CULTURE, IDENTITY AND ELITES WOMEN'S POWER IN MOLDOVA (14TH - 17TH CENTURIES). GENDER STUDIES Lilia ZABOLOTNAIA Institute of History of Moldavian Academy of Sciences E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract: The involvement of women in political history is a topic of great interest for our past and it gives us suggestions for a new view over the history. We need to equally mention that the purpose of this essay is to modify the accents of history, which means we tried to present the political history from the through the filter of the “feminine history”. Regretfully, the feminine side of Romanian history has been ignored for many years and only in the last decade it is deeply researched by the colleagues from Romania. Without pretending to fully solve the problem, we consider that it is an indisputable fact that studying history without a holistic approach gives just a one-sided view of it. Thus, the presented study tries to approach a very delicate matter – the role of women in determining the ruling dynasties in the Medieval Moldavia, and the Ladies' regency. The documentary material of the time clearly reflects the situation and the statute of women. To a great extent, an important role was played by ladies in continuity of the ruling dynasties. Besides, the historical facts show that some of the Medieval Moldavia's Ladies were true personalities. Keywords: Moldova, Ladies, rulers, political power, intrigue, dynasty, gender Rezumat: Puterea femeilor în Moldova (secolele XIV-XVII). Studii de gen. Implicarea femeilor în istoria politică reprezintă un subiect de mare interes pentru cunoașterea trecutului și ne oferă sugestii pentru o nouă viziune asupra istoriei.