Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Muntenia and Oltenia. Dobruja could sometimes be considered a third section due to its proximity and brief rule over it. Wallachia as a whole is sometimes referred to as Muntenia through identification with the larger of the two traditional sections.
Basarab I, also known as Basarab the Founder, was a voivode and later the first independent ruler of Wallachia who lived in the first half of the 14th century. Many details of his life are uncertain. According to two popular theories, Basarab either came into power between 1304 and 1324 by dethroning or peacefully succeeding the legendary founder of Wallachia, Radu Negru, or in 1310 by succeeding his father, Thocomerius.
Neagoe Basarab was the Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia between 1512 and 1521. Born into the boyar family of the Craiovești as the son of Pârvu Craiovescu or Basarab Țepeluș cel Tânăr, Neagoe Basarab, who replaced Vlad cel Tânăr after the latter rejected Craioveşti tutelage, was noted for his abilities and competence. He is sometimes mentioned as Neagoe Basarab IV, due to other Wallachian rulers by the name Basarab preceding him on the throne, some of them certain members of the House of Basarab and some less so.
Radu III of Wallachia, commonly called Radu the Handsome, Radu the Fair, or Radu the Beautiful, was the younger brother of Vlad the Impaler and prince of the principality of Wallachia. They were both sons of Vlad II Dracul and his wife, Princess Cneajna of Moldavia. In addition to Vlad III, Radu also had two older siblings, Mircea II and Vlad Călugărul, both of whom would also briefly rule Wallachia. In 1462, he defeated his brother, Vlad III, alongside Ottoman Empire sultan Mehmed II, with whom Radu had an intimate relationship.
Vlad II, also known as Vlad Dracul or Vlad the Dragon, was Voivode of Wallachia from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He is internationally known as the father of Vlad the Impaler, or Dracula. Born an illegitimate son of Mircea I of Wallachia, he spent his youth at the court of Sigismund of Luxembourg, who made him a member of the Order of the Dragon in 1431. Sigismund also recognized him as the lawful Voivode of Wallachia, allowing him to settle in nearby Transylvania. Vlad could not assert his claim during the life of his half-brother, Alexander I Aldea, who acknowledged the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultan, Murad II.
Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula, was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian history and a national hero of Romania.
Dan II cel Viteaz was a voivode of the principality of Wallachia, ruling an extraordinary five times, and succeeded four times by Radu II Chelul, his rival for the throne. Of those five periods on the throne of Wallachia, four were within a period of only seven years.
Basarab IV cel Tânăr, also known as Țepeluș, son of Basarab II, and grandson of Dan II (1422-1431) was 4 times the voivode of the principality of Wallachia between 1474 and 1482: from Oct to Dec 1474, from Jan 1478 to June 1480, from Nov 1480 to before July 1481, and again from Aug 1481 to July 1482.
Mihnea cel Rău, the son of Vlad III Dracula, and his first wife, was Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia from 1508 to 1509, having replaced his first cousin Radu cel Mare. During his reign, he ruled alongside his son Mircea III Dracul in the year 1509. Unpopular among the boyars, he was overthrown with Ottoman assistance, prompting him to take refuge in Transylvania – where he was murdered in front of the Sibiu Cathedral and buried inside it.
Vlad VI of Wallachia was the voivode (prince) who ruled Wallachia between June 1530 and September 1532. He has been historically referenced as Vlad Înecatul, as a description of the manner of his death.
The House of Basarab was a ruling family that established the Principality of Wallachia, giving the country its first line of Princes, one closely related with the Mușatin rulers of Moldavia. Its status as a dynasty is rendered problematic by the official elective system, which implied that male members of the same family, including illegitimate offspring, were chosen to rule by a council of boyars. After the rule of Alexandru I Aldea, the house was split by the conflict between the Dănești and the Drăculești, both of which claimed legitimacy. Several late rulers of the Craiovești claimed direct descent from the House after its eventual demise, including Neagoe Basarab, Matei Basarab, Constantin Șerban, Șerban Cantacuzino, and Constantin Brâncoveanu.
Radu VII Paisie, officially Radul voievod(a) (Church Slavonic: Радул воєвода; Greek: Ῥαδουλ-Βοδα, romanized: Radul-Voda), also known as Radu vodă Măjescul, Radu vodă Călugărul, Petru I, and Petru de la Argeș (ca. 1500 – after 1545), was Prince of Wallachia almost continuously from June 1535 to February 1545. A man of uncertain origins, he depicted himself as an heir to the House of Basarab and the Drăculești: the son of Prince Radu the Great and half-brother of Vlad Vintilă and Radu of Afumați. The scholar Nicolaus Olahus partly supported this account and further claimed that Paisie was his own cousin. The descent is endorsed by some modern historians, whereas others suggest that Paisie was a regular member of the boyar class, or even a fishmonger. He is known to have been a monk of the Wallachian Orthodox Church before his coronation.
The House of Craiovești, later House of Brâncovenești, was a boyar family in Wallachia who gave the country several of its Princes and held the title of Ban of Oltenia for ca. 60 years.
Mircea III Dracul was one of the two sons of Mihnea cel Rău, making him the grandson of Vlad Dracula. He ruled as prince of Wallachia between 12 October 1509 and 26 January 1510.
Radu of Afumați was Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia between January 1522 and January 1529. He began his reign with a victory against Mehmed-Bey, a pretender to Wallachia's throne. From 1522 to 1525 he battled the Turks, who supported Vladislav III and Radu Bădica, both claimants of the throne. The inscription on his tombstone lists 20 battles. He was killed by decapitation on 2 January 1529 near Râmnicu Vâlcea, at Cetățuia Church. He was later buried in the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral.
Vlad V cel Tânăr was the Prince of Wallachia (1510–1512). He took the throne from Mircea III Dracul on 8 April 1510 with the help of the Ottomans and with the support of the Craiovești family. In exchange, the prince vowed protection to Mehmet and his family and Parvu Craiovescu, a member of the Craiovești family, became the head of the Divan of Wallachia. Parvu was then followed by Danciu and in 1511, by Bogdan, the Prince's brother-in-law.
Banul Mărăcine or Mărăcină, common rendition of Barbu III Craiovescu, Barbu Mărăcine or Barbu Basarab, was a historical figure in Wallachia, who claimed the title of Prince. He was one of several Craiovești pretenders to the throne, a category which also included his father, Preda Craiovescu. Mărăcine himself entered historical record in 1532, when, as an opponent of Prince Vlad VI, he had his estate confiscated. He returned to favor later that year, with the crowning of Vlad Vintilă de la Slatina. Like Preda before him, Mărăcine served as Ban of Oltenia, becoming the last of his family to hold that title. According to various accounts, he turned against his new lord, from organizing armed resistance in Oltenia to involving himself in Vlad Vintilă's assassination. He was able to maintain his position following the crowning of Radu Paisie, but was eventually toppled by the latter in mid-1535.
Nicolae Pătrașcu, Petrașco, or Petrașcu, also styled Nicolae Vo(i)evod, was the titular Prince of Wallachia, an only son of Michael the Brave and Lady Stanca, and a putative grandson of Pătrașcu the Good. His early childhood coincided with Michael's quick rise through the ranks of boyardom, peaking in 1593, when Michael became Prince and Nicolae his heir apparent. As he began a quest to emancipate Wallachia from the Ottoman Empire, Michael used his son as a party to alliances with the Holy Roman Empire and the Principality of Transylvania, proposing him as either a hostage or a matrimonial guarantee. While entering the Long Turkish War on the Christian side, Michael also negotiated a settlement with the Ottomans, again offering Nicolae as a guarantee.
The Paharnic was a historical Romanian rank, one of the non-hereditary positions ascribed to the boyar aristocracy in Moldavia and Wallachia. It was the local equivalent of a cup-bearer or cześnik, originally centered on pouring and obtaining wine for the court of Moldavian and Wallachian Princes. With time, it became a major administrative office and, in Wallachia, also had a lesser military function. The retinue of such boyars, usually called Păhărnicei, was in both countries also a private army.
The military of Wallachia existed throughout the history of the country. Starting from its founding to 1860, when it was united with the Moldavian army into what would become the Romanian Army.
