page_title: Michael the Brave
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Michael the Brave / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Română: Mihai Viteazul la Călugăreni - de Nicolae Grigorescu
context_page_description: Michael the Brave was the Prince of Wallachia, Prince of Moldavia and de facto ruler of Transylvania. He is considered one of Romania's greatest national heroes. Since the 19th-century Michael was seen by nationalists as a symbol of Romanian unity, as under his reign was the first time when all principalities inhabited by Romanians were under the same ruler.
  His rule over Wallachia began in the autumn of 1593. Two years later, war with the Ottomans began, a conflict in which the Prince fought the Battle of Călugăreni, considered one of the most important battles of his reign. Although the Wallachians emerged victorious from the battle, Michael was forced to retreat with his troops and wait for aid from his allies, Prince Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania and Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. The war continued until a peace finally emerged in January 1597, but this lasted for only a year and a half. Peace was again reached in late 1599, when Michael was unable to continue the war due to lack of support from his allies.
  In 1599, Michael won the Battle of Șelimbăr and soon entered Alba Iulia, becoming the imperial governor of Transylvania.
context_section_description: The rule of Michael the Brave, with its break with Ottoman rule, tense relations with other European powers and the leadership of the three states, was considered in later periods as the precursor of a modern Romania, a thesis which was argued with noted intensity by Nicolae Bălcescu. This theory became a point of reference for nationalists, as well as a catalyst for various Romanian forces to achieve a single Romanian state. To Romanian Romantic nationalists, he was regarded as one of Romania's greatest national heroes.
  The prince began to be perceived as a unifier towards the middle of the 19th century.  Such an interpretation is completely lacking in the historiography of the 17th-century chroniclers, and even in that of the Transylvanian School around 1800. What they emphasized, apart from the exceptional personality of Michael himself, were the idea of Christendom and his close relations with Emperor Rudolf. The conqueror's ambition is likewise frequently cited as a motivation for his action, occupying in the interpretative schema the place that was later to be occupied by the Romanian idea.
  In the writings of the Moldavian chronicler Miron Costin, Michael the Brave appears in the role of conqueror of Transylvania and Moldavia, "the cause of much spilling of blood among Christians", and not even highly appreciated by his own Wallachians: "The Wallachians became tired of the warful rule of Voivode Mihai".
  The perspective of the Wallachians themselves is to be found in The History of the Princes of Wallachia, attributed to the chronicler Radu Popescu (1655–1729), which bundles together all Michael's adversaries without distinction. Romanians and foreigners alike: "He subjected the Turks, the Moldavians, and the Hungarians to his rule, as if they were his asses." The picturesque flavor of the expression serves only to confirm the absence of any Romanian idea.
  Samuil Micu, a member of the Transylvanian School wrote in his work Short Explanation of the History of the Romanians (written in the 1790s): "In the year 1593, Michael, who is called the Brave, succeeded to the lordship of Wallachia. He was a great warrior, who fought the Turks and defeated the Transylvanians. And he took Transylvania and gave it to Emperor Rudolf".
  Petre P. Panaitescu states that in Mihai's time, the concept of the Romanian nation and the desire for unification did not yet exist. A. D. Xenopol firmly states the absence of any national element in Michael's politics, holding that Michael's lack of desire to join the principalities' administrations proved his actions were not motivated by any such concept.
  Mihai Viteazu, a commune in Cluj County, was named after Michael the Brave. Michael is also commemorated by the monks of the Athonite Simonopetra Monastery for his great contributions in the form of land and money to rebuilding the monastery that had been destroyed by a fire.
  Mihai Viteazul, a film by Sergiu Nicolaescu, a famous Romanian film director, is a representation of the life of the Wallachian ruler and his will to unite the three Romanian principalities (Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania) as one domain.
  The Order of Michael the Brave, Romania's highest military decoration, was named after Michael.
  Mihai Viteazul's name and portrait appear on at least two Romanian coins: 5 Lei 1991, which only 3 pieces of this type were minted and the coin was not entered into circulation, and on 100 Lei, which circulated through the 1990s.
caption: Michael the Brave and his troops, 19th-century painting by Nicolae Grigorescu
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