by Victor Foia
Schassburg: “Sighişoara” in Romanian; fortress town in Transylvania; Dracula’s birthplace (see Maps of Dracula Chronicles)
Sea of Marmara: Body of water between Anatolia and the southeastern shores of Europe (see Maps of Dracula Chronicles)
Şeker Bayramı: Sugar Festival
Şerafeddin: Surgeon who circumcised Gruya
Sezaï (b. 1415 AD – d. 1442 AD): Akinci raider; Omar’s brother
Shahnameh: The Book of Kings; monumental Persian epic poem written in 10th century Christian Era (CE)
Shawwāl: Arabic for the tenth month of the Islamic Calendar
She-Devil’s Island: Islet off the Athos Peninsula; Mara’s refuge during the 1443 AD crusade
Sheik al-Masudi: Sheik of the Bektashi lodge (tekke) in Bursa
Siegel, Thomas: Saxon from Kronstadt, Transylvania; alderman of the Weaver’s Guild; Katharina Siegel’s father; Ottoman slave
Silk Road: Ancient commercial road with numerous branches; stretches from China to Asia Minor
Simonos Petra: Monastery on the west coast of the Athos Peninsula
Sipahi: Ottoman Turkish word designating a member of the Ottoman heavy cavalry
Sivas: Town in Anatolia
Skanderbeg (b. 1405 AD – ***): Ottoman general; former Albanian hostage converted to Islam
Sofia: City in Rumelia, presently capital of Bulgaria
Spencer (b. 1415 AD – ***): Englishman captured and raised by Calabrian corsairs; Ottoman slave in Edirne; purchased by Donatella
Stagira: Ancient town in Greece; the birthplace of Aristotle, Greek philosopher and tutor of Alexander the Great
Struga: Town in Macedonia, situated on Lake Ohrid.
Tabriz: Town in Persia
Târgoviște [tahr-gó -veesh-teh]: The capital of Wallachia at the time of Dracula (see Maps of Dracula Chronicles)
Tella: Donatella Loredano’s nickname used by Paola, her nurse
Theodore (b. 1341AD – d. 1441 AD): Blind seer; recipient of the prophecy foretelling the advent of the Son of the Dragon; nicknamed “the Old Man of the Forest”
Theotókos Monastery: Mount Athos monastery; Vlad’s temporary residence from spring to fall, 1443 AD
Theotókos: Greek for “Mother of God”
Thessaloniki: Town in Macedonia; on Vlad’s route to Ragusa
Thomas Siegel: See Siegel
Timur: Dracula’s horse in Târgoviște
Tirendaz [tea-ren-dahz] (b. 1408 AD – ***): Nickname of Selim bin Sedad; Sultan Murad’s musahib; agha of the sultan’s bodyguard (see Glossary for tirendaz, musahib and agha)
Trabizond: Also known as “Trabizond Empire”; small Christian Orthodox remnant of the Byzantine Empire; situated on the southeastern shore of the Black Sea (see Maps of Dracula Chronicles)
Transylvania: Region of the Kingdom of Hungary (see World of Dracula Chronicles; see Maps of Dracula Chronicles)
Troy: Legendary town featured in Homer’s Iliad
Tulip: Gypsy woman; bear-handler (Book One); King Dracul’s spy at the Ottoman Court
Üç Şerefeli Mosque: Edirne mosque built by order of Murad II; the name derives from the unusual fact that its minarets had three balconies, a first in the world of Islam
Üsküp: Presently Skopje, capital of the Republic of Macedonia
Ulu Camii: Grand Mosque
Uludağ: Mountain outside Bursa; name means “Sublime Mountain”
Uzun Hasan: Bey of the White Sheep Federation.
Vlad [vlohd; rhymes with “pod”] (b. 1428 AD – ***): Prince of the House of Basarab; King Dracul’s second son; nicknamed “Dracula”; King of Wallachia as Vlad III, the Impaler (see Houses of Dracula Chronicles)
Wallachia [vah-lóck-y-ah]: Kingdom situated between the southern Carpathian Mountains and the Danube River (see World of Dracula Chronicles; see Maps of Dracula Chronicles)
White Drin River: River in Albania
Yakup: Physician at the sultan’s palace in Bursa
Yaqoot Mosta’sami: Famed 12th century Persian calligrapher. Seven of his pupils became master calligraphers, earning Yahoot the nickname of Master of Seven Masters
Yeşil Camii: Green Mosque in Bursa
Yeşil Türbe: Green Tomb in Bursa; tomb of Mehmed I
Yıldırım Camii: Beyazid’s mosque in Bursa
Yunus (b. 1424 AD – ***): Mehmed’s slave, personal secretary, friend
Zaganos (b. 1402 AD – ***): Third Vizier at the court of Sultan Murad II; member of the Imperial Council; Mehmed’s lala
Zahra (b. 1431AD – ***): Persian girl captured by Catalan pirates
Zal: See King Zal
Zekaï (b. 1427 AD – d. 1442 AD): Akinci raider; Omar’s youngest brother
ROMANIA: Its regions and peoples
General
Romania is a relatively new country, formed and recognized as a kingdom by the European powers only in the second half of the 19th century. It consists presently of three major provinces: Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania.
Prior to the emergence of Romania, these three provinces led a separate political existence and were ruled by voivodes (alternate spelling: “voievod”). Although the title of voivode had different connotations throughout Eastern Europe, in Wallachia and Moldova it was equivalent to that of king. Therefore, in the Dracula Chronicles the title of “king” is used for the rulers of Wallachia and Moldova. In Transylvania, the voivode, or vajda, was an appointee of the Hungarian king, and as such was equivalent to a governor.
Wallachia and Moldova were inhabited preponderantly by Romanians. Transylvania had a mixed population, consisting mainly of Hungarians, Saxons, and Romanians.
The Hungarians conquered Transylvania sometime in the 10th century and maintained control over it until the 20th century, when it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Romania.
The Saxons (people of German ethnicity) were invited by the Hungarian kings to colonize parts of Transylvania in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Saxons were instrumental in the building of numerous fortress towns and the development of the various crafts and industries essential for life in the Middle Ages.
Origin of Romanians
The Romanians living in Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania of the 15th century were a relatively homogeneous group, sharing a common ancestry, a common language, and a common religion.
The Romanians consider themselves descendants of the Roman colonists brought to parts of present-day Romania, following the conquest of the region by the Roman Emperor Trajan at the beginning of the 2nd century AD.
The Roman conquest targeted mostly Western Wallachia and Transylvania, inhabited at the time by Dacians. The occupation of the region, which the Romans called Dacia Felix, or “Happy Dacia”, lasted until the second half of the 3rd century AD. At that time the Roman military forces and imperial administration withdrew south of the Danube, leaving stranded behind them tens of thousands of Roman colonists. Romanian scholars believe these abandoned colonists formed the stock from which the Romanians of Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania emerged.
Some of the minorities living in Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania were the Gypsies, Jews, Szeklers, Armenians, Tartars, Bulgarians, Serbs, and Poles.
Language of Romanians
While there has been controversy over the origin of the Romanians for centuries, it is a universally accepted fact that the language spoken by Romanians is closely related to the Vulgar Latin. Romanian is recognized without debate as belonging to the surviving group of approximately forty-seven Romance languages and dialects, alongside French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Occitan, and Catalan. None of Romania’s minorities or neighbors speaks languages of a Latin origin.
Religion in 15th Century Wallachia and Moldova
Christian (Greek Orthodox dominant, Catholic insignificant). In Wallachia and Moldova Judaism was tolerated, but Islam was not.
Religion in 15th Century Transylvania
Christian (Catholic dominant, Greek Orthodox practiced only by the Romania
ns of Transylvania). In Transylvania Judaism was tolerated, but Islam was not.
HUNGARY: Its regions and people
General
Hungary is situated on the Danube River, in the northwest of the Balkan Peninsula. In the 15th century, Hungary was an independent kingdom that included Transylvania among its regions. Even when, for a few decades, the King of Hungary was Sigismund of Luxembourg, also Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (HRE), Hungary was not part of the HRE.
Origin of Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as “Magyars”, are a people originating in Central Asia. They settled in the current territory of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries AD. Soon thereafter they conquered Transylvania, which remained a province of Hungary, with some interruptions, until the 20th century.
Language of Hungarians
Hungarians speak a Uralic language that does not belong to the Indo-European group of languages spoken by all their neighbors. Instead, Hungarian belongs to the Ugric group of languages spoken by certain peoples of Western Siberia.
Religion in 15th Century Hungary
Christian (Catholic in the Kingdom of Hungary proper; Catholic and Greek Orthodox in Transylvania). In Hungary and Transylvania Judaism was tolerated, but Islam was not.
BALKAN SPACE: Its states and peoples
General
The turbulent history of the Balkan region renders it difficult to make firm observations regarding state lines, since these lines moved continually throughout the Middle Ages. Moreover, with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire starting in the second half of the 14th century, most of these states ultimately ceased to exist, only to reemerge in the second half of the 19th century, and after WWI.
The political formations extant in the region in the 14th and 15th century can be most easily identified by their current names, since the actual names used at the time are too challenging to follow in a work of historical fiction. Thus, we can mention Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Albania.
Origin of Balkan Space Peoples
Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bosnians, Montenegrins, and Macedonians (those not of Greek ethnicity) are designated as “South Slavs” and constitute the southern ethnographical branch of the Slavic peoples. It is hazardous to posit hypotheses on the ethnic composition and origins of these peoples, since modern DNA science has revised many of the traditional views on this subject and will continue to do so.
Most historians consider Albanians as descendants of the populations of the prehistoric Balkans, such as the Dacians, Thracians, and Illyrians.
Languages of Balkan Space Peoples
The South Slavs speak variations of Old Church Slavonic, a language belonging to the Indo-European group.
Albanians speak a distinct Indo-European language that does not belong to any other existing branch of that group.
Religion in 15th Century Balkan Space
Christian. Both Catholic and Greek Orthodox religions were practiced by the peoples of the Balkans. In the Christian zone of the Balkan space, prior to the Ottoman conquest, Judaism was tolerated, but Islam was not. Following the Ottoman conquest, some Christian groups converted to Islam, presumably by choice.
BYZANTINE EMPIRE: Its regions and peoples
General
At its height in the 6th century AD, the Byzantine Empire, or Byzantium, encompassed all territory known today as Greece, as well as many regions bordering the Mediterranean and Black Seas. By the time of Dracula, the empire had lost most of its territory, reduced to a small area consisting of the capital city of Constantinople, its immediate surrounding region, a few islands in the Aegean Sea, and the Despotate of Morea (Peloponnesus). Of the territory that had been Greece in antiquity, most fell under Ottoman, Venetian, and Genovese occupation.
In the Western Mediterranean, former Byzantine holdings became kingdoms and city-states in the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas. In the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the Byzantine Empire lost ground to the Ottoman, Trebizond, and Mameluk Empires.
Origin of Byzantine Empire Peoples
The majority of the inhabitants of what remained of the Byzantine Empire by the 15th century were Greeks. A large variety of minorities was also present, consistent with the multicultural tradition of the empire.
Languages of Byzantine Empire Peoples
The official language of imperial administration and of most Byzantines was Greek. However, having encompassed many ethnically diverse territories over the centuries, Byzantium inherited other languages, such as Latin, Arabic, Georgian, Armenian, Aramaic, Slavonic, and Turkish Roma (the language of the Gypsies).
Religion in 15th Century Byzantine Empire
Christian (Greek Orthodox dominant, Catholic minority). In the Byzantine Empire Judaism was tolerated, but Islam was not.
TREBIZOND EMPIRE: Its region and peoples
General
Trebizond broke away from Byzantium in the 13th century. It occupied a small portion of the southern coast of the Black Sea. In resisting occupation by the Ottoman Empire until the second half of the 15th century, Trebizond became the longest surviving of the Byzantine Empire successor states.
Origin of Trebizond Empire Peoples
The majority of the Trebizond inhabitants were Greeks.
Languages of Trebizond Empire Peoples
The official language of imperial administration and of most inhabitants of Trebizond was Greek. However, having once been part of the Byzantine Empire, Trebizond inherited other languages, such as Latin, Arabic, Georgian, Armenian, Aramaic, Slavonic, and Turkish.
Religion in 15th Century Trebizond Empire
Christian (Greek Orthodox dominant, Catholic minority). In the Trebizond Empire Judaism was tolerated, but Islam was not.
VENETIANS AND GENOVESE: Their activities in Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea
General
In the 15th century, both Venice and Genoa were maritime merchant republics with a particular interest in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Thousands of their ships plied these waters, dominating the shipping trade that brought goods from the Silk Road to Western Europe, and manufactured goods from Western Europe to the countries of the Middle East. As was the case with other republics throughout history (e.g., the Athenian Republic in the 5th century BC, and the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC), their republican status at home did not prevent Venice and Genoa from establishing empires abroad. In the case of these two Italian city-states, the empires they spawned were of primarily a commercial nature, though military power was never kept too far out of sight.
Venice’s primary theater of operation was the Adriatic, Ionic, and Aegean Seas. In the Aegean Sea Venice exercised control, or strong influence, over most of the islands, including Cyprus, Crete, and Euboea. Venetians also held intermittent control over portions of the mainland around Thessaloniki and on the north coast of the Peloponnesus.
Genoa dominated the maritime trade through the straits of Bosphorus and the Black Sea, which the republic considered practically a Genovese lake. The intense commercial activities of the Genovese, at such a long distance from their home base on the northwest coast of Italy, were supported by two colonies established by the Genovese Republic: Galata, also known as “Pera”, on the Golden Horn, across the water from the City of Constantinople; and Caffa, in Crimea on the Black Sea.
As Christian powers, both the Venetians and the Genovese professed to be allies of Byzantium. This religious affiliation did not prevent them, however, from trading with the Ottoman Empire in times of peace. During times of war between the Ottomans and their Christian or Muslim foes, Genovese and Venetian ships would occasionally help the Ottomans with ferrying their troops to and from Anatolia, across the straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, also known as “Bosporus”.
Origin of Venetians and Genovese
The Venetians were at their origin refugees from Roman towns of the mainland region bordering the lagoons. The Genovese were
descendants of the ancient Ligures, who were conquered by the Romans in the 2nd century BC.
Languages of Venetians and Genovese
In the 15th century the Genovese spoke Ligurian, while the Venetians spoke Veneto. Both of these languages belong to the group of Romance languages, derived from the Vulgar Latin and modified by other linguistic elements specific to each geographical region. While Ligurian and Veneto continue to be spoken by some groups, the standard Italian language dominates at the present in Genoa and Venice.
Religion in 15th Century Venice and Genoa
Christian (Catholic). In the Venetian and Genovese Republics, Judaism was tolerated, but Islam was not.
OTTOMAN EMPIRE: Its regions and peoples
General
The Ottoman Empire had its roots in the remnants of the Sultanate of Seljuk, which controlled roughly three quarters of Anatolia from the 10th through the 13th century AD. The Seljuks were leaders of nomadic Turkish warrior tribes who arrived in Anatolia from Central Asia. In mid-13th century, the Seljuks became vassals of the advancing Mongols. In the first decade of the 14th century the Sultanate of Seljuk finally disintegrated, leaving behind a number of small emirates, or beyliks, led by Turkish warlords.
One of these beyliks, that of Osman Bey, neighbored the shrinking Byzantine Empire on the western tip of the Anatolian Peninsula. It was Osman who, through the strength of arms and diplomacy, managed to rally many of the other beyliks around him and form a strong army. Motivated by both religious fervor and thirst for conquest, Osman’s army launched relentless attacks on the Byzantine Asiatic holdings. From this struggle there emerged, at the beginning of the 14th century, a growing power that was destined to become the longest-lasting empire of the Christian era, the Ottoman Empire. By the mid-15th century, when Dracula’s story begins, six sultans of the House of Osman had already been in power, and the Ottomans had conquered all of the Byzantine Anatolian lands and most of its European holdings. The great city of Constantinople, believed impregnable and under the protection of God, remained standing, as a tantalizing prize for the sultan strong enough to smash through its gigantic walls.