Stephan the Great was a voivod (prince) of Moldavia (1457-1504). He was designated "Christ's Athlete" by Pope Sixtus IV because of his determined resistance against the Ottoman Empire. With the rise of Polish and Hungarian efforts to take over Moldavia Stephen made a treaty with Sultan Beyazid II which preserved Modavian independence at the price of an annual tribute.
     The stamp shows a map of Moldavia, Moldaviæ finitimar umq. Regionum Typus, published in Moldaviæ quæ olim Daciæ pers, chorographia by Georg de Rickersdorfer (1541) in Vienna, and a portrait of Stephen. No indication of where the map is preserved is indicated.