Banul Mărăcine or Mărăcină (Romanian for "The Ban Bramble"), common rendition of Barbu III Craiovescu, Barbu Mărăcine or Barbu Basarab (,Rezachevici, p. 54 ;Decei, p. 146 died August 1?, 1565), was a historical figure in Wallachia, who claimed the title of Prince. He was one of several Craiovești pretenders to the throne, a category which also included his father, Preda Craiovescu. Mărăcine himself entered historical record in 1532, when, as an opponent of Prince Vlad VI, he had his estate confiscated. He returned to favor later that year, with the crowning of Vlad Vintilă de la Slatina. Like Preda before him, Mărăcine served as Ban of Oltenia, becoming the last of his family to hold that title. According to various accounts, he turned against his new lord, from organizing armed resistance in Oltenia to involving himself in Vlad Vintilă's assassination. He was able to maintain his position following the crowning of Radu Paisie, but was eventually toppled by the latter in mid-1535.
Mărăcine's own bid for the throne was embraced by some factions of the local boyardom, who took up arms against Paisie in 1536. Since the Craiovești claim contradicted the standards of Wallachian customary law, Mărăcine depicted himself as a son of Neagoe Basarab; he was perhaps Neagoe's nephew. The resulting civil war allegedly involved a hand-to-hand duel between the two rivals, and also saw Paisie's mutilation by the rebels. Barbu probably seized the Wallachian throne with Ottoman acquiescence, before being driven out by the returning Paisie later in 1536. Various records suggest that he lived in exile with his son Nicolaus Bassaraba, and that both of them continued to claim the throne. Barbu was ultimately killed in Istanbul, having encountered the wrath of Suleiman the Magnificent; Nicolaus escaped punishment and fled to the Spanish Empire, but still styled himself a Prince. His male descendants continued to be involved in intrigues in both Wallachia and Moldavia, down to the 1650s.
Mărăcine's memory survived in Romanian folklore, which identifies him as the patron of various places around Dolj County. A modern legend also claimed him, anachronistically, as the ancestor of French Renaissance poet Pierre de Ronsard. This invented tradition probably found its first complete form in an eponymous ballad by Vasile Alecsandri, published in the 1850s. It later also inspired prose by, among others, Grigore H. Grandea and N. D. Popescu-Popnedea, and verse drama by V. A. Urechia. Mărăcine's name and his legendary career remain associated with a dance routine and a variety of Romanian wine.
Biography Origins and early causes A tributary of the Ottoman Empire from 1417, Wallachia was frequently troubled by civil wars, with various branches of the House of Basarab fighting each other for the throne. Mărăcine's birth coincided with the political advent of his family, the Craiovești, which claimed descent from the Drăculești Basarabs, through Prince Neagoe Basarab. The latter's own dynastic claim was doubtful, and, as various historians note, relied on him being recognized as the natural son of Basarab IV Țepeluș.Cîrstina, p. 112; Donat (1996), pp. 39–40, 154; Rezachevici, p. 54; Stoicescu, pp. 18, 74 A competing hypothesis is that Neagoe's mother and Țepeluș's wife, Negea, was in fact a Craiovești by birth.Donat (1996), pp. 82, 154 Historian Ion Donat also notes that the Craiovești and Brâncoveni were related to the Basarabs not only through Neagoe, but also through a 1450s Prince, Vladislav II.Donat (1996), pp. 39–40, 154–155, 178–180
Beyond this dispute, it is likely that Neagoe and all other Craiovești descended from one Vlacsan Florev, which made them relatives of three other kingmaking boyar families: the Florescus, the Buzești, and the Drăgoești.Cîrstina, p. 115 According to standard interpretations, Neagoe's official father was the Vornic Pârvu Craiovescu; Pârvu's daughter (and Mărăcine's presumed aunt) Marga was the matriarch of another Craiovești branch, centered on the estate of Brâncoveni.Donat (1996), pp. 39–41, 52, 56, 62, 77, 82, 157–162, 166, 168, 170–171, 173; Stoicescu, pp. 18–19, 47, 49, 62–63, 70 Mărăcine's father, the Ban Preda Craiovescu, was very likely Pârvu's son: historian N. Stoicescu provides sources that describe Preda as either Neagoe's cousin or brother.Oprea, pp. 159, 161–162; Stoicescu, pp. 18–19, 46, 74 Another scholar, Radu Oprea, argues that the Prince and Ban were indisputably brothers.Oprea, pp. 159, 161–162
Neagoe was succeeded in 1521 by his son Teodosie. Preda Craiovescu, who fashioned himself a regent, died the same year, in battle against Teodosie's enemy, Vlad Dragomir Călugărul.Oprea, p. 159; Rezachevici, p. 54; Stoicescu, p. 46 All the main Drăculești lines were probably extinguished with the deaths of Princes Teodosie and Moise; the Craiovești took over their claim, even though this broke the laws of succession: their only probable link to the Drăculești was maternal. Between 1530 and 1532, the family split into rival camps, with some supporting Vlad VI and others conspiring to have him removed.Cîrstina, pp. 115–116; Donat (1996), pp. 56–58, 102; Feneșan & Bacqué-Grammont, p. 72; Oprea, pp. 160–164 In late 1530,Oprea, p. 160 another member of the family, Drăghici Gogoașă, passed himself off as Neagoe's son, rather than his cousin, in an effort to usurp Vlad VI. His forgery sparked the wrath of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who oversaw his hanging at Istanbul.Cîrstina, pp. 112, 116; Oprea, p. 164; Rezachevici, p. 54; Stoicescu, pp. 18, 95. See also Donat (1996), pp. 53–56, 102, 141, 143, 159, 163
As noted by scholar Constantin Rezachevici, historians were prone to identify Drăghici and Mărăcine as one and the same person, until documents discovered in 1976 proved them wrong.Rezachevici, p. 54. See also Oprea, p. 164 The actual Mărăcine, or Barbu III Craiovescu, also appears to have been entangled in the conspiracy to topple Vlad VI, but, according to Oprea, only from March 1532. A writ of the period notes that the estates of "Jupan Barbul and Preda the Ban" were confiscated by the Prince, then assigned to Mărăcine's loyalist nephew, Hamza of Obislav.Oprea, pp. 160–161. See also Donat (1996), pp. 57–58, 102, 141 Mărăcine reached prominence following Vlad VI's accidental drowning, when Vlad Vintilă de la Slatina took over as Prince. The new monarch confirmed him as Ban of Oltenia on March 17, 1534, some three months after Hamza had been removed from that position.Stoicescu, pp. 47, 62–63. See also Cîrstina, p. 116; Rezachevici, p. 54 Like his father, Mărăcine probably established his regional court southwest of Craiova, in his family's fortified church, and built primitive defenses along the Jiu River.Donat (1937), p. 8
By then, the political landscape of Wallachia had been complicated further, with Vlad Vintilă and some of the boyars remaining loyal to the Ottomans, while others began hatching plots to align the country with the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary, which was fighting the Little War. A contemporary report by Alvise Gritti alleges that Barbu, on surface a pro-Ottoman, also sided with the Hungarians. This text suggests that "Barbul Ban" was removed from office, but still withdrew to Craiova; in retaliation, Oltenia was invaded by loyalists from Buzău County. These were supposed to exercise terror in Vlad Vintilă's name, but also to help the Prince in preparing his own anti-Ottoman uprising.Decei, pp. 125–126, 132, 146, 152
According to medievalist Irina F. Cîrstina, Gritti's account should be disregarded as entirely spurious.Cîrstina, pp. 116–117 Nevertheless, other scholars also highlight the mounting conflict between the Prince and the Ban. Valentin Gheonea attributes Vlad Vintilă's assassination in June 1535 specifically to the Craiovești boyars. "The most powerful group at the time", they became "annoyed by the prince's exceedingly authoritarian manner".Gheonea, p. 50 This is also proposed by Claudiu Neagoe. Unlike Gritti, he describes Mărăcine and the Craiovești as Ottoman loyalists who resented Vlad Vintilă's push for emancipation.Claudiu Neagoe, "Cultura orală și rolul ei social în Țările Române (sec. XV–XVIII)", in Argesis. Studii și Comunicări. Seria Istorie, Vol. XXIII, 2014, p. 36 He also notes that Barbu organized the hunting trip which created an opportunity for assassination. This account originates with Macarious Zaim, who claims that the boyars killed the Prince before he could kill them, and locates these events in Craiova.
1536 uprising and exile The new ruler was a former monk, Radu Paisie, alleged son of Radu the Great. Though appointed by a boyar consensus, he soon had conflicts with the more prominent families. Barbu III was last mentioned as Ban on July 30, 1535, stripped of his office by August, and ultimately replaced with Șerban of Izvorani.Rezachevici, p. 54. See also Oprea, p. 159; Stoicescu, p. 47 According to Oprea, the demotion "probably occurred after August 9".Oprea, p. 159 Now established as a dissenter, Mărăcine also stated a claim to the throne, taking up the family tradition. This also implied falsifying his lineage and describing himself as Neagoe's son, rather than nephew.Rezachevici, pp. 54–55
Paisie was subsequently faced with a boyar rebellion, which may have ended with his dethronement. As noted by Gheonea, Paisie's ouster may be verified by the absence of writs issued in his name at any point between August and December 1536, and again between August and October 1537. This is corroborated by the writings of Nicolaus Olahus. Olahus claims that Paisie and the rebel leader, who may have been Barbu III, fought a duel in front of their boyar armies; the latter was defeated and captured, but his partisans freed him from prison, then assailed Paisie, mutilated him, and sent him into exile.Cornelia Popa-Gorjanu, "Despre originea lui Nicolaus Olahus (1493–1568)", in Terra Sebus. Acta Musei Sabesiensis, Vol. 6, 2014, p. 318; Rezachevici, p. 53 Rezachevici and other historians believe that the episode was a Craiovești ascendancy, and that Mărăcine was the actual Prince of Wallachia between February and April 1536.Luca, p. 658; Oprea, pp. 159–160; Rezachevici, pp. 54–55, 56
As Rezachevici notes (based on the account in Olahus), Mărăcine was, at least in the beginning, supported by Sultan Suleiman and the Ottoman Army.Cîrstina, p. 128; Rezachevici, pp. 53, 55 Though they do not record the name of Paisie's usurper, scholars Cristina Feneșan and Jean-Louis Bacqué-Grammont discuss him as involved in Ottoman in-fighting: the anonymous boyar favorite was also backed by Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, the Ottoman Grand Vizier; the latter lost his position and his life in early 1563, being replaced by Ayas Mehmed Pasha, who probably supported Paisie.Feneșan & Bacqué-Grammont, p. 74 Also backing Mărăcine were Tudor of Drăgoești, the country's Logothete, and Ban Toma of Pietroșani. Both were swiftly executed by Paisie, who retook his crown with assistance from the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom.Cîrstina, pp. 117, 128; Rezachevici, p. 58