2021Ladies of the Romanian Voivodes (I) - First Day Cover

In the history of the Romanians, as in general in the history of Europe, to rule – to govern the people from the position of a throne – was a male prerogative. Therefore, our history has retained especially the voivodes who, over the centuries, have reigned on the thrones of the Romanian principalities. But alongside them, often in their shadow, lived the ladies of these voivodes, wives who, though less known than them, both to contemporaries and posterity, had their significance in the lives of these rulers and sometimes in the life of the country. Some played their part discreetly, intervening in the course of history through important acts, but committed without ostentation. Others became involved more noisily and publicly in the country’s affairs, meddling in politics and wars. So little is known about some that, despite all research, they remain to this day enigmatic figures of our past, although they were the wives of prominent rulers, whose reigns are well documented.