Oh yea, but I assume people of this time wouldn't have that knowledge. I checked before I posted and wikipedia has them being described as 'Bohemian' sometimes because some of them came to France via BohemiaIt is purely a coincidence and that ethymology is wrong anyway as the Gypsies (Țigani) are not Egyptians (Egipțieni), but rather from North-Western India.
"Io Mihailŭ, Împĕratul Românilor" - A Michael the Brave Romania Wank
- Thread starter Zagan
- Start date
Zagan
Donor
You'd be surprised to learn how advanced was the field of linguistics in OTL 17th century! (I did not know; I had to check)
The Indo-European language family was an already established scientific fact and the connection between the languages of the Gypsies and the languages from the Indian Subcontinent had already been noticed.
Development of music, literature and philosophy considering the national awakenings of the different countries? Mihai did a lot early on about standardising language and religion but did he leave anything about other cultural stuff?
Zagan
Donor
Interesting. While it would not fit in this chapter, I will keep it in mind for the next one. Thank you.
the homogenization from each of the regional identities into a unified 'over'national identities in the nations that had the widest range before the unifications, and the issues in such an attempt to unite the wide range of distinct cultures into something that could charitably be considered a shared ones within each nation
Zagan
Donor
Yes. This is already planned (and already touched before).
The specifics will be rather different from country to country.
The progress of military tactics and doctrines, especially in Poland, Romania and Russia. I know that Western Europe reached at the time the 'pike and shot' strategy, but the others were not as advanced military-wise (with the exception of the advancement in cavalry by the Polish Winged Hussars, that is).
Also, since the dates are getting nearer, would the Swedish -Scandinavian- Deluge in Poland - I mean Sarmantia - and Russia's Time of Troubles are still happening, or are the butterflies flapping them away?
Also, since the dates are getting nearer, would the Swedish -Scandinavian- Deluge in Poland - I mean Sarmantia - and Russia's Time of Troubles are still happening, or are the butterflies flapping them away?
Zagan
Donor
1. As stated or alluded in the first part of this story (especially in the chapters about the various wars), military-wise Romania is one of the most advanced powers:
- Precise mathematical calculations allowed a very effective use of artilery.
- Massive advances in chemistry, metalurgy and manufacturing led to high precision and long range rifles and cannons as well as highly effective napalm-like mixtures.
- More powerful cannons meant that fortresses were destroyed rather than sieged.
2. Continental-wide alliances with the Allied forces fighting together in the same war theatres led to a complete uniformization of the best military strategies.
3. The Deluge was completely butterflied away. Scandinavia is the least powerful "Great Power" and Sarmatia is allied with (or under the Protection of) Germany. Russia had invaded and sacked large portions of Eastern Sarmatia during the Second European War, but the destruction was significantly less than the OTL Deluge. Now Russia is (at least for the time being) kept in check by Germany and, to a lesser extent, Romania.
4. Russia's Time of Troubles were already underway before the start of TTL. In TTL, they were even worse than in OTL, due to a stronger Poland-Lithuania. They are long over. See Part I, Chapter 22. Also, see @Sian's post.
Anyway, there will be more chapters dedicated to warfare in the not so distant future.
Zagan
Donor
No, they were not mentioned.
- Electricity -- as in OTL.
- Optics -- better chemistry => better glass => better lenses => more advanced optics than in OTL => more advanced astronomy than in OTL.
- Theory of Gravity -- sadly, Newton was never born but someone else had surely taken his place (as in OTL or quicker due to better astronomy).
I will try to include a chapter about science a little later (in order to have more to write about).
Overall, science is either the same or more advanced than in OTL due to:
- less conflict, disease and famine;
- better economic situation;
- more literate people, especially in Eastern Europe;
- massive science promotion by the Romanian Authorities and the Academy of Romania.
Zagan
Donor
Lack of major wars in Europe. Colonial wars OTOH (and the Romanian wars in the Middle East)...
Military science: approx. as in OTL, although weapons are better;
Healthcare: significantly better, at least in Romania (improved hygiene and better research);
Engineering: canals, roads, bridges, buildings, mines.
I will write about these in a future chapter.
Deleted member 97083
Well wars also destroy infrastructure and lead to great human losses and material losses.
Military investment during a "cold war", without actually going becoming an all-out war, probably speeds up technological advancement the most.
Zagan
Donor
Correct.
I have already planned something similar to a "cold war", but you'll have to wait several dozens chapters for it!
Very interesting point, which I had not thought of before. Though actually being at war, would add quite a sense of urgency to military-science research.
I would point out that for the Military R&D to start improving in leaps and bounds, there needs to be the right kind of war. Generally the various militaries are content to just slug (or manouver) it out. There needs to be an dangerous enemy, at about equal strength for the technology or doctrine to evolve faster (basically to push each other on new heights). That's because the Military Commanders (at least those at the top) tend to be deeply conservative old men. Change is not something they usually approve of, or encourage. The more innovative officers tend to younger, lower in rank and influence, and more likely to die in wars (being more exposed, and closer to the action).
II.5. An Ordinary Day, an Ordinary Family
Zagan
Donor
The Century of Peace
An Ordinary Day, an Ordinary Family
An Ordinary Day, an Ordinary Family
Note: As the title says, this chapter will attempt to show the life of an ordinary Romanian family during an (almost) ordinary day.
16 July 1668, Adunați¹ Village, Colașin² Județ, Muntenegru Province, Romania Proper, Empire of the Orient
1. Numerous Romanian villages are named Adunați. In Romanian, it means gathered (from various places) and it refers to its inhabitants.
2. Kolasin, in OTL Montenegro.
The Aileni³ Family
Gŭeorgŭe⁴, 56, the head of the Aileni family, Romanian Citizen (EP⁵ 3), retired soldier, peasant
Gŭeorgŭe was born in 1612, during the glorious reign of Saint Emperor Mihai I, in a poor Moldavian peasant family. Although only 17 in 1629, he volunteered to fight for his country in the Second Romanian-Ottoman War. He took part in all the major battles from deep inside Romania all the way to the walls of Constantinople, then the Capital of the former Ottoman Empire. He was wounded in the leg during the siege of Constantinople and was decorated for his bravery by the Emperor himself. His leg, although cured, began to ache when he aged.
Gŭeorgŭe received a nice plot of land in the Province of Muntenegru, the Județ of Colașin, a pleasant hilly region which had a Serb majority at that time. He built a house, worked the land and, as it was customary back then, took a young Serb girl from a nearby village to be his wife.
Iana (née Neșicĭ⁶), 50, Gŭeorgŭe's wife, housewife, peasant
Iana was born in 1618, in the Ottoman Empire. She was 8 at the Liberation from Ottoman rule and only 14 when she was abducted by her future husband. Only a generation before, it were the Turks abducting young women from her village. At least the Romanians were Christians... During the following decades, she gave birth to no less than twelve children.
Mărioara, 35, daughter, housewife
Born in 1633, Mărioara, the oldest child of the Ailenis, married Răzvan Florescu, a blacksmith, in 1650. They have 8 children. Mărioara is the only one of the children who can still speak a little Serbian. She expects to become a grandmother in the autumn.
Anca and Ioan died in infancy.
Manuela, 30, daughter, Romanian Citizen (EP 1), shop owner, socialite
Nobody likes to talk about Manuela, the black sheep of the family. At 15, she eloped with Marin Dragu, a 22 years old student from the Alba Iulia University who was visiting his family in a nearby village. They divorced five years later. Manuela owns a delicacy shop in Alba Iulia, has acquired a small fortune and has even managed to get citizenship. There is a rumour that she is seeing a married son of a Senator.
She has one son with her former husband and one daughter from a later affair.
Alexandru, 27, son, Romanian Citizen (EP 1), soldier
Alexandru is deployed in Asia Minor, fighting the ongoing Mahommedan insurgency.
Mihai, 27, son, Romanian Citizen (EP 2), priest, primary school teacher
Mihai is married to Milana Cerevicĭ, a naturalized Romanian from a Serb family. They have 3 children.
Adriana, 25, daughter, peasant
Married at 18 with a soldier, Adriana was widowed less than one year later. Her only daughter, Alina, was born mere days after the death of her father on a faraway battlefield. Adriana lives with her parents.
Letiția, 22, daughter, housewife
Letiția married Haralambie Oniciu, a clerk working at the Praetorial Office in Colașin, the Capital of the namesake Județ. They have no children yet.
Gina, 20, daughter, peasant
Gina is still unmarried, much to the changrin of her parents. She lives with her parents.
Matei died the previous year, mauled by a bear, while hunting with his father. He was only 18.
Șerban, 13, son, schoolchild
Filoftea, 7, daugher
Marcu, 11, adopted
Radovan, 2, adopted (from a young Serb single mother)
Living at home: Gŭeorgŭe (56), Iana (50), Adriana (25), Alina (6), Gina (20), Șerban (13), Filoftea (7), Marcu (11), Radovan (2).
3. The name Aileni was initially a matronymic (A Ileni / A Ileanei / Son of Ileana). This may suggest that he or one of his recent ancestors was born out of wedlock.
4. OTL Romanian Gheorghe / George.
5. Electoral Power (the allowed number of votes, an integer between 1 and 10).
6. Serbian: Jana Nešić.
It was already late afternoon. Gŭeorgŭe had been weeding his fields since early morning under the unforgiving July Sun. He was obviously not young anymore. He was tired, his injured leg hurt as usual and he experienced a new rather sharp pain in his chest.
Gŭeorgŭe: "Adriana, Marcu, it's enough for today. We shall go home."
Adriana: "Yes, Father... Father, are you feeling unwell?"
Gŭeorgŭe: "It's nothing, just an ache. Let me hold your hand..."
************
Gŭeorgŭe and Adriana walked slowly home, while Marcu ran ahead of them.
At home, Iana was cooking dinner, Radovan was sleeping, Alina and Filoftea were playing in the yard and Șerban was teaching Gina some arithmetic he had learned in school. Gina was very interested in learning but, unfortunately for her, the nearest school for girls was about 20 miles away, in the Județ Capital, so she could not attend it. She had thus to learn from her younger brother whom she was continuously pestering, much to the changrin of their mother who would have preferred the two of them to help her with household chores instead of that useless learning.
Marcu: "Mother, Father is not feeling well! He's in pain."
Iana: "What's wrong, Husband? Are you sick?"
Gŭeorgŭe: "Leave me alone, Woman. I just need to rest."
Șerban: "Please, Father, it may be something serious. The teacher told us we should always see a doctor when we feel sick."
Gŭeorgŭe: "Your teacher... He is probably friend with the Doctor. We don't have so much money to throw them away like that."
Șerban: "But, Father, as a wounded war veteran you should have a rebate. Please, Father, I am worried..."
Gŭeorgŭe: "Fine, take the horse and go to town to find the Doctor. And buy a handful of nails and some wax. And, since you are already there... go to the Post Office as well. Here, take 20 Banĭ. It should suffice. You may buy some sweets on your way back if you have any money left."
************
Iana: "Husband, Gina is spending hours learning all kind of things from Șerban. I told her, but to no avail. She'd better find a good husband..."
Gŭeorgŭe: "Leave her alone, Woman. Learning is good for everyone, even for girls. She may even find a better match if she's a little more learned... Tell me, Gina, what does Șerban teach you?"
Gina: "Arithmetic, History, Geography. I'm not so interested in Romanian, besides reading and writing which I already know. And Theology, I find it completely useless. I can read the Bible myself if I want to... [...]"
Gŭeorgŭe was not listening anymore. The pain had receded and he was already taking a nap.
************
Iana and Gina served dinner and everybody sat down at the living room table. Iana said a prayer and everybody crossed themselves and then started to eat. They had fresly cooked bread, a soup made of potatoes, carrots and celery and a mămăligă⁷ with butter and cheese. The food was tasty and plentiful but, as usual, everybody was eagerly waiting the Sunday when they would eat meat.
7. Similar to Polish polenta.
************
Gŭeorgŭe took an old newspaper and read the titles then asked Gina to read the content of an article which he found interesting as his failing eyesight prevented him from reading the fine print.
It appeared that the Progressists had clashed again with the Nationalists in the Senate. The Nationalists insisted upon the purity of the Romanian Nation, frowned any more assimilation attempts and even distinguished between the original Romanians and the new Romanians. The Progressists wanted equality between all Romanians irrespective of their origin. Gŭeorgŭe was deeply troubled by the Nationalists' position.
Gŭeorgŭe: "Wife, look at those crazy politicians! They say that only the old Romanians, the original ones are true Romanians and all others are somehow inferior!"
Iana: "You know that I'm not interested in politics, Husband."
Gŭeorgŭe: "But this should interest you as well. Answer me, Wife, what are you now? A Romanian or a Serb? They imply that even our children might not be pure Romanians!"
Iana: "I was born a Serb but I'm Romanian now. And our children are obviously Romanians. They don't know a bit of Serbian!"
Gŭeorgŭe: "Yes of course, but these crazed Nationalists like to create conflict where there isn't any. They are dangerous, you know... Adriana, do you know any Serbian?"
Adriana (laughing): "Ne znam. I don't know, Father. Just a few words. It's absurd to say that we are not proper Romanians somehow."
************
Șerban returned home with the Doctor, the nails, the wax, the sweets and a letter from Alexandru.
The Doctor asked Gŭeorgŭe about the nature of his complaint, listened to his lungs and heart using a small cup, declared that the culprit was a weakened heart and prescribed rest and a lack of physical effort. Gŭeorgŭe paid him 200 Banĭ and showed him the documents attesting that he was a wounded and decorated war veteran. The Doctor took a coupon from his briefcase, filled it, signed it and gave it to Gŭeorgŭe. It was a 50 Banĭ rebate redeemable at the Praetorial Office in Colașin.
Gŭeorgŭe: "Thank you, Doctor... Say, Doctor, couldn't we just say that I gave you 400 so you give me an 100 rebate coupon instead of this one? We could split the money..."
Doctor: "Umm, I'm sorry, Mister Aileni. It's not worth risking my job for such a small amount of money..."
************
While the children ate the sweets, Gina read her brother's long awaited letter⁸.
8. Alexandru Aileni's 1668 letter to his family was auctioned online for 8000 Banĭ. It is now displayed at the Cetinŭe Museum of History.
From Sergeant Alexandru Aileni, Eleventh Legion, Romanian Fifth Army, Asia Minor
To Gŭeorgŭe Aileni, Village Adunați, Județ Colașin, Province Muntenegru, Romania
Esteemed Father and Mother, dear brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces,
How are you? How is everything at home? Is Letiția already expecting a baby? Did you find a husband for Gina? Is Bălan⁹ still alive? Have you heard anything from Manuela?
I am healthy and well, thank God. The food is good and the sleeping quarters are clean and confortable. We did fight a few battles but the Mahommedans are no match for our Christian Army. I simply cannot understand how it was possible less than a century ago for the Mahommedan armies to roam freely in Europe itself! Thankfully, now that seems truly unconcievable.
What troubles me is the fact that we had to slaughter the entire population of a small village which had sheltered the bandits. Including women, small children and old people. It was horrible, but we had to follow our orders. I have fasted and confessed my sins but I still find it difficult to sleep at night sometimes.¹⁰
I met a Greek girl who works as a nurse at the field hospital and I like her a lot. I think I might ask her to be my wife. I hope that you are not against it. She will learn Romanian, of course. After all, it's not like we are pure-bread Romanians ourselves.
I miss all of you very much. I love you and I long for the moment I will be once again in your midst. I wish you good health, good harvests, happiness and peace.
Please pray for me,
Your loving son, brother and uncle,
Alexandru
9. Bălan is probably a dog.
10. The paragraph written in gray had been blackened by the military censorship but it had been revealed using modern technology.
Gŭeorgŭe: "I don't want to hear the name of that whore again!"
Iana: "She is still our daughter..."
Gŭeorgŭe: "She is not my daughter anymore. She disgraced our family and she will rot in Hell!"
Gina: "I'm so glad that Alexandru is well. I am always worried, knowing that he is at war and he could be hurt any day..."
Gŭeorgŭe: "It's not a war, Gina. Let's not blow this out of proportion. The real wars were fought during the reigns of Emperor Mihai Viteazul and Empress Iulia the Warrior. Then we were fighting against a powerful Empire and there were battles when half of the Legionnaires from my Cohort were killed in action! Now we are fighting against a low level insurgence of mainly disorganized bandits and our losses are few and far between. Alexandru has very good chances to come home unharmed when all of this is finally over."
************
It was already late. Iana smothered the lamp and everybody went to sleep. Tomorrow will be another day, full of hard but rewarding work, of industrious study, of joyous childish play, of human Christian hope. Another day in the Imperium created by Saint Emperor Mihai I.
Last edited:
Zagan
Donor
I stumbled upon some more difficulties with the chapter about the wars in the Orient. Instead of posting a below average chapter, I preferred to postpone it until I figure it out a way to improve it.
In the mean time, I thought to post this chapter which was already fully written. I hope that it is not a disappointment.
Note that progress is slower than usual due to the fact that a sizable portion of my time and creative resources are alloted to my other TL. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
In the mean time, I thought to post this chapter which was already fully written. I hope that it is not a disappointment.
Note that progress is slower than usual due to the fact that a sizable portion of my time and creative resources are alloted to my other TL. Thank you for your patience and understanding.