Though resented by the Janissaries, he was backed by a powerful lobby, comprising Solomon Ashkenazi, Edward Barton, Hoca Sadeddin Efendi, and Patriarch Jeremias II.

[29] Aaron's career overlapped with a generalized political and economic crisis, observed in both Moldavia and Wallachia (the Danubian Principalities), as well as throughout their suzerain power, the Ottoman Empire.

[31] Art historian Corina Nicolescu also describes a "relative stagnation" of cultural development in both states, correlated with the "ever-increasing subjugation" and the "backward characteristics of Turkish society".

[32] This decline corresponded with the Ottoman drive for funds: in 1589, Grand Vizier Koca Sinan Pasha acknowledged that his fiscal regime could only supply one third of the imperial expenses.

[33] In 1591, Peter the Lame, "unable to meet the incessant demands for money that came from Stamboul", relinquished his Moldavian throne, "rather than to await his own ousting, exile, or killing.

"[34] As historian Mihai Maxim notes, Peter was unable to pay his main tribute, or haraç, after the Ottomans' stabilization policy, which included pegging the exchange rate.

[36] According to the 17th-century chronicler Grigore Ureche, Peter was ultimately pushed to resign and flee by his patriotism, dismissing the alternative of increasing revenue through taxation: "he did not want the curse of his country to be on him.

[4] It also provided the Sultan Murad III with new sources of income: as recounted by Mustafa Selaniki (and supported by Maxim), Aaron had promised to collect an even higher haraç than his predecessors.

[47] The tribute for Aaron's first year was set at about 60,000 sequins, possibly ten times its regular value, and the absolute highest sum to be paid by Moldavia.

[50] Both Iorga and Gheorghe I. Brătianu argue that they were inherited from Peter the Lame, and as such comprised up to 400 men "dressed in Hungarian clothing, with swords on their belts and battle axes in hand".

[78] This move may have been dictated by Ambassador Barton, who claimed that Aaron was effectively taking orders from the Church of England through English missionaries Thomas Wilcox and Richard Babynton.

[81] As argued to Maxim, Aaron's return marked Moldavia's passage into another era, resuming "anti-Ottoman struggles" at a level of violence not seen since the times of Petru Rareș (in the 1540s).

[90] Other reports suggest that Komulović first met Aaron and Michael's envoys to Transylvania in February 1594, at Feyérvár (Bălgrad), though it is unclear if they sealed a working alliance there and then.

[99] This initiative was defeated by Chancellor Jan Zamoyski, who pursued a pro-Ottoman line and tried to quell a Cossack insurgency, and who probably informed Murad of Aaron's betrayal.

Ğazı II Giray submitted, staging a raid on Moldavia: in June 1594, the Crimeans encircled Aron in his capital of Iași, then devastated the surrounding region.

They were nominally allies of the Empire and responded to Komulović, but were in practice uncontrollable;[100] they also regarded Aaron as a facilitator of the Crimeans, who had allowed Giray passage through Moldavia.

[110] By then, the Prince had also resumed his practice of dealing violently with his earlier sponsors, executing without trial a Greek banker, Nestor Nevridis,[111] and 19 of his Jewish creditors.

[117] Assisted by Transylvanians and Cossacks, the Moldavians took Cetatea Albă, Ismail and Chilia by March; two detachments crossed over the Danube and defeated the Crimeans in Dobruja, seizing Oblucița.

[118] According to various reports, the Ottoman Army, defeated by Michael at Silistra and Turtukai, included in its ranks Stephen the Deaf, sent in by the Porte to replace Aaron, and Ștefan Bogdan Sasul, who sought the crown of Wallachia.

He believes that Prince Báthory was in fact angered by Aaron having declined to swear fealty during a public ceremony, which was set to take place in Transylvania.

[127] A Transylvanian diplomat, Kristóf Keresztúri, had brought back news that Aaron only recognized as his sovereigns "the Pope and His Sacred Imperial Majesty", viewing Báthory as a mere colleague.

During this interval, he had contacts with the Saxon community: between May 9 and 17, while the family lodged with Johann Hirscher of Corona, Aaron met and befriended chronicler Michael Weiß, who became his confidant.

[138] As argued by historian Marius Diaconescu, the new Moldo–Wallachian–Transylvanian alliances negotiated immediately after Aaron's downfall were effectively a union of the three countries under Báthory's scepter, and masterminded by István Jósika.

[139] However, according to Ludescu's narrative, Aaron's downfall soured relations between Wallachia and Transylvania: Michael, who was not involved in the plot, looked "saddened" by news of his friend's arrest.

[143] Some confusion regarding survivors from Aaron's family was sparked by a Mantuan report of 1595, which claimed that his widow, "Velica", had remarried the Transylvanian courtier Fabio Genga.

[145] Scholar Maria-Venera Rădulescu finds this an unreliable account, and argues that Tarnowski actually refers to Marcu's brother Ionașcu, who was not Aaron's blood relative.

[154] Aaron's alliance with Michael in mid 1594 incidentally marks the final point of the Moldavian historical epic, as told by Grigore Ureche, and the first chapter of its continuation by Miron Costin.

[155] At Agapia, a local legend calls a stone landmark with faint carvings "Aron's Rock", claiming it as a monument to Nicanor's punishment and its avenging by the Prince.

"[158] As noted by Iorga, the Prince purposefully avoided making this establishment into a metochion of Mount Athos, resenting the Greek monks' accumulation of wealth.

The piece is a relevant source for the coat of arms of Moldavia, depicting an aurochs head, blazoned proper, on azure shield, with one star, gules.