Radu Leon (? – 1669) was

ruler of Wallachia This is a list of princes of Wallachia, from the first mention of a medieval polity situated between the Southern Carpathians and the Danube until the union with Moldavia in 1859, which led to the creation of Romania. Notes Dynastic rule is hard ...

from 1664 to 1669. He had the

byname An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

Radu the Oyster-seller. Son of Wallachian ruler

Leon Tomșa Leon Tomșa, also known as Leon Vodă ("Leon the Voivode") 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 ...

, and putative grandson of

Ștefan Tomșa Ștefan Tomșa or Ștefan VII ( pl, Stefan VII Tomża) (died 5 May 1564 in Lwów) was the ruler of Moldavia in 1563 and 1564. Career Tomșa served as hatman and came to power as leader of a boyar revolt against the Lutheran Ioan Iacob Heraclid ...

ruler of Moldavia This is a list of monarchs of Moldavia, from the first mention of the medieval polity east of the Carpathian Mountains, Carpathians and until its disestablishment in 1862, when Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia, it united with Wallachia, the ot ...

, Radu Leon replaced the deposed

Grigore I Ghica Grigore I Ghica (1628 – 1675), a member of the Ghica family, was Prince of Wallachia between September 1660 and December 1664 and again between March 1672 and November 1673. His father was George Ghica, ruler of Moldavia (1658–59) and ruler ...

in December 1664. Supposedly barely able to speak

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, Radu's authority relied on the support of the

Phanariot Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots ( el, Φαναριώτες, ro, Fanarioți, tr, Fenerliler) were members of prominent Greek families in Phanar (Φανάρι, modern ''Fener''), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumenic ...

s, and especially the

Cantacuzino family The House of Cantacuzino (french: Cantacuzène) is a Romanian aristocratic family of Greek origin. The family gave a number of princes to Wallachia and Moldavia, and it claimed descent from a branch of the Byzantine Kantakouzenos family, specifica ...

Șerban Cantacuzino Șerban Cantacuzino (), (1634/1640 – 29 October 1688) was a Prince of Wallachia between 1678 and 1688. Life and career Cantacuzino took part in the Ottoman campaign which ended in their defeat at the Battle of Vienna. According to Gaster (191 ...

, later ruler of Wallachia, served as his chamberlain, and Draghici Cantacuzino commanded Radu's armies. Anti-Greek protests beginning in December 1668 led to Radu's downfall in March 1669 and replacement by

Antonie Vodă din Popești Antonie din Popeşti (? – after 1672) was ruler of Wallachia from March 1669 to 1672. Antonie din Popeşti, a member of a boyar family, came to power with the assistance of the Cantacuzino family, who had supported Radu Leon, the previous rule ...

References

Rulers of Wallachia 17th-century monarchs in Europe Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown {{Romania-bio-stub