Radu of Afumați

Radu of Afumați
Voivode of Wallachia
Portrait from Curtea de Argeș monaastery
Reign	Dec 1522 – Apr 1523 Jan – Jun 1524 Sep 1524 – Apr 1525 Aug 1525 – 2 Jan 1529
Predecessor	Teodosie Radu al VI-lea Bădica Vladislav al III-lea
Successor	Vladislav al III-lea Moise Vodă
Died	2 January 1529 Church of Cetățuia
Burial	Curtea de Argeș Cathedral
Spouse	Voica Ruxandra Basarab
Issue	Vlad, Anca, Neacșa (all of them from the first marriage)
Dynasty	Drăculeşti
Father	Radu cel Mare

Radu of Afumați was Prince of Wallachia between January 1522 and April 1529 (with intermittences in the first year, because he lost the throne between April–June and August–October 1522). He began his reign with a victory against Mehmed-bey, a pretender to Wallachia's throne. From 1522 to 1525 he battled the Turks, who supported Vladislav al III-lea and Radu Bădica, both claimants of the throne. The inscription on his tombstone lists 20 battles. He was killed by decapitation on 2 January 1529 near Râmnicu Vâlcea, at Cetățuia Church. He was later buried in the Curtea de Argeș Cathedral.

He got the nickname "of Afumați" because he had a property in Afumați, Ilfov County, inherited from his grandfather Vlad the Monk (1482–1495). To distinguish him from other Wallachian rulers named Radu (especially his father and brothers), the Prince also received other nicknames. During his life he was referred to as Radu Vodă the Younger, and after his death he was also called Radu the Brave (in a document from 4 June 1588) as a recognition of his merits in stopping the Ottoman advance and preventing the transformation of Wallachia into a Turkish pashaluk. After the place where he was killed, he was also remembered as Prince Radu of Ramnic

Radu of Afumați belonged to the House of Drăculești lineage, as son of the Wallachian Prince Radu IV the Great and of Princess Catalina. He had two sisters, Cristina and Boba.

His first wife, Voica, was the daughter of the vornic Vlaicu from Bucșani. She died in 1525. From this marriage the Prince had three children: Vlad (killed along with his father in 1529), Anca (married with the boyar Udriște from Mărgineni) and Neacșa.

On 21 January 1526, Radu married Princess Ruxandra, the daughter of Neagoe Basarab. They did not have children together. After the death of Radu of Afumați, Ruxandra became the wife of another prince of Wallachia, Radu Paisie.