Laţcu was the Voivode of
MoldaviaMoldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
between circa 1365 and 1373. He was the son of
Bogdan IBogdan of Cuhea is the second founding-figure of the Principality of Moldavia, its ruler between 1359 and 1365...
. His name is a diminutive form of
Vladislav (or
Ladislau), often used in that period in
HungaryThe Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...
.
During his reign,
Roman CatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole...
was introduced in Moldavia. On March 9 1371, the
ArchbishopIn Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in...
of
KrakówKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
appointed a man called
Andrei as
BishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of
SiretSiret is a town in Suceava County in the Northeast of Romania. The town is on the right bank of the Siret river and borders to Ukraine at North....
. On September 3 1371,
PopeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
Gregory XI appointed a second Bishop over
MilcovMilcovul or Milcov is a commune in Vrancea County, Romania. It is located in the historical region of Moldavia.In 1227 Milcov became the seat of the Diocese of Cumania, a Roman Catholic bishopric which served the Cumans and the Teutonic Knights in the Burzenland. The diocese was destroyed during...
.
Laţcu became a Catholic in 1370 in order to gain equal religious status with the rival
PolishIn the first centuries of its existence, the Polish nation, one of its early names was Civitas Schinesghe as recorded in the Dagome iudex, was led by a series of strong rulers who converted the Poles to Christianity, created a strong Central European state, and integrated Poland into European culture...
and Hungarian Kings.
Laţcu was the Voivode of
MoldaviaMoldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
between circa 1365 and 1373. He was the son of
Bogdan IBogdan of Cuhea is the second founding-figure of the Principality of Moldavia, its ruler between 1359 and 1365...
. His name is a diminutive form of
Vladislav (or
Ladislau), often used in that period in
HungaryThe Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...
.
During his reign,
Roman CatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole...
was introduced in Moldavia. On March 9 1371, the
ArchbishopIn Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in...
of
KrakówKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
appointed a man called
Andrei as
BishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of
SiretSiret is a town in Suceava County in the Northeast of Romania. The town is on the right bank of the Siret river and borders to Ukraine at North....
. On September 3 1371,
PopeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
Gregory XI appointed a second Bishop over
MilcovMilcovul or Milcov is a commune in Vrancea County, Romania. It is located in the historical region of Moldavia.In 1227 Milcov became the seat of the Diocese of Cumania, a Roman Catholic bishopric which served the Cumans and the Teutonic Knights in the Burzenland. The diocese was destroyed during...
.
Laţcu became a Catholic in 1370 in order to gain equal religious status with the rival
PolishIn the first centuries of its existence, the Polish nation, one of its early names was Civitas Schinesghe as recorded in the Dagome iudex, was led by a series of strong rulers who converted the Poles to Christianity, created a strong Central European state, and integrated Poland into European culture...
and Hungarian Kings. He has been recognized by the
Holy SeeThe Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and speaks for the whole Catholic...
as a
dukeA duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy. The title comes from the Latin Dux Bellorum, which had the sense of "military commander" and was employed by both the Germanic peoples themselves and by the Roman authors...
of
MoldaviaMoldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, which is mentioned as inhabited by the Vlach nation (
dux Moldavie partium seu nationis Wlachie).
He also hoped that the Pope would allow him to divorce his wife, who could not bear him a son, but, in a letter from January 25 1372, the
PontiffA pontiff was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the principal college of priests. The term was later applied to any high or chief priest and, in ecclesiastical usage, to a bishop, and more particularly to the Bishop of Rome, the Pope or "Roman Pontiff".-Etymology:The English term derives through...
declined his request. He had a daughter from his wife
Ana, named
Anastasia, who married Roman I, the son of Costea Muşat, the voivode that succeeded him, and the first ruler of the Muşat family.
When Laţcu died, he was interred in the
RădăuţiRădăuţi is a municipality in Suceava County, Romania with a population of 27,759 inhabitants.-Geography:...
church alongside his father
Bogdan IBogdan of Cuhea is the second founding-figure of the Principality of Moldavia, its ruler between 1359 and 1365...
.