Ioan Gheorghe Caragea

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Ioan Gheorghe Caragea was a phanariot hospodar of Wallachia (reigned 1812-1818). He became famous due to the Bubonic plague epidemic that started in 1813, one year after the beginning of his reign.

[edit] Biography

Born in the Caragea family, Ioan Caragea was named hospodar of Wallachia in 1812. According to the report of the French Embassador to Constantinople, in order to become the hospodar, Caragea paid 8000 gold bags (4 million lei).^[1]

In the first night he spent in Wallachia as a hospodar, the royal residence of Dealul Spirii (Curtea Nouă) burnt down. Soon, one of the men in his staff which came with him from Constantinople died of bubonic plague and Wallachia was struck by one of the worst epidemics in its history. An estimated 70,000 people died of the plague in the entire country, with 40,000 victims in Bucharest. Caragea fled the city and settled at the nearby Monastery of Cotroceni. The epidemic became known as Caragea's plague.

In 1812, his nephew, Prince Alexander Mavrocordatos was a guest at his court, with whom he passed into exile in Imperial Russia and the Italian Peninsula (1817).

On 26 March 1814, Caragea gave his son, Costache the entire city of Ploieşti as a gift for the wedding with Raluca Moruzi, whos family once owned the land on which the city was built. The inhabitants of Ploieşti revolted and the ispravnics were afraid to take any measure. After another decree which confirmed the last one, the shopkeepers of Ploieşti decided to close all the shops of Ploieşti as a protest and on 14 April of the same year, every activity of the city stopped. Caragea sent to prison without a trial the heads of the rebellion, but he revoked his order upon learning that one of them was a Russian sudit.^[2]

In June 1816, a conspiracy against Caragea and the members of his divan was averted and the heads of the revolutionary movement (including two Austrian sudiţi) were executed. The boyars suspected of being associated with the plotters (among them Constantin Filipescu, Vornic Constantin Bălăceanu and Great Logofăt Grigore Ghica) were exiled to their estates.^[3]

In 1818, Caragea issued a code of law known as the Caragea law, which established high feudal taxes for the peasants, and banned women from political life. Caragea managed to gather large amounts of money, via direct taxes (for peasants and guilds), the selling of boyar titles, mines and custom tariffs. The incomes of the Hospodar grew from 1.5 million lei to 3.7 million lei.^[4]

Being afraid of a Russian intervention helped by the local boyars, on 29 September 1818, Ioan Caragea fled the country. In the morning of that day, he participated at a religious ceremony dedicated to the late Radu Golescu and after lunch, he pretended to go with the whole family for a walk outside the city. After four hours, a messenger sent by Caragea announced the boyars that he left the country and named an interim căimăcămie of Ban Grigore Brâncovenu, Vornic Barbu Văcărescu, Vistier Grigore Ghica and Logofăt Samurcaş.^[5]

He left with a guard made out of 300 Albanian mercenaries (arnăuţi) who lead him to Braşov. All the bridges from Bucharest to Braşov were destroyed so that no one could follow him. Caragea prepared his run for some time, sending large amounts of money in Switzerland, Russia and England.^[5]

A few weeks later, he left for Pisa, Italy, where he settled and lived for the rest of his life out of the wealth accumulated in Wallachia. He donated some of the money to the cause of Filiki Eteria and the Greek revolutionary movement.^[4]