Is Romania ๐ท๐ด a Latin Project of the Vatican?
This is an answer to a comment I received, when I started posting content about Bulgaria ๐ง๐ฌ. Note: I like both countries, Romania and Bulgaria, which I would gladly call my second homes anytime ๐. Note 2: we might use the Vatican to refer to the Roman Catholic Church, or the papal states (it's complicated ๐ ).
๐ฑ The original comment I received
This Bulgarian gentleman is - conveniently - setting the clock at the 7th century AD.
Do you know why?
๐น Let's play a game first!
If you were to associate Romanian people to another nation, what country would come first to your mind?
I'll go first:
- France ๐ซ๐ท
- Italy ๐ฎ๐น
- Spain ๐ช๐ธ
- Portugal ๐ต๐น
- Moldova (the country) ๐ฒ๐ฉ
- Colombia ๐จ๐ด: both RO and Colombian "nevastฤs" are muy caliente... I'm sweating just by typing this ๐ฅต๐
- ...but not Bulgarians first ๐ง๐ฌ โ
What do the aforementioned countries have in common? One thing: they all are latin (except Bulgaria ofc.)!
To show you how misleading this comment is, let's take some distance, and travel to Spain and Portugal.
๐ช๐ธ/๐ต๐น Are Spain and Portugal also a Latinization Project?
With a similar timeline to the Romanian/Bulgarian story we are discussing here, the iberian peninsula (Spain & Portugal) switched languages and religions.
Can the 2 Billions Muslims claim that Spain ๐ช๐ธ and Portugal ๐ต๐น were stolen from them? After all, they have all the right to claim so, as they built a civilization that outmatched any existing contemporary state, and laid the foundation of western civilizations, as admitted by western non muslim historians.
The answer is YES!
Spain and Portugal were stolen from the Muslims โช๏ธ by the Christians of Iberia โ๏ธ, and they are definitely a latinization project of the Roman Catholic Church in Hispania... ONLY if you set the clock to the exact year of 711 AD, when the North African Muslim General "Tariq Ibn Ziyad" conquered Iberia.
Now if you set the clock in 418 AD, with the arrival of the Catholic Christian Visigoths in Iberia, then Spain and Portugal were stolen from the Christians of Iberia by the Muslims.
And we can continue with this game, up to the Roman empire, Julius Caesar, Hannibal, etc. โ๏ธ
๐ง My problem with this DM
You see, what this "Bulgarian" gentleman is doing, is that he's - conveniently - setting the clock to the 7th century. Do you know why? Because it's the exact century when the 1st Bulgarian empire was created, to be more exact, the year is 681 AD. By doing so, he's erasing millennia of history in the land of what's known today as Romania, and which existed thousands years before the first Bulgarian tsar was ever crowned.
Nobody argues that the Bulgarian empire (1st) was a formidable state. A true cultural and spiritual center for orthodox Slavic. It went to invent the Cyrillic alphabet in the 9th century, which is still in use until today by +250 Millions people all around the world, in the countries of Ukraine ๐บ๐ฆ, Russia ๐ท๐บ, Belarus ๐ง๐พ, Bosnia ๐ง๐ฆ, Serbia ๐ท๐ธ, Kazakhstan ๐ฐ๐ฟ, etc. This formidable empire existed until it was wiped out from the map by another Christian Orthodox state: the "Byzantine empire", at the hands of "Basil II", nicknamed "the Bulgar slayer"โฆ nobody argues with that ๐ง๐ฌ!
๐ Role of the Vlachs in the Bulgarian Empire
The Vlachs (ancestors of Romanians), were part of the Bulgarian empire, and build it for centuries. They participated in its administration, its religious centers, and carried the swords to defend its territories.
These people were Vlachs, they had different roots from the slavic Bulgarian people. It's hard to claim the opposite, because if you do so, then you'll be contradicting yourself, and admitting that Bulgarians are Vlachs. So Bulgarians are Romanians now?
โ๏ธ Vatican, Stefan cel Mare, and Romania
The historic facts show that the Roman Catholic Church couldnโt care less about the people of modern day Romania. Romanians were left alone to face one of the mightiest armies that ever existed in the history of medieval Europe: Bayezid I, Murat II, Mehmet II, Suleiman the magnificent, etc. Oh, and the Catholics of the Polish-Lithuanian empire also had interests in the land of Romania too, more precisely, the region of Moldavia. It would take us a separate long post + videos, but you can google: "Moldavian Magnate Wars". This is when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had interests in Moldavia, clashing with two (x2) other powers, who too had interests in Moldavia: The Roman Habsburg and the Muslim Ottomans.
Amidst these threats, Romanian people were left alone, like a goat between hungry wolves. There was literally zero (0) help coming from the Catholic ๐ป๐ฆ, except couple titles, such as "Athleta Christi" for "Stefan cel Mare" of Moldova... as if a title helps fund an army and counter the Ottomans ๐ .
I take off my hat for the diplomatic and military flair of Romanians, preserving a high degree of autonomy over their religious and internal affairs, while being landlocked between thirsty imperialist neighbors.
The Roman Catholic Church couldnโt care less about the people inhabiting the lands of Romania. They were happy to have them a buffer state between the empires of the Ottomans, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Austria/Hungary and soon Russia.
It took 800 years to the Roman Catholic Church (Vatican) to apologize for the sack of Constantinople in 1204, when Catholics Christians, mainly Crusaders from France and Venetians, looted, murdered and raped fellow Christians in the "Queen of Cities", the city of Constantinople, year 1204. 800 years Folks! In early 2000s, the pope of the Vatican formally apologized to the Orthodox Patriarchate! This shows you how little the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church cared about the Orthodoxy in general!
๐งณ How do I feel as a foreigner in both countries ๐ท๐ด/๐ง๐ฌ?
Man! Romania and Bulgaria are just two different worlds. The people act differently, handle their emotions differently, their humor is different, the countries are organized differently, their histories are different, their language are different, their mentalities are different. It's literally two different worlds, and two different people. Not in the sense that one people is better than the other one. It's just different!
And in the past, the two countries fought each other in the 2nd Balkan Wars (1913), and WWI, and WWII. But I won't venture out into that landmine territory ๐ฅ๐ .
Even the way the two countries faced modern challenges is different. As an example, to respond to its explosive economic growth, the Romanian authorities have allowed foreign non-EU workers from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to come in, speeding the immigration process to just couple months. You find them cooking in restaurants, delivering your food with Glovo, working in construction, etc... One girl told me once that even the ladies manicure/pedicure in Romania are done today by Chinese / Thai MEN! Men not Women Folks!
Bulgaria didn't take the same direction, even if it might limit its economic growth.
That's why whenever I cross the borders from Bulgaria to Romania, I feel like I'm going to New York City ๐บ๐ธ. In Romania, there is literally every amenity or service a modern citizen might need.
Life in Romania is dynamic and vibrant for modern citizen, with a pinch of oriental flavor. And for those seeking the calm of nature, the country doesn't disappoint! P.S.: Nature in Bulgaria is amazing as well!
And I'll finish this post by saying that:
The Latin roots of Romania ๐ท๐ด existed centuries before the invention of the Cyrillic alphabet in the 9th century AD in Bulgaria ๐ง๐ฌ, and before the first Bulgarian Tsar was ever crowned.
Anyway, that was my 20 cts thought...๐ช - "River Newsletter"
๐๐ฟ Videos I posted this week (some of them)
The Battle of Rovine โ๏ธ - (Ottomans vs Romanians)
The Battle of Rovine โ๏ธ between Mircea cel Batran & Bayezid (the Thunderbolt)
๐ Romanian girl: "I need a Boyfriend to Spice up my LIFE"
๐ค CRAZY Airbnb in the East
@oopsimovedagain Airbnb in the West vs the East: You see, Constantinople wasnโt in the west, it was in the East, and they called it โthe Queen of the Citiesโ for a reason. Now letโs go deep in the east, to India ๐ฎ๐ณ. It is not the Indians that left their land to find alternative routes, to reach the rat infested streets of London ๐ฌ๐ง, in the 15th century. No! Itโs the people of the west, who by trying to find, the much sought after alternative routes to India ๐ฎ๐ณ, discovered America, accidentally. But why all of this effort from Westerners? Because everything beautiful, precious, elegant, glorious and rich came from the East, for thousands years; for millenials ๐. From silk, spices, art, relics, the architectural โknow howโ, elegant clothes, flavorful foodโฆ even the book of Kama Sutra came from the East you, you kid**** me ๐ฉโโค๏ธโ๐จ. Until one day, westerners showed up in the East, and did what they always do the best: steal, and expropriate ๐ฅท. They landed in India ๐ฎ๐ณ, one of the richest countries in its time, and left it as one of the poorest countries, after centuries of colonialism and exploitation ๐ฅ. Another example: Westerners went to protect the holy land of Jerusalem, from - guess who - the muslims (what an easy excuse). Instead, they decided to sack the city of Constantinople in 1204, capital of the Byzantine empire, which was Christian too โฆ๏ธ. They murdered, raped and stole abundantly (just visit Venice, Italy ๐ฎ๐น), and melted invaluable sculpture to make some extra coins. From my experience traveling and connecting deeply with peopleโs histories, and traditions, I see that the east still knows how to touch your soul, kindly, warmly and generously! And with no conspiracy theory, I predict, and hope, for the east to reconnect with its golden past and heritage. After all, Romania is the gate to the Orient โค๏ธ๐ท๐ด #romania #airbnb #east #constantinople #elegance #generosity #qualityoflife #suffering #oopsimovedagain โฌ original sound - Oops, I moved again!
๐ From a Multi $B US Navy Ships ๐บ๐ธ, to a Ferry in Bulgaria ๐ง๐ฌ
๐Crossing the Danube River with car on a Ferry - Bulgaria โก๏ธ Romania