Bogdan I, or Bogdan the Founder, is the first independent ruler, or voivode, of Moldavia in the 1360s.
He had initially been the voivode, or head, of the Vlachs in Maramureș in the Kingdom of Hungary.
However, when the first certain record was made of him in 1343, he was mentioned as a former voivode who had become disloyal to Louis I of Hungary.
He invades the domains of a Vlach landowner who remains loyal to the king in 1349.
Four years later, he is again mentioned as voivode in a charter, which is the last record of his presence in Maramureș.
Bogdan and his retainers leave Maramureș for Moldavia between 1359 and 1365.
Moldavia has been under the rule of Sas of Moldavia, a vassal of Louis I of Hungary, but the local Vlachs are opposed to the Hungarian suzerainty.
Bogdan expels Sas's son, Balc, by force and seizes the throne.
In retaliation, Louis I confiscates Bogdan's estates in Maramureș in 1365.
Bogdan reigns as the first voivode of Moldavia who does not accept the overlordship of Louis I of Hungary, transforming Moldavia into the second independent Romanian principality.
