Mihnea III

Mihnea III Radu (Turkish: Radu Gioan Bey; 1613 – 5 April 1660), was a Prince of Moldavia,^{[citation needed]} and ruler of Wallachia from March 1658 to November 1659.^[1] His father was alleged to have been the Voivode Radu Mihnea.^[2][3]

Mihnea III
Prince of Wallachia
Reign	5 March 1658 – November 1659[1]
Predecessor	Constantin Șerban
Successor	George Ghica
Born	1613 Iaşi
Died	5 April 1660 Sătmar
Father	Radu Mihnea (alleged, see § Ancestry claims)
Religion	Orthodox

Mihnea III person flag used during his reign. Today the flag is found in the National Museum of Belgrade and albeit the cloth is well preserved, the golden painting has almost vanished.

Family

Ancestry claims

Radu's ancestry is uncertain. During his life, Radu claimed to be the son of Radu Mihnea, but other versions of his history give different accounts of his ancestry, such as claiming his true father was Radu Șerban or Mircea Ciobanu.^[1] Pârvu Cantacuzino claims that "Mihnea was originally a Greek money-lender. His father was called Iane the Deaf (Rom. “Surdul”), and he himself was baptized Franți. Thus, showing from a young age a propensity to follow Ishmael, Hagar's son, he ran away from his parents, went to Țarigrad, and bowed in allegiance to Kinan-pașa, telling him that he was the son of Radu-voivode and the grandson of Mihnea-voivode. And thus he spent his life with the Turks, around 40 years".^[1]

However, the lack of contemporary evidence makes it hard to pinpoint his true ancestry.^{[citation needed]}

Descendants

There is no confirmed historical evidence regarding the descendants of Mihnea III Radu. Some genealogical sources have speculated that he may have had a son, but these claims are not supported by primary documents.

Biography

Early life

According to a Turkish traveller, Mihnea was raised in the Greek community of Istanbul.^{[citation needed]} He was a good friend of Grand Vizier Kenan Pasha and his wife, and his status was reportedly comparable to that of an adopted son.^[4]

Rise to power

In July 1653, Mihnea was probably behind an assassination attempt on Matei Basarab's life.^[5]

On 29 January 1658, Mihnea swore allegiance to Ottoman Sultan^[1] Mehmed IV.^[6]

A little over a month later, Ottoman troops invaded Wallachia and overthrew then-voivode Constantin Șerban, installing the more compliant Radu in his place on 5 March 1658.^[1]

Death

Mihnea most likely died on April 5, 1660, the day after attending a banquet in Sătmar hosted by Constantin Șerban.^[7]