Abstract
The Putna Monastery was in a state of decay at the middle of the 18th century. For its renovation the Metropolitan Jacob of Putna appealed to Constantin Cehan Racoviță, prince of Moldavia between 1749–1753 and 1756–1757, with whom he had a privileged relation. The prince answered affirmatively, granting the monastery a consistent financial help for rebuilding the fortified walls of the precinct, numerous tax exemptions and donations from the princely estate. Some of the charters granted to the monastery are hitherto unpublished. They are preserved in the archive of the monastery and are published in extenso in the appendix of this paper.
Constantin Cehan Racoviță granted the monastery financial benefits and donations exclusively during his second reign, especially the first three months: April, May and June. In the solemn charter from the 15th of June 1756, by which he confirmed all the privileges that he had given to the monastery in the preceding months, he mentioned that by his acts he wanted to reestablish all the privileges from the time of Stephen the Great. As a sign of gratitude, in 1757 the monks, together with metropolitan Jacob, placed his coat of arms on the western side of the newly renovated entrance tower, tower which has on the opposite side the inscription of the founder of the monastery, Stephen the Great.
Keywords
Constantin Cehan Racoviță, founder, privileges, Putna Monastery, renovation
