He was especially noted as a key supporter, and alleged uncle, of the unifying Prince Michael the Brave, serving under his command in the Long Turkish War.

In the early stages of Michael's revolt against the Ottoman Empire, Băleanu drove the Wallachian military forces into Rumelia, relieving Nikopol.

The Ban himself endured as a topic of historiographic controversy in the 19th century, as well as a literary hero—in works by Dimitrie Bolintineanu, Octav Dessila, and Mihnea Gheorghiu.

Alive at a time when Wallachia and Moldavia, the two Danubian Principalities, were tributary states of the Ottoman Empire, Udrea was the scion of a high-ranking boyar family.

The clan, which may have been ultimately related to the ruling House of Basarab,[1] could document its ancestry to a Borcea of Slătioare, a Vornic of the 15th-century Wallachian Prince Dan II.

[7] Another son, Badea, never rose to high office, while two of Udrea's sisters, Zamfira and Melania, respectively married the boyars Hrizea and Para.

He had lost the title by August 21, 1598, as specified in his will, completed on that date; the document also mentions his wife, Mușa, as well as the couple's patronage of Panaghia Monastery in Gorgota.

[19] According to scholar Octav-George Lecca, Băleanu may have also been designated as governor of Muntenia while Buzescu took over the administration of Oltenia;[20] Holban regards Udrea as one of the regents, or Caimacami, of Wallachia.

[22] In May 1600, Michael made him Moldavia's Hetman, as well as one of the country's regents, alongside the Spatharios Negrea, the Armaș Sava, and the Vistier Andronikos Kantakouzenos.

[24] Also in July, Ban Udrea left his post in Suceava and led the Moldavian military forces into Transylvania, aiding Michael in his feud with a former Holy-League ally, Giorgio Basta.

[27] As reported by Jan Zamoyski, the rebels managed to face Michael's forces at Mirăslău before Udrea could arrive in to assist his liege.

[29] Băleanu's absence from Suceava also led to a reemergence of the Movilă brothers Ieremia and Simion, who were backed by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—leading to one of the several, recurrent, Polish interventions in Moldavia.

Udrea led four suicidal attacks into the Polish lines, losing some 1,500 men in all, but allowing Michael's main column the time to retreat.

[36] According to historian Nicolae Bănică-Ologu, Băleanu was still free after the battle, joining Michael, Novak and the Buzescus one final time in Râmnicu Vâlcea.

[47] This dating is contradicted by Nicolae Iorga, who notes that, in August 1601, Udrea was contributing to the Buzescus' revolt against Movilă, and that they even "managed to take hold of the country".

[51] By the presumed moment of Băleanu's execution, Michael the Brave was in Cassovia, where Ferrante Gonzaga arranged his reconciliation with Basta and the resumption of the Holy League.

The march, involving troops commanded by Udrea's brother-in-law Leca of Cătun,[53] ended in August 1601, when Michael was assassinated, on Basta's orders, at Câmpia Turzii.

[60] A similar role was played by his son, Gheorghe Băleanu, who fought alongside Constantin Șerban in Moldavia, in 1659, and then spent two years in Ottoman slavery.

[62] This Băleanu branch also preserved the family's core estate, including the church of Băleni; rebuilt at several intervals, it has lost its original pisanie, which may have shown its links to Udrea.

[67] Octav Dessila's historical drama, Mihai Viteazul, was performed in 1966 at Oradea National Theater, with George Pintilescu as Udrea.