The bloody beheading of prince Constantin Brancoveanu and his sons in Constantinople shook the Christian world because of the scale and cruelty of execution that stunned the royal courts of Europe and aroused a long lasting wave of sympathy in the country. Romanian folk artists immortalized the figure of the faithful ruler who refused to abandon his religion. His name became legendary and he entered the collective mind as the prince who respects ancestral tradition and heritage, preferring to die rather than deny his nation and religion. Since then, his figure was present in literature: ballads, poetry, versified drama, theater plays, novels, all of them highlighting the sublime character of the sacrifice for faith.
Keywords: Constantin Brancoveanu, sacrifice, ballads, Ioan Alexandru

MIRCEA POPA