# House of Drăculești

The House of Drăculești (Romanian: [drəkuˈleʃtʲ]) were one of two major rival lines of Wallachian voivodes of the House of Basarab, 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, until its common rule with Transylvania and Moldavia by Mihai Viteazul in 1600.

## Etymology

The line of the Drăculești began with Vlad II Dracul ("the Dragon"), son of one of the most important rulers of the Basarab dynasty, Mircea the Elder. The name Drăculești is the patronymic of Dracul, which according to most historians is derived from the 1431 membership of Vlad II in the Order of the Dragon (Societas draconistarum) that had been founded in 1408 AD by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund. Another proposal holds that Vlad II earned the nickname "Dracul" (at the time also meaning "Devil") by Romanians, who associated the dragon imagery on the Order's insignia with a demon. The Order's purpose was to defend the Hungarian royal house, where Sigismund ruled, as well as the Catholic Church. It created a strong solidarity among central and southeastern Europe's Christians, in their fight against Ottoman and Tartar (from the Golden Horde and Crimean Khanate) Muslims. Vlad II's son became known as Vlad Dracula (Drăculea) which meant "son of the Dragon", i.e. of Dracul.

## Members of the Drăculești line

Members of the Drăculești line who held the throne of Wallachia include the following:
| Ruler | Remark |
| Vlad II, the Dragon | 1436–1442, 1443–1447; son of Mircea the Elder |
| Mircea II | 1442; son of Vlad II |
| Vlad III, Drăculea | 1448, 1456–1462, 1476; son of Vlad II |
| Radu III, the Handsome | 1462–1473, 1474; son of Vlad II |
| Vlad IV, the Monk | 1481, 1482–1495; son of Vlad II |
| Radu IV, the Great | 1495–1508; son of Vlad the Monk |
| Mihnea the Wrongdoer | 1508–1509; son of Vlad III |
| Mircea III, the Dragon | 1510; son of Mihnea the Wrongdoer |
| Vlad V, the Younger | 1510–1512; son of Vlad the Monk |
| Vlad VI (Dragomir the Monk) | 1521; son of Vlad the Younger |
| Radu from Afumați | 1522–1523, 1524, 1524–1525, 1525–1529; son of Radu the Great |
| Radu VI Bădica | 1523–1524; son of Radu the Great |
| Vlad VII, the Drowned | 1530–1532; son of Vlad the Younger |
| Vlad VIII Vintilă from Slatina | 1532–1534, 1534–1535; son of Radu the Great |
| Radu VII Paisie | 1534, 1535–1545; son of Radu the Great |
| Mircea V, the Shepherd | 1545–1552, 1553–1554, 1558–1559; son of Radu the Great |
| Radu VIII Ilie, the Hajduk | 1552–1553; son of Radu from Afumați |
| Pătrașcu the Good | 1554–1558; son of Radu Paisie |
| Petru the Younger | 1559–1568; son of Mircea the Shepherd |
| Alexandru II Mircea | 1568–1574, 1574–1577; son of Mircea III, the Dragon |
| Vintilă of Wallachia | 1574; son of Pătrașcu the Good |
| Mihnea II, the Turned-Turk | 1577–1583, 1585–1591; son of Alexandru Mircea |
| Petru II, Earring | 1583–1585; son of Pătrașcu the Good |
| Mihai II, the Brave | 1593–1601; son of Pătrașcu the Good |
| Nicolae II Pătrașcu | 1599–1601; son of Mihai the Brave and co-ruler/ heir |
| Radu IX Mihnea | 1601–1602, 1611, 1611–1616, 1620–1623; son of Mihai the Brave |
| Alexandru V, the Little Prince | 1623–1627; son of Radu Mihnea, the last of Vlad the Impaler's Romanian bloodline |
| Mihnea III Radu | 1658–1659 |
Trașcă Drăculescu – Wallachian boyar, inhabitant of Oltenia, the "last legitimate" descendant of the dynasty, who died in the 18th century.
* Mircea the Elder
* Vlad Dracul
* Vlad III, the Impaler
* Michael the Brave
* Alexandru V, Coconul