Radu Anghel dating history

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Radu Anghel din Greci, also known as Radu Anghelu or Radu lui Anghel (1827 – October 1865), was a Wallachian brigand, or hajduk. As a smallholder in Dâmbovița County, he first delved in illegal activities during his teens, thus protesting against the exploitative boyardom. Leading a gang of outlaws, he established a presence across a zone that covered parts of Dâmbovița, Muscel, and Argeș; he happened to do so at the same time as an outlaw of the exact same name, who was more narrowly focused on the village of Beleți-Negrești, and with whom he was often confused. Always more feared than his namesake, the Radu Anghel of Dâmbovița was beloved by peasants, with his deeds recorded and propagated in Romanian folklore; he was regarded as a generous benefactor and a gentleman thief, though he was noted for sometimes tormenting and torturing his upper-class captives. He became the object of Wallachian manhunts, continued by the Romanian Land Forces upon the establishment of the United Principalities in 1859–1860.