Costea Bucioc | |
|---|---|
 Bucioc's inscription at Râșca Monastery, attesting his contribution as ktitor | |
| Vornic of Moldavia | |
| In office August 15 – October 13, 1616 | |
| In office May 12, 1617 – July 20, 1620 | |
| Personal details | |
| Died | July or September 1620 Bessarabia? |
| Spouse(s) | Irina Prăjescu? Candachia Șoldan |
| Relations | Lupu (Vasile) Coci (son-in-law) Dumitru Buhuș (in-law) Ruxandra Khmelnytsky (granddaughter) |
| Children | Lupașcu Bucioc Ionașco Bucioc Tudosca (Lupu) Coci Lady Moțoc |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Moldavia |
| Years of service | 1585–1620 |
| Commands | Moldavian military forces Budjak mercenaries? |
| Battles/wars | Moldavian Magnate Wars |
Costea Bucioc or Coste Băcioc (also known as Büczek;?[1] – July or September 1620) was a Moldavian statesman, commander of the military forces, and father-in-law of Prince Lupu (Vasile) Coci. He began his political career in the 1580s, emerging in the late 1590s as an ally of the Movilești dynasty, with then-Prince Ieremia Movilă advancing him to the post of Clucer. From 1601, he was Constantin Movilă's Paharnic, receiving from him the estate of Deleni and other villages around Hârlău, which formed part of a Bucioc domain that also extended into Bukovina and Bessarabia. Together with the Movilești, he became one of the great landowners of his generation, and one of the first Moldavian boyars known to have owned serfs. Some of his assets went into refurbishing Râșca Monastery, of which he was patron, or ktitor.
As an army leader, Costea was involved in the Moldavian Magnate Wars, during which the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth fought to emancipate its Movilești clients from subservience to the Ottoman Empire. Although Buciuc followed the princely family into its Polish exile in 1611 or 1612, he criticized Constantin's repeated attempts to reconquer Moldavia. During the events that led to Constantin's defeat and drowning, he became a supporter of the Ottoman-appointed Radu Mihnea, emerging as great Vornic of the Lower Country. Bucioc maintained his standing under Prince Gaspar Graziani, despite a mutual hostility: reportedly, Graziani tried to poison his Vornic, and arrested Coci. The former two had reconciled by 1620, when Graziani involved Moldavia on the Polish side in a new war with the Ottomans, fought on Moldavian territory. While Coci spoke out against the project, Bucioc may have commanded the Moldavian troops and been present for the defeat at Țuțora. He was eventually captured by the enemy, possibly after attempting to hide in Braniște. He was finally a prisoner of Iskender Pasha, who had him impaled on charges of treason.
As an Ottoman loyalist, Coci climbed through the ranks of boyardom, and finally became Prince, as "Vasile Lupu" in 1634. Bucioc's grandchildren were Ioan Coci, who was at the center of his father's project for a takeover in Wallachia, but died young in 1639. His father's regime survived to 1653, by which time Bucioc's other granddaughter, Ruxandra, had become wife and widow of Tymofiy Khmelnytsky, an Otaman of the Cossack Hetmanate. Another granddaughter, Maria, moved to Lithuania with her husband Janusz Radziwiłł. The Bucioc inheritance, including Deleni, finally went to collateral relatives, who formed a Moldavian branch of the Cantacuzino family. The Vornic's life was revisited in literature by V. A. Urechia, whose eponymous play was a major success in the 1860s and '70s.
- ^ Stoicescu, p. 348.