Ride Beside Me

sung by Michael the Brave

Michael the Brave

Mihai Viteazul

When & where

Ruled Wallachia -- today's southern Romania -- on the Ottoman frontier around 1593 to 1601, at the turn of the 17th century.

Known for

The first ruler to hold Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldavia at the same time, in 1600. Later generations made him an enduring symbol of Romanian unity.

The coolest thing they did

His seal from 1600 placed the Wallachian eagle and Moldavian aurochs above two lions and seven mountains, while its inscription named him voivode of Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldavia.

Fun fact

To win the throne in 1593 he borrowed a fortune from Ottoman lenders to buy the Sultan's backing. Then, once in power, he invited his creditors to Bucharest in 1594 -- and had them killed, wiping out his debts and igniting his war on the Ottomans in a single stroke.

The human behind the legend

A relentless, self-made climber who rose from provincial offices to a crown on nerve and borrowed money, then played the Ottoman and Habsburg empires against each other from a small country wedged between them. After losing all three principalities, he won his way back beside the same imperial general who had helped defeat him. Six days after their joint victory, that general ordered his murder. The union itself fell before he did, but later generations turned its memory into a founding story of Romanian unity.

References in this song

♦"In sixteen hundred I wore three thrones:" -- In 1600 Michael became the first ruler to hold Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldavia at the same time. The arrangement was a brief personal and political union, not a modern Romanian nation-state.
♦"Basta was sent to stand beside me;" -- Giorgio Basta led imperial forces that had nominally been sent to assist Michael but instead supported the Transylvanian nobles who revolted against him. Their combined force defeated Michael at Miraslau in September 1600.
♦"I crossed to Prague with nothing," -- After losing Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia in quick succession, Michael spent part of 1600-1601 in exile at Prague and Vienna trying to persuade Emperor Rudolf II to support his return. Nothing here means no possessions; it means he no longer held any of the three principalities.
♦"He paid my way, then put us side by side." -- Rudolf gave Michael money for a new campaign and helped reconcile him with Basta so they could fight together against Sigismund Bathory's return to Transylvania. The lyric describes that renewed military partnership without claiming the two armies became one permanent command.
♦"At Guruslau we fought together." -- Michael's and Basta's forces jointly defeated Sigismund Bathory at Guruslau in August 1601, after which Michael recovered control of Transylvania.
♦"Six days after we won together," -- Six days after the victory at Guruslau, Michael was assassinated in the shared military camp at Campia Turzii on Basta's order. Modern and Old Style dates differ in sources, but the six-day interval is consistent.

Lyrics

In sixteen hundred I wore three thrones:
Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania.
By autumn, every one was gone.
Basta was sent to stand beside me;
he chose the rebels and helped drive me out.
I crossed to Prague with nothing,
asked Rudolf to fund my return.
He paid my way, then put us side by side.
We reconciled and fought once more.

I did not call it friendship.
I called it one road back.

Ride beside me.
Do not call it trust.
Three thrones stood under my name once;
I am not finished with them yet.
Ride beside me.
One battle, nothing more.
The emperor has joined our armies.
I need what lies beyond this war.

At Guruslau we fought together.
Sigismund's army lost the field.
I held Transylvania again;
one road home lay open.
Six days can look like a future
when you have lived a year with none.
Transylvania was mine again
for six days after the battle won.

Ride beside me.
Do not call it trust.
Three thrones stood under my name once;
I am not finished with them yet.
Ride beside me.
One battle, nothing more.
The emperor has joined our armies.
I need what lies beyond this war.

Then soldiers entered the camp
carrying Basta's order.
No trial and no second bargain,
only murder after victory.
I had ridden beside necessity.
Necessity rode beside me.
The man I needed for one battle
was the man who ended me.

Ride beside me --
that was never trust.
Three thrones stood under my name once;
I was not finished with them yet.
Ride beside me.
No warning, no reprieve.
Six days after we won together,
you sent the blade for me.