The Moldavian Lady and the Elder Lords of the East

The article seeks to bring a new perspective to the political and diplomatic history east of the Carpathians in the early 1430s by drawing upon a recently discovered document in the Geheimes Staatsarchiv, Preussscher Kulturbesitz (Berlin), probably dating from spring 1431, in which Duke Svidrigiello of Lithuania states his readiness to marry the daughter-hitherto unknown-of Alexander I eel Bun (the Just) of Moldavia. This document provides new information regarding the relationship between Sigismund of Luxemburg and the Duchy of Lithuania in the aftermath of Duke Witold's death in autumn of 1430, and sheds new light on the various agendas at play between the duchies of Moldavia and Lithuania and the kingdoms of Hungary and Poland in the face of the Turkish threat commanded by the astute Sultan Murad II.