The House of Soldan (also spelled Söldán, ÃÂoldan) was an old noble family in medieval Moldavia. In the 16th and 17th centuries, members of the family assumed important offices within the princely chancellery of the principality.
The historical connection of the Soldan family is vividly illustrated by Sadok Seli Soltan, also known as Johann Soldan. Born around 1270, he was baptized as a Christian in 1305. His epitaph, located in the Johanniskirche in Brackenheim, reads:
âÂÂJohannes Soldan moritur anno Christi MCCCXXVIII. / Soldan hic primus moritur Christianus, / Qui Turcico nomine & patria natus, / Sanguine sed Christi hic publice lotus, / Fide, vita, morte sic pie sepultus."
This inscription highlights his Turkish origins and conversion to Christianity. The Soldan family's lineage reflects the broader historical narrative of the Seljuks, who established Turkish influence in Anatolia during the 11th to 14th centuries.
The family is mentioned for the first time in Romanian documents in a charter from 22 September 1411, when the sons of Soldan the Old receive from the prince of Moldavia important feudal domains on the ÃÂomuz valley. In the charter, Alexander the Good offers to Peter Soldan, his wife (the daughter of boyar Ghiulea Capitaneus, captain of the Moldavian army) and to his brother, Miclaus, the Tatar slave villages at TamârtÃÂÃÂÃÂuÃÂi on the ÃÂomuz. The estate is called from that moment onwards ÃÂoldÃÂneÃÂti. At the same time, Peter and Miclaus Soldan are the first known slave owners in Moldavia in Wallachia. Later on, the family receives numerous privileges and lands, holding estates in NeamÃÂ, Suceava, BotoÃÂani and Bessarabia.
Nicolae Iorga believes that the Soldan family were originally Hungarian nobles who settled in Moldavia from Transylvania together with the first prince of independent Moldavia, Bogdan I, and then Romanised their name. Historians Radu Rosetti and Gheorghe GhibÃÂnescu also argue that in the charter from 1411 the family name is written before the first name, this being a custom only in Hungarian documents. Moreover, the first name of PeterâÂÂs brother, Miclaus, could come from the Hungarian form of Nicholas, which is Miklós. Rosetti is thus convinced that the Soldans were Hungarians from the Maramureàregion. However, noble families with the name Soldan can also be found in Prussia and Sweden, so a possible German origin of the family should not be excluded. The family might have first become Hungarian in Maramureàand then Romanian in Moldavia.
The familyâÂÂs seal and coat of arms is represented by a lion.
For about four centuries, the Soldan family was one of the most important aristocratic (boyar) families in Moldavia. Important members of the family were PÃÂtraÃÂco ÃÂoldan, Great Chancellor of Moldavia; DumitraÃÂco ÃÂoldan, Great Vornic; Vasile ÃÂoldan, Great Treasurer of Moldavia. Through marriage alliances, the family connected with princely families such as RacoviÃÂÃÂ, Lupu, Cantacuzino and MovilÃÂ.
Dumitru ÃÂoldan was Vornic (administrator of justice) in the time of prince Petru RareÃÂ, being one of his closest boyars. The proof is the financial support Dumitru offered to the prince in order to build Probota monastery, Petru RareÃÂâ princely necropolis. In 1530, as it is written in the monasteryâÂÂs inauguration charter, Dumitru paid for the princely house located within the monastery and for one of the towers.
PÃÂtraÃÂco Soldan, Great Logothete (Great Chancellor) of Moldavia between 1603 and 1610, was probably the son of Dumitru ÃÂoldan and he was married to Antimia, related to the Greek noble Gheorghe Kataratos. They had together eight children: Anghelina, Teofana (married in the princely family RacoviÃÂÃÂ), DumitraÃÂco, ToderaÃÂco, Candachia, Catrina (married with the Great Treasurer Iordache Cantacuzino), TodoÃÂca, and Tudosia (married to the Chief of Soroca). Appointed Great Logothete by prince Ieremia MovilÃÂ, PÃÂtraÃÂco supports after his death the accession to the throne of IeremiaâÂÂs son, Constantin. Despite his very young age, Constantin is elected prince with the help of PÃÂtraÃÂco.
DumitraÃÂco ÃÂoldan, PÃÂtraÃÂcoâÂÂs son, has held some of the most important offices of the Moldavian medieval state. He was appointed Steward between 1626-1631, High Steward from 1632 onwards, Great SpÃÂtar (Great Master of Ceremonies and Commander in Chief of the Army), Great Vornic of the Lower Country between 1636-1641 and Great Treasurer from 1642 until his death. He increased the prestige of his family even further by marrying princess Safta Caraiman, whose mother was a direct descendant of prince Stephen the Great. Together they had three children: Alexandra, Tofana, and Stephen, who would become Vornic of Moldavia under prince Vasile Lupu. During his time as Great Vornic, DumitraÃÂco grants Vasile Lupu estates in the county of Suceava in order to support the first princely academy at Trei Ierarhi in IaÃÂi. Moreover, together with princess Safta, he built the defence walls of in 1631 and the ceremony house and a tower at PângÃÂraÃÂi monastery in 1642. After their deaths, they were buried at their estate in ÃÂoldÃÂneÃÂti.
DumitraÃÂco Soldan was also one of Vasile LupuâÂÂs most trustworthy diplomats and military commanders. In 1637, Vasile Lupu invades Wallachia, ruled by his rival, Matei Basarab. Fearful that Vasile Lupu might take over Wallachia and then aim at Transylvania, George I Rákóczi helps Wallachia to reject LupuâÂÂs attack. Seeing that the two princes allied against him, Vasile Lupu fears an invasion from the West, so he sends DumitraÃÂco ÃÂoldan to protect the border with Transylvania and he is appointed Protector of Oituz fortress, with a high strategic value. Rákóczi quits his attack plans and, one year later, he seeks peace with both Romanian princes. Vornic DumitraÃÂco ÃÂoldan was sent as MoldaviaâÂÂs chief peace negotiator with the mission to close an alliance with the prince of Transylvania. Even if the peace negotiations between Moldavia and Wallachia fail, Rákóczi agrees with the alliance between him and Vasile Lupu, pledging to help each other in case of foreign invasions.
ToderaÃÂco ÃÂoldan, DumitraÃÂcoâÂÂs brother, was appointed Logothete in MoldovaâÂÂs Chancellery in 1635 and he was later made Vornic of BotoÃÂani between 1639-1642, being the first boyar with this title.
Candachia ÃÂoldan was the wife of Costea Bucioc, MoldaviaâÂÂs chief military commander who fought with the Poles against Ottoman rule. After the defeat at the Battle of Cecora in 1620, he was taken prisoner and impaled by the Turks. Their daughter, TudoÃÂca Costea ÃÂoldan, was the first wife of prince Vasile Lupu. In their turn, TodoÃÂca Costea ÃÂoldan and Vasile Lupu had two daughters: Maria, married to the Polish prince Janusz Radziwià Âà Â, Court Chamberlain of Lithuania and Voivode of Vilna Voivodeship; and Ruxandra, mother of Catrina, married into the former Byzantine imperial family of the Cantacuzino.
In Descriptio Moldavie, a chronicle of Moldavia, prince Dimitrie Cantemir mentions all seventy five noble families representing the ruling class of Moldavia, the ÃÂoldans still being among them at the beginning of the 18th century. Indeed, in the late 17th-early 18th centuries, members of the ÃÂoldan family were still holding important offices within the countryâÂÂs government: ToderaÃÂcu ÃÂoldan was Vornic of BotoÃÂani; ÃÂtefan ÃÂoldan was Treasurer; Simion ÃÂoldan was Vornic; Nicolae ÃÂoldan was Postelnic (Chamberlain). However, as the Phanariot regime was imposed by the Ottoman rule, local elites started to be oppressed and old boyar families begin to decay.
In 1717, in the context of an Austro-Turkish war, Moldavian noblemen are forced to choose between Ottoman rule, represented by prince Mihai RacoviÃÂÃÂ, and a western, Christian governance within the Holy Roman Empire which desired an expansion eastward. Chamberlain Nicolae ÃÂoldan, together with two other high-ranking boyars and with the support of the Austrian army, start a riot against RacoviÃÂÃÂ. Many young noblemen, oriented towards the West rather than towards the Ottoman Empire, joined the rebellion against the Moldavian prince. However, the riot was crushed. In a last attempt to force RacoviÃÂàto abandon the throne, Nicolae ÃÂoldan kidnaps his sister and sends her to Kronstadt as the prisoner of the Austrian army. RacoviÃÂàcaptures the rebels, including Nicolae ÃÂoldan, who is considered to be the leader of the rebellion. Even if he is left alive, his entire property is seized, including the ancestral estate of DulceÃÂti, owned by the ÃÂoldans for at least two centuries. After this episode, local noble families, already despised by the Ottomans after the attempt of prince Constantin Brâncoveanu to ally himself with the Habsburgs and of prince Dimitrie Cantemir to ally with the Russians, are beginning to rapidly decline, being replaced with Greek nobles from Constantinople. At the end of the 18th century, the ÃÂoldans were completely removed from Moldavian power circles.