13 Facts About Gheorghe Bibescu

Gheorghe Bibescu's rule coincided with the revolutionary tide that culminated in the 1848 Wallachian revolution.

Gheorghe Bibescu subsequently took on different offices, including that of secretary of state.

Gheorghe Bibescu was elected hospodar, supported by both the conservative boyars and the younger liberals.

Gheorghe Bibescu did not change the government immediately after the election, as it was made up mostly of Ghica's political adversaries.

Gheorghe Bibescu approved the contract, but the Public Assembly protested against it: the deputies saw it as an intervention of the protecting power in local politics.

The contract was eventually cancelled, but, caught between the Assembly's position and the Russian authorities, on 4 March 1844, Bibescu dissolved the Public Assembly with the approval of Russian Emperor Nicholas I When elections for the body were convened in November 1846, he used several means to silence opposition, thus awarding himself a subservient legislature.

Two and a half years after that, Gheorghe Bibescu passed laws for public works and public administration.

Gheorghe Bibescu worked for better relations with Moldavia, and, starting 1847, the two countries established a customs union, after an agreement with Mihail Sturdza, the Moldavian hospodar.

Gheorghe Bibescu convinced the Russian government to allow him to impose some taxes on those monasteries that had been dedicated to various Orthodox centers of worship outside the Danubian Principalities' territories.

In 1859, Gheorghe Bibescu was presented as candidate to the throne by the conservatives who opposed Wallachia's union with Moldavia.

Gheorghe Bibescu was married to Zoe Brancoveanu, the last of the Brancoveanu family, therefore inheriting all the titles and wealth.

Gheorghe Bibescu entered into a conflict with the Orthodox Church, as he wanted to divorce Zoe.

Gheorghe Bibescu eventually managed to obtain the divorce in 1845 and in September of the same year, he married Maria Vacarescu, in Focsani.