Associated with the Oltenia region (the western third of old Wallachia), he lived for much of his life at Bistrița Monastery; his career spanned a moment of deep political subjugation to the Ottoman Empire, to which he, as a historian, opposed an early version of Romanian nationalism.
[2][3] Archimandrite Veniamin Micle, who supports the theory of his Oltenian origin, also reports that his baptismal name was "Vasile", and that his schooling was personally handled by the local Archbishop, Teofil II—who gave him lessons in theology, history, and law.
He disagreed on this issue with historian Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, though the later conceded that Moxa's usage of Romanian seemed to indicate that it was not his native language, and also that the monk was likely educated in Greek.
As observed by scholar Laurențiu Vlad, Moxa's work has a chronological table that is near-identical to one used in Moldavia by Peter the Lame, which is dated to 1588—Peter's document is possibly the first time that the people's language was adopted, albeit in a "stereotyped form", for history-writing.
[8] According to Iorga, Moxa's contribution, though pioneering, did not manage to compete with the school of Moldavian historiography, which had already produced numerous and original works in Slavonic form.
[3] The core text of the book invites debates regarding originality: as literary critic Răzvan Voncu observed in 2021, Moxa was a "compiler", active at a time marked by "the absolute supremacy of imitations and the non-conceptualization of plagiarism."
[12] Micle similarly suggests that the overall work, which has two sections and 99 chapters, integrated stories from the Old Testament, alongside accounts directly taken from Josephus, Symeon Logothete, Joannes Zonaras, John Chortasmenos, and Euthymius of Tarnovo.
[18] Beyond the Roman–Romanian genealogy, Moxa's ethnic terminology remains obscure: in keeping with the Byzantines' cultivated indifference toward the exact origins of non-Christians, he uses "Turks" to mean Ottomans, but also Parthians, Seljuks, Hungarians, and occasionally Arabs (though the latter are also designated as "Aravs", "Hagarians", and Cărăimani).
[24] It remains the only book by Moxa to have been printed in his immediate cultural setting; three editions appeared, one of them specifically targeting the Orthodox Romanian community in neighboring Transylvania.
[29][30] It is also believed to have inspired poet Mihai Eminescu in writing Scrisoarea III—or, more specifically, the part of the poem detailing Mircea the Elder's fight against the Ottomans at Rovine.
[32] Almost immediately after, another manuscript of the chronicle, possibly penned in the 18th century by Father Stanciu of Antim Monastery, was uncovered by folklorist Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopșor, who then published it in Craiova.
Originally named for Barbu Catargiu, the Communist regime, finding the conservative champion of estate owners unacceptable, replaced him with a chronicler, a less offensive choice.