rezachevici, Mihnea, in reality a Greek merchant, was entirely without internal support, and asked the Șerbanist boyars to return in order to better secure his throne.Rezachevici, p. 99