Europe's Eastern Christian Frontier

Within the shifting political landscapes of Eastern Europe during the late Middle Ages, the principality of Moldavia (extending over today's northeastern third of Romania and the Republic of Moldova) emerged as an eastern Christian frontier—indeed, a bastion, a “gate of Christianity”—in the face of the advancing Ottoman armies and Tatar forces. Moldavia’s leaders—among them Peter I Mușat, Alexander I, and Stephen III—established political, military, and economic contacts in efforts to strengthen