Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia is 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.
Mircea the Elder was the Voivode of Wallachia from 1386 until his death in 1418. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and brother of Dan I of Wallachia, after whose death he inherited the throne.
Romanian literature is the entirety of literature written by Romanian authors, although the term may also be used to refer to all literature written in the Romanian language or by any authors native to Romania.
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.
Constantin Brâncoveanu was Prince of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714.
Negru Vodă, also known as Radu Negru, is the legendary founder of Wallachia.
Iuga of Moldavia was Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia from November 1399 to June 1400. According to one hypothesis, he may have been the Lithuanian prince George Koriatovich. Other hypotheses posit him as the son of Roman I of Moldavia (1391–1394) and an unknown wife, possibly of Lithuanian extraction from descendants of Karijotas, confused with the Lithuanian prince because of the similar name and background. The nickname "the Crippled" can be found only in the chronicle of Putna Monastery, drafted in the first years of the 16th century, but its origins are unknown. The reasons why he has remained in history with this nickname are not known precisely.
Io is the contraction of a title used mainly by the royalty in Moldavia and Wallachia, preceding their names and the complete list of titles. First used by the Asenid rulers of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the particle is the abbreviation of theophoric name Ioan (John), which comes from the original Hebrew Yohanan, meaning "God has favored". Io appeared in most documents, as issued by their respective chancelleries, since the countries' early history, but its frequency and relative importance among the princely attributes varied over time. Its usage probably dates back to the foundation of Wallachia, though it spread to Moldavia only in the 15th century. In more informal contexts, Romanians occasionally applied the title to benefactors or lieges from outiside the two countries, including John Hunyadi and George II Rákóczi.
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 Drăculești were one of two major rival lines of Wallachian voivodes of the House of Basarab, the other being the House of Dănești. These lines were in constant contest for the throne from the late fourteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. Descendants of the line of Drăculești would eventually come to dominate the principality, until its common rule with Transylvania and Moldavia by Mihai Viteazul in 1600.
Calinichia, better known as Lady Calinica and sometimes as Kalinikia, was the second wife of Radu I, a 14th-century Wallachian voivode (ruler). Calinichia was of Greek origin, and was the mother of Mircea I of Wallachia. She was also possibly a Byzantine princess.
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.
Milica Despina was the Princess consort of Wallachia by marriage to Neagoe Basarab. She was regent of Wallachia from 1521 to 1522, on the behalf of her son Teodosie of Wallachia. In later years, she became a nun, and took the name Platonida.
Leon Tomșa, also known as Leon Vodă or Alion, was the Prince of Wallachia from October 1629 to July 1632. He claimed to be a son of Ștefan IX Tomșa, and as such a Moldavian, but was generally identified as a Greek of lowly origins, and reportedly an oyster-monger. He was imposed on the throne by the Ottoman Empire, one of a line of Princes who were primarily subservient to Ottoman power. In his first year, he also supported the political ascendancy of Greeks and Levantines, many of whom made their way into Wallachia's traditional aristocracy, or boyardom. This upset the local boyars, who were further alienated and impoverished by Leon's fiscal policies, which in turn reflected Ottoman demands for tribute. The regime was threatened by an Oltenia-centered rebellion, initially led by Ban Aslan, and later by Matei Basarab. Though often depicted as an anti-Greek movement, it had Greeks and Romanians fighting on either side.
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.
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.
Costea Bucioc or Coste Băcioc was a Moldavian statesman, commander of the military forces, and father-in-law of Prince Lupu (Vasile) Coci. He began his political career in the 1580s, emerging in the late 1590s as an ally of the Movilești dynasty, with then-Prince Ieremia Movilă advancing him to the post of Clucer. From 1601, he was Constantin Movilă's Paharnic, receiving from him the estate of Deleni and other villages around Hârlău, which formed part of a Bucioc domain that also extended into Bukovina and Bessarabia. Together with the Movilești, he became one of the great landowners of his generation, and one of the first Moldavian boyars known to have owned serfs. Some of his assets went into refurbishing Râșca Monastery, of which he was patron, or ktitor.
The House of Soldan was an old noble family in medieval Moldavia. In the 16th and 17th centuries, members of the family assumed important offices within the princely chancellery of the Principality.
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.
