Reign
After a short stay in Adrianopole, the new Prince entered Bucharest on 19 August 1583, accompanied by a retinue of foreigners. Apparently, he aimed to replace some of the boyars with his own protegees: he ordered the killings of several Sfat members. At the same time, Petru increased taxes - this was motivated not only by his own large debt, but also by the fact that the throne was awarded to him on the condition not to cease payments owed by Mihnea (as Petru had waited to be awarded the throne, all debts had accumulated interest); on the side, the Prince also amassed a large personal fortune - more than half a million scudi by 1583.
He expanded and improved the Court in Târgovişte (largely ruined today), notably by adding (1584) the Casa Domnească (Princely House), a Renaissance-inspired small palace, by building a new wall and Princely church, and by introducing plumbing. Petru Cercel established a bronze cannon foundry in the city.
Read more about this topic: Petru Cercel
Famous quotes containing the word reign:
“We may be witnesses to a Biblical prophecy come true. “And there shall be destruction and darkness come upon creation, and the beasts shall reign over the earth.””
—Ted Sherdeman. Gordon Douglas. Dr. Medford (Edmund Gwenn)
“Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature’s monotony. The sublime idea men have of the universe would collapse with dizzying speed. The order which we find in nature, and which is only an effect of art, would at once vanish. Everything would break up in chaos. There would be no seasons, no civilization, no thought, no humanity; even life would give way, and the impotent void would reign everywhere.”
—Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918)
“See how peaceful it is here. The sea is everything. An immense reservoir of nature where I roam at will.... Think of it. On the surface there is hunger and fear. Men still exercise unjust laws. They fight, tear one another to pieces. A mere few feet beneath the waves their reign ceases, their evil drowns. Here on the ocean floor is the only independence. Here I am free.”
—Earl Felton, and Richard Fleischer. Captain Nemo (James Mason)