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Engraving of Michael the Brave
'Michael the Brave' (
Romanian: ''Mihai Viteazul'',
Hungarian: ''Vitéz Mihály'') (
1558-
9 August 1601) was the Prince of
Wallachia (
1593-
1601), of
Transylvania (
1599-
1600), and of
Moldavia (
1600). During his reign, which coincided with the
Long War, these three principalities forming the territory of present-day
Romania and
Moldova were united for the first time under a single Romanian ruler, though the unification lasted for less than six months. He is regarded as one of
Romania's greatest national heroes.
Early life
Michael the Brave defeating the Turks in Giurgiu, October 1595
He is argued by most historians
[1] to have been the illegitimate son of Wallachian
Prince Pătraşcu cel Bun, while others
[2] believe he merely invented his descent in order to justify his rule. His mother was named Teodora, of the
Orasul de Floci, and was a member of the
Cantacuzino family. Michael's political career was quite spectacular, he became the
Ban of
Mehedinţi in
1588, ''
stolnic'' at the court of
Mihnea Turcitul by the end of 1588, and Ban of
Craiova in
1593 - during the rule of
Alexandru cel Rău. The latter had him swear before 12
boyars that he was not of princely descent
[3]. Still, in May 1593 conflict did break out between the Alenxandru and the Ban and Michael was forced to flee to Transylvania. He was accompanied by his half-brother Radu Florescu,
Radu Buzescu and several other supporters. After spending two weeks at the court of
Sigismund Bathory he left for
Constantinople, where with help from his cousin
Andronic Cantacuzino and Patriarch
Jeremiah II he negotiated
Ottoman support for his accession to the Wallachian throne. He was invested Prince by the Sultan in September
1593 and started his effective rule on
October 11.
Wallachia
Not long after this, he began to fight his Ottoman
overlord. The next year he joined a
Christian alliance of
European powers against the Turks, and signed treaties with
Sigismund Bathory of
Transylvania and
Aron Vodă of
Moldavia. He started a campaign against the Turks in the autumn of
1594, conquering several citadels near the
Danube, including
Giurgiu,
Brăila,
Hârşova, and
Silistra.
In 1595 Sigismund Bathory staged an elaborate plot and had Aron of Moldavia removed from power
[4] and replaced him with
hatman á¹¢tefan RÇŽzvan. Sigismund himself gave the latter both the investment act and the insignia of power, thus acting in overlord of Moldavia. On May 24th (June 3rd) 1595 at
Alba Iulia (''Gyulafehérvár'') Ṣtefan Rǎzvan signed a binding treaty, formally placing Moldavia under Transilvanian sovereignty.
Only a month later in the same city of Alba Iulia, Wallachian boyars signed on Michael's behalf a similar treaty. Thus, by July 1595 Sigismund Bathory was ''de facto'' Prince of all the three countries: Transilvania, Wallachia and Moldavia
[5]. From the point of view of Wallachian internal politics, the
Treaty of Alba Iulia officialized what could be called a ''boyar regime''
[6] reinforcing the already important political power of the noble elite. According to the treaty a council of 12 great boyars was to take part alongside the
voivode in the executive rule of the country. Boyars could no longer be executed without the knoledge and approval of the Transilvanian Prince and if convicted for treason their fortunes could no longer be confiscated
[7]. Apparentley Michael was displeased with the final form of the treaty negotiated by his envoys but had to comply
[8]. He would try to avoid the obligations imposed on him for the rest of his reign.
It should be noted however, that Michael relyed heavily on the loyalty and support of a group of west-Wallachian lords (of which the Buzescus were probably the most important) and that of his own relatives on his mother's side the Cantacuzinos
[9], and protected their interests throughout his reign. One of the laws he passed was the land-binding of serfs which clearly favoured the land-owning aristocracy
[10].
From an ecclesiastical point of view the Treaty of Alba Iulia had another important consequence, it placed the
Eastern Orthodox bishops in Transylvania under the auhority of the Metropolitan Seat of
Târgovişte[11].
On
August 13 1595, at the
Battle of Călugăreni (near the
Neajlov river), Michael defeated an Ottoman army led by
Sinan Pasha. Despite the victory, because he had too few troops to mount a full scale battle so he retreated to his winter camp in
StoeneÅŸti. Subsequently, he joined forces with Sigismund Bathory's 40,000-strong army (led by
István Bocskay), and freed
Târgovişte (
October 8),
Bucharest (
October 12) and
Brăila, temporarily removing Wallachia from Ottoman rule. The fight against the Ottomans continued in
1596, when Michael made several incursions south of the Danube at
Vidin,
Pleven,
Nicopolis, and
Babadag, where he was assisted by the local
Bulgarians during the massive
First Tarnovo Uprising.
Transylvania
Michael the Brave and his daughter Florica at Rudolf's court (detail of a contemporary painting)
In April
1598 Sigismund resigned as
Prince of Transylvania in favor of the
Holy Roman Emperor,
Rudolf II (who was also the
King of Hungary), reversed his decision in October 1598, and then resigned again in favor of
Cardinal Andrew Báthory, his cousin. Andrew Bathory was close to the
Polish chancellor and
hetman Jan Zamoyski and placed Transylvania under the influence of the
King of
Poland,
Sigismund III Vasa. He was also a trusted ally of the new Moldavian Prince
Ieremia Movilă, one of Michael's greatest enemies
[12]. Movilă had deposed Ştefan Rǎzvan with Polish help in August 1595
[13].
Having to face this new threat Michael asked Emperor Rudolf to become the sovereign of Wallachia, the very same year and in
1599 he made a fragile peace with the Turks. On September 25th (October 5th) Andrew Bathory issued an ultimatum demanding Michael to abandon his throne
[12]. Under the circumstances, Michael decided that the best possible defense was to attack
[15]. He left Târgovişte on October 2nd (12th) and by October 9th (19th) he reached
Prejmer in Southern Transilvania. Here he met envoys from the city of
BraÅŸov. Sparing the city he moved on to
Cârţa where he joined forces with the
Szekelys.
On
October 18, Michael obtained an important victory against Andrew Báthory in the
Battle of Şelimbăr, giving him control of Transylvania. Andrew Bathory, was killed shortly after the battle, at the age of only 28. Michael would give him a princely burrial in the
Catholic Cathedral of Alba Iulia
[12]. With impressive pomp, Michael entered the Transylvanian capital at Alba Iulia, and received the keys to the fortress from Bishop
Demeter Napragy (depicted as a seminal event in later Romanian
historiography). Stephen Szamosközy, keeper of the Archives at the time, recorded the event in great detail. He also wrote that two days before the Diet met on October 10th (20th), Transylvanian nobles ''elected Michael the voivode as Prince of Transylvania ''. As the Diet was assembled, Michael demanded that the estates swear loyalty to Emperor Rudof, then to himself and thirdly to his son
[12].
Seal of Michael the Brave (showing the arms of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania, as well as the stylised figures of Michael and his son)
Michael then began negotiating with the Emperor over his official position in Transylvania. The latter wanted the principality under direct Imperial rule with Michael acting as governor. The Wallachian voivode, on the other hand, wanted the title of Prince of Transylvania for himself and equally claimed the
Partium region. He was, nevertheless, willing to acknowledge Hapsburg overlordship.
Moldavia
The Moldavian Prince Ieremia Movilă was a long time enemy of Michael. It was him who had incited Andrew Bathori to send Michael an ultimatum. His brother Simion Movilă claimed the Wallachian throne for himself and had started using the title of Voivode since 1595. Aware of the threat the Movilas represented, Michael had created the ''Banat'' of Buzǎu and Brǎila in July 1598 and the new Ban was charged of keeping an allert eye on Moldavian,
Tartar and
Cossack moves. In fact, Michael's plan of a Moldavian campaign was long in the making
[18].
On February 28th (March 10th) Michael met with Polish envoys in Brasov. He was willing to recognise the Polish King for his sovereign in exhange for the crown of Moldavia and the recognition of his male heirs' hereditary right over the three principalities, Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia. He did not delay his attack much longer, though. On April 14th (24th) 1600 Michael's troops enetered Moldavia on multiple routes, the Prince himself leading the main corp to
TrotuÅŸ and
Roman. He reached the capital of
Suceava on May 6th (16th) and the garrison surendered the citadel the next day
[18].
Neighboring states were alarmed by this upsetting of the balance of power, especially the
Hungarian nobility in Transylvania, which rose against Michael in rebellion. With the help of Basta, they defeated Michael at the
Battle of Mirăslău, forcing the prince to leave Transylvania. A Polish army led by
Jan Zamoyski drove the Wallachians from Moldavia and defeated Michael at
Năieni,
Ceptura, and
Bucov (
Battle of the Teleajăn River). The Polish army also entered eastern Wallachia and established
Simion Movilă as ruler. Forces loyal to Michael remained only in
Oltenia.
Death and legacy
The three Principalities and the territories united under Michael's authority
Michael again asked for assistance from Rudolf, which was granted when the emperor heard Basta had lost control of Transylvania to the Hungarian nobility led by Sigismund Bathory. Meanwhile, forces loyal to Michael in Wallachia, after a first unsuccessful attempt, drove out Simion Movilă and prepared to reenter Transylvania. Michael, allied with Basta, defeated the Hungarian nobility at
Gurăslău (''Goroszló''). Nonetheless, Basta then ordered the
assassination of Michael, which took place in
Câmpia Turzii on
9 August 1601.
Michael the Brave's rule, with its break with Ottoman rule, tense relations with other European powers and with the union of the three states, was considered in following periods as the precursor of a modern
Romania - a thesis which was argued with noted intensity by
Nicolae Bălcescu. This theory became a point of reference for
nationalists, as well as a catalysis of various Romanian forces in order to achieve a single Romanian state.
Michael is also commemorated by the monks of the
Athonite Simonopetra Monastery for his great contributions in the form of land and money to rebuilding the monastery which had been destroyed by a fire.
See also
★
Moldavian Magnate Wars
Notes
1. Iorga, Rezachevici and others
2. Panaitescu
3. according to the XVIIIth century chronicle of Radu Popescu
4. According to [5]) Stefan Jósica (Bathori's chancellor and a Romanian ethnic) masterminded the operation. Ṣtefan Rǎzvan arrested Aron on alleged treason charges on the night of April 24th (May 5th) and sent him to Alba Iulia (''Gyulafehérvár'') with his family and treasure. Aron would die poisend by the end of May in the castle of Vint. Bahthori was forced to justify his actions before the European powers, since Aron had actively joined the anti-Ottoman coalition.
5. Sigismund actually used the style on several occasions (see [5])
6. Several sources (including [1]) speak of a ''boyar regime'' when referring to Wallachia between the late XVIth and the mid XVIIth cetnuries, C. Anton Manea questions the validity of the term using ''boyar oligarchy'' instead (see [6] and its references). Regardless of such nuances, the fact is the actual political influence of great boyars had reached its peak at that time.
7. [6]
8. [7] cites Michael's conversation with the Polish envoy Lubieniecki, the Prince was saying: ''... they did not proceed as stated in their instructions but as their own good required and obtained privileges for themselves.''
9. The leading members of the Cantacuzino family were Andronic, Tudor and Dumitrache. Several great boyars were opposed to Michael's rule, among them Mitrea great vornic of Hotărani, Dumitru logofăt of Dădeşti, Chisar logofăt of Leoteşti, Dan Danilovici the treasurer, Radul Calomfirescu the postelnic, Miroslav great treasurer of Râfov, Ivan aga, Vintilă Bengescu (see [6] and its references).
10. [1],[8]
11. [9]
12. [3]
13. Hetman Zamoyski had beed in charge of the campaign, taking advantage of the conflict which opposed the Tartar khan Ghazi Ghirai to Sultan Murad II he had entered Moldavia under a pretense of providing protection against Tartars (see[4] for further details).
14. [3]
15. Rezachevici quotes in [3] Michael's own testimony, the latter wrote in December 1599 that ''I rose with my country, my children, taking my wife and everything I had and with my army'' to march into Transylvania ''so that the foe should not crush me here''
16. [3]
17. [3]
18. [4]
19. [4]
Bibliography
★ [1]
Petre P. Panaitescu, ''Mihai Viteazul'', Fundaţia Regală, Bucharest, 1936
★ [2]
Nicolae Iorga, ''Istoria lui Mihai Viteazul'', Editura Militară, Bucharest, 1968
★
Constantin Rezachevici,
★
★ [3]
"Mihail Viteazul: Cele patru itinerarii transilvane" Magazin istoric, 1999, nr. 11
★
★ [4]
"Mihail Viteazul: Itinerariul moldovean" Magazin istoric, 2000, nr. 5
★
★ [5]
"Legenda ÅŸi substratul ei istoric. Mihail Viteazul ''Restituror Daciae''?" Magazin istoric, 2000, nr. 10
★ [6] Cristina Anton Manea
"Structura şi restructurarea marii boierimi din Ţara Românească de la începutul secolului al XVI-LEA până la mijlocul secolului al XVII-LEA", PhD. Thesis, 2003
★ [7] Ion IonaÅŸcu, "Mihai Viteazul ÅŸi autorii tratatului de la Alba Iulia (1595)", Anuarul Institutului de istorie ÅŸi arheologie, Cluj, 5, 1962, p. 111–144
★ [8] Bolovan et al. "A History of Romania", Intl Specialized Book Service Inc; 3Rev Ed edition, January 1997
★ [9] Nicolae Iorga
Ştefan cel Mare, Mihai Viteazul şi Mitropolia Ardealului, Analele Academiei Române, Seria II, Tom XXVII.
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