2 ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviations 3

THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY

THE ROMANIAN ACADEMY – IAŞI BRANCH

Ediderunt
George BILAVSCHI, Dan APARASCHIVEI
4 ABBREVIATIONS

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Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a României

Studia mediaevalia Europaea et orientalia : miscellanea in honorem
professoris emeriti Victor Spinei oblata / ediderunt: George Bilavschi,
Dan Aparaschivei. - Bucureşti : Editura Academiei Române, 2018
ISBN 978-973-27-3018-8

I. Bilavschi, George (ed.)

II. Aparaschivei, Dan (ed.)

94

Editorial assistants: Monica STANCIU, Anca BOROŞ

Computer editing: Mariana MOCANU
Cover: Mariana ŞERBĂNESCU

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D.L.C. for small libraries: 082
Abbreviations 5
6 ABBREVIATIONS
   


Abbreviations ................................................................................................................ 11
Tabula Gratulatoria ...................................................................................................... 13
Professor Victor Spinei at 75 Years .............................................................................. 19

TIVADAR VIDA, To the Inner Asian Roots of the Avars ............................................ 29

FLORIN CURTA, An Ironic Smile: The Carpathian Mountains and the Migration
of the Slavs .......................................................................................................... 47
TAISHAN YU, Some Problems on the Mission of Song Yun and Huisheng to the
Western Regions, and the Routes Used by Narendrayaśas, Jinagupta and
Dharmagupta to China ....................................................................................... 73
GABRIEL CUSTUREA, CRISTINA PARASCHIV-TALMAȚCHI, Some Fibulae
Discovered in Dobruja ........................................................................................ 117
JINXIU LI, Shi Hedan 史訶耽 and the Equine Administration in the Early Tang
Dynasty ........................................................................................................................... 127
OSMAN KARATAY, Addressees of the Genizah Khazar Letter: Who Wrote to
whom? ................................................................................................................. 155
HEIKO STEUER, Der Krieger der Merowingerzeit und sein Pferd – Begleiter,
Partner oder Waffe ?Eine These zur Mentalitätsgeschichte
(“The Warrior and His Horse in Merovingian Times – Companion, Partner or
Weapon ? An Opinion for the History of Mentalities”) ...................................... 169
ИГОРЬ Л. КЫЗЛАСОВ, Тюркская руническая надпись на Евфрате.
Южносибирский способ проверки религиозных истин
(IGOR’ L. KYZLASOV, “Turkic Runic Inscription on Euphrates. South
Siberian Way of Verifying the Religious Truth”) ............................................... 193
ИРИНА КОНОВАЛОВА, Воображаемые топонимы в средневековом
географическом тексте
(IRINA KONOVALOVA, “Imaginary Toponyms in Medieval Geographical
Texts”) ........................................................................................................................... 207
ALEKSANDER PAROŃ, How to Deal with the Steppe Fauna? Considerations on
the Byzantine Perception of Nomads and on the Byzantine Policy towards
Them (10th-12th Centuries) .................................................................................. 217
CESARE ALZATI, Imperium Populi Romani: universalità e limiti territoriali
(“Imperium Populi Romani: Universality and Territorial Boundaries”) ............. 239
ИНГА А. ДРУЖИНИНА, Лунный заяц на берегах Понта
(INGA A. DRUZHININA, “Moon Rabbit on Coast of Pontus”) ....................... 251
NIKOLAY N. KRADIN, Social Structure of Early Eurasian Nomads According
to Archaeological Data ....................................................................................... 285
8 CONTENTS  СОДЕРЖАНИЕ  SOMMAIRE  INDICE  INHALT

РОМАН ХАУТАЛА, Рассмотрение четырех «вопросов» в истории Золотой

Орды на основе миссионерских источников
(ROMAN HAUTALA, “Four Case-Studies of the Golden Horde History
Based on the Missionary Sources”) .................................................................... 299
ALEXANDER V. MAIOROV, Galician-Volhynian Prince Daniel Romanovich, Rex
Coronatus of Rus’ ............................................................................................... 319
TIMOTHY MAY, Race to the Throne: Thoughts on Ariq-Böke’s and Khubilai’s
Claims to the Mongol Throne ............................................................................. 343
ȘERBAN TURCUȘ, “La disputa del sacramento”. I sacramenti ed il loro regime
canonico nella chiesa romana in relazione alla lettera del Papa Gregorio IX
del 14 Novembre 1234
(“«The Dispute of Sacraments». The Sacraments and their Canonical Status
in the Roman Church in Relation to the Letter of Pope Gregory IX of
November 14, 1234”) .......................................................................................... 359
LUDMILA BACUMENCO-PÎRNĂU, Cast Iron Cauldrons Uncovered in Golden
Horde Settlements. Case Study: Old Orhei (Republic of Moldova) .................... 379
НУРКЕН Е. КУЗЕМБАЕВ, Сюжеты о кипчако-монгольских взаимоотношениях
в средневековых мусульманских источниках
(NURKEN E. KUZEMBAEV, “Subjects Regarding the Kipchak-Mongolian
Relations in Medieval Muslim Sources”) ........................................................... 407
NERIJUS BABINSKAS, Some Aspects of the Medieval Origins of Europe’s Special
Path According to Michael Mitterauer. A Comparison of the Cases of the
Early Principality of Moldavia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ................... 421
SERGEI BOCHAROV, Archaeology of Venetian Gazaria, 13th-15th Centuries.
Definition of Terms and Scientific Sources ......................................................... 439
EUGEN NICOLAE, Une plaquette de cuivre avec inscription datant du quatorzième
siècle découverte à Costești, district de Ialoveni, République de Moldavie
(“A Copper Plate with a Fourteenth Century Inscription Discovered in Costești,
Ialoveni District, Republic of Moldova”) ........................................................... 455
ЧУЛПÁН ХАМИДОВА, Генеалогия правящих династий франков по данным
«Шуаб-и панджгана» Рашид ад-Дина
(CHULPAN KHAMIDOVA, “The Genealogy of Frank Rulers According
to Rashid Ad-Din’s „Shuab-i Panjganah”).......................................................... 463
ТИМУР Ф. ХАЙДАРОВ, Эпидемия средневековой чумы в понтийских
(причерноморских) степях (вторая половина XIV – первая половина XV вв.)
(TIMUR F. KHAJDAROV, “The Plague in the Pontic [Black Sea] Steppes
[Second Half of the 14th – First Half of the 15th Centuries”]) ............................. 469
ВИКТОР Л. МЫЦ, Эмблема двуглавого орла в «геральдике» государств
византийского содружества XIV-XV вв.
(VIKTOR L. MYTS, “The Emblem of the Double-Headed Eagle in the “Heraldry”
of the Byzantine Commonwealth of the 14th-15th Centuries”) ............................ 489
LIA BĂTRÎNA, ADRIAN BĂTRÎNA, The Church of Alexander the Good from
the Bistrița Monastery, Neamț County: A First Creative Synthesis in the Medieval
Ecclesiastical Architecture in Moldavia ............................................................. 513
CONTENTS  СОДЕРЖАНИЕ  SOMMAIRE  INDICE  INHALT 9

GRZEGORZ JAWOR, Particularités de «ius Valachicum» dans la Pologne du XVe

et XVIe siècles. Question de l’autorité exercée sur les paroisses orthodoxes
par les knyazes
(“Peculiarities of Ius Valachicum on Polish Territories in the 15th and 16th Centuries.
The Issue of the Authority of Knyazes [Knezes] over Orthodox Churches”) ..... 529
PETER SOUSTAL, Haliakmon – Bistrica – İnce Kara Su the Main River of Southwestern
Macedonia and its Surrounding Country ............................................................ 545
SERGIU MUSTEAȚĂ, ION TENTIUC, ION URSU, The Medieval Fortress Soroca
(Republic of Moldova) – Archaeology, History and Preservation ...................... 553
АНВАР В. АКСАНОВ, Московская Русь и тюменское ханство:
межгосударственные отношения на рубеже XV-XVI веков
(ANVAR V. AKSANOV, “Muscovite Rus’ and the Tyumen Khanate: Interstate
Relations at the Turn of the 15th-16th Centuries”) ............................................... 575
IVAN BILIARSKY, Le changement erroné d’un lexème dans un manuscrit slave
de Moldavie du XVIe siècle: ÁÐÀÂÈ – ÊÐÀÂÈ
(“The Erroneous Change of a Lexeme in a Slavic Manuscript from 16th Century
Moldavia: ÁÐÀÂÈ – ÊÐÀÂÈ”) ................................................................................. 583
GUILLAUME DURAND, Contribution à l’étude du phénomène de dédicaces
des monastères dans la Principauté de Moldavie
(“Contribution to the Study of the Phenomenon of Dedication of Monasteries
and Property Donations in the Principality of Moldavia”) .................................. 593
АНДРЕЙ ЕШАНУ, ВАЛЕНТИНА ЕШАНУ, Димитрий Кантемир в персидском
походе Петра I (1722-1723)
(ANDREI EȘANU, VALENTINA EȘANU, “Dimitrie Cantemir in the Persian
Campaign of Peter I [1722-1723]”) .................................................................... 617
ABulg Archaeologia Bulgarica, Sofia.
AErt Archaeologiai Értesítő, Budapest.
Am. Hist. Rev. The American Historical Review, the official
publication of the American Historical Association,
Oxford.
ArcheologijaSof Archeologija: organ na Archeologičeskija institut i
muzej pri Bălgarskata Akademija na Naukite, Sofija.
ARozhl Archeologické Rozhledy, Institute of Archaeology CAS
Prague.
BerRGK Das Jahrbuch Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen
Kommission, Römisch-Germanischen Kommission des
Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Berlin.
BSNR / BSocNumRom Buletinul Societăţii Numismatice Române, Bucureşti.
BZ Byzantinische Zeitschrift, München.
CCAR Cronica cercetărilor arheologice din România, CIMEC.
CommunicAHung Communicationes Archaeologicae Hungariae: készült
a magyar nemzeti múzeum nyomdájában, Budapest.
Człow. i Społecz Człowiek i Społeczeństwo, Wydziału Nauk Społecznych
Uniwersytetu im. A. Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Poznan.
DOP Dumbarton Oaks Papers.
EphemNapoc Ephemeris Napocensis, Anuarul Institutului de
Arheologie şi Istoria Artei, Cluj-Napoca.
JbRGZM Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums,
Mainz.
MCA Materiale și cercetări arheologice.
MIA Materialy i issledovanija po arkheologii SSSR,
Moscow-Leningrad.
MINAC Museum of National History and Archaeology from
Constanța (Romania).
Quaest. Medii Aevi Quaestiones Medii Aevi, Warsaw.
Rev. Rom. Stud. Balt. şi Revista Română de Studii Baltice şi Nordice, Asociaţia
Nord. Română pentru Studii Baltice şi Nordice, Bucureşti.
RGA Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde
(Berlin, New York).
RMMMIA Revista Muzeelor şi Monumentelor. Monumente
Istorice şi de Artă (1974-1989), Bucureşti.
SborBrno Sborník prací Filozofické fakulty brněnské univerzity.
M, Řada archeologická, Brno.
12 ABBREVIATIONS

SCIA.AP Studii şi cercetări de istoria artei. Seria Artă Plastică,

Bucureşti.
SCIV/SCIVA Studii și cercetări de istorie veche / și arheologie,
București.
SlovA Slovenská Archeológia, Nitra.
SovA Sovetskaja Arkheologija, Moskva.
Strat.Plus Stratum Plus, Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology,
High Anthropological School University in Kishinev.
Valahian J. Hist. Stud. Valahian Journal of Economic Studies, Bucharest.
VjesDal Vjesnik za arheologiju i povijest dalmatinsku,
Arheološki muzej Split.
ZborRadBeograd Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta, Beograd.
АДСВ/ADSV Античная древность и средние века / Antichnaja
drevnost’ i srednie veka, Ekaterinburg.
ИГАИМК / IGAIMK Известия Государственной академии истории
материальной культуры, Ленинград / Izvestija
Gosudarstvennoj akademii istorii material’noj
kul’tury, Leningrad.
ПСРЛ / PSRL Полное собрание русских летописей / Polnoe
sobranie russkikh letopisej, Т. 25, Мoskow, Leningrad,
1949; Т. 26, Мoskow, Leningrad, 1959; Т. 28,
Moskow, 1963; Т. 37, Leningrad, 1982; Т. 36, Moskow,
1987; Т. 24, Мoskow, 2000.
ПК / PK Посольская книга по связям России с Ногайской
Ордой: 1489-1508 гг. / Posol’kaja kniga po svjazjam
Rossii s Nogajskoj Ordoj: 1489-1508 gg., Institut
istorii AN SSSR, Moskow, 1984.
РК / RK Разрядная книга 1475-1598 гг. / Razrjadnaja kniga
1475-1598 gg., Nauka, Moskow, 1966.
Сб. РИО / Sb. RIO Сборник русского исторического общества /
Sbornik russkogo istoricheskogo obshchestva, Т. 41,
Tipografija F. Elionskogo i Ко, Sankt-Peterburg, 1884.
 LIA BĂTRÎNA, ADRIAN BĂTRÎNA

“Our countries have not only had a past of great deeds

and of good deeds… but also a past of literacy and art.
… Formerly, in… the craftsmanship of the building…
we had paths which were not of others and which
we had opened for our own gain…”

Nicolae IORGA

Abstract:
The authors present the vestiges of the church of Alexander the Good found at the
Bistrița Monastery (Neamț County) during the research and restauration works of
the monastic ensemble organized by the Historical Monuments Direction between
1969 and 1977. The elements of the plan of the foundation outline an architectural
structure that, for the first time in the area on the east of the Carpathians, includes
a synthesis between the rectangular and the triconch architectural types, as well as
the presence of the chamber of the tombs, which is a compartment between the
nave and the narthex, designed to shelter the inanimate bodies of the Prince and of
the members of his family. Because of all this and by the decision of the illustrious
ruler to set his necropolis in a monastic environment, Alexander the God proved
both to his contemporaries and to us, that he was not a traditionalist, but a creator
of tradition.

Keywords: Moldavia; Bistrița Monastery (Neamț County); church; architecture;

funerary space; 15th century.

During a long reign, in a climate characterized by political stability and by a

proper orderliness, Alexander the Good (1400-1432) succeeded to perfect the state
through a remarkable work of administrative, economic, cultural and ecclesiastical
organization. The first great period in the Romanian culture on the east of the


Curators at the National History Museum of Romania, currently retired; larbatrina@hotmail.com.
514 LIA BĂTRÎNA, ADRIAN BĂTRÎNA

Carpathians, the epoch of Alexander the Good is characterized by intense

construction work, both in the religious and civil domain, which will have profound
repercussions in the founding process of an autochthonous esthetical vision. In the
context of the establishment of the autochthonous monachism, known in Moldavia
before the beginning of the 15th century,1 during the reign of Alexander the Good
new monastic establishments of stone and brick masonry or of wood were built,
some of which have been the result of the collaboration between the prince and the
high metropolitan clergy.
The most important and consequential architectural achievement of the rule
of Alexander the Good is the monastic ensemble at Bistrița (Neamț County),
founded by the prince and serving as a royal necropolis and, therewith, a
prestigious cultural center of medieval Moldavia. The first certain documentary
mention, which confirms the existence of this establishment, appears in a document
issued on the 7th of January 1407, from which we learn the fact that Joseph, the
Metropolitan of Moldova, together with Alexander the Good, decided that the
Neamț and Bistrița monasteries should be led by one and the same prior,
Domentian.2 Therefore, at that moment the Bistrița monastery already existed.
The systematic archaeological investigations performed here, between the
years 1969 and 1977, during the restauration works organized by the Historical
Monuments Direction,3 were part of a complex program of research of the
components of the monastic ensemble, intended to underline scientifically the act
of restoration and valorization of the monument. In this context, it was established
that this establishment has known, during its long existence, numerous destructions,
refurbishments and transformations, which have totally modified the ensemble of
its initial forms. Consequently, no constructions from the period of Alexander the
Good have been functionally maintained. This conclusion comes to contradict the
opinions expressed by some more or less knowledgeable authors.4
Although the tradition assigns the erection of a wooden hermitage on the
place occupied by the current monastic establishment to the reign of Peter I,
“through the struggle of Hieromonk Pafnutie, of his disciple, monk Leontie, and of
priest Ion Bârață”,5 the archaeological investigations have not managed to identify
any material proof that could support the existence of a religious building or of any
constructions built prior to the 15th century in the area occupied by the current site.
If this structure had actually existed, its traces should be searched for on the first
superior terrace, located east of the current monastic ensemble, where there are
traces of an older cemetery.
1
THEODORESCU 1974: 221-222.
2
DRH 1975: 29-30.
3
The restoration project realized by the late architect Nicolae Diaconu.
4
In the latest guide published in 2010 by the administration of the monastery, the current
convent – built in 1792 and restored in 1977 – is identified with the Princely Residence founded by
Alexander the Good.
5
CREȚULESCU 1900: 3.
THE CHURCH OF ALEXANDER THE GOOD FROM THE BISTRIȚA MONASTERY 515

The area where the buildings that constitute the monastic ensemble built by
Alexander the Good at the Bistrița Monastery have been raised is located at
approximatively 7 km west from the city of Piatra Neamț, on the first terrace next
to a mountain brook. In the eastern area of the location, the Cetățuia hill is visible
and in the western area, “the plateau of Petru Rareș” and the Simon mountain.
Finally, Obcina Ciprianei is located in the northern area, and from there the land
slopes southward in order to meet the Bistrița village (at the present moment
named Alexandru cel Bun). This slope, which is quite steep, allowed a faster drain
of rainwater and snow melting, which prevented the formation of a vegetal humus
layer in the western half of the current site. Instead, this layer was formed in the
eastern half.
During our archaeological investigations carried out in successive campaigns
during the years 1969-1973, 1975 and 1977 and based on the stratigraphic criteria
and the materials that had offered a relative and absolute chronology, we were able
to identify and assign with certainty to the reign of Alexander the Good the burned
vestiges of two buildings that sheltered the monastic cells, made at that moment
exclusively of wood and placed on the northeastern and the southeastern sides of
the current site; the cellar of a house made of stone, considered by us to be the
Princely Residence;6 as well as the foundations of a church, built of stone and
brick, which was later deposed and directly overlaid by the current church, build by
Alexander Lăpușneanu in the year 1554. Naturally, there should have also existed
other houses or household constructions, as well as a bell tower, probably located
on the eastern or south-western side of the site, but these areas could not be
investigated due to the fact that the organizing institution was abolished by the
contemporary authorities at the end of 1977.
Noteworthy is the fact that in this early period in the existence of the
monastic ensemble the enclosure wall was absent, much like in other contemporary
monasteries in Moldavia, i.e. Neamț, old Humor and old Moldovița.
In the present paper, we are discussing the most important component of the
Alexandrian ensemble, namely the church, the one that until this moment has not
been presented, but only mentioned by us in some public presentations or in an old
research synthesis.7
Of all things, it is important to note that in the interwar period Virgil
Drăghiceanu linked his name to an archaeological survey conducted in the chamber
of the tombs of the Bistrița Monastery church, in the year that commemorated 500
years since the death of Prince Alexander the Good.8 However, this endeavor was
not a true scientific investigation due to the fact that its main objective was not to
provide clarifications regarding the architecture of the edifice built by the great
voivode, but to identify some of the princely tombs and to find inside them
precious objects able to crown his celebration.
6
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 1975: 72-80.
7
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 1994: 159-160.
8
MRĂJERU, CARAZA 1935: 1-26.
516 LIA BĂTRÎNA, ADRIAN BĂTRÎNA

Our research took place in a different historical period and in a different

institutional framework, having other objectives and aiming to have a successive
approach to all the components and surfaces in the area of the monastic ensemble
in Bistrița, in the order determined by the organization and the execution of a
restoration project. The sections and the cassettes were placed alongside the
exterior sides of the church, during the years 1969 (S5), 1970 (S10 and S12), 1973
(S15-20 and S22-23) and 1975 (C1-5) and inside the religious edifice, in 1975 (SI-XII)
(Pl. I). Therefore, as early as 1973, when we investigated the southern side of the
current church build by Alexander Lăpușneanu, we were aware of the fact that it
directly overlapped the vestiges of the first religious edifice erected by Alexander
the Good. In these conditions, in 1975, when it was decided that the interior of the
building should be included in the restauration plan, we asked to be allowed to start
with some archaeological investigations. But the context, which we do not want to
evoke, was not fortunate at all for our natural intentions. Because of some not very
distant events, the archbishop of the Metropolis of Moldavia and Suceava manifested
at that time serious objections to any archaeological researches inside the church
which was already in the restauration process. Unfortunately, the management of
the institution let us “disentangle” this situation all by ourselves. In the end, thanks
to the understanding and goodwill of the late Archimandrite Dionisie Velea, the
prior of the monastery, we obtained a four-week permission (insufficient for the
exhaustive investigation of a church with a surface of 500 m2) to perform the
archaeological investigations which were so necessary to get to know the
architectural structure of the first religious edifice in Bistrița, as well as for the
history of the medieval culture the east of the Carpathians.
We accepted these Procustian conditions with the desire and the hope that we
would succeed to identify those vestiges that might allow us to determine the
planimetry of the first church, as well as the materials and decorative elements used
for adorning it. For this purpose, we drew up a minimal research program, which
objectively obviously could no longer be exhaustive, as we had had to give up the
investigation of some surfaces, the depth of the base of the foundations of the
uncovered masonry elements in order to be able to make complete observations
regarding the depth and construction technique, as well as the identification and the
research of all the tombs found inside the church. But, even under these less than
favorable conditions, we think that the obtained results were utterly remarkable and
totally justified the efforts we had made.9 Given the limited time we had for the
investigations of the interior of the church, the 12 sections (SI-XII) were arranged as
follows: inside the apse of the altar, sections I and II at a distance of 0.5 m to the
north and to the south, respectively, towards the longitudinal axis of the church;
inside the nave, sections III, IV and V at a distance of 0.5 m to the north towards
the longitudinal axis and VI, VII at a distance of 1.40 m and 1.0 m, respectively, to
the south towards the same axis; inside the tombs chamber, sections VIII, IX at a
9
The research works lead inside the church were carried out in a 12-hour daily regime.
THE CHURCH OF ALEXANDER THE GOOD FROM THE BISTRIȚA MONASTERY 517

distance of 0.5 m to the north and 1.0 m, respectively, to the south towards the axis;
inside the narthex, in its north-east corner section X at a distance of 1.20 m
towards the axis and section XI at a distance of 0.20 m towards the same axis;
inside the porch, section XI and at a distance of 2.0 m to the south, section XII was
excavated (Pl. I).
The information obtained during the 1973 investigations on the south side,
corroborated with the information obtained in 1975 after the investigations
performed in the north side area and from the inside of the church, and allowed us
to ascertain the following: 1. the elevation of the church built during the reign of
Alexander the Good (B1) was totally demolished by the constructors of the second
church (B2); 2. the trenches of the first church (B1) foundation are cutting off from
the surface of the vegetal humus layer and are deepening in a thick layer of
purplish clay; 3. the foundations of the first church, which were made in one phase,
were constructed from rough stone blocks bound by fluid mortar, using the
technique of positioning in grooves and have a depth of 1.80 m;10 4. the
constructors of Alexander Lăpușneanu’s church (B2) overlap and partially use the
foundations of the first church (B1), by making “weavings” between the new and
the old foundation (Pl. II); 5. the foundations of the second religious edifice are
more massive in relation to those of the first one; 6. the plans of the two churches,
even if they directly succeed each other, are different in what concerns shape and
proportions; 7. the partial outline of the first church foundation (B1) inside the plan
of the current church (B2) emphasize the fact that the longitudinal axes are not
overlaid, even if they are parallel; 8. the second church has the longitudinal axis
placed 0.80 m to the north in comparison with the one of the first edifice, without
the orientation of the two axes being different (Pl. II).
The partially uncovered foundations – but whose traces could be fully
reconstituted – outline a church plan unseen until that moment in the Moldavian
ecclesiastical architecture, formed of a suite of chambers, disposed in enfilade and
represented by: an altar with a semi-circular track, both on the inside and on the
outside, unhooked in the plan of the templon; a nave with a rectangular shape over-
widened through two risalits, in relation with the other compartments, in order to
hide in the width of the north and south walls two semi-circular apses flanked by
counterforts disposed in its four corners; a chamber of the tombs (Romanian:
gropniță); and a quasi-quadrate narthex also sustained on the north and south sides
by two counterforts on each side (Pl. II).
At the level of the foundations, the first church has a length of 30 m in its
longitudinal axis, a width of the nave of 13.20 m, while the last two chambers have
a width of 10.30 m without taking into consideration the dimensions of the
counterforts.

10
The depth of the foundations could be ascertained in the sections excavated outside the
church (S15 and S16).
518 LIA BĂTRÎNA, ADRIAN BĂTRÎNA

Concerning the vaulting system, this can be hypothetically restored (Pl. III) as
follows:
 The altar apse, according to its depth, must have been covered at its western
limit with a double-arch positioned a little below the one from the eastern part
of the nave, which sustained a half dome that covered the altar conch.
 The nave could have presented four consoles – one on each corner – on
which stood two double arches at its west and east borders. Also, alongside
the northern and southern walls of the nave, in front of the two apses, there
must have been another two arches. In these conditions, a dome was
inscribed inside the square formed by the mentioned four arches, sustained
on the pendants that crowned the nave. In turn, the lateral apses could not
be covered by two half-domes only.
 The chamber of the tombs (gropnița) was covered, without any doubt, by
a barrel vault whose supports we suppose commenced against the northern
and southern walls of the chamber.
 The narthex – according to its plan, we think that two double arches, as
well as those situated alongside the walls, all of them sustained in the
corners on four pilasters, were supposed to support a dome on pendants.
The concerns for the interior and exterior decoration of the religious edifice
are indicated by some objects found in the debris that originated from the
decommissioning of the building. The color effects of the discs with a central
button (Pl. IV.1) and of the glazed bricks colored in shades of green, yellow and
brown, blended with the harmony of the architectonic volumes and reliefs. Thus, if
the frieze with discs, disposed on the superior area of the facades, emphasized the
horizontal axis of the building and, in their turn, the glazed bricks were arranged in
such a way as to contribute to highlighting its vertical axis. In turn, the fresco
fragments found in the composition of the already mentioned debris prove that the
interior of the church was adorned with mural painting, which speaks volumes
about the measure of the artistic effort developed in Bistrița. Concerning the
painters who decorated with mural paintings the interior of the church and of the
princely residence,11 we do not exclude the possibility that they might be Nichita
and Dobre, who were mentioned in a very known document dated between 1414
and 141912 as being rewarded by Alexander the Good for having painted some
churches and a house. Besides, their names suggest their south-Danube origin.
In the same debris we found some glass fragments with a greenish
iridescence and bold edges (to allow them to be fixed in a lead frame). These
materials indicate that the first windows of the church were made of stained glass.
Finally, a last thing we must mention refers to the materials used by the
builders for the flooring of the religious edifice. We previously showed13 that the
11
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 1975: 76.
12
DRH 1975: 56.
13
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 2008-2009: 81-114.
THE CHURCH OF ALEXANDER THE GOOD FROM THE BISTRIȚA MONASTERY 519

interior archaeological level of the first church was covered with marble tiles sized
0.30 m x 0.50 m or 0.40 m x 0.60 m. They resulted from a series of finished pieces
with slightly larger dimensions, with a decorative role in the first stage of their use,
which were cut to fit the desired dimensions and positioned with the decorated
surface on a layer of mortar support. Through the juxtaposition of some tiles and
the graphic reconstitution of their decoration where possible, we managed to
identify 13 decorative motifs14, which can be seen on many pieces that differ in
dimensions, decoration or primary destination, plus three fragments from a
commemorative stelae.15
Mention should be made that marble, the material from which these pieces
were made, was inexistent in Moldavia and it appeared only sporadically in the
decorative art of the 15th and 16th centuries on the east of the Carpathians, i.e. in the
tombstones of Princess Oltea (the Old Probota) and of Stephan the Great (Putna).16
The bas-relief, the shallow relief, as well as the mid-relief are the techniques used
in the production process of the decorative motives seen on these tiles. In most cases
the decoration is represented by rhombs, squares, rectangles and circles chained
through loops and organized according to the principle of symmetry through repetition
and progression. The meander motif composed of bands that break in right angles was
identified in only one case. Also present are the vegetal motifs such as the tendril, the
vine leaves, the grape bunches or the tulip. But, without any doubt, the most beautiful
piece is the one adorned with an arabesque decoration.17
In a stylistic sense, if some pieces are distinguished by the special quality of
their drawing and execution that prove a very good mastery of the craft by the
stonemason artists, others, fewer in number, denote a modest ability on the part of
the performers, proof of the fact that they were made in some less prestigious
workshops. On the other side, the notable differences that exist between the
preserved pieces, both in technical terms and also from a decorative point of view
or of the overall view, exclude both the possibility that they originated from the
same stone workshop and that they were part of a unique commission meant to
deliver a unique architecture program.18
In their turn, the obvious analogies (we will not return to them, as we have
already dealt with them on another occasion19) that can be established between the
above-mentioned reliefs and other similar pieces existing in the Byzantine-Balkan
environment, sustain the conclusion that the decorative plaques found inside the
church of the Bistrița Monastery, where they were used as pavement, were
produced in different moments of a longer time interval, in different workshops,
14
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 2008-2009: 83, 100, Fig. 2.1-2; 101, Fig. 3.1-2; 102, Fig. 4.1-2; 103,
Fig. 5.1-2; 104, Fig. 6.1-5.
15
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 2008-2009: 100, Fig. 3.3.
16
MUSICESCU 1958: 246, Fig. 174; 267-269, Fig. 193.
17
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 2008-2009: 104, Fig. 6.4.
18
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 2008-2009: 94.
19
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 2008-2009: 83-84; 105, Fig. 7.1-4; 106, Fig. 8.1-3.
520 LIA BĂTRÎNA, ADRIAN BĂTRÎNA

and were assigned to some different buildings or ensembles with secular, funerary
or religious character. Starting with the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD, to which the
fragments of a funerary stele with a Greek inscription belong, continuing with the
5th – 6th centuries, when a sarcophagus plate was made, as well as the plaques
coming from a large-sized frieze, and to the 10th – 12th centuries, to which the
decorative panels of some templons20 (Pl. IV.2; V.1-2; VI.1-2.) belong, the pieces
that pertain to the interior of the Bistrița Monastery church cover more than a
millennium of history.21
The association of such different pieces, after they were cut to measure and
smoothed on the backside in order to form the interior pavement of a religious
edifice erected by a prestigious prince in the monastic environment on the east of
the Carpathians raises legitimate questions about the conditions under which such
products, initially having a decorative or commemorative character, had come in
the end to be used just as finishing elements.
From our point of view, there is just only one explanation for such a presence
and for the origin and the unusual route of the above-mentioned lithic pieces. The
beneficiary, from his position as the highest representative of the secular feudality,
wanted the new church – ktetoria and future royal necropolis – to be the amplest,
most original, functional and adorned religious edifice built until that time in
Moldavia and for this purpose he summoned some constructors able to meet his
requirements. They are those who, knowing the commissioner’s wishes in advance,
selected one or more centuries-old marble deposits, located in an important urban
settlement from the area of the Byzantine Empire, and carried, along with the tools,
the material needed for the production of the interior pavement, unseen until that
moment in a church on the east of the Carpathians.
In this context, we cannot exclude the possibility that this great byzantine
settlement, with a long and rich history in constructions decorated with reliefs
made in marble, was the imperial capital itself – Constantinople. This identification
hypothesis is also taking into consideration the avatars known by the Byzantine
Empire of which, in the first years of the 15th century, only a few territories and the
imperial citadel had remained, where both culture people and important builders
had fled from the former byzantine territories and from the two neighboring
Bulgarian tsardoms of Târnovo and Vidin, converted into Turkish provinces in
1393 and 1936, respectively, and who were now in search of commissions.
In light of this situation, we are convinced that some members of the Moldavian
delegation arriving in 1401 at Constantinople in order to re-establish the links with the
Patriarchate and, implicitly with the Empire, also had the special mission to contract
master builders and painters willing to come to the region on the east of the
Carpathians and able to implement the ambitious construction projects of the young
voivode Alexander, recently ascended to the throne of Moldavia, as well as those
20
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 2008-2009: 87-93.
21
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 2008-2009: 94.
THE CHURCH OF ALEXANDER THE GOOD FROM THE BISTRIȚA MONASTERY 521

projects of the secular and ecclesiastical feudality. At that moment, in the imperial
capital the expertize in the constructions and decoration field was great, which is why
we believe that the mission of those mandated to make a first selection of the masters
and painters was not easy at all. So, under these circumstances, the chosen builders
who came from the most prestigious cultural byzantine center, having the science of
the construction and decoration, and, still more important, with the science of finding
solutions at the commissioner’s express needs, they managed to build at Bistrița an
original place of worship, endowed with the amplest architectural program. Here, the
principle of the development along the longitudinal axis was applied for the first time
known at that moment on the east of the Carpathians. From a planimetric and spatial
point of view, the church of Alexander the Good brings in more innovations that
constitute the conscious expression of innovative thinking.
Its rectangular-shaped nave flanked by counterforts in the four corners,
present south and north walls over-widened through two resalits, so that they could
include the semicircular apses in their width. The specific treatment of the interior
of the nave led to the emergence of an unprecedented monument of synthesis
between the rectangular and the triconch structural types which will persist in the
Moldavian architecture by being present in the minds of the successors of
Alexander the Good and the Moldavian builders. Not by accident, the first to use it
as a model will be Stephan the Great in his first ktitoria build at the Probota
Monastery,22 whose church will shelter the bodies of his parents Bogdan II and
Maria Oltea. This type of plan, quite improperly called “composite”, will be found
both in the urban and rural environments, as well as in the monastic environment at
the end of the 15th century and during the following century in churches like Saint
John in Piatra Neamț (1497), Arbore (1502) and Reuseni (1503-1504), and also in
the churches of the monasteries in Dobrovăț (1504) and Slatina (1558).
Moreover, for the first time, the funerary space finds its place in the
ecclesiastical architecture of the Christian Orient through the insertion of a new
compartment between the nave and narthex, the so-called chamber of the tombs or
gropniță. The new layout of the edifice plan was modified according to the desire
of the ktitor who wanted to transform the religious edifice into a royal necropolis,
without taking into consideration the traditional plan of the orthodox churches,
which is precisely determined by the requirements of the religious service. The
same plan was followed inside the two churches of the feudal residence from
Rădăuți.23 In 1418 and 1432, the chamber of the tombs will receive the bodies of
Princess Ana and of Alexander the Good, respectively, thus fulfilling its purpose.
Through the novelties and original construction solutions used in the Bistrița
ensemble, and also through the decision to establish his eternal resting place in the
monastic environment (a choice that will be favored by his successors, too),
Alexander the Good proved, both to his contemporaries and to us, that he was not a
traditionalist but a creator of traditions.
22
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 1977: 205-230.
23
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 2012: 46-59, 84-91.
522 LIA BĂTRÎNA, ADRIAN BĂTRÎNA

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 2008-2009 Bătrîna, L., Bătrîna, A., Basoreliefurile de la

Mănăstirea Bistriţa (Judeţul Neamţ). Contribuţii la
cunoaşterea relaţiilor Moldovei cu Imperiul Bizantin în
vremea lui Alexandru cel Bun, in: SCIVA, 59-60, 81-114.
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 1994 Bătrîna, L., Bătrîna, A., Contribuţia cercetărilor arheologice
la cunoaşterea arhitecturii ecleziastice din Moldova în
secolele XIV-XV, in: SCIVA, 2, 215-224.
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 1977 Bătrîna, L., Bătrîna, A., O primă ctitorie şi necropolă
voievodală datorată lui Ştefan cel Mare: Mănăstirea
Probota, in: SCIA.AP, 24, 205-230.
BĂTRÎNA, BĂTRÎNA 1975 Bătrîna, L., Bătrîna, A., O locuinţă domnească din vremea lui
Alexandru cel Bun, in: RMMMIA, 2, 72-80.
CREŢULESCU 1900 Creţulescu, N., Mănăstirea Bistriţa din judeţul Neamţ. Schiţe
istorico – biografice, Piatra Neamţ.
DRH 1975 Documenta Romaniae Historica. A. Moldova I (1384-1448),
edited by C. Cihodaru, I. Caproşu, L. Şimanschi, Ed.
Academiei R.S.R., Bucureşti.
MRĂJERU, CARAZA 1935 Mrăjeru, L., Caraza, Gh., I Mănăstirea Bistriţa (judeţul
Neamţ). II Pomenirea a 500 de ani de la moartea lui
Alexandru cel Bun, Piatra Neamţ.
MUSICESCU 1958 Musicescu, M. A., Sculptura pietrelor de mormânt în vremea
lui Ştefan cel Mare, in: ,Repertoriul monumentelor şi
obiectelor de artă din timpul lui Ştefan cel Mare, 244-275,
Ed. Academiei R.P.R., Bucureşti.
THEODORESCU 1974 Theodorescu, R., Bizanţ, Balcani, Occident la începuturile
culturii medievale româneşti (secolele X-XIV, Ed. Academiei
R.S.R., Bucureşti.
THE CHURCH OF ALEXANDER THE GOOD FROM THE BISTRIȚA MONASTERY 523

Pl. I. Bistrița Monastery (Neamț County). The plans of the two churches (B1 and B2) with the
arrangement of the archaeological sections and cassettes.
524 LIA BĂTRÎNA, ADRIAN BĂTRÎNA

Pl. II. Bistrița Monastery (Neamț County). The plans of the two churches (B1 and B2) and the
proposals for the elevation reconstitution the first one (B1).
THE CHURCH OF ALEXANDER THE GOOD FROM THE BISTRIȚA MONASTERY 525

Pl. III. Bistrița Monastery (Neamț County). The plan of the church made by Alexander the Good church
(B1) with the reconstitution proposals for the vaulting system and of the windows gaps and entrances.
526 LIA BĂTRÎNA, ADRIAN BĂTRÎNA

Pl. IV. Bistrița Monastery (Neamț County). 1. Glazed decorative disc; 2. Fragment of a decorative
panel and its graphic reconstitution.
THE CHURCH OF ALEXANDER THE GOOD FROM THE BISTRIȚA MONASTERY 527

Pl. V. Bistrița Monastery (Neamț County). 1-2. Fragments of decorative panels and their graphic
reconstitution.
528 LIA BĂTRÎNA, ADRIAN BĂTRÎNA

Pl. VI. Bistrița Monastery (Neamț County). 1-2. Fragments of decorative panels and their graphic
reconstitution.