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35-651: The high school was named after three loyal noblemen, the Buzești brothers , Preda, Radu , and Stroe Buzescu, who were the inseparable, strongest military supporters of voivode Michael the Brave ; their noble blood line goes back to 1461 AD. Between 1590 and 1600 they fought valiantly, numerous times in the army of the Christian Prince Michael the Brave against the Ottoman Turks . As a high school it

70-888: A "noble" and to mean simply "large landowner". Cuza's Constitution (known as the Statut ) of 1864 deprived the boyars from the legal privileges and the ranks officially disappeared, but, through their wealth, they retained their economic and political influence, particularly through the electoral system of census suffrage . Some of the lower boyars joined the bourgeoisie involved in commerce and industry. A number of 2000 large landowners held over 3 million hectares or about 38% of all arable land. Most of these boyars no longer took any part in managing their estates, but rather lived in Bucharest or in Western Europe (particularly France, Italy and Switzerland). They leased their estates for

105-616: A different class existed of landlords without a boyar title, called cneji or judeci in Wallachia and nemeși in Moldavia. They were however not tax-exempt like the boyars. The upper boyars (known as vlastelin in Wallachia) had to supply the hospodar with a number of warriors proportional to the number of villages they owned. Some boyars were court officials , the office being called dregătorie , while others were boyars without

140-434: A fixed sum to arendași (leaseholders). Many of the boyars found themselves in financial difficulties; many of their estates had been mortgaged. The lack of interest in agriculture and their domains led to a dissolution of the boyar class. The Boyars of Wallachia and Moldavia were divided into three primary classes, the most prestigious of which was the first rank. Vitally important to boyar identity and class stratification

175-449: A function. Important offices at the court that were held by boyars included vistier ( treasurer ), stolnic (pantler), vornic ( concierge ) and logofăt ( chancellor ). While early the court officials were not important and often they were not even boyars, with time, boyars started to desire the functions, in order to participate in the government of the country, but also to get the incomes that were afferent to each function. While

210-474: A rent to the boyar who owned the land. The boyars were generally excepted from any taxes and rents to be paid to the Hospodar. The boyars were entitled to a rent that was a percentage of the peasants' produce (initially one-tenth, hence its name, dijmă ) in addition to a number of days of unpaid labour ( corvée , locally known as clacă or robotă ). However, not all landlords who owned villages were boyars,

245-632: Is buried at the Călui Monastery . This biographical article of a European noble is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Boyars of Wallachia and Moldavia The boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia were the nobility of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia . The title was either inherited or granted by the Hospodar , often together with an administrative function. The boyars held much of

280-526: The Sămănătorul magazine lamented the disappearance of the boyar class, while not arguing for their return. Historian Nicolae Iorga saw the system not as a selfish exploitation of the peasants by the boyars, but rather as a rudimentary democracy. On the other side of the political spectrum, Marxist thinker Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea thought that the reforms didn't go far enough, arguing that

315-605: The Great Ban and the Great Logofăt . Great Boyars were the only class entitled to wear beards, and wore sable gugiuman hats with red tops (white tops were reserved for the Prince). After reforms made by Prince Constantine Mavrocordatos , descendants of Great Boyars were known as neamuri and descendants of small boyars were known as mazili . Boyars of the second rank, much more numerous than Great Boyars, occupied posts in

350-466: The Turkish nobility , with the difference that instead of the turban , most of them wore a very large işlic . Female members of the boyar class also wore Turkish inspired costume. Many boyars used large sums of money for conspicuous consumption , particularly luxurious clothing, but also carriages, jewelry and furniture. The luxury of the boyars' lives contrasted strongly not only with the squalor of

385-518: The voivodes Michael the Brave and Radu Șerban in battles, fulfilling various missions assigned to them. After the death of Michael, the Buzești brothers opposed Simion Movilă 's short reign and helped Șerban to reach the throne of Wallachia in October 1601. Enjoying a great political and military authority, they consistently supported the reign of Șerban. Radu Buzescu, together with Preda Buzescu,

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420-694: The 14th and 15th centuries, leading to differences within the obște towards a stratification of the members of the community. The creation of the feudal domain in which the landlords were known as boyars , was mostly through danii ("donations") system: the Hospodars gave away whole villages to military servants, usurping the right of property of the obște. By the 16th century, the few remaining still-free villages were forcefully taken over by boyars, while some people were forced to agree to become serfs (see Serfdom in Moldavia and Wallachia ) due to hunger, invasions, high taxes, debts, which further deteriorated

455-483: The 1840s. The opening towards Western Europe meant that the boyars adopted the Western mores and the luxury expenses increased. While the greater boyars were able to afford these expenses through the intensification of the exploitation of their domains (and the peasants working on them), many smaller boyars were ruined by them. Starting with the middle of the 19th century, the word "boyar" began to lose its meaning as

490-568: The Danubian Principalities as retainers of the Phanariots . These families are identified by some scholars as Greco-Levantine owing to the varied ethnic origins of the families (including Greek , Venetian Slav , Albanian , and Bulgarian ) and their self-identification and religious and cultural association with the Fanar , and their preference for speaking Greek . Tensions frequently mounted between native boyars and their Greek counterparts, but

525-761: The Romanian villages, but also with the general appearance of the capitals, this contrast striking the foreigners who visited the Principalities. In the first decade of the 19th-century, female members of the boyar class started to adopt Western fashion: in July 1806, the wife of the Hospodar in Iași , Safta Ipsilanti , received the wife of the French consul dressed according to the French fashion. Male boyars, however, did not reform their costume to Western fashion until around

560-647: The administration such as Clucer , Paharnic , and Stolnic . Second and third rank boyars were not entitled to having beards, but wore mustaches instead. Small boyars wore smaller işlic hats than those of Great Boyars, and third rank boyars often had their hats adorned with large square cushions. These hats were not made of sable felt, but rather polecat, marten, fox, or lamb. In 1829, Great Boyars, second rank boyars, and third rank boyars occupied 59, 612, and 562 named administrative posts in Wallachia, respectively. Many boyar families did not originate in Romania and came to

595-469: The construction of the monumental building of the high school that continues to be used today. During World War II , between 1941 and 1942, the school's building was used by the German troops as a hospital for wounded German soldiers, and later, between September 1944 and 1949, it was used again—this time by the occupying soviet troops—as a hospital for the wounded Red Army soldiers; during such trying times,

630-420: The economic standing of the free peasants. Apart from the court boyars and the military elite, some boyars ("countryside boyars") arose from within the villages, when a leader of the obște (usually called knyaz ) swore fealty to the hospodar and becoming the landlord of the village. The Hospodar was considered the supreme ruler of the land and he received a land rent from the peasants, who also had to pay

665-732: The entire history of the school was — between 1920 and 1940 — the professor of natural sciences Ion P. Ionescu-Argetoaia, with a doctorate in Geology, who gave up a professorship at the University of Timișoara , as well as an assistant professorship at the Sorbonne , in Paris, in order to join "Frații Buzești" as its leader; he was the first to succeed in securing the approval by the Ministry of Education ("Ministerul Instrucțiunii") for

700-502: The era is often called "feudal" in the Romanian historiography, there were some major differences between the status of the Western feudal lords and the status of the Romanian boyars. While a hierarchy existed in Wallachia and Moldavia just like in the West, the power balance was tilted towards the Hospodar, who had everyone as subjects and who had the power to demote even the richest boyar, to confiscate his wealth or even behead him. However,

735-604: The ethnic admixture of both groups was complex. Many boyar families considered native had Greek or distant Greek origins, such as the Cantacuzino family , and both groups were primarily Grecophone. In 1821, native Wallachian families were among the many boyars of the so-called 'Greek party' who went into exile in Kronstadt . Conversely, many families which constituted the 'native' boyar nobility that remained in Wallachia were of Greco-Levantine descent. The movement surrounding

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770-521: The function would often give large incomes in return. While the official functions were often given to both Romanians and Greeks, there was an exception: throughout the Phanariote era, the treasurers were mostly local boyars because they were more competent in collecting taxes. When the descendants of a boyar were not able to obtain even the lowest function, they became "fallen boyars" ( mazili ), who nevertheless, kept some fiscal privileges. Many of

805-599: The gymnasium to be called by the name of "Frații Buzești". At that time, one of its best-known teachers was Nicolae Bănescu , professor of history and French language, who became Vice-President of the Romanian Academy . Its study programme was quite strict and severe, and had as many as 34 hours of study per week; it continued much in the same vein even in the early 1960s. By 1961 it also included compulsory, practical training in Electrotechnics engineering at

840-595: The gymnasium. At its opening on November 1, 1882, the gymnasium had 62 students enrolled in the first grade; it opened in the large classroom of the gymnasium for boys in the building that is now Carol I National College , and its first language teachers were Ștefan Rudeanu for French and Ferdinand Settelin for German. By 1898, there were 184 alumni of the gymnasium, but the school did not have its own building until 1930. On January 9, 1910, however, Spiru Haret — then Minister of Education and Culture ("Ministerul Instrucțiunii și Cultelor") — announced that he approved

875-444: The local University of Craiova , with the latter being less than two miles from the buildings of the two high schools. Radu Buzescu Radu Buzescu was a boyar (noble) of Wallachia during the reign of Michael the Brave . Radu took part in important political and military events at the time. His brothers were Preda and Stroe Buzescu , the three forming the group of the Buzești brothers . Together with them, he helped

910-467: The local works of "ElectroPower" factory for manufacturing electrical train Diesels, with all graduating students receiving certificates for building electrical motors and generators. The school's two rigidly disciplinarian teachers in the 1960s were Sică-Anastasie Petrescu for Mathematics, and Teodoreanu — an elderly Russian Bessarabean — for Physics. However, the most remarkable headmaster in

945-514: The new Phanariote Hospodars came with a Greek retinue who were given the most important official jobs; many of these Greeks married into local boyar families. In order to consolidate their position within the Wallachian and Moldavian boyar class, the officials were allowed to keep their boyar title after the end of their term. The official functions, which traditionally were given for a year, were often bought with money as an investment, since

980-497: The newly bestowed local boyars were wealthy merchants who paid in order to become boyars, in some cases they were even forced by the Hospodar to become boyars (and thus pay the Hospodar a sum). The princely courts of Bucharest and Iași kept title registers, which included a list of all the boyars (known as Arhondologia ). Since the Hospodar wanted to maximize his income, it was in his interest to create as many boyars as possible (and receive money from each), leading to an inflation in

1015-500: The number of boyars. The economic basis of the boyar's class was land ownership: by the 18th century, more than half of the land of Wallachia and Moldavia being owned by them. For instance, according to the 1803 Moldavian census, out of the 1711 villages and market towns, the boyars owned 927 of them. The process that began during the feudal era, of boyars seizing properties from the free peasants, continued and accelerated during this period. The boyars wore costumes similar to those of

1050-578: The political power in the principalities and, until the Phanariote era , they elected the Hospodar. As such, until the 19th century, the system oscillated between an oligarchy and an autocracy with power concentrated in the Hospodar's hands. During the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in autonomous communities called obște which mixed private and common ownership , employing an open field system . The private ownership of land gained ground In

1085-484: The power for the election of the hospodar was held by the great boyar families, who would form groups and alliances, often leading to disorder and instability. After the Phanariote regime was instated in Moldavia (1711) and Wallachia (1716), many of the boyar class was made out of Constantinople Greeks who belonged to the Phanariote clients , who became officials and were assimilated to the boyar class or locals who bought their titles. When coming to Bucharest or Iași,

Frații Buzești National College - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-509: The school was forced to operate grossly overcrowded in the buildings of other schools in Craiova. By the year 2005 there were over 15,000 high school graduates of CNFB, its popularity having increased a lot after the 1930s. Currently, CNFB is a UNESCO -affiliated institution, endowed with high-quality teaching staff, past and present. CNFB's alumni are presently studying and contributing to research and culture at academic institutions throughout

1155-424: The world. For over a century, the two best National Colleges of Craiova, "Frații Buzești" and Carol I National College , have been, and still are, the recognized educational paths for the inhabitants of Oltenia (especially Dolj County ) towards university education; often many alumni of these two best high schools were admitted through very competitive entrance examinations to either the University of Bucharest or

1190-446: Was costume. Boyars wore richly embroidered and expensive oriental costumes with many expensive furs, complemented by tall işlic hats of varying sizes and shapes. The quality, type, and color of material used in boyar costumes and headwear was indicative of one's rank in the social hierarchy. Members of the first rank were called Great Boyars and occupied the most important posts of the Wallachian and Moldavian administrations, including

1225-604: Was formally established in 1882 as "Gimnaziul Real" by an edict of "Ministerul Cultelor" (approved by Petre S. Aurelian , the Minister of Culture at the time), with a predominantly science teaching for boys. The gymnasium motto consists of the two Latin words from the beginning of the Book of Genesis : Fiat Lux (Let There Be Light!). The first director of the gymnasium was Mathematics Professor Grigore Căzănescu, who provided leadership and guidance to both students and professors at

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