Ioan Vodă cel Cumplit

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Ioan Vodă cel Cumplit or Ioan Vodă cel Viteaz (b. 1521 – d. 1574) was a voivode of Moldavia between February 1572 and June 1574.

[edit] Reign

He was one of the last Romanian rulers to battle the Turks. His short reign was marked by fierce combat against the Ottoman Empire and their Crimean Tatar allies. In order to counter the power of the Ottomans, he allied himself with the Ukrainian Cossacks. He was victorious at Brăila, Tighina and Cetatea Alba. When an army of 150,000 Turks was sent against him, he personally surrendered, hoping that his Moldavian and Cossack soldiers would be spared. He was killed by the Ottomans by tying his body to two camels, which drove in opposite directions.