Radu Brâncoveanu

Saint Radu Brâncoveanu, martyr, sometimes called Răducanu, was the third son of the voivode Constantin Brâncoveanu and his wife Marica. He died a martyr at Constantinople on 15 August 1714 (26 August by the new calendar), beheaded together with his father and brothers. The Romanian Orthodox Church canonized them in 1992, under the name of the Holy Martyrs Brâncoveanu.

The date of his birth is not known. In 1713 Constantin Brâncoveanu betrothed him to Maria, daughter of Antioch Cantemir, but the marriage never took place, because the following year brought the loss of the Brâncoveanu family.

In April 1714, after the removal of his father from the throne, the Turks seized him and took him with the whole family to Constantinople. He was imprisoned at Edikule in Istanbul. On 15 August 1714 he was beheaded before the sultan Ahmed III, like his three brothers, the boyar Ianache Văcărescu and the deposed prince. Their bodies were thrown into the sea, and their heads fixed on spears and carried through the city.

On 20 June 1992 the Romanian Orthodox Church canonized him, together with his brothers and his father, who are venerated as the Holy Martyrs Brâncoveanu.