George Ducas

George Ducas ( – 31 March 1685) was the prince (voivode) of Moldavia (1665–1666, 1668–1672, 1678–1684) and the prince of Wallachia (1674–1678). He also served as the hetman of Ottoman Ukraine (1681–1683).

He was married to Anastasiya Dabizha, the daughter of Prince Eustratie Dabija, and later to Dafina Doamna; George Ducas fathered Constantine Ducas. Prince Gheorghe Duca built the Cetățuia Monastery in Iași (capital of the Principality of Moldavia). It was completed in 1672.

First two rules in Moldavia The fortified palace of the monastery was destined to the lodging of the Prince. It houses a typical 17th century hammam (bathhouse).

Gheorghe Duca was of Greek origin and like many others of his generation who had migrated to the Danubian principalities he rose thanks to his links to other Greeks of high positions. In his youth, another Greek, Vasile Lupu (voivode of Moldavia) took him to his court where Duca was raised.

Supported by Dafina Doamna and some of the boyars, he came to the throne in Iaşi after Dabija's death, but was soon ousted after his opponents appealed to the Ottomans, unjustly claiming Duca's rule was corrupt.

Gheorghe Duca, his wife Anastasia Dabizha and some of their children on a mural of the church.

He contracted large debts in order to reclaim the throne, which he managed to following Iliaș Alexandru's 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 against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the Sultan Mehmed IV's life placed in peril at the attack of Kamianets-Podilskyi, the Ottomans swiftly replaced him with Ștefan Petriceicu. Sultan Mehmed IV, ruler of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687.

Rule in Wallachia In 1674, through the intervention of the Cantacuzino boyars, he was awarded the throne in Bucharest; soon however, the alliance between the Cantacuzinos and Ducas crumbled, the prince being replaced by Șerban Cantacuzino.

Last rule in Moldavia and rule in Right-bank Ukraine

He was soon back on the Moldavian throne, following Antonie Ruset (Rosetti)'s reign. George Ducas had plans of extending his rule over right-bank Ukraine, where Ottoman gains had started with the acquisition of Podolia in 1672. His overlord appointed him as hetman over the newly gained regions, in 1680 or 1681, after much bribery strained the Moldavian treasury as much as the request that Ducas had placed on the taxed categories that they contribute to his daughter's dowry.

In 1683, Ducas joined the Ottomans in their march at the Battle of Vienna. Helped by his absence and aware of the complete failure of the Ottoman plans, boyars throughout the land rebelled, following Ștefan Petriceicu's command, and welcomed the invading Poles and Cossacks.

On his way back, Ducas was captured on 25 December 1683 and sent to a prison in Poland, where he died one year later.

Burial of Prince Gheorghe and his daughter Maria, at the Cetățuia Monastery.