ILEANA CIOAREC
Cercetător ştiinţific III, dr., Institutul de Cercetări Socio-Umane „C. S. Nicolăescu-Plopşor” din Craiova, al Academiei Române;
E-mail: ileanacioarec@yahoo.com
Abstract
Original from the locality Paia, from which the family took the name, the Păianu boyars are attested for the first time in the 16th century, when the documents mentioned a certain Bodin from Paia. Owning a wide landed property, the Păianu family, could join other families with an old and far off origin as boyars, probably before the foundation of the feudal state Walachia. The existence of their estate is proved by a great number of testaments and many others documents in which are specified the frontiers („hotărnicii”) that have remained as a testimony along the time. This noble family owned properties in four from the five districts of Oltenia: Dolj, Gorj, Mehedinţi and Romanaţi.
The large number of estates demonstrates both their quality as important boyars and the economic role that they played in the Romanian society.
Keywords
Păianu boyars, the estates, Dolj district, testaments, frontiers