House of Basarab


The Basarabs were a family which had an important role in the establishing of the Principality of Wallachia, giving the country its first line of Princes, one closely related with the Mușatin rulers 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. After the rule of Alexandru I Aldea, 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.
Rulers usually mentioned as members of the House include Mircea the Elder, Dan II, Vlad II Dracul, Vlad III the Impaler, Vlad the Monk, Radu IV the Great, and Radu of Afumați.

Name and origins

The dynasty was named after Basarab I, who gained the independence of Wallachia from the Kingdom of Hungary.
The name is likely of Cuman or Pecheneg Turkic 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, to be an honorary title, as recognizable in many Cuman names, such as Terteroba, Arslanapa, and Ursoba.
Basarab's 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.
The Cuman or Pecheneg origin of the name is, however, only a conjecture and a matter of dispute among historians. Contemporaries constantly identified Basarab as a Vlach. Charles I of Hungary speaks of him as Bazarab infidelis Olacus noster.

Genealogy

The following genealogical tree is an oversimplified 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:

Legacy

The Basarab name is the origin of several placenames, including the region of Bessarabia and a few towns, such as Basarabi in Romania, Basarabeasca in the Republic of Moldova, and Basarbovo in Bulgaria.
Also, even Queen Elizabeth II herself is descended from Princess Stanca of Basarab, through the eight generation lineage of Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde of Erdőszentgyörgy, an Austro-Hungarian Countess from the Teck-Cambridge family, making Elizabeth a fifteenth great-grandniece to Prince Vlad III of Dracul/Dracula.