Mircea Ciobanul
Encyclopedia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
three times: January 1545 (he entered Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
on 17 March)–16 November 1552; May 1553–28 February 1554 (leaving Bucharest that March); and January 1558–21 September 1559.
Biography
He was the fifth son of Radu cel MareRadu cel Mare
Radu IV the Great was a Voivode of Wallachia from September 1495 to April 1508. He succeeded his father, Vlad Călugărul, who was one of the three brothers to Vlad III the Impaler . He was married to Princess Catalina Crnojević of Zeta, and was succeeded by his first cousin Mihnea cel Rău, son to...
. His baptismal name was Dumitru and he married Chiajna, the daughter of Petru Rareş
Petru Rares
Peter IV Rareș was twice voievod of Moldavia: 20 January 1527 to 18 September 1538 and 19 February 1541 to 3 September 1546. He was an illegitimate child born to Ștefan cel Mare...
, whose name was in fact Ana. He was probably called the Shepherd because he bought sheep for the Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
markets before ascending the throne.
The Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
(Wallachia's suzerain
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
) named him ruler in January 1545 in place of his stepbrother Radu Paisie
Radu Paisie
Radu Paisie also known as Petru de la Argeş was a ruler of the principality of Wallachia in the 16th century. He reigned from September 1534 to November 1534, and again from June 1535 to March 1545....
and he entered Bucharest on 17 March 1545, ascending the throne on that day. Through his first decree of privilege, of 25 March 1545, he maintained in their functions and even promoted four high officials of his predecessor. A chronicle relates that two weeks after his installation, he ordered that a number of boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
s be killed, including Coadă the vornic
Vornic
Vornic was a historical rank for an official in charge of justice and internal affairs. He was overseeing the Royal Court. It originated in the Slovak nádvorník. In the 16th century in Moldavia were two high vornics: one for "Ţara de Sus" , and other for "Ţara de Jos" ....
(internal affairs minister), Radul the comis, Stroe the spătar (second-in-command of the military), and Vintilă, also a comis. The chronicle also mentions that they were tortured so that they would reveal where the money and jewels were hidden, so that these could be poured into the treasury. Following this massacre, some of the wealthiest boyars and the relatives of those killed went into exile in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, where they came together and tried twice to depose him from the throne.
The first attempt came at the Battle of Periş, on August 24, 1546, when the host of boyars in exile was attacked by surprise and decimated by Mircea the Shepherd. At the beginning of 1548 a new exodus of the boyars remaining in Wallachia took place, headed by Stoica the stolnic
Stolnic
Stolnic was a boier rank and the position at the court in the history of Romania: in Moldavia and Wallachia. The title approximately corresponds to seneschal and is borrowed from the Slavic title stolnik a person in charge of the royal table.The title mare stolnic means "great stolnic", or...
, Vintilă the vornic, Radu the great logofăt and Pârvu the postelnic
Postelnic
Postelnic was a historical rank traditionally held by boyars in Moldavia and Wallachia, roughly corresponding to the position of chamberlain...
. In these conditions the boyars in exile regrouped and a second confrontation took place that year. Led by a young pretender and accompanied by 1,000 Székely
Székely
The Székelys or Székely , sometimes also referred to as Szeklers , are a subgroup of the Hungarian people living mostly in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, Romania...
mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
, they entered Wallachia hoping to be backed by a popular revolt. However, the expected revolt never materialized; the chronicle of the Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
resident Ostermayer seems to indicate that the peasants backed Mircea. It appears that the battle took place near the village of Miloste in Vâlcea County
Vâlcea County
Vâlcea is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia...
, with Mircea the Shepherd emerging victorious and the boyars who were not killed escaping with great difficulty.
While the Habsburgs
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
who occupied Transylvania in 1551 wanted a ruler devoted to their cause in Wallachia, the new governor of Transylvania, Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
general Johann Baptist Castaldo, backed Radu Ilie, who, also surrounded by boyars in exile, crossed the border into Wallachia in November 1552. While Radu Ilie had about 15,000 men, Mircea the Shepherd had around eight or nine thousand. Two days before the battle, fearful of being betrayed, Mircea had 47 boyars put to death at his table. The decisive battle took place at Măneşti
Manesti
Măneşti may refer to several places in Romania:* Măneşti, a commune in Dâmboviţa County* Măneşti, a commune in Prahova County* Măneşti, a village in Cuca Commune, Argeş County...
on November 16, 1552. Radu Ilie was victorious, while Mircea took refuge with his family in Giurgiu
Giurgiu
Giurgiu is the capital city of Giurgiu County, Romania, in the Greater Wallachia. It is situated amid mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Rousse on the opposite bank. Three small islands face the city, and a larger one shelters its port, Smarda...
.
On May 11, 1553, Mircea the Shepherd, backed in person by the prince of Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, Alexandru Lăpuşneanu
Alexandru Lapusneanu
Alexandru Lăpuşneanu was Prince of Moldavia between September 1552 and 18 November 1561 and then between October 1564 and 5 May 1568....
, retook his throne. His second period of rule was short, as the very same Alexandru Lăpuşneanu, suspecting him of bad faith, sent his high vornic, Nădăbaico, to remove Mircea from the throne. Then, he obtained from the Porte the right to rule for Pătraşcu
Pătraşcu cel Bun
Pătraşcu cel Bun was the Prince of Wallachia . He was the son of Radu Paisie and the father of Michael the Brave; he was a member of the House of Drăculeşti...
, while Mircea had to leave for Istanbul.
After Pătraşcu died in January 1558, Sultan
Ottoman Dynasty
The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
once again granted Mircea the Shepherd the right to rule. His appointment provoked an exodus of boyers across the Southern Carpathians
Southern Carpathians
The Southern Carpathians or the Transylvanian Alps are a group of mountain ranges which divide central and southern Romania, on one side, and Serbia, on the other side. They cover part of the Carpathian Mountains that is located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and Cerna Rivers...
and out of Wallachia. Mircea promised these men that if they returned and paid homage to him, he would forgive them. He received them at the princely court in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, in the presence of Ottoman dignitaries. Nevertheless, after the Ottomans had left, Mircea killed the boyars, Stănilă the vornic being the most important of these. That same day, 3 February 1558, was the first time that representatives of the Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
clergy also perished.
Mircea the Shepherd died in 1559, being buried in the church at Curtea Veche
Curtea Veche
Curtea Veche , built as a place or residence during the rule of Vlad III Dracula in the 15th century, now operates as a museum in the centre of Bucharest, Romania. The residence was moved under the rule of Radu cel Frumos, who moved the princely residence and the Wallachian capital to Bucharest...
in Bucharest, which he had rebuilt. After his death, his energetic wife, Doamna Chiajna, helped their son Petru to obtain the throne.