Craioveşti

The Craioveşti, later Brâncoveneşti, were a boyar family in Wallachia who gave the country several of its Princes and held the title of Ban of Oltenia (whether of Strehaia or Craiova) for ca. 60 years.

History

The first member to rise to prominence was a certain Neagoe, a member of the "Sfat" who became Ban of Strehaia under Basarab Ţepeluş cel Tânăr (sometime after 1477). His son Pârvu Craiovescu (d. 1512), a "Great Vornic", was the father of Neagoe Basarab - who became Prince of Wallachia in 1512 after replacing Vlad cel Tânăr (who had began opposing the family's political influence); [Ştefănescu, p.141] in the late 1400s, the Craioveşti had been a leading and extremely rich dynasty, virtually independent rulers of Oltenia, regional allies of the Ottoman Empire in front of princely authority, builders of churches on Mount Athos, and administrators of the Ottoman customs in Vidin (present-day Bulgaria). [Ştefănescu, p.140] After an Ottoman occupation in the early 1520s convinced the Craioveşti to rally behind their Prince Radu de la Afumaţi, their agreement with Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent brought about Radu's defeat and submission. [Ştefănescu, p.144-145]

The Oltenian line of succession of the Craioveşti was ended by Vlad Înecatul, who used this as a means to quell boyar rebellions.

Through the closely related Brâncoveneşti, the family once again rose to the throne: first with Matei Basarab (ruled 1632-1654), and a second time with Constantin Brâncoveanu (ruled 1688-1714). Although also related to the Cantacuzino family, the Brâncoveneşti entered a bloody feud with the latter, centered on mutual denounciations for treason to the Ottoman overlord - in reality, Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu's secret negotiations with the Habsburg Monarchy and Peter the Great's Imperial Russia were continued (after his execution in Istanbul) by his rival and successor Ştefan Cantacuzino.

The latter's downfall brought the establishment of Phanariote rules, enforced as a measure of security by Sultan Ahmed III. The Brâncoveneşti-Cantacuzino conflict is mirrored in Dimitrie Cantemir's "Historia Hieroglyphica" (a work which takes the Cantacuzinos' side).

Members of the family remained present in the political life of Wallachia throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, and were seated in the Divan among the few pro-Russian boyar families. [Djuvara, p.286] Ban Grigore Brâncoveanu was the leader of the regency council after the death of Prince Alexander Soutzos (in 1821) - he approached the nationalist leader of Oltenian pandurs, Tudor Vladimirescu, in an attempt to block Scarlat Callimachi's ascension to the throne, thus providing the context for the anti-Phanariote uprising of that year [Djuvara, p.297] (he also welcomed Russian occupation during the War of 1828-1829). [Djuvara, p.113]

Its last representative, Zoe Brâncoveanu, born Mavrocordatos and adopted by Ban Grigore in 1820, married Prince Gheorghe Bibescu - despite their divorce, the patrimony (of "Basarab-Brâncoveanu") was passed on to the Bibescu family through the son of Gheorghe and Zoe, Prince Grégoire Bibesco-Bassaraba (the father of Anne de Noailles). [Djuvara, p.347]

Notes

References

*Neagu Djuvara, "Între Orient şi Occident. Ţările române la începutul epocii moderne", Humanitas, Bucharest, 1995
*Ştefan Ştefănescu, "Istoria medie a României", Vol. I, Bucharest, 1991