MICHELE il BRAVO. - Mihai Viteazu, b. in 1558, d. in 1608, prince of Wallachia, is one of the most dynamic Romanian figures. Having ascended the throne in 1593, he immediately joined the Crusade conceived by Clement VIII and led by the emperor Rodolfo, and began the war alone, inflicting upon the Turks, in 1595, the terrible defeat of Calugareni. When his ally, Prince Sigismondo Bathory, ceded Transylvania to card. Andrea Bathory, his cousin and a man trusted by the Poles allied with the Turks, M., no longer feeling secure, entered Transylvania and, in the battle of Selimber (1599), defeated Andrea, who lost both his kingdom and his life there. In this new possession of his, M. founded for the Romanians the “Orthodox” bishopric of Alba Iulia; among his Transylvanian council there were also several Hungarian Catholic bishops.
With the conquest, in the following year, of Moldavia as well, M. achieved the unity (cfiniera) of the Romanian lands; but, after various victories and defeats, he was treacherously killed near Turda. With him ended the great Romanian resistance to the Turks, already masters of Hungary since 1526.