For other uses of this and similar names, see George Ducas (singer)

George Ducas (singer)

George Ducas is an American country music artist. He has released two studio albums: 1994's George Ducas and 1997's Where I Stand, and has charted six singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, of which the highest was the #9 "Lipstick Promises" in 1995...

 and/or Gheorghe Duca (disambiguation)

Gheorghe Duca (disambiguation)

Gheorghe Duca may refer to:* George Ducas , Prince of Moldavia and Wallachia* Gheorghe Duca, a Moldovan politician...

.

Voivode George Ducas (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

: Γεώργιος Δούκας, Romanian

Romanian language

Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...

: Gheorghe Duca) (d. 1685) was three times Prince of Moldavia

Moldavia

Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...

 (September 1665 – May 1666, November 1668 – 20 August 1672, November 1678 – January 1684) and one time Prince of Wallachia

Wallachia

Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...

 (1673 – 29 November 1678).

He was married to Anastasia, the daughter of Eustratie Dabija

Eustratie Dabija

Eustratie Dabija was Prince of Moldavia between 1661 and his death in September 1665.-Rule:As financial collapse had marked the history of Moldavia for several decades running, Dabija is noted for re-introducing the mint in Suceava from his first year of rule...

, and later to Dafina Doamna; George Ducas fathered Constantine Ducas

Constantine Ducas (Moldavian ruler)

Constantine Ducas , son of George Ducas, was a Voivode of Moldavia between April 1693 and December 18, 1695 and September 12, 1700–July 26, 1703....

.

First two rules in Moldavia

A Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

, George Ducas had been kept in Vasile Lupu

Vasile Lupu

Vasile Lupu was a Moldavian Voivode between 1634 and 1653. Vasile Coci surnamed "the wolf" who ruled as Prince of Moldavia had secured the Moldavian throne in 1634 after a series of complicated intrigues and managed to hold it for twenty years. Vasile was of Albanian origin and Greek education...

's retinue

Retinue

A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble or royal personage, a suite of "retainers".-Etymology:...

 and slowly overcame the obstacles set by his modest social origin.

Supported by Dafina Doamna and some of the boyars, he came to the throne in Iaşi

Iasi

Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...

 after Dabija's death, but was soon ousted after his opponents appealed to the Ottomans

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

, unjustly claiming Duca's rule was corrupt.

He contracted large debts in order to reclaim the throne, which he managed to following Alexandru Iliaş' rule. The policy of increased taxation led to the uprising of Mihalcea Hâncu in October 1671, crushed the next year after Ducas received Ottoman help. But, as Ducas failed to provide supplies needed for the War

Great Turkish War

The Great Turkish War refers to a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and contemporary European powers, then joined into a Holy League, during the second half of the 17th century.-1667–1683:...

 against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...

, with the Sultan

Ottoman Dynasty

The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...

 Mehmed Dördüncü

Mehmed IV

Mehmed IV Modern Turkish Mehmet was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687...

's life placed in peril at the attack of Kamianets-Podilskyi

Kamianets-Podilskyi

Kamyanets-Podilsky or Kamienets-Podolsky is a city located on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi...

, the Turks swiftly replaced him with Ştefan Petriceicu.

Rule in Wallachia

In 1674, through the intervention of the Cantacuzino

Cantacuzino family

The Cantacuzino or Cantacuzène family is an old boyar family of Wallachia and Moldavia, a branch of Greek Kantakouzinos family, allegedly descended from the Byzantine Emperor John VI Cantacuzenus. No definite genealogical links between Byzantine Greek and Romanian Cantacuzinos have been established...

 boyars, he was awarded the throne in Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

; soon however, the alliance between the Cantacuzinos and Ducas crumbled, the Prince being replaced by Şerban Cantacuzino

Serban Cantacuzino

Șerban Cantacuzino was a Prince of Wallachia between 1678 and 1688.He took part in the Ottoman campaign ending in their defeat at the Battle of Vienna...

.

Last rule in Moldavia and rule in Right-bank Ukraine

He was soon back on the Moldavian throne, following Antonie Ruset's reign.

George Ducas had plans of extending his rule over Right-bank Ukraine

Right-bank Ukraine

Right-bank Ukraine , a historical name of a part of Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding with modern-day oblasts of Volyn, Rivne, Vinnitsa, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad and Kiev, as well as part of Cherkasy and Ternopil...

, where Ottoman gains had started with the acquisition of Podolia

Podolia

The region of Podolia is an historical region in the west-central and south-west portions of present-day Ukraine, corresponding to Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Vinnytsia Oblast. Northern Transnistria, in Moldova, is also a part of Podolia...

 in 1672. His overlord appointed him Hetman over the newly-gained regions, in 1680 or 1681, after much bribery

Bribery

Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...

 strained the Moldavian treasury

Treasury

A treasury is either*A government department related to finance and taxation.*A place where currency or precious items is/are kept....

 as much as the request that Ducas had placed on the taxed categories that they contribute to his daughter's dowry

Dowry

A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...

.

In 1683, Ducas joined the Ottomans in their march and the Battle of Vienna

Battle of Vienna

The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...

. Helped by his absence and aware of the complete failure of the Ottoman plans, boyars throughout the land rebelled, following Ştefan Petriceicu's command, and welcomed the invading Poles and Cossack

Cossack

Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...

s.

On his way back, Ducas was captured on December 25 and sent to a prison in Poland, where he died in the following year.