Speaking of medieval Europe, everyone can not avoid being associated with the Dark Castle, the Dark Count, and the horror vampire, and the vampire is naturally the product of the legend, but the historical vampire legend has its origin, that is, the protagonist of our current issue - Romania, more accurately, the Great Duchy of Wallachia in Romania at the end of the Middle Ages!
The Grand Duchy of Wallachia we briefly introduced in the last issue, as one of the origins of the modern Romanian state, its influence on the Romanian state and romanians today is quite huge, if nothing else, the legend of the vampire alone gave Romania the nickname of "Vampire Country"
And the Romanian region at the end of the Middle Ages we know that it is quite "divided", not to say that the internal division and division of the unified country, but since entering the Middle Ages, the entire Romanian region has never really been unified, today Zhao hit money, tomorrow Li hit Sun, the day after tomorrow the next door Lao Wang also inserted a foot...
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the Romanian region eventually formed three major blocks: the Grand Duchy of Wallachia, the Principality of Moldova (Moldavia), and Transnsylonia, on the basis of which the modern Romanian state was finally developed and integrated
Three parts of Romania
In this issue, we will mainly look at the Grand Duchy of Wallachia, one of the three sources of the modern Romanian state, and talk about the development of the Vampire Nation of Wallachia
formation
The wallachian region was conquered by the Roman Emperor Trajan as early as the 2nd century and became part of the Roman Empire. In the development of this area by the Roman Empire, many Romans migrated to settle in the Dacian region, which began the Romanization of the Dacians.
Trajan
Eventually a Dacian-Roman community formed in the region, and after the Roman Empire suffered an internal crisis in the 3rd century (i.e., the crisis of the third century), the Romans had to abandon the Dacian region
A considerable number of Romans and Dacian-Romans had to stay here, and then experienced a series of foreign invasions, such as the (Western) Goths, Huns, Avars, Germans, Slavs, Gepidians, etc
The eve of the formation of the Wallachian state was these migratory and invading foreign tribes, and in 681 AD the First Bulgarian Empire occupied and established rule in wallachia
Territory of the First Bulgarian Empire
The Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) then went to war against Bulgaria in the 10th century, after which the Bulgarian Empire declined rapidly, and the Wallachia region fell into the hands of the Pechenegs and the Turks.
The Byzantine Empire in the 10th century
In 1081 AD, the Cumans of Southern Ruthenia expelled other forces from wallachia and became the rulers of the region. By the late 13th century, the romanian nobility began to grow in power in Wallachia.
By 1290-1292, according to historical speculation, the founder of Wallachia, Archduke Negru, completed the founding of Wallachia during this time.
Principality of Wallachia (red part)
Due to the lack of historical data, we cannot know exactly what kind of evolutionary process the Wallachians were, but the ancestors of modern Romanians definitely have a lot to do with the Wallachians and the previous Dacians
In 1241, the Mongols of the Western Expedition established a brief reign in Wallachia. The Mongols then withdrew in 1242 due to internal affairs. By 1247, after completing its conquest of Transylvania, the Kingdom of Hungary continued its eastward expansion to wallachia
Europe in the 13th century
However, the weak Kingdom of Hungary did not consolidate its political ruling base, but gradually increased the power of the nobility in Wallachia, sowing the seeds of Wallachia's independent statehood.
That's why Archduke Negru, the founder of Wallachia, completed the process of Wallachia's founding between 1290 and 1292. Of course, it is also said that The Grand Duke of Negru integrated the Romanian nobility from all over Wallachia under his banner and formed a unified state.
Topography of Romania
There is also a theory that the Establishment of the Wallachian State by the Grand Duke of Negru was nothing more than a legend made up by later generations, and that the Grand Duke of Negru himself was a legendary figure. No matter what kind of claim we can not come up with conclusive evidence to prove or refute, in any case, the Wallachian state was barely established during this period
develop
As we mentioned earlier, Romania was mainly three parts in Wallachia, Moldova and Transylvania in the Middle Ages, and while the feudal state was being established in Wallachia, feudal principalities were gradually established in other regions
Three parts of Romania
The Arpad dynasty of the Hungarian kingdom grew strong in the 13th century, and after repelling the westward advance of the Mongols, the Hungarians completed their conquest of Transylvania in 1247
The Hungarians continued to expand to wallachia and gained shaky rule, when Wallachia was ruled by both Hungary and Bulgaria
Hungarian territory at its peak
In 1330 AD, the Wallachians began to rebel against the Hungarians, achieving a crucial military victory in the famous Battle of Posada, where the Wallachians successfully repelled the invasion of the Kingdom of Hungary, which marked the official independence of Wallachia!
After Wallachia became independent, it used the territorial dispute in Transylvania to friction and war with the Kingdom of Hungary, but in the end Wallachia still failed to achieve the desired goal, which also showed that the newly born Wallachia was still not strong enough
At the same time, the Ottoman Empire, an Islamic Turkic state originating in Asia Minor, gradually became a new threat to Wallachia, when the Ottoman Empire was in its "career upswing" period.
Ottoman Empire territory
In the 14th century, the independent Duchy of Wallachia began to border the Ottoman Empire, which inevitably led to conflicts between the two sides, and by the end of the 14th century, Wallachia had several military conflicts with the Ottoman Empire.
In 1394, during the reign of Mircea I (Milcha the Elder), Wallachia, along with its old rival Hungary, repelled the invading Ottomans, but this was only a temporary victory
Mircea I commemorative coin
In 1417, after countless wars, the mighty Ottoman Empire finally defeated the independent Principality of Wallachia, and Wallachia was forced to recognize the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire and became a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire and paid tribute to the Ottomans.
However, Wallachia did not agree, and for hundreds of years continued to rebel against the rule of the ottoman Empire, the suzerainty. So after 1417 the wars between Wallachia and the Ottoman Empire did not stop...
In 1448, Vlad III seized the throne of The Archduke of Wallachia in a coup d'état while Vladislav II was busy with the war against Turkey, but was soon ousted by Vladislav II, who had returned from the country.
Vlad the Immanuel III
In 1456, Vlad III once again seized the opportunity to seize the throne of the Archduke of Wallachia, and this Vlad III was the famous "Puncture Duke" in Romanian history!
Vampire legends
Speaking of which, we can finally talk about the origin of the Romanian vampire legend: its material is the legend of Vlad III, the "Puncture Duke"
"Puncture Duke" Vlad III
In the middle of the 15th century, it was Vlad the "Piercing Duke" Vlad III who ruled Wallachia, who was known for his cruel treatment of the Ottoman invaders.
In 1448 Vlad III briefly seized the throne as Archduke of Wallachia in a coup d'état, but was soon ousted by Vladislav II, who had returned from his country.
In 1456 Vlad III again seized the opportunity to seize the throne of the Archduke of Wallachia, but this time he held the throne until his death in 1476
Vlad the Immanuel III
Vlad III is a controversial figure in history, on the one hand, he is regarded as a hero and defender of the land of Wallachia, but he is also criticized for his cruel methods, so Vlad III has become the material for future vampire legends.
Vlad III's full name was "Vlad Tepesh", and the "Tepes" in his name means "puncture" in Romanian, hence the name "Puncture Grand Duke". Of course, the more famous story of the piercing duke is that he became the prototype of the future vampire legend "Count Dracula".
"Vampire" Vlad Zeppesh
It is said that Vlad III at that time had a disease of going mad at the sight of blood (could it be blood fainting), and when the puncture duke became mad, he liked to use pointed wooden stakes to torture and kill captives, giving them "piercing"
puncture
The already legendary story became more bizarre and tyrannical through folklore, and the cruel methods of piercing the public were also added to the fire and material by many chroniclers at that time, and eventually formed the so-called vampire legend, and today the name of Vlad III has long been synonymous with vampires.
Why, then, is Vlad Tepesh said to be "the hero and protector of the land of Wallachia"? Because the era of Cepeš was the era when Romania, Hungary and other countries were oppressed by the Ottoman Empire
Vlad Tsepesz
Tepes led his troops to fight bravely, dared to stand up against the Ottoman Empire, and defended Romania in the war, and was regarded as a hero by the Romanians at that time.
Of course, Vlad Tzepesh is also known for his strict law enforcement, not only because he was mad and cruel to the Turkish captives, but also because he often used piercing punishments for the nobles and people of his own country, and nailed people to the spikes at any time
Maybe what is this called in our Chinese opinion? Can nailing them on wooden stakes compare to our ancient cannons, pots, five horses, waist chops, Ling Chi, inviting the king into the urn, and peeling?
And in the Christian and Islamic countries of the time, such puncture punishment was not uncommon, so today some historians believe that the notoriety of the "Puncture Gong" was the result of his political enemies, the Hungarians deliberately propagated
"Piercing Male"
Vlad Tepesh, known for his cruelty, eventually died in 1476 in battle with the Ottoman Empire, but the "piercing duke" after his death was not safe, and Vlad Tepesh was rumored to be a vampire after his death
"Vampire" piercing male
Later, the Irish novelist Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula the Vampire" was based on Vlad Tepes, and the legend of the vampire was tied to Wallachia, and to this day Romania has the nickname of "Vampire Country"...
Bram Stoker
Regardless of the vampire land legends, the love-hate relationship between Wallachia and the Ottoman Empire during this period alone was enough to make a 96-episode TV series, and the independence of Romania under ottoman rule was even more elusive
So how did the Romanian state eventually become independent again? When will the new era of the Romanian nation and the Romanian state arrive? What is the existence of Romania in modern history?
Stay tuned for this series, and stay tuned for the next issue!