Everything about Mihnea Turcitul totally explained
Mihnea Turcitul (
Mihnea the Turned-Turk;
1564-
1601) was
Prince (
Voivode) of
Walachia between September
1577 and July
1583, and again from April
1585 to May
1591.
The only son of
Alexandru II Mircea and
Ecaterina Salvaresso, he ascended to the throne after events characteristic for the decline in prestige of local custom and princely power under pressure from the
Ottoman Empire (Wallachia's
suzerain): Mihnea had to compete with a foreign pretender, the
Lombard physician Rosso, who claimed to be descended from a Wallachian ruler, and ultimately succeeded after enlisting the help of his grandmother, the influential
Doamna Chiajna.
He, Ecaterina Salvaresso, and Chiajna subsequently established what would become a highly unpopular rule, which followed the political guidelines imposed by Alexandru II, and saw a major increase in taxes — around 1583, the pressure was leading peasants to abandon their plots and flee to
Transylvania in large numbers.
Local
boyars unsuccessfully
petitioned the
Porte citing Mihnea's youth, began talks with a certain Pătraşcu or
Radul Popa (who claimed to be the son of
Pătraşcu cel Bun), and eventually rebelled in
Oltenia (under the leadership of the
Craioveşti family). A more powerful pretender was the real son of Pătraşcu cel Bun,
Petru Cercel, who held the throne from 1583 to 1585, provoking Mihnea's
exile to
Tripoli (where he was kept in custody by Ottoman authorities).
The obligations he contracted in order to have Petru removed (around 700,000
scudi) forced Mihnea to increase the fiscal burden, and especially the
quit-rent, to even higher levels upon his return to
Bucharest. In addition, Mihnea allegedly promised
Grand Vizier Koca Sinan Pasha as many
gold coins as 600 horses could carry, in order to have Petru killed; in March
1590, his request was granted by
Sultan Murad III, who ordered Petru's execution in exchange for 70,000 gold coins.
Despite the established contacts, the Ottomans deposed Mihnea in favor of
Ştefan Surdul (who was allegedly a leather cutter and harness maker by trade). After moving to
Anatolia, he bidded without success for the throne in
Moldavia.
Mihnea made history (and gained his
moniker) by converting to
Islam in the years following his ousting. The move qualified him for Ottoman administrative office - he was awarded the
sanjak of
Nikopolis (in today's
Bulgaria) under the name of
Mehmed (or
Mehmet)
Bey. These un-traditional gestures didn't prevent his youngest son,
Radu Mihnea, from becoming Prince in
1601.
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