The Faceless King: Radu cel Frumos and his history

"See how that Turk of Cathay has drunk a cup of red wine and rushed forth to murder and plunder the land of the heart!" g. 71 Este é o primeiro dístico ( beyit ) do gazal 71 que, junto com outros 83 gazals, compõe o diwān de Mehmed II, escrito sob o pseudônimo de Avni. Foi recentemente publicado em um único volume editado pelo  Professor Muhammet Nur Doğan (2016, edição trilíngue turco otomano/turco moderno/inglês). Esse gazal 71 mostrou-se um dado definitivo para comprovar a descrição que  Chalkokondyles (e também o chamado  Anônimo de Zoras, com diferenças), em sua  obra Histórias , faz do incidente entre o sultão e Radu e que foi datado no início do segundo sultanato daquele (fevereiro de 1451). Lendo o gazal 71  em minha cópia do Fâtih Dîvânı ve Şerhi ,  num dia de verão, ouvi um clique distante que me fez acessar o Wikipedia para comparar o gazal com o parágrafo "batata quente" do historiador grego  Chalkokondyles, na época ainda publicado...

It was the Spring of 1451.  Mehmed, the 19 year old sultan-in-waiting, had reascended the throne on February 18, soon after his father, Murad II, died in Edirne. On the eve of a campaing in Anatolia to pull back the Karamanid beg, Ibrahim II, who had attacked Ottoman land right after Mehmed's ascention, a n  incident  involving Mehmed and Radu took place in the capital, Edirne, and was described by court  historian  Laonikos Chalkokondyles (c. 1423 - c. 1490), a Greek chronicler: It happened that the sultan was almost killed by the boy [Chalkokondyles never mentions the name of the boy, but calls him Vlad's brother on the introductory sentence, not appearing here] when he had wanted to have sex with him. This was when he had first [sic] gained the throne and was preparing to campaign against Karaman.   He was in love with the boy and invited him for conversation [a meeting, a date, meclis in Ott.] , and then as a sign of his respect he invited him for dr...

Blue: Bucharest Pink: Istanbul Yellow: Giurgiu Purple: Edirne   In 1462, after the well-known wild pursuit of Vlad III, which finally ended up pushing Vlad to the Hungarian territory*, Radu is lead by the great Mahmud Paça into Wallachia to claim the throne. Chalkokondyles writes down the first speach given by the victorious Ottoman-appointed pretender to the throne, Radu. I'd consider this piece of rhetoric with 2 pinches of salt. But, basically, Radu was appearing to the people of Wallachia as a liberator. Ths speach was given out in the very important port town of Braila: "Men, descendents of the Dacians! What do you think your future will be? You do not know the great power of the Emperor [Mehmed II]? Do you not know that his armies will come to you, destroying your land, and depriving you of everything you have? Why do you not become friends of the Emperor? And you will have peace and tranquility in your homes. You know that there is no more food left. And you gad to endu...

Radu III of Wallachia, a.k.a. the Handsome (in Romanian language, Radu cel Frumos ), was probably born in the capital city of  Târgoviște, the seat of the royal court in the XV century . Althought there is no written account to cohoborate this statement, it is known that, sometime in 1437, voivode Vlad II and his  two eldest sons - Mircea and Vlad - moved to  Târgoviște. So, most likely, Radu was born there. His father was Vlad II Dracul, and his mother, a Moldavian cneajna (princess) from the House Dane ș ti, probably called Maria Vasilisa. The exact date of his birth is no t known, but it is considered to be between August 1437 and August 1439. One letter from his father dated August 23, 1437, mentions only his two eldest sons - Mircea and Vlad, while the second letter, from August 2, 1439,  goes: "... my sons Mircea, Vlad and Radu".  Radu reappears in written sources during the events in 1444, when he and his brother Vlad were sent by Vlad II Dracul as...