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Throughout the last years of the past century up till present, researchers of the Moldovan, Romanian and Russian genealogies have done an impressive job. Dozens of books and hundreds of articles on the history of the nobility, merchants and banker families, as well as scientifi c and science fi ction publications devoted to specifi c historical fi gures point out to a real surge of interest to their past and historical roots.
Scholar’s attention did not pass by the centuries-old history of the Cantacuzino family, the descendants of the last Byzantine emperors. However, for all the interest and respect to the legendary past of the numerous representatives of this fi ne family, each of them deserving a separate narration, not all of them became subject of an independent historical research. For a very long period of time, among these was Toma Cantacuzino. Only in recent years, a number of monographs and articles were published that shed light on the life and work of this outstanding fi gure of the fi rst quarter of the 18th cc. Unlike the previous publications, the present edition is the result of the author’s lengthy research in the state archives of the Russian Federation. The basis is composed of documents found in the collections of the Russian Archive of Ancient Acts. First of all, the fund of count Alexander Menshikov, where one fi nds most of the documents and papers referring to the military work and daily life of the General Major Toma Cantacuzino, as well as his family members.
The preserved correspondence between the Serene Prince of the Russian state and the count of Walachia, presents a unique opportunity to restore and describe many pages of this extraordinary man and a brave warrior. At the same time, the documents discovered have allowed to substantially revise and supplements the biographies of the other members of the Cantacuzino family, particularly of the fi rst quarter of the 18th cc.
Along with the biographical information, the recovered documents shed light on the pages of history of the Moldovan and Walachian principalities and their military-political ties with the Russian state, which were unjustly forgotten or poorly presented. To these we should include prerequisites and the course of the Prut campaign of 1711 and one of its most striking episodes – the siege and storming of the Brail fortress; organization of the military fortifi cations on the southern borders of Russia; formation of the cavalry units within the Russian army from the Moldovan, Serbian and Walachian immigrants; construction of the Ladoga Canal and many other.
The collection of letters and appeals of Toma Cantacuzino addressed to the Russian Monarch, that are stored in the fund of Peter the Great, is of a great value. Based on them, it became possible to certify the history of the arrival and residence of the Cantacuzino family in Russia, as well as their property and fi nancial situation in the new homeland.
Valuable information is also contained in the documents in the Fund of Prince A. D. Menshikov in the Archive of the Institute of Russian History in St. Petersburg, as well as in the fund of the General Admiral F. M. Apraksin in the Russian State Archive of the Navy. Due to these documents, it was possible to obtain new data on the military-political ties of Russia with the Danubian Principalities and the Balkans, on the campaigns and military operations which Toma Cantacuzino was involved in.
Of particular signifi cance are the documents discovered in the funds of the Military Research Archive, which nowadays is the Fund No: 846, of the Russian Military Historical Archive, which stores the correspondence of Major General T. Cantacuzino with the Hetman of Ukraine I.I Skoropadsky and the Ukrainian regimental offi cers. The letters and dispatches contain valuable information on the beginning of construction works of the Ladoga Canal, and the active participation of the Ukrainian hetman and suburban regiments, that were under the command of T. Cantacuzino.
Along with the written letters and documents of the great spatar and General Major, the author considered it reasonable to present related materials in this edition. These include letters and notes of the government and military fi gures’ addressed to T. Cantacuzino, decisions of the Ruling Senate and the Military Collegium etc. Their presence in this edition will considerably broaden our understanding about this person’s place in the Russian society, his ties and the nature of relationships with the prominent personalities of the time: such as A. D. Menshikov, B. P. Sheremetev, K. A. Renne, P. P. Shafi rov, I. I. Skoropadsky, and many others.
In addition to the collected archive materials, the author found it necessary to publish the documents and evidence about the life and work of count T. Cantacuzino, that were published in the 19th – early 20th cc and have long become a biographic rarity. These include memoirs of chamber junker F. V. Berhgolts, the eyewitness and participant in many events that took place in Russia and the royal court during the reign of Peter I. Due the meticulous records we obtained a unique opportunity of identifying a number of important details, referring to T. Cantacuzino and his family’s biography.
The correspondence of Russian Generals and the state dignitaries with T. Cantacuzino and about him, published in the multivolume edition “Letters and Papers of Peter the Great”, presents an unquestionable value.
In addition to the mentioned publications, new information of Toma Cantacuzino’s biography is taken into consideration and is being published in Romania and France.
Jean Michelle Cantacuzino, the renowned scholar in France, who is also a descendant of the Cantacuzino family, has supplied a great deal of advice, as corrected data on the count’s biography. Through his kind remarks and clarifi cation it became possible to avoid certain errors and inaccuracies committed by the author in his previous works.
It should be noted that the documents used and introduced by the author are only a small refl ection of the active work conducted by T. Cantacuzino in the Walachian principality and the Russian state. In addition to the intensive offi cial and personal correspondence with the Russian political and military leaders, as well as governmental agencies he maintained confi dential correspondence with the secret informants from Transylvania, Moldovan and Walachian principalities, Rzeczpospolita Polska and other countries. It seems that a signifi cant portion of these documents besides Russia, are stored in the state archives of Poland, Austria, and Turkey, waiting for their researcher.
Along with the scientifi c biography of T. Cantacuzino, this monograph is supplemented by numerous documents, the majority of which is introduced for the fi rst time to the scientifi c community. All of them are placed in chronologic order and are provided with comments and scientifi c references. The documents’ style and orthography are preserved. The missing words and letters are enclosed into square brackets.
Список сокращений
АСП ИРИ РАН – Архив Санкт-Петербургского института российской истории Российской академии наук
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