”LEARNING ABOUT HEROES THROUGH

LEGENDS”

PRESENTATION OF THE COMENIUS PROJECT

Romanian legend

The legend of Stephen the Great and Vrancioaia 

Once upon a time, when Stephen the Great and Saint was ruling Moldavia, while fighting the Turks…

…there was a hard working woman named Tudora Vrancioaia…

… and she had seven sons: Bodea, Spirea, Negrila, Barsan, Spulber, Pavel and Nistor. All seven of them were shepherds in Vrancea’s mountains, like most young men in that region…

It happened that in one battle Stephen the Great was defeated, not having enough army.

Alone, hungry, tired and sad, he knocked at Vrancioaia’s door and asked for shelter for the night. She took him in, this being an unwritten law of hospitality to strangers, and offered him food and drink. Soon after that the king fell asleep, without revealing his true identity.

Vrancioaia guessed who he was by looking at his clothes and face. She had heard that the king was in trouble, so she called her sons from their work and asked them to raise a small army in the mountains and go to war. The young men did what their mother had told them and in the morning, when the king woke up, the army was waiting for him In front of the house.

He gladly went to battle, with Vrancioaia’s sons besides him, and vanquished his foes that time.

None of the seven brothers were killed in that battle, and at the end of the fight Stephen called them and rewarded them.

Each brother received one of Vrancea’s mountains along with a royal deed for it.

And thus the seven brothers went back to their businesses, each of them founding a village named after him.

And their mother remained a legend for her hard work and courage, for her generous heart and love for her country.

The end

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.