: Adrien Cremene, Mythologie du vampire en Roumanie, Ed. du Rocher, Monaco, 1981
Glossary of historical names and terms
Anatolia ~ Asia Minor, present-day Turkey
azan ~ Muslim prayer chant
Basarab ~ the ancestral family of the Draculesti, voivodes of Wallachia from around 1320
boyar ~ a nobleman of Wallachia, second only to the princes
bostanji ~ a member of the imperial guard of the Ottoman Empire. The name means head gardener, but in fact they were the palace executioners
caravanserai ~ a wayside inn of Asia/Asia Minor
defterdar ~ the treasurer or bookkeeper of the Ottoman court
dervish ~ a member of the Sufi Muslim order similar to a Christian monk. Many practised meditation and were called upon as fortune-tellers
deva ~ a celestial being or spirit in Vedic culture with the potential for good and evil
divan ~ a council chamber, named after the long seat the word also signifies
fiefdom ~ land granted by an overlord to his vassal
Goths ~ an Eastern Germanic people who lived around the Black Sea and in northern Europe, and who emerged in medieval Europe to rival the Roman Empire
Greeks ~ the Hellenised citizens of what came to be known as the Byzantine Empire, whose capital city was Constantinople
Hagia Sophia ~ the Greek Orthodox Christian basilica of Constantinople
hatun ~ an honorific title for women in Ottoman times granted by the Sultan and roughly equivalent to ‘queen’
hayat ~ a living area, garden or courtyard
janissary ~ a member of the Sultan’s personal guard; they were often former hostages from the Balkan territories conquered by the Turks
kilij ~ the curved sword of the Turks, famed for its cutting power
kiosk ~ a small standalone garden pavilion open on all sides
kizlar ~ the head of the women’s apartments or harem (seraglio)
lokum ~ a sweet made of starch and sugar known as Turkish Delight
Magyars ~ an ancient alliance of tribes that founded the kingdom of Hungary in 1001
Manicheans ~ proponents of the religion of Manes, founded on the eternal conflict of light and dark, good and evil, and the equal influence of God and Satan
Mese ~ an ancient thoroughfare of Constantinople
Old Rome ~ the empire of Ancient Rome
Osmani ~ the family name of the founders of the Ottoman dynasty
pasha ~ the title given to a high-ranking official, or military commander in Ottoman hierarchy
Rumani ~ the present-day Romanians of historical Wallachia, descendants of the Goths, whose name reflects their old Roman heritage
Rumelia ~ the name given to the Balkan Peninsula when it was within the Ottoman Empire, meaning ‘land taken from Old Rome’
sanjak ~ an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire
sanjakbey ~ the governor of a sanjak
Saracen ~ term used up to the sixteenth century to denote Muslim Arabs
seraglio ~ the women’s apartments in an Ottoman palace, a harem
sica ~ the short sword of the Thracians
sipahi ~ cavalryman of the Ottoman army
solak ~ a janissary of the Sultan’s personal guard
strigoi ~ a word of Romanian origin. The dead strigoi is the equivalent of the present-day vampire, in that it is resurrected from the grave, and its nature may be both human and demonic. The living strigoi is less dangerous but equally ambiguous, and may be seen as the equivalent to the sorcerer, the witch or the shaman. It may have many lives.
Sufi ~ an Islamic mystic, practising an esoteric dimension of the religion
tellak ~ a young male attendant in a Turkish public bath during Ottoman times
Thrace ~ a historical region with no fixed boundaries west of the Black Sea, Thrace encompassed areas of Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece and was first named by the Ancient Greeks (800 – 500 BCE)
tuica ~ a liquor made from distilled plums
ulema ~ the guardians of the legal and religious tradition of the Muslim order
upyr ~ a spirit of the air, connected with the vampire of European folklore
valide hatun ~ the mother of the Sultan or the Sultan’s heir
vizier ~ a high-ranking political advisor or minister of an Islamic state
voivode ~ the ruler of a province in the Ottoman era, but in general historical terms a military commander (warlord), often referred to in English as ‘prince’ or ‘duke’
Wallachia ~ pronounced as ‘Valahia’, this was the name for present-day Romania from the early fourteenth century until 1866
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following people, who have helped me during the writing of this book.
To Iradj Kalantary for his support, to the rest of my family for their interest and encouragement, to Dominique Anfossi for valuable help, to Alain Janet, Frances Vinycomb and Peter King for reading the manuscript, and to Lucy Ridout for her editing services.
This book is dedicated to my father.
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About the Author
Lucille Turner’s first book, Gioconda, was published by Granta Books in 2011. A novel about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, it went on to win the Hislibris prize for historical fiction and was translated into several languages. She has a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature and has worked as a translator, a journalist, a teacher and a book reviewer. She lives between Bournemouth and Nice and blogs about historical fiction at www.lucilleturner.com.
Gioconda:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1847083595
GIOCONDA
Discovery, Knowledge, Obsession
A Novel of Leonardo da Vinci
In a world where everyone wants to tell you how to think, what do you do when you know that they are wrong?
Anchiano 1452. A boy is born to a father who will never understand him. Unless he finds the power to become what he could be, he will remain what he is, the son of a notary from a hamlet in the hills, nobody. As he grows up out of step with everyone around him, Leonardo must follow his instincts if he is ever to fulfil the vow he makes, to rescue those around him from their ignorance and fear. But one day he will have to make a choice. Does he share his knowledge and pay the price for it? Or does he do what his hands have always told him to do? Hide it.
He looks at his aching hands. Runs them over his bony face and rough beard. How long before his body gives up, and when it does, what of it? If he stops now, what will happen – will he live more? What is more, more of what?
Praise For Gioconda
“Turner brilliantly captures the political instability of 15th-century Florence and the religious dogma and social conventions that have a claustrophobic effect on Leonardo’s unruly genius and dangerously unorthodox ideas
A lush, evocative and remarkably accomplished debut novel”
The Financial Times
“Compulsive and intuitive, this is a great first novel”
The Skinny
“A pleasure to read”
Metro
Lucille Turner, The Sultan, the Vampyr and the Soothsayer
The Sultan, the Vampyr and the Soothsayer Page 37
