Vlad: The Last Confession (44 page)

Dracula and Wallachia:

— Kurt Treptow:
Vlad III—The Life and Times of the Historical Dracula
.

— M. J. Trow:
Vlad the Impaler—In Search of the Real Dracula
.

— Elizabeth Miller:
Dracula—Sense and Nonsense
.

— Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally:
Dracula, Prince of Many Faces
.

— May Mackintosh:
Rumania
.

— Constantin Rezachevici: “Vlad Tepes and his Use of Punishments” (Essay).

—
The Borgo Post
, various issues (Editor: Elizabeth Miller).

—
Journal of Dracula Studies
, various issues (Editor: Elizabeth Miller).

The Turks:

— Franz Babinger:
Mehmet the Conqueror
.

— Andrew Wheatcroft:
The Ottomans
.

— Jason Goodwin:
Lords of the Horizons
.

— Godfrey Goodwin:
The Janissaries
.

— David Nicolle:
Constantinople 1453
.

— John Freely:
Inside the Seraglio
.

Medieval Times:

— J. Huizinga:
The Waning of the Middle Ages
.

— Hans Talhoffer:
Medieval Combat
.

— Michael Walsh:
Warriors of the Lord
.

— George Riley Scott:
A History of Torture
.

Falconry:

— D. C. Phillott:
Observations of Eastern Falconry
.

— The Honourable Gerald Lascelles:
The Art of Falconry
.

Religion:

— The Holy Qur’an.

— The Orthodox Bible.

Psychology:

— Carl Goldberg:
Speaking with the Devil
.

— Steven Egger:
The Need to Kill
.

Inspirations:

— Niccolo Machiavelli:
The Prince
(Trans. George Bull).

— Dante:
The Divine Comedy
(Trans. Henry Longfellow; Illustrated by Gustave Dore).

—
Rumi: Poems
(Editor: Peter Washington).

—
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
(Trans. Edward Fitzgerald).

— Bram Stoker:
Dracula
.

Note on language:

Wallachians would have spoken a form of present day Romanian, known as the “limba Romana” or “Roman tongue.” They would have written in Church Slavonic, the language of the Orthodox Faith, or in Latin.

“Osmanlica” was the language of the “House of Osman,” and spoken throughout the land. It was largely Turkish but with many borrowings from Arabic and Persian. For simplicity, I have rendered it without its many accents—cedillas, umlauts, etc.

“Greek” means men of Constantinople. They were not referred to as “Byzantines” at this time.

acemoglan—janissary recruit

agha—senior teacher

akincis—raiders

“bastard” sword—also known as “a hand and a half”

bastinado—stick

Bektashi—branch of Dervish Moslems

belerbey—provincial governor

bey—lord

Bisierica Domnesca—cathedral in Targoviste

bolukbasi—captain of guard

boyar—Wallachian high nobleman

cakircibas—chief falconer

caravanserai—traveler’s inn

cariye—female servant

cobza—stringed instrument

dar ul harb—Abode of War

dar ul Islam—Abode of Peace

dervish—mystical, Persian influenced Moslem

destrier—large war horse

devsirme—levy of Christian youths

doina—Wallachian song/lament

donjon—central keep of castle

effendi—gentleman, master

enderun kolej—Inner School

enishte—uncle

eyass—fledgling hawk taken from nest

falchion—wide-bladed long dagger

Fatih—the Conqueror

Frank—Turkish term for most Europeans

gazi—holy warrior

godze—chosen girl

gomlek—wool tunic

haditha—sayings of the Prophet

hafiz—one who can recite the Qur’an by heart

hamam—Turkish baths

harem—woman’s quarters in house or palace

hospodar—governor of Wallachia, warlord

imam—Muslim priest and teacher

janissary—elite solider of Turkish army; former Christian slave

jereed—javelin game on horseback

jupan—“lord”—title of great
boyar
s

kahya—stewardess of the harem

Kaziklu Bey—Impaler Lord

kilic—sword

laladaslar—fellow students in the enderun kolej

languier—tree for snakes’ tongues (poison detectors)

logofat—Wallachian chancellor

mamluk—Egyptian military class

mescid—small mosque

Metropolitan—head of Orthodox Church, Wallachia

muezzin—calls the faithful to prayer

ney—Turkish flute

oriflame—war standard

orta—janissary company; school class

Osmanlica—language of Turks

otak—canvas pavilion

palanquin—covered carriage, often carried

pasha—highest ranking Turkish official

peyk—halberdier of the guard, with spleen removed

quillon—sword hand guard

raki—Turkish strong liquor

Roma—gypsy

saray(i)—palace

Sfatul Domnesca—Voivode’s council

shaffron—horse’s head armor

shalvari—Turkish baggy trousers

sipahi—armored cavalryman

solak—archer of the guard

spatar—cavalry commander/knight

taragot—trumpet

tellak—attendant in baths

Tepes—“Impaler”

testudo—Roman “tortoise”—a military tactic of interlocking shields

Thrace—Bulgarian Turkey

tilinca—flute

tug—horsetail war standard

tugra—sultan’s symbol—brand or seal

varcolaci—the undead

vitesji
—voivode’s bodyguards

vizier—high official

voivode—warlord and ruler

vornic—senior councillor/magistrate

yaya—peasant recruits

C.C. Humphreys is the author of eleven novels, including
The French Executioner
, runner-up for the CWA Steel Dagger. His most recent,
Vlad
, has been translated into nine languages. He lives with his family on an island in British Columbia, Canada. Visit his website at www.cchumphreys.com.