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Message: <blockquote data-quote="reanjr" data-source="post: 1913951" data-attributes="member: 20740">Christian ones.From what I understand, religion was integral to life.  The Orthodox church wielded a lot of power.I understand that there was a bit more respect for women in this time period than many places in the west, but we're not talking egalitarian or anything.  Class was as rigid/loose as your standard feudal society.  The area was an ethnic melting pot, sort of a crossroads of the world.  This led to many strange alliances and agressions, but I wouldn't say it played a more central role than anywhere else.  I'm not so sure how other religions fared in that time period; most people were Christian.Feudal.  More feudal than most contemporaries.  Everyone in power had alliances to enemies, friends, friends of enemies, enemies of friends, etc.  It's rare that someone held power for any amount of time here.The bogeyman was prominent in this area and time due to the influence of the church.  The church would promote folklore of demons and other night creatures and then tell you how to ward them away or avoid them at church.  So you had to go to church to learn how to protect yourself.  Many of the modern vampire wards come directly out of this.  The church didn't require any kind of precedent, they just made it up as they went along.Villages were small and secluded.  There are a lot of geographical barriers in the region, which is why the population was so segregated ethnicly.  Castles were small, non-grandiose affairs that were functional.  I would imagine most of them would be built on cliff edges due to the rugged geography.  I don't really know much about the commoners.  The aristocrats were fat and abusive.  Anyone who held power for some time was either great at allying themselves with the right people or they were warlords, from everything I've heard.Oppression is rampant.  Either through the power of the church or the warlords or the boyars (land holders).  The political maneuverings, while not machiavellian in their intricacy, were ruthless.  Lots of untamed wilderness (even today).  As I stated before, this is a crossroads and a lot of minor battles happened here from this time all the way through to the 19th century.Well, I may be incorrect on specifics, but I think I've got the gist of the area.  Most of what I know is from reading about Vlad Tepes in particular.  So what I've picked up about the area and time period is sort of secondary knowledge.</blockquote>

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