The distribution of land in Wallachia and…

The distribution of land in Wallachia and Moldavia had changed dramatically during the brief tenure of Michael the Brave and the early years of Turkish suzerainty.

Wallachian and Moldavian princes over the years have made land grants to loyal boyars in exchange for military service so that by the seventeenth century hardly any land is left.

Boyars in search of wealth have begun encroaching on peasant land and their military allegiance to the prince weakens.

As a result, serfdom has spread, successful boyars become more courtiers than warriors, and an intermediary class of impoverished lesser nobles develops.

Would-be princes are forced to raise enormous sums to bribe their way to power, and peasant life grows more miserable as taxes and exactions increase.

Any prince wishing to improve the peasants' lot risks a financial shortfall that could enable rivals to out-bribe him at the Porte and usurp his position.

Matei Basarab becomes in 1632 the last of Wallachia's predominant family to take the throne.