Michael I ( ro, Mihail I), (? – August 1420) was

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 ...

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 ...

from 1415 to 1420. He was the only legitimate son of

Mircea I of Wallachia 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 ...

, who made him his co-ruler. Styled as prince from 1415, Michael became sole ruler after his father died in early 1418. His support for a Hungarian campaign against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

caused the Ottoman Sultan,

Mehmed I Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayezid ...

, to invade

, forcing him to agree to pay tribute. After Michael failed to respect the treaty, the Ottomans gave assistance to his rival,

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

, who crossed into Wallachia in 1420. Dan and his Ottoman allies defeated the Wallachian army, and Michael was killed on the battlefield.

Early life

The son of

and his wife, Maria Tolmay, Michael was Mircea's only legitimate son. Alexander Aldea and

Vlad Vlad is a Romanian male given name. It is more commonly a nativized hypocorism of Vladislav and can also be used as a surname. It may refer to: Given name People * Vlad I of Wallachia (), ''voivode'' (prince) of Wallachia * Vlad II Dracul ( ...

were Michael's most prominent illegitimate half-brothers, who, in accordance with local custom, could have claimed the throne of Wallachia. To strengthen Michael's position, his father made him his co-ruler.

Reign

Although Michael was first mentioned as Mircea's co-ruler in 1391, it was only from 1415 that he was consistently styled as "

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 ...

and prince". Michael was still his father's co-ruler when in 1417 he refused to send the tribute that Mircea had promised to pay to the Ottoman Empire. Michael became the sole ruler of Wallachia after his father died on 31January 1418. The first year of his reign was peaceful because the Ottoman Sultan,

, was still occupied with the internal consolidation of the Ottoman Empire. Michael supported Sigismund of Luxembourg,

King of Hungary The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 175 ...

, who launched a campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the autumn of 1419. They captured the city of

Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern ...

that Michael's father had lost to the Ottomans, but it was put under Sigismund's control. In retaliation, the sultan broke into Wallachia, forcing Michael to cede Giurgiu and other fortresses on the Danube to the Ottomans and to pay the tribute he had failed to send during the previous three years. Michael was also forced to send his two sons, Michael and Radu, as hostages to the Ottoman Empire. Michael's cousin,

, then laid claim to Wallachia. Many of Michael's

boyars A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars wer ...

(including the influential Albul and Utmeș) defected to the pretender. Dan crossed into Wallachia in early 1420. Initially, Michael was able to resist, but since he had failed to implement all provisions of his 1419 treaty with the Ottoman Empire, his cousin was able to obtain military assistance from the Ottomans. Michael received support from Hungary, but their united forces were routed in the summer of 1420. Michael was killed on the battlefield.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mihail I of Wallachia 1420 deaths Rulers of Wallachia House of Basarab Monarchs killed in action Year of birth unknown