Stroe Leurdeanu, also known as Stroe (sin) Fiera, Stroie Leurdeanu, Stroe Leordeanu, or Stroe Golescu (ca. 1600 – 1678 or 1679), was a Wallachian statesman and political intriguer, son of Logothete Fiera Leudeanu. He began his career with the Wallachian military forces, serving as Spatharios and seeing action in the Polish–Ottoman War of 1633. Related by marriage to the Craiovești dynasty, he emerged as one of the country's most important officials under Prince Matei Basarab: as Vistier, he was in charge of the princely treasury, and also became a regent (or Caimacam) in 1645. Matei also adopted Stroe's son, Istratie Leurdeanu, but in 1651 turned against the family, and found Stroe guilty of embezzlement. He returned to high favor under a new Prince, Constantin Șerban, who made him his Logothete.
Chased out of the country by the Seimeni rebellion and again during Constantin Șerban's downfall, the Leurdeanus remained at the center of political life into the 1660s. Although he ordered Istratie's execution, Prince Mihnea III used Stroe as his diplomat, causing the latter to be detained as a hostage by the Ottoman Empire. From 1660, he enjoyed the favors of Mihnea's replacement, George Ghica, who kept him as Logothete. Grigore I Ghica appointed Leurdeanu as regent during the Austro–Turkish War. This moment saw the eruption of a conflict between Leurdeanu and the Cantacuzino family. In 1663, he engineered an intrigue which led to the execution of Postelnic Constantin I Cantacuzino.
Sidelined under Radu Leon, Leurdeanu was brought to justice by Antonie Vodă in 1669. Sentenced to death but then pardoned, he was forced to take orders at Snagov Monastery. He escaped and fled abroad, returning to Wallachia as Grigore Ghica retook the throne, and again served as regent during the Polish–Ottoman War of 1672. Befriending Ghica's successor, George Ducas, he was kept by the latter as Logothete, Vornic, and occasional Ispravnic of the throne. He was victorious over the Cantacuzinos in his final years, overseeing the arrest and torture of Constantin II.
Leurdeanu probably died as a monk, at some point before December 1679. He had many sons, but only two are known to have survived him. One was Stroe II, who maintained leading positions at the court of Constantin Brâncoveanu, together with his nephew Radu Golescu. The Leurdeanu line was nevertheless extinguished, and survived into modernity through a collateral branch, the Golescu family.
Biography
Rise
Leurdeanu is seen by various historians as one of the most significant boyars in early modern Romanian history, when Wallachia was an autonomous subject of the Ottoman Empire. He was born ca. 1600 as the son of Wallachia's Great Logothete, Fiera Leudeanu, and as such a relative of Constantin Șerban, who would become Prince of Wallachia in the 1650s. Several sources suggest that Stroe's mother was Tudora, Fiera's second wife and previously the paramour of Prince Michael the Brave; if proven, this would make Stroe a half-brother of Michael's boyaress daughter, Marula Cornățeanca. From his marriages, Fiera also had sons Vintilă, Nedelco and Neagu, none of whom managed to enter titular boyardom; Fiera's daughters include Stanca, who married Balica of Breasta, and an anonymous wife of Vornic Dumitru Dudescu.
Leurdeanu's first assignment appears to have been as Postelnic from June 15, 1625, under Alexandru Coconul; he is next mentioned as Spatharios of the Wallachian military forces on January 8, 1627. His father had his final commission in 1626, dying at some point in 1629. During his subsequent ascent, Stroe was married three times. No surviving document mentions the name of his first wife, though she is known to have given birth to his eldest son, Istratie Leurdeanu. She may also have given birth to two of Stroe's other known sons, Sluger Nedelco and Clucer Costea. Stroe's last two wives are known by name. The first was Vișa Goleasca, related to the Craiovești-Brâncoveanu family—daughter of the Greek Postelnic Fota and niece of Preda Brâncoveanu, she was more distantly related to Matei Basarab, who took the Wallachian throne in 1632. According to family tradition, Vișa had in fact been adopted by her princely relative, meaning that Leurdeanu was symbolically Matei's son-in-law. From this matrimonial arrangement, Stroe received in 1630 the village of Criva. The third and last of Leurdeanu's wives was another one of Prince Matei's relatives, Elina of Prooroci (died 1655).