The princely tombs in the monastery are connected to the early years of Putna.

The first burial took place in 1477 when Saint Stephen’s second wife, Princess Mary Asanina Palaiologina, reposed only five years after their marriage. In 1478, Metropolitan Theoctistus died after a pastoral tenure of 25 years, and the voivode, his grateful spiritual son, buried him in the monastery he had consecrated nine years before. Two of Saint Stephen’s sons, who died in childhood, were also buried here: Bogdan in 1479, and Peter in 1480. The first monks of the monastery were buried in the church as well.

During Stephen’s reign, Putna had interior and exterior painting. Just as a mother opens her arms wide to give more warmth and love to her children, so did the exterior painting embrace society — a society in which life in Christ increased gradually as the civic way of living.

“And the monastery was made so beautiful, gilded entirely with gold, the painting more gold than paint, on the inside and on the outside, and covered with lead. And the monks say that the large and the small candlesticks, and the chandelier, and the horos were made of silver. (Ion Neculce)

Shining softly in the candles’ glow, the pure silver and the golden leaf poured into the pilgrims’ souls the feeling that the Kingdom of God is just a step away, and that a Christian life leads us to the loving bosom of the Holy Trinity.

By using the gold leaf for the fresco back‑ ground, Saint Stephen placed Putna among the mother churches of the time, whose icons were set in gold: Saint Sophia in Constantinople, Saint Sophia in Kiev, the Dormition of the Mother of God of Moscow’s Kremlin.

Not just through the painting, but through everything he thought and realized at Putna, Saint Stephen gave this monastery a very special status. He granted the abbot special rights, similar to those of the bishops, and the monastery governed itself. Putna also oversaw several smaller monasteries, such as those of Maneuți and Măcicătăuți for monks, and the Monastery of Horodnic for nuns.

Another thing which contributed to Putna’s status was the bringing there of the ancient wooden church from Volovăț, built in the fourteenth century by Prince Dragoș. In time, this would be called the “old monastery,” tying Saint Stephen’s reign to that of the nation’s founder, Prince Dragoș.

The voivode endowed the monastery greatly over the years. Other important donations came from Great Treasurer Iuga, probably a relative of the princely family, who was also buried in the church in 1490 due to his founder status.

On the February 2, 1503, feeling that he would leave this world shortly, Saint Stephen gave the monastery a recapitulative privilege confirming all the donations and the rights he had granted Putna.

During Stephen’s time, three schools were functioning in Putna, by way of ensuring the transmittal of skills from master to apprentice: the manuscript scriptorium, the embroidery workshop, and the Orthodox music school. The monks learned from one other and created some of the most valuable objects of Romanian art. The collaboration between the voivode, the metropolitan, and the brotherhood resulted in some of the first chronicles of Moldavia, called today The Chronicle from Putna No. I and The Chronicle from Putna No. II. During Stephen’s reign, the abbots of the monastery were Archimandrite Josaphat (1467–1485), Paisius (1486–1502), and Spyridon (1502–1504).

As it is the case of anything valuable that emerges stronger after adversity and trouble, many difficult moments and turning points marked the history of the monastery.

Such a moment was the night of April 14-15, 1484: “On Great and Holy Wednesday, from midnight to Thursday morn, Putna Monastery burned down completely,” states the chronicle. With zeal and patience, the first founder rebuilt it.

After the repose of the first founder

After Saint Stephen fell asleep in the Lord on July 2, 1504, he was succeeded by his son, Bogdan III (1504–1517). Bogdan III ordered the magnificent Dormition of the Mother of God dvera (Royal Doors veil), which he gave to the monastery in 1510. The dvera was crafted by Monks Mardarius, Zosimas, and Joel and is the last embroidery made then to be preserved until today.

The music school, whose brilliant representative was Eustathius the Protopsaltes, developed greatly during this period. The precentor’s name is linked to four musical works written between 1511 and 1515. At the same time, Putna’s scriptorium expanded its horizons, with highlevel theological works being copied there.

Bogdan buried his mother, Mary Voichița (†1511) in Putna, and he himself would be buried there in the spring of 1517.

He was succeeded to the throne of Moldavia by his son, Stephen the Young (1517–1527), who issued a new great privilege on August 1, 1520, confirming the one given by Saint Stephen in 1503.

His aunt, Princess Mary Cneajna, married to Lithuanian Prince Fedor Wiśniowiecki, died on the 18th of March 1518 and was buried in a church in Kyiv. In 1523, Stephen the Young brought her earthly remains back to the family necropolis. He died in January 1527 and was buried at Putna.

Stephen the Young was succeeded by Peter Rareș, who issued a third great privilege on March 9, 1529, confirming those of his father and brother. A few months later, when his first wife, Lady Mary, passed away, he brought her body to Putna, burying her in the narthex. In 1530, he endowed the monastery with the bell called Ușerul (“The Doorkeeper”).

On March 8, 1536, a second devastating fire broke out in Putna. We learn form a note about the fire that the monastery had an infirmary. The existence of this monastery hospital at Putna attests Saint Stephen’s interest in the care of the sick, manifested also in the case of Zographou Monastery of Athos, whose infirmary was also founded by him. In fact, the old library of Putna housed medicine books written in Latin.

Peter Rareș contributed to the elevation of Anastasius Putin as bishop of the Diocese of Vad in Transylvania in 1529. This was the first known act of the many deeds by which Putna supported Orthodoxy in Transylvania.