War, Diplomacy, and “Family Affairs” in Seventeenth-Century Eastern Europe: Moldavia in the Danubian Policy of Bohdan Khmelnytsky (1648–1653)

Abstract

Marital diplomacy and marriages have been known in history as effective political tools. While many events occurred under the impact of political, social, and religious factors, “family affairs,” through intrigues and dynastic contacts, also played an important role. Such is the case of the marriage of Ruxandra, the youngest daughter of the Moldavian hospodar Vasile Lupu, and Tymish, the oldest son of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Their marriage in 1652 was the result of the hetman’s Danubian foreign policy during the most dramatic episode of seventeenth-century Ukrainian history—the Zaporozhian Cossack uprising against the Poles. In addition to the ethno-political and cultural-religious backgrounds, the internationalized Polish-Ukrainian conflict was infected by a “personal feature,” that is the “Moldavian affair” of the Khmelnytsky clan. This article examines the circumstances that led to the political alliance of Bohdan Khmelnytsky with Vasile Lupu and explores how the hetman’s dynastic project shaped political alliances during the conflict between the Poles and the Ukrainian Cossacks. Particular attention is paid to Romanian-language studies frequently omitted in Western scholarship.