Vlad I (? – 1396/97?) known as Uzurpatorul (the Usurper), was a ruler of Wallachia in what later became Romania. He usurped the throne from Mircea I of Wallachia. His rule lasted barely three years, from October/November 1394 to January 1397, while others suggest that the accurate ruling period was from May 1395 to December 1396. Early life There are disagreements about Vlad I's origins. He was either a nobleman or the son of Dan I and brother of Dan II. Other scholars have reservations about establishing any degree of kinship between Vlad I and Mircea the Elder due to the lack of supporting documents. Reign Vlad I of Wallachia supposedly took the throne after the great Ottoman offensive in the fall of 1394, during the Battle of Rovine (dated by several Serbian chronicles to 10 October 1394). However, according to Serbian historian Radoslav Radojičić, Vlad I actually took the throne on 17 May 1395. This theory has been accepted by Romanian historians such as Anca Iancu. At the end of 1395, Sigismund of Luxembourg mentioned that Vlad I was sovereign of Wallachia, referring to his pro-Ottoman policy. In a document dated 28 May 1396 (Hurmuzaki, I / 2, pp. 374–375), Vlad Voievod gives special privileges to the Polish kingdom, confirming that he had contact with the Polish king. Vlad I removed Wallachia from the anti-Ottoman coalition, leading to his official non-recognition by the Hungarian kingdom and its allies. However, the treaty with Poland made through the Moldovan prince Stephen I indicates that Vlad remained a powerful ruler in his country. This position is confirmed by the coins that were issued. Struggles to remove him from the throne and return Wallachia to the coalition continued throughout his reign, though when the expedition of Stephen of Lozoncs in May 1395 ended in a military disaster, the Hungarian king said that "Walachia was lost and the Danube fell into the hand of the enemy" (Victor Motogna, Foreign Policy of Mircea the Elder, Gherla, 1924, p. 42). In July 1395, a Hungarian expedition led by Sigismund, probably seconded by Mircea the Elder, captured the Turnu fortress and left a garrison loyal to the king. Throughout the following year the struggles to remove Vlad I continued. These were interrupted only by the participation of Sigismund and his vassals, including Mircea the Elder, in the campaign which resulted in defeat at the Nicopole. During this