Historian Ioan-Aurel Pop's new book ‘Ștefan the Great in Europe’ explores new archival findings
A new history book and public lecture titled Ștefan the Great in Europe by historian and academician Ioan-Aurel Pop was delivered to the scientific community in Moldova.
The event, organised in partnership with the Romanian Academy, brought together specialists and enthusiasts of the era.
It was previously thought the era of Ștefan the Great, along with the ruler's personality, religious foundations, and politics, were well-known. However, research in Western archives by academician Ioan-Aurel Pop and his former student, Professor Alexandru Simon, has provided a new perspective on the sovereign.
"European archives are full of documents, and we've discovered and processed around 200 more in Latin and Italian. The sovereigns of the era were in contact with Ștefan the Great and spoke of him as a hero of the European Christian republic. He was even named King of Dacia at the time," said Ioan-Aurel Pop, an academic and president of the Romanian Academy.
Experts say the volume represents an unquestionable scientific achievement.
"This volume compiles 20 highly original studies that shed new light on how Europe viewed Ștefan the Great," said Ion Eremia, a historian with a habilitated doctorate.
"It's based on new, previously unknown sources from major Italian, Spanish, German, and Viennese libraries and archives. This kind of research will have significant repercussions because it will be necessary to rewrite and reinterpret the entire era of Ștefan the Great," said academician Andrei Eșanu.
"Ioan-Aurel Pop is a symbol of Romanian academic excellence, and 'Ștefan the Great in Europe' demonstrates that our European dream has centuries-old roots," said Ion Tighineanu, president of the Moldovan Academy of Sciences.
"To me, Ștefan the Great is European; he was almost our contemporary and thought about the future of Moldova and Wallachia. It turns out that 130 years before Mihai the Brave, Ștefan the Great was the first Romanian hero of Europe," said Ioan-Aurel Pop, president of the Romanian Academy.
The book's cover features the statue of Ștefan the Great from Chișinău, a masterpiece by sculptor Alexandru Plămădeală, which is considered one of the most valuable in the entire Romanian cultural space.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
