Mircea cel Bătrân
Mircea I. cel Bătrân ( ; * 1355 ; † January 31, 1418 ) was one of the most important voivodes in Wallachia . His name means "Mircea the Elder" in modern Romanian , but the original meaning of the name is "Mircea the Elder". He was the son of the voivod Radu I and his wife Calinica , who came from a noble family. His reign lasted from 1386 until his death.
history
The borders of Wallachia have shifted constantly throughout history, but during Mircea's reign it had the greatest extent of the Middle Ages: from the Olt River in the north to the Danube in the south, and from the Danube Gorge in the west to the Black Sea in the east.
Mircea took over the rule of the principality in 1386. He strengthened the power of the state and built up the various offices, promoted economic development, increased the state's sources of income and had silver coins minted, which circulated not only within the country but also in neighboring states. He granted trade privileges to traders from Poland and Lithuania and renewed the privileges that his predecessors had bestowed on the citizens of Brasov . Mircea was therefore able to improve its military strength. He fortified the citadels on the Danube and strengthened the army consisting of townspeople and free and dependent peasants. He also expressed his full support for the Orthodox Church .
In organizing the country, he made sure to build a system of permanent alliances with which he could defend the country's independence. Through the intermediary Petru Mușat , Prince of Moldova , he concluded a pact in 1389 with Władysław II Jagiełło , King of Poland . The contract was renewed in 1404 and 1410. He maintained close relations with Sigismund of Luxembourg , King of Hungary, building on their common interest in the struggle against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire .
His interventions on behalf of the Christians south of the Danube, who were fighting the Turks, brought him into conflict with the Ottoman Empire. In 1394 Bayezid I crossed the Danube with 40,000 men, an impressive army for the time. With his 10,000 men, Mircea could not have won an open battle. He chose a tactic known today as guerrilla warfare by starving the opposing army and launching small, limited attacks and retreats (a typical form of asymmetrical warfare). On October 10, 1394, the two armies finally clashed at the Battle of Rovine . In the wooded and swampy terrain, the Ottomans could not set up their army in a suitable way. Mircea eventually won the fierce battle and drove the Ottomans out of the country (the battle was epically described by Mihai Eminescu in his third epistle ).
With the help of Sigismund of Luxembourg, Mircea was able to get rid of Vlad Uzurpatoruls, a puppet of the Ottoman sultan who was striving for the throne. In 1396 Mircea accompanied the Hungarian monarch on a crusade against the Ottomans. The crusade ended with an Ottoman victory at the Battle of Nicopolis on September 25th. In the next year and again in 1400 Mircea stopped Ottoman campaigns that had come to his country.
With the victory over Bayezid I by Timur in Ankara in the summer of 1402, an interregnum began in the Ottoman Empire . Mircea took advantage of this to undertake a campaign against the Ottomans together with the Hungarian king. In 1404 he was able to regain his rule over the Dobruja . He also took part in the struggle for the throne of the Ottoman Empire and helped Musa ascend the throne (for a short time). At this time the prince was at the zenith of his power.
The “bravest and most capable of the princes of Christianity”, as the late medieval historian Leunclavius described him, ruled Wallachia for 32 years. Apart from his military successes, Mircea was a lover of art and bequeathed to posterity, among other monuments, the Cozia Monastery , built on the model of the Kruševac Church in present-day Serbia .
Towards the end of his rule, Mircea signed a treaty with the Ottomans in which they recognized the freedom of Wallachia in return for a tribute of 3,000 gold coins per year (a small amount).
Posthumous honors
- The sailing training ship Mircea and its predecessor in the Romanian Navy are named after Mircea .
- In the city of Tulcea there is an equestrian monument of Mircea in front of the town hall on the large town square. There is also a statue for Mircea in front of the new postmodern station building.
- Another monument is in the center of Târgovişte .
- In Piteşti and Turnu Magurele Mircea is also honored with monuments.
literature
- Dan Berindei: Mircea the old , in: Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas . Vol. 3. Munich 1979, pp. 221-223
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Vasile Stoica: The Roumanian Question: The Roumanians and their Lands . Pittsburgh Printing Company, Pittsburgh 1919, p. 16.
- ↑ Illustration of the equestrian monument in Tulcea
- ↑ Image of the monument in Turnu Magurele on romguide.net
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mircea cel Bătrân |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mircea the Elder (German, translation) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Voivode of Wallachia |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1355 |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 31, 1418 |