Radu Negru

{{short description|Legendary founder and first ruler of Wallachia}} {{Redirect|Radu Vodă}} {{Other uses}} {{more footnotes|date=November 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}

[[File:Negru.Voda.pictura.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Fantasy portrait of Negru Vodă by [[Pierre Bellet]]]]

'''Radu Negru''', also known as '''Negru Vodă''' ("The Black Voivode"), was a legendary [[voivode]] of [[Wallachia]]. He is a [[folk hero]] and the central figure behind the [[founding of Wallachia]], which he would have ruled around 1290. His character and authenticity is typically regarded to be a blend of truth and fable, as many other similar and contemporary historical figures share his traits.

==Legend and Historicity== Radu Negru was first mentioned in the 17th-century ''Cantacuzino Annals'', which also state that the prince built large churches in [[Câmpulung]] and [[Curtea de Argeș]], successive capitals of [[Wallachia]]. The annals most likely refer to [[Radu I of Wallachia]], who reigned from 1377 to 1383. There are no contemporary documents that correspond to a Wallachian voivode of his name ruling the area between the [[Southern Carpathians]] and the [[Danube river]], however [[oral tradition]] as well as contemporary events do correlate to fragments of truth that can be detected in his legend.

According to the legend, Radu Negru is described as "hailing from [[Făgăraș]]" in Southern Transylvania. He was born sometime in the late 1260s and migrated south with fellow Wallachian [[boyars]], [[clergy]] and [[peasants]] around 1290 due to his distain of Hungarian rule, where he would found the Wallachian state and its [[House of Basarab|first ruling dynasty]]. He settled [[Câmpulung]] and [[Curtea de Argeș]], building important churches and fortification, as well as uniting local [[Vlach]] [[cneaz|knezes]] under his authority. He would hold the Wallachian throne until 1304, after which [[Basarab I of Wallachia]] would usurp him in the following years.

Modern historians agree on a few key points, including a real migration of [[Romanians|Romanian]] elites and people to the [[Curtea de Argeș]] and [[Câmpulung]] area, due to the fact that these areas were out of direct Hungarian control. In this case, the legend likely preserves a real process, but not necessarily a real person. The actual founder of Wallachia was almost certainly Basarab I, since he is the earliest documented ruler of Wallachia, who succeeded his father [[Thocomerius]] in 1310.

Radu Negru in the modern day is most likely considered to be a [[composite character]], blending the historicity of multiple, attested early Vlach rulers and used by later chroniclers to provide Wallachia with a more noble origin story, akin to that of [[Romulus]]. In the various folk traditions and legends, Radu Negru's image blends with that of the following rulers: * [[Thocomerius]], father of Basarab I * [[Basarab I]] (c. 1270–1351/52), First Voivode of Wallachia * [[Nicholas Alexander of Wallachia|Nicolae Alexandru]], Second Voivode of Wallachia (<abbr>c.</abbr> 1352 – 1364) * [[Radu I]], Voivode of Wallachia (c. 1377 – c. 1383) * [[Neagoe Basarab]], Voivode of Wallachia (1512-1521)

==See also== * [[Foundation of Wallachia]]

==References== {{reflist}} * Neagu Djuvara: Thocomerius-Negru Vodă, un voivod de origine cumană la începuturile Țării Românești: cum a purces întemeierea primului stat medieval românesc dinainte de "descălecătoare" și până la așezarea Mitropoliei Ungrovlahiei la Argeș: noi interpretări/Thocomerius - Negru Vodă: a voivode of Cumanian origin at the beginning of Wallachia: how the foundation of the first medieval Romanian state began before "dismounting" and until the settlement of the Metropolitanate of Ungrovlahia in Argeș: new interpretations, Editura Humanitas, București, 2007, {{ISBN|978-9735017873}}

==External links== * [http://www.tomoniu.sapte.ro/ntomoniu/tismana/basarabi/negru.htm Basarabii: Radu Negru (Black)] (in Romanian)

[[Category:Legendary monarchs]] [[Category:Legendary Romanian people]] [[Category:Medieval legends]]