Paharnic

The Paharnic (plural: Paharnici; also known as Păharnic, Paharnec, or Păharnec; Moldavian dialect: Ceașnic,Greek: Παχαρνίκοσ, Pakharnikos,Russian: Пахарник, Paharnik) was a historical Romanian rank, one of the non-hereditary positions ascribed to the boyar aristocracy in Moldavia and Wallachia (the Danubian Principalities). It was the local equivalent of a Cup-bearer or Cześnik, originally centered on pouring and obtaining wine for the court of Moldavian and Wallachian Princes. With time, it became a major administrative office and, in Wallachia, also had a lesser military function. The retinue of such boyars, usually called Păhărnicei, was in both countries also a private army.

Dating back to ca. 1400, the Paharnici were at the forefront of political life in Wallachia over the following two centuries, often as a title associated with the Craiovești and Florescu boyars. Wallachian Paharnici were especially important during the 16th and 17th centuries, when they included figures such as Lupu Mehedințeanu, Șerban of Coiani, and Matei Basarab. They and other Paharnici established means of boyar protection against the social ascent of immigrant Greeks. Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu, himself a former Paharnic, gave a privileged position to the Păhărnicei, but put to death their controversial Paharnic, Staico Bucșanu. Before 1700, figures associated with the Moldavian office included close relatives of the monarchs, such as Alexandru Coci and Ștefan Lupașcu Hâjdău. Though the office itself steadily declined in importance, it was still subjected to a reform by Prince Dimitrie Cantemir.

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