Mircea the Elder

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Mircea the Elder
Voivode of Wallachia Despot of Dobruja
Mircea the Elder. Fresco in the Episcopal Church of Curtea de Argeș
Voivode of Wallachia (1st reign)
Reign	23 September 1386 – November 1394
Predecessor	Dan I of Wallachia
Successor	Vlad I of Wallachia
Voivode of Wallachia (2nd reign)
Reign	January 1397 – 31 January 1418
Predecessor	Vlad I of Wallachia
Successor	Michael I of Wallachia
Born	c. 1355
Died	31st of January 1418 (aged 62–63)
Burial	4 February 1418 Cozia Monastery, Vâlcea County
Spouse	Doamna Mara Doamna Anca
Issue	Michael I of Wallachia Radu II Praznaglava Alexandru I Aldea Vlad II Dracul Ana of Wallachia Arina of Wallachia
House	Basarab
Father	Radu I of Wallachia
Mother	Doamna Calinichia
Religion	Orthodox Christian[1]

Mircea the Elder (Romanian: Mircea cel Bătrân, pronounced [ˈmirtʃe̯a tʃel bəˈtrɨn] ^ⓘ; c. 1355 – 31 January 1418) was the Voivode of Wallachia from 1386 until his death in 1418. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and brother of Dan I of Wallachia, after whose death he inherited the throne.

After the death of his step-brother Dan I, Mircea takes over the throne in 1386, as Wallachia, on one side, was going through a process of economic, administrative, religious development, but also of strengthening the army, and on the other side it was confronted with the expansion tendencies of the Hungarian Kingdom and Poland, which were aiming at controlling the mouths of the Danube, but also those of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans.^[2]

During the reign of Mircea the Elder, Wallachia controlled the largest area in its history, gaining Dobruja in 1388, the Banate of Severin in 1388/9 and Podunavia (which is suspected to be the Timok Valley, or the name of the Danube river valley in Slavonic as stated in Mircea's letter "both sides of Danube"). In addition, he was also granted the fiefdoms of Amlaș (Omlás) and Făgăraș (Fugurash) in Transylvania.

The byname "elder" was given to him after his death in order to distinguish him from his grandson Mircea II ("Mircea the Younger"), although some historians believe the epithet was given to him as a sign of respect by later generations.^[3] He is considered the most important Wallachian ruler during the Middle Ages and one of the great rulers of his era,^[3] and starting in the 19th century Romanian historiography has also referred to him as Mircea the Great (Mircea cel Mare).^[4]