Le privilège commercial accordé aux marchands de Lvov par Alexandre le Bon (Octobre, 1408) peut-il être un repère pour les villes de la Moldavie ?

Abstract : Can the commercial privilege granted by Alexander the Good to the Lvov merchants (october 1408) help mapping the Moldavian towns ? The commercial privilege awarded to the merchants from the Polish town of Lwow, on October 8, 1408, by Alexandru cel Bun, the voivode of Moldova, is considered an essential written document, both illustrating the voivode’s politics for introducing Moldova into a large international economic circuit, and highlighting the voivode’s efforts to improve the relations with the Polish kingdom. Yet, this written document has never been considered as a faithful reflection of the economic realities of the Moldova of the beginning of the 15th century, one of the things missed about it being its importance concerning the knowledge on the main urban network of the Romanian villages east of the Carpathians. Especially this second observation represents the starting point for the observations made in the present study, the comparison with the content of the following confirmations of the same privilege allowing us to note the entrance of new towns (not mentioned in the 1408 document) in the economic circuit of Moldova, towards the middle and the second half of the 15th century. At the same time, however, the comparison between the initial privilege and the successive confirmations awarded by the successors of Alexandru cel Bun up to tefan cel Mare, including the latter, illustrates, from the economic viewpoint, a significant process of increase and diversification of the list of merchandises sold by the merchants of Lwow in Moldova. And, as anyone can see, especially the diversification of the products brought by the merchants of Lwow in Moldova (the observation being valid concerning the activity of other foreign merchants in Moldova as well, who were as well beneficiaries of other commercial privileges), expresses the capacity of the local market to “ absorb” the respective goods and, implicitly, the improvement of the civilizational level of the Moldavian society, a reality illustrated, as well, by the results of the archaeological research carried out in urban and rural settlements of those times. Among the conclusions drawn by the present study, we will highlight especially one : the 1408 commercial privilege is the first known document to legislate a customs regime established by the voivodes of Moldova, concerning exclusively the international commerce.Matei Mircea D. Le privilège commercial accordé aux marchands de Lvov par Alexandre le Bon (Octobre, 1408) peut-il être un repère pour les villes de la Moldavie ?. In: Annales d'Université "Valahia" Târgovişte. Section d'Archéologie et d'Histoire, Tome 11, Numéro 1, 2009. pp. 87-95