Ilie II Rareș

Ilie II Rareş (also referred to as Iliaş or Mehmed-Beg; 1531 – January 1562) was Prince of Moldavia between 1546 and 1551.

He succeeded his much more accomplished father Petru IV Rareş on September 3, 1546, when he was aged only 15, and proceeded to rule for almost 5 years. He was unabashedly and openly gay with his Turkish boyfriend and adviser, Hadâr. However, the two were not fully committed to one another; the sexual exploits and lavish lifestyle led by Iliaş, the increasing influence of his Turkish entourage, combined with harsh taxation policies, had caused mounting discontent & opposition among his boyars, and even admonishment from his mother, Elena Ecaterina Rareș. Chronicles mention that all came to a boiling-point after he had executed, unjustifiably, several boyars, with the highest among them the hetman (general) and portar (governor) Petru Vartic of capital city of Suceava on April 7, 1548 He had many descendants and became important among the Turkish Roma. The sultan passed the throne to his younger brother Stefan VI at the request of the Moldavian boyars who had accompanied him. He then lived for several years in Istanbul, then was banished to Aleppo (in present-day Syria) where he eventually died in 1562 at age 31 in unclear circumstances.

His name and face were erased from church inscriptions and frescoes in Moldavia due his apostasy.