The House of Basarab (sometimes spelled as Bazarab, Romanian: Basarabpronounced[basaˈrab]ⓘ) was a ruling family that established the Principality of Wallachia, giving the country its first line of Princes, one closely related with the Mușatinrulers of Moldavia. Its status as a dynasty is rendered problematic by the official elective system, which implied that male members of the same family, including illegitimate offspring, were chosen to rule by a council of boyars (more often than not, the election was conditioned by the military force exercised by candidates). After the rule of Alexandru I Aldea (ended in 1436), the house was split by the conflict between the Dănești and the Drăculești, both of which claimed legitimacy. Several late rulers of the Craiovești claimed direct descent from the House after its eventual demise, including Neagoe Basarab, Matei Basarab, Constantin Șerban, Șerban Cantacuzino, and Constantin Brâncoveanu.
The dynasty was named after Basarab I, who gained the independence of Wallachia from the Kingdom of Hungary around 1325.
The origin of the family is highly disputed, with theories suggesting either a Vlach,[1][2][3][4][5][6]Cuman, or partially Cuman[7] background. However, there is no scholarly consensus on their actual origin. The Cuman hypothesis has been disputed[8][9][10] and at least four royal charters from the 14th century refer to Basarab as a Vlach.[11]
The name is likely of Cuman or PechenegTurkic[12][13][14][15] origin and most likely meant "father ruler". Basar was the present participle of the verb "to rule", derivatives attested in both old and modern Kypchak languages. The Romanian historian Nicolae Iorga believed the second part of the name, -aba ("father"), to be an honorary title, as recognizable in many Cuman names, such as Terteroba, Arslanapa, and Ursoba.
Basarab's "possible" father Thocomerius also bore an allegedly Cuman name, identified as Toq-tämir, a rather common Cuman and Tatar name in the 13th century. The Russian chronicles around 1295 refer to a Toktomer, a prince of the Mongol Empire present in Crimea.[16]
The Cuman or Pecheneg origin of the name is used as the basis for the Cuman hypothesis of origin, in a similar manner to origin theories linked to the Asenids of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Like Asen and his family, who according to the theory were of non-Bulgarian extraction, and who founded a dynasty and became Bulgarians, Basarab and his family could have also been of Cuman extraction, founded a dynasty, and then become Romanian.[16]
Genealogy
The following genealogical tree is a simplified version, meant to show the ruling princes, their documented brothers and sisters, and the spouses/extramarital liaisons of those who had ruling heirs, following the conventions:
Ruling princes have their name emphasized and their ruling years in Wallachia.
Several members of House of Basarab ruled in Moldavia; those reigning years are marked with M.
Small numbers at the end of each name are meant to indicate the mother of each offspring.
There are two branches of the dynasty: Drăculeşti (DR) and Dăneşti (DA)
If the prince died while ruling, the last year is preceded by a cross.
Spouses and extramarital liaisons are separated by a horizontal line.
The Basarab name is the origin of several place names, including the region of Bessarabia (today part of Moldova and Ukraine) and a few towns, such as Basarabi in Romania, Basarabeasca in the Republic of Moldova, and Basarbovo in Bulgaria.
^*Cazacu, Matei; Mureșan, Dan Ioan (2013). Ioan Basarab, un domn român la începuturile Țării Românești [Ioan Basarab, a Romanian Prince at the Beginning of Wallachia] (in Romanian). Cartier. ISBN978-9975-79-807-5.
^Istoria românilor din cele mai vechi timpuri până astăzi (1971), p. 190 & 209, Giurescu & Giurescu
^"Bazarab, filium Thocomerii, scismaticum, in nostrum et sacre corone non modicum derogamen detinebantur, adissemus, idem Bazarab, infidelis Olacus noster" Pascu S, Cihodaru C, Gündisch K, Mioc D, Pervain V. Documenta Romaniae Historica: DRH, 1977, D. Relații între Țările Române, seria D. [Documenta Romaniae Historica: DRH, 1977, D Relations between Romanian states, series D] (in Romanian).Institutul de Istorie „George Barițiu” al Academiei Române Filiala Cluj-Napoca, Institutul de Istorie „Nicolae Iorga” București. 1977. p. 50
^"per Bazarab Olacum et filiis eius" Pascu S, Cihodaru C, Gündisch K, Mioc D, Pervain V. Documenta Romaniae Historica: DRH, 1977, D. Relații între Țările Române, seria D. [Documenta Romaniae Historica: DRH, 1977, D Relations between Romanian states, series D] (in Romanian).Institutul de Istorie „George Barițiu” al Academiei Române Filiala Cluj-Napoca, Institutul de Istorie „Nicolae Iorga” București. 1977. p. 57
^"contra Bazarad Olacum" Imre Nagy et al., Codex diplomaticus patrius [Hazai okmánytár], vol. II, Gyor, 1865, nr. 91, p. 131.
^Mosneanu, Cristian. “Ivanco Bessarab-Bessarab the Great (1315/1320?-1352)/Ivanco Basarab / Basarab Cel Mare (1315/1320?- 1352.” ORDER OF THE BASSARABIAN CHIVALRY (2020)
^Vásáry, István (2009). Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365 (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511496622. ISBN978-0521120289. The Cumans were the co-founders of three successive Bulgarian dynasties (Asenids, Romanian: Basarab Terterids and Shishmanids) and the Wallachian dynasty (Basarabids). They also played an active role in Byzantium, Hungary and Serbia, with Cuman immigrants being integrated into each country's elite.
^Korva Coleman (November 8, 2012). "Why Prince Charles Has A Stake In Transylvania". NPR. Retrieved August 11, 2021. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, dropped this nugget last year on an interviewer: "Transylvania is in my blood. The genealogy shows that I'm descended from Vlad the Impaler, you see. So I do have a bit of a stake in the country."
Spinei, Victor (2009). The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the Danube Delta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth century. Koninklijke Brill NV. ISBN978-90-04-17536-5.
