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Vlad Dracul, also known as Vlad the Impaler

Vlad the Impaler & the Byzantines

Most of us have heard of the legend of Vlad Dracul, also known as Vlad the Impaler, and later simply as Dracula. This prince of Wallachia had a reputation for viciously impaling his defeated enemies – a brutal practice during a brutal time. Not being much of a fan of

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Signature in red of Constantine XI Palaeologos

Byzantine Personal Naming Conventions

Many medieval Byzantines did not use a surname. How the individual chose his surname remained fluid for many years. It often referred back to the area or town where the family originated, or from a family profession or trait.

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Byzantine fork, Dumbarton Oaks Museum in Washington, DC

Byzantines Did It First!

I recently read a book about the city of Paris and the author mentioned that a particular hospital was the “first hospital in Europe”. I had to shake my head at his ignorance of the history of the Byzantines. However, it inspired me to make a list of a few things I know of that the Byzantines did long before the rest of Europe did.

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Imperial Passions, The Porta Aurea, by Eileen Stephenson

Cover Reveal!

Sharing the cover of my new novel, Imperial Passions – The Porta Aurea. It tells the story of the life of Anna Dalassena, the mother of Alexios I Comnenus. It ends when her brother-in-law, Isaac Comnenus, seizes the throne. My next novel will tell her story from that time to

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Anna Comnena, 12th century princess and writer

Dueling Historians

The husband and wife historians, Nikephoros Bryennios and Anna Comnena, had very different opinions of the same events.

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