The House of Drăculești () were one of two major rival lines of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

s of the

House of Basarab The House of Basarab (also Bazarab or Bazaraad, ro, Basarab ) was a ruling family of debated Cuman origin, Terterids and Shishmanids) and the Wallachian dynasty (Basarabids). They also played an active role in Byzantium, Hungary and Serbia, wi ...

, 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 A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall un ...

, until its common rule with

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

and

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

Mihai Viteazul Michael the Brave ( ro, Mihai Viteazul or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593 – 1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Transylvania (1599 – 1600). ...

in 1600.

Etymology

The line of the Drăculești began with Vlad II, the Dragon, son of one of the most important rulers of the Basarab dynasty,

Mircea the Elder Mircea the Elder ( ro, Mircea cel Bătrân, ; c. 1355 – 31 January 1418) 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 t ...

. According to some historians, the name ''Drăculești'' is derived from the membership of Vlad II, Dracul (in

Old Romanian The history of the Romanian language started in Roman provinces north of the Jireček Line in Classical antiquity. Between 6th and 8th century AD, following the accumulated tendencies inherited from the vernacular spoken in this large area and, t ...

and related languages, ''drac'' meant "dragon") in the

Order of the Dragon The Order of the Dragon ( la, Societas Draconistarum, literally "Society of the Dragonists") was a monarchical chivalric order only for selected higher aristocracy and monarchs,Florescu and McNally, ''Dracula, Prince of Many Faces''. pp. 40–2. ...

(founded in 1408

A.D. The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

). The Order's purpose was to make a strong solidarity among Central and South-Eastern Europe's Christians, in their fight against Ottoman and Tartar (from the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmen ...

and

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...

) Muslims.

Members of the Drăculești line

Members of the Drăculești line who held the throne of Wallachia include the following: ''Trașcă Drăculescu'' – Wallachian boyar, inhabitant of

Oltenia Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...

, the "last legitimate" descendent of the dynasty, who died in the 18th century.fictitious character layed out by Romanian writer, columnist and lawyer

Păstorel Teodoreanu Păstorel Teodoreanu, or just Păstorel (born Alexandru Osvald (Al. O.) Teodoreanu; July 30, 1894 – March 17, 1964), was a Romanian humorist, poet and gastronome, the brother of novelist Ionel Teodoreanu and brother in law of writer Ștefana Ve ...

File:MirceatheElder.jpg, File:Vlad Dracul.jpg, File:Vlad Tepes 002.jpg, File:MihaiViteazul.jpg, File:AlexandruCoconul.jpg, Alexandru V, Coconul

Notes

Sources

* Constantin C.Giurescu – ''Istoria românilor vol. II, Editura științifică și enciclopedică, București 1976''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:House Of Draculesti People of medieval Romania Medieval Wallachia History of Wallachia (1512–1714)

Etymology

Members of the Drăculești line

See also

Notes

Sources

External links