The first-named, Neagu, came to the throne either in 1511 or 1513, and died a natural death in 1520, a rare event in those days.  He was conspicuously a man of peace in a country and age of war and bloodshed, and was eminently pious and benevolent.  He repaired several churches, restored the cathedral of Tirgovistea, roofed other churches with lead, both in and out of Wallachia, and built the beautiful cathedral of Curtea d’Ardges, the erection of which, as we have heard, was attributed by tradition to Radu Negru, the reputed founder of Wallachia.  The tablet in his memory has already been referred to elsewhere.  In war he never took any personal part, and, as we have already remarked, he died peacefully in his bed.

He was followed on the throne by ‘Radu the Monk,’ who met with the usual fate, having been slain by the Turks; and this prince was succeeded by the Radu d’Affumati above named, a nephew of Nyagu (1522), who occupied the throne for seven years.

War, war was still the cry; he had numerous vicissitudes during his short reign; participated in the defeat of the Hungarians and Poles in the battle of Mohacs, ’which witnessed the slaughter of a king, seven bishops, five hundred nobles, and twenty thousand soldiers; not only laid open the whole country to the inroads of the Turks and established them for nearly a century and a half in its capital, but changed the reigning dynasty of Hungary and introduced for the first time a German sovereign to the Hungarian throne.’[137] Radu was dethroned, and in his attempt to leave the country he was seized by two of his nobles and decapitated.  During part of his reign, however, Wallachia enjoyed some tranquillity, and Radu continued the works begun by his uncle; amongst others, as we know, he completed the cathedral of Ardges.

After the battle of Mohacs the Turks began to encroach more openly upon Roumanian (Moldo-Wallachian) territory.  They occupied and fortified Braila, Giurgevo, and Galatz; interfered in the election of the princes, in one or two instances securing the appointment for men whose sole claim to the crown was their willingness to pay a heavy bribe.  One of those was a Saxon Lutheran of Transylvania, who was, however, a favourable example of the princely race.  He was elected Voivode of Moldavia about 1580, and built a church for the Lutherans.  In addition to the intrigues for the voivodeship, internecine wars broke out between the two Principalities, and the boyards made lawless raids upon one another.  In these civil broils the Turks intervened, adding to their own influence, and rendering the princes more and more subservient to their will.  This state of things lasted until the end of the sixteenth century, when another hero, Michael the Brave of Wallachia, restored tranquillity and independence to the Principalities, and raised them for a season in the esteem of surrounding nations.  As his victories were solid, and the heroic age in the early history of Roumania may be said to have closed with his death, we feel justified in making more than a passing reference to his exploits and career, more especially as in so doing we shall also be able to present a trustworthy account of the condition of society in his day.