Bogdan III the One-Eyed

Bogdan III the One-Eyed or Bogdan III the Blind (March 18, 1479 – April 20, 1517) was Voivode of Moldavia from July 2, 1504, to 1517. Family Bogdan was born in Huşi as the son of Voivode Ştefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great) and his wife Maria Voichița. He was his father's only surviving legitimate son. Conflict with Poland and Tatar incursions Immediately after Bogdan came to the throne, he expressed his intent to marry Elisabeth, sister of Polish King Alexander the Jagiellonian. After being twice refused despite offering generous gifts (including territorial concessions), he raided southern Poland, and Alexander accepted his demands—provided that Bogdan be more lenient towards the status of the Roman Catholic Church in Moldavia—in 1506. Alexander's death and Sigismund the Old's ascendancy led to a breaking of the previous agreement, provoking further incursions on each side. In October 1509, Bogdan was severely defeated on the Dniester river; a peace was signed on January 17, 1510, when the ruler finally renounced his pretensions. In the same year, Moldavia suffered two major Tatar devastations (they are alleged to have carried away 74,000 as slaves)—in 1511, the Tatars even managed to occupy most of the country. The events forced Poland, still recovering from the great invasion of 1506 (see Tatar invasions), to send troops as aid, helping Bogdan regain his lands after a victory in May 1512.