{{no footnotes|date=April 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}} {{redirect-distinguish|Mircea Ciobanul|Mircea Ciobanu}} {{Infobox royalty | name = Mircea al V-lea Ciobanul | title = [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Voivode of Wallachia]] | image = [[File:MirceaCiobanul.jpg|250px]] | caption = | succession = [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Voivode of Wallachia]]<br />(''1st reign'') | reign = January 1545 – 16 November 1552 | reign-type = Reign | predecessor = [[Radu Paisie|Radu VII Paisie]] | successor = [[Radu Ilie Haidăul]] | succession1 = [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Voivode of Wallachia]]<br />(''2nd reign'') | reign1 = May 1553 – 28 February 1554 | reign-type1 = Reign | predecessor1 = [[Radu Ilie Haidăul]] | successor1 = [[Pătrașcu the Good]] | succession2 = [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Voivode of Wallachia]]<br />(''3rd reign'') | reign2 = January 1558 – 21 September 1559 | reign-type2 = Reign | predecessor2 = [[Pătrașcu the Good]] | successor2 = [[Peter the Younger]] | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = 25 September 1559 | death_place = [[Principality of Wallachia]] | burial_place = [[Curtea Veche Church]], Bucharest | spouse = [[Doamna Chiajna]] | issue = [[Peter the Younger]]<br />Radu<br />Mircea<br />Stanca of Wallachia<br />Anca of Wallachia<br />Marina of Wallachia | house = [[House of Drăculești]] | father = [[Radu IV the Great]] | mother = Doamna Catalina Crnojević of Zeta | religion = [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] | burial_date = | signature = File:Mircea the Shepherd's signature.svg }}
'''Mircea the Shepherd''' ({{langx|ro|Mircea Ciobanul}}; died 25 September 1559) was the [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Voivode]] (or Prince) of [[Wallachia]] three times: January 1545 (he entered [[Bucharest]] on 17 March)–16 November 1552; May 1553–28 February 1554 (leaving Bucharest that March); and January 1558–21 September 1559.
==Early life== He was the fifth son of [[Radu cel Mare]]. His baptismal name was Dumitru and he married [[Doamna Chiajna|Chiajna]], the daughter of [[Petru Rareș]], whose name was in fact Ana. He was probably called ''the Shepherd'' because he bought sheep for the [[Istanbul]] markets before ascending the throne.
==Career== The [[Ottoman Empire]] (Wallachia's [[Suzerainty|suzerain]]) named him ruler in January 1545 in place of his stepbrother [[Radu Paisie]] and he entered [[Bucharest]] on 17 March 1545, ascending the throne on that day. Through his first decree of privilege, of 25 March 1545, he maintained in their functions and even promoted four high officials of his predecessor. A chronicle relates that two weeks after his installation, he ordered that a number of [[boyar]]s be killed, including Coadă the ''[[vornic]]'' (internal affairs minister), Radul the ''[[comis]]'', Stroe the ''[[spătar]]'' (second-in-command of the military), and Vintilă, also a ''comis''. The chronicle also mentions that they were tortured so that they would reveal where the money and jewels were hidden, so that these could be poured into the treasury. Following this massacre, some of the wealthiest boyars and the relatives of those killed went into exile in [[Transylvania]] and [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]], where they came together and tried twice to depose him from the throne.
==First challenge== The first attempt came at the [[Battle of Periș]], on 24 August 1546, when the host of boyars in exile was attacked by surprise and decimated by Mircea the Shepherd. At the beginning of 1548 a new exodus of the boyars remaining in Wallachia took place, headed by Stoica the ''[[stolnic]]'', Vintilă the ''vornic'', Radu the ''[[logofăt|great logofăt]]'' and Pârvu the ''[[postelnic]]''. In these conditions the boyars in exile regrouped and a second confrontation took place that year. Led by a young pretender and accompanied by 1,000 [[Székelys|Székely]] [[Mercenary|mercenaries]], they entered Wallachia hoping to be backed by a popular revolt. However, the expected revolt never materialized; the chronicle of the [[Brașov]] resident Ostermayer seems to indicate that the peasants backed Mircea. It appears that the battle took place near the village of Miloste ( in present the village of [[Milostea]]) in [[Vâlcea County]], with Mircea the Shepherd emerging victorious and the boyars who were not killed escaping with great difficulty.
==Second challenge== While the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburgs]] who occupied Transylvania in 1551 wanted a ruler devoted to their cause in Wallachia, the new governor of Transylvania, [[Holy Roman Empire|Imperial]] general [[Johann Baptist Castaldo]], backed [[Radu Ilie Haidăul|Radu Ilie]], who, also surrounded by boyars in exile, crossed the border into Wallachia in November 1552. While Radu Ilie had about 15,000 men, Mircea the Shepherd had around eight or nine thousand. Two days before the battle, fearful of being betrayed, Mircea had 47 boyars put to death at his table. The decisive battle took place at [[Mănești, Prahova|Mănești]] on 16 November 1552. Radu Ilie was victorious, while Mircea took refuge with his family in [[Giurgiu]].
==Loss and reinstatement== On 11 May 1553, Mircea the Shepherd, backed in person by the [[List of rulers of Moldavia|prince]] of [[Moldavia]], [[Alexandru Lăpușneanu]], retook his throne after successful defeating Radu and the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburgs]]. His second period of rule was short, as the very same Alexandru Lăpușneanu, suspecting him of bad faith, sent his high ''[[vornic]]'', Nădăbaico, to remove Mircea from the throne. Then, he obtained from the Ottoman Porte the right to rule for [[Pătrașcu cel Bun|Pătrașcu]], while Mircea had to leave for [[Istanbul]].
After Pătrașcu died in January 1558, [[Ottoman Dynasty|Sultan]] [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] once again granted Mircea the Shepherd the right to rule. His appointment provoked an exodus of boyars across the [[Southern Carpathians]] and out of Wallachia. Mircea promised these men that if they returned and paid homage to him, he would forgive them. He received them at the princely court in [[Bucharest]], in the presence of Ottoman dignitaries. Nevertheless, after the Ottomans had left, Mircea killed the boyars, Stănilă the ''vornic'' being the most important of these. That same day, 3 February 1558, was the first time that representatives of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] clergy also perished.
==Death== Mircea the Shepherd died in 1559, being buried in the [[Curtea Veche Church]] in Bucharest, which he had rebuilt. After his death, his wife, Doamna Chiajna, helped their son [[Petru cel Tânăr|Petru]] to obtain the throne.
==See also== * [[History of Bucharest]]
==References== * Lucian Predescu, ''Enciclopedia Cugetarea'' * [http://adevarul.ro/locale/alexandria/controversata-doamna-chiajna-ajuns-sa-si-marite-fata-sultan-sa-si-turceasca-cei-doi-fii-1_586a47c65ab6550cb801967c/index.html Controversata doamnă Chiajna. Cum a ajuns să-şi mărite fata cu un sultan şi să-şi turcească cei doi fii]
{{S-start}} {{s-hou|[[House of Drăculești]]||||1559||}} {{s-reg}} |- {{Succession box| before=[[Radu Paisie]]| title=[[List of Wallachian rulers|Voivode of Wallachia]]| years=1545–1552| after=[[Radu Ilie Haidăul|Radu Ilie]] }} {{Succession box| before=[[Radu Ilie Haidăul|Radu Ilie]]| title=[[List of Wallachian rulers|Voivode of Wallachia]]| years=1553–1554| after=[[Pătrașcu cel Bun]] }} {{Succession box| before=[[Pătrașcu cel Bun]]| title=[[List of Wallachian rulers|Voivode of Wallachia]]| years=1558–1559| after=[[Petru cel Tânăr]] }} {{end box}}
{{Voivodes of Wallachia}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mircea The Shepherd}} [[Category:1559 deaths]] [[Category:16th-century princes of Wallachia]] [[Category:House of Drăculești]] [[Category:Year of birth unknown]]