The  is a group of fictional characters in the Sailor Moon manga series by Naoko Takeuchi. It comprises the main villains of the second major story arc, which is called the Black Moon in the manga and Sailor Moon Crystal, and which fills most of Sailor Moon R season of the first anime adaptation. They are first introduced in chapter #14 "Black Moon Kōan – Sailor Mars", first published in Nakayoshi on March 3, 1993. In the DIC English adaptation, their name is changed to the "Negamoon Family".

Members of the Black Moon Clan are descendants of anarchists who opposed Crystal Tokyo, claiming that the governing group was corrupt and the resulting increase in human longevity by the Silver Crystal was a crime against nature. The founding leaders of the Black Moon were guided by Wiseman to the , a phantom planet that can conceal itself from anything save X-Rays and produce shards of the . All members of the Black Moon Clan have black, upside-down crescents on their foreheads (the inverse of the marking of Silver Millennium). They wear earrings which, according to the Materials Collection, are made of Black Crystal and allow them to teleport.

Creation and conception
Series creator Naoko Takeuchi originally intended Sailor Moon to last one season, but due to its popularity, Toei Animation asked her to keep drawing the manga series. Takeuchi stated she had difficulty developing a story for the second arc, and the whole idea of Sailor Moon's daughter coming from a future attacked by the Black Moon Clan came from her editor, Fumio Osano. To give Takeuchi enough time to develop the second arc, Toei introduced in the anime the Hell Tree aliens, thus the Black Moon Clan does not feature in the first thirteen episodes of Sailor Moon R. In the DIC English adaptation of the anime, the Black Moon Clan is called "Negamoon Family". The term "Nega-" was also used for the "Negaverse" (the Dark Kingdom) in this adaptation, implying that the Black Moon Clan is related in some way to Queen Beryl and her cause, since the Dark Kingdom members use the term "Nega-" as a common prefix (e.g. "negapower", "negahistory" or "negamonsters").

The Black Moon Clan members follow the pattern of the Dark Kingdom of using minerals as namesakes. Four key figures of the Clan use the four precious stones: ruby, emerald, sapphire and diamond. The Specter Sisters are named after minerals kermesite, berthierite, petzite and calaverite. The Boule Brothers do not follow this pattern; instead, they are named after the scientific terms chirality and achirality. However, the term 'boule' (sounded out in katakana) is accompanied by the kanji '人造宝石', literally meaning a "man-made gemstone"; synthetic/artificial gemstones; and the English term 'boule' means "A single crystal ingot produced by synthetic means".

Key figures

Prince Demand
 is the leader of Planet Nemesis in the 30th century. He is the older brother of Saphir.

Because of the Black Moon Clan's beliefs that the Legendary Silver Crystal is a corruptive force, Wiseman sought Demand out and convinced him to use the Malefic Black Crystal's power against Crystal Tokyo. Demand and his allies initially plan to use the Black Crystal's time manipulative powers to travel back in time to the 20th century as part of "Operation: Replay", intending kill the past versions of the "White Moon" members who established Crystal Tokyo: The Sailor Guardians and Mamoru. But Demand, wanting to see the Legendary Silver Crystal's power for himself, launched an attack that wiped out most of Crystal Tokyo in a display of power. It resulted with Demand encountering Neo-Queen Serenity as she rushed out of the Crystal Palace in search of her daughter, Chibiusa. This led to Demand becoming obsessed with Neo-Queen Serenity, which extended to her past self Usagi Tsukino as he abducted her during her visit to the 30th century. Demand intends to force Usagi to submit to him, but she eventually manages to escape. Demand later turns on Wiseman upon realizing that he used him and the rest of the Black Moon Clan, and is forced to kill Saphir as his brother is under Wiseman's spell. Demand then steals the Silver Crystal of the present from Usagi and the one of the future from Black Lady, and attempts to bring them together to destroy the time-space continuum. But Sailor Pluto uses her forbidden Time Stop attack and prevent, with Demand attacking Usagi before she and Tuxedo Mask combine their powers to destroy him.

In the first anime adaptation, Demand has a similar story, with some differences. He initially intends to reason with Neo-Queen Serenity, explaining that he and his people are descendants of criminals, not criminals themselves. It is Wiseman, and not Demand himself, who kills Saphir, because the latter told his older brother that Wiseman has been manipulating them. In the final confrontation, Usagi too tries to persuade Demand to see that he is being manipulated by Wiseman. Between what Sailor Moon said and what he remembered Saphir trying to tell him, Demand is then positive that Wiseman was using him. When Wiseman tries to kill Usagi, Demand shields her from Wiseman's damage. Though fatally injured, he musters up enough strength to temporarily subdue Wiseman. Demand begged Usagi for forgiveness and asked her to watch over the remaining inhabitants of Nemesis, later dying in her arms.

In the anime reboot Sailor Moon Crystal, Demand's story closely follows that of the manga, but his death is similar to the first anime as he shields Sailor Moon from Death Phantom's attack. While openly stating his reason to personally kill her, Demand accepted her as his queen before being imploded by Death Phantom's power.

In the Sailor Moon: Another Story video game, Demand is encountered in the Moon Kingdom during Queen Beryl's invasion and ends up kidnapping Sailor Moon. Esmeraude mentions that Demand had the Barazuishou. When the Sailor Guardians catch up to Demand, the group is attacked by Sin. When the Guardians repel Sin, she manages to make a fatal blow on Demand quoting "That was for my mom and dad." Demand states that this is not the destiny he wanted and if he could have changed, it would have been so that there would not be any battles between the Black Moon Clan and Crystal Tokyo. Before he dies, he tells the Guardians to head to the future for if the future does not change, the present will.

In the Japanese series, Prince Demand is voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa until episode 41 of Sailor Moon R, and by Mamoru Miyano in Crystal and all media since. In the DIC English adaptation, his name is changed to Prince Diamond and is voiced by Robert Bockstael. In the Viz Media English adaptation, he is voiced by Matthew Mercer. In the musical adaptation, he has been played by Hikari Ono. Hikari jokingly commented that she was given "this completely unfeminine prince role", due to the fact that among cast members, Hikari was known for playing male or androgynous roles. These include Hawk's Eye, Kou Taiki, and Loof Merrow.

Rubeus
 is a red-haired human and the first member of the Black Moon Clan to appear in the 20th century. Introducing himself as the Black Moon's military commander, he is charged with the capture of Chibiusa after she fled into 20th Century Tokyo while sending the Specter Sisters on missions to ensure the operation's success. Though the Specter sisters are killed off, Rubeus manages to bring the captive Sailors Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter to Nemesis. Despite being loyal to Demand, his suspicions gaining further incentive when Neo-Serenity channels herself through Sailor Moon. Rubeus expresses distrust towards Wiseman, which results with Rubeus being strangled to death by Wiseman when he attempts to flee during the meltdown of Malefic Black Crystal Reactor.

In Sailor Moon R, using an actual UFO rather than a time-space portal, Rubeus is presented in a more negative light as he is less sympathetic to the Specter Sisters and uses their love to take advantage of them as his expendable pawns. After the Specter Sisters were purified by Sailor Moon, warned by Esmeraude that Demand is losing his patience with him, Rubeus captures Usagi's protectors to force her into handing over the Silver Crystal. In the ensuing battle, Chibiusa destroys the crystal controlling his ship, freeing the Sailor Guardians as they return to Earth. Esmeraude reminds Rubeus that he has failed too many times and that she is assuming command, before leaving Rubeus to die in the explosion.

Rubeus appears as a boss in the Another Story video game. He is encountered in the past outside of the Ark near the Temple of Venus in Rias.

In the anime, Crimson Rubeus was voiced by Wataru Takagi and by Hiroki Takahashi in Crystal. In the DIC English adaptation, he was voiced by Robert Tinkler. In the Viz Media English adaptation, he is voiced by Steve Cannon. In the musicals,  Rubeus was portrayed by Hiroyuki Ichikawa and Riona Tatemichi.

Esmeraude
 is a green-haired woman and the second of the Black Moon Clan to appear. She is a selfish, vain woman with an obsessed infatuation with Prince Demand, emulating a goddess-like appearance by wearing an elegant, tight-fitting dress along with opera-length gloves and knee-high stiletto boots. She has a distinctive laugh, loud and piercing, and is the most comedic member of the Black Moon. After she and her subordinates Chiral and Achiral, fail to kill Sailors Moon and Venus when they, Tuxedo Mask, and Chibiusa reach Crystal Tokyo, Esmeraude undertakes the mission "Code: Extra, Operation: Relax" to personally kill Chibiusa. When the two Sailor Guardians and Tuxedo Mask intervene, Esmeraude uses the Beast Arms ability she received from Wiseman to overwhelm them. But King Endymion's spirit appears behind Tuxedo Mask, allowing him to channel his future self's power to kill Esmeraude with a Tuxedo La Bomber attack.

In the first anime adaptation, warning Rubeus that Prince Demand is getting impatient and later leaving him to die, Esmeraude takes over the attacks on 20th Tokyo while expressing her disdain for Demand's obsession with Neo-Serenity/Sailor Moon. Consumed by her jealousy and greed, Esmeraude receives a magic tiara from Wiseman that will give her the power to kill the Guardians after they arrive to Crystal Tokyo. But Esmeraude ends up being transformed into a dragon, battling the Guardians when she attacks the Crystal Palace and is defeated by Sailor Moon. Reverted to her original state, Esmeraude plunges into a black void to her doom while her last words reach Demand.

Esmeraude appears as a boss in the Another Story video game. She is encountered in the past at the Kainess Ice Caves an optional boss where the Guardians fight her in dragon form and then in normal form. She mentions that Prince Demand has the Barazuishou.

She is voiced by Mami Koyama and by Houko Kuwashima in Crystal. In the DIC English adaptation, her name is changed to Emerald and is voiced by Kirsten Bishop. In the Viz Media English adaptation, she is played by Rena S. Mandel. In the musical, she is played by Miki Kawasaki and Mitsumi Hiromura.

Saphir
 is the Black Moon's alchemist, and the loyal younger brother of Prince Demand. He is more cautious and rational than his companions. He is the only member of the Clan that does not wear earrings made from Black Crystal, despite having invented them.

Saphir prefers to work with droids creations and maintaining Nemesis's Malefic Black Crystal Reactor, which he compared to his brother in being unpredictable. While Saphir questioned Wiseman's intentions and Demand's lack of reasoning as on the grounds that the latter's reasoning is being eroded, he only got his brother's disdain to be being by accused of wanting the power for himself.  When Demand brings Usagi to Nemesis and she stumbled into the reactor room, Saphir admits that their plans were insensible and that she was guiltless yet tries to kill her on the grounds that she and the Silver Crystal are still a source of conflict. But the 20th century Silver Crystal activates and its energies cause the reactor to meltdown, with Nemesis undergoing an evolution while Saphir and Demand are rescued by Black Lady and brought before Wiseman. Wiseman uses his power to place Saphir under his control and bestows with Beast Hands, only for Saphir to be killed off by a reluctant Demand who apologizes for his earlier remarks about his brother's loyalty to him.

In the first anime adaptation, Saphir grows up on Nemesis with Demand, who promised him that they will go to Earth one day and see real flowers. When Saphir overhears Wiseman's plans, he barely escapes with use the stolen Malefic Black Crystal to travel to 20th Century Earth where his wounds are tended to by Petz before the Sailor Guardians come to his aid. When Demand appears, Saphir attempts to warn him before Wiseman kills him in midsentence. Demand carries his brother's lifeless body, with the Black Moon no longer on his forehead, away to be properly buried.

In the Another Story video game, Saphir is encountered in the Moon Kingdom during Queen Beryl's invasion. He directs the Guardians to the basement of the Moon Palace where Prince Demand is holding Sailor Moon, later sacrificing himself to protect his brother from Sin.

Blue Saphir is voiced by Tsutomu Kashiwakura and by Tsubasa Yonaga in Crystal. In the DIC English adaptation, his name is changed to Sapphire and he is voiced by Lyon Smith. In the Viz Media English adaptation, he is played by Greg Felden. In the musicals, he is played by Yuri Kuroda and Sora Manami.

Death Phantom
, acting under the identity of , is an immortal form of Chaos from the future. Before the events of the series, Death Phantom was originally a human who lived in the city Crystal Tokyo, and possessed dark powers which he used to reintroduce chaos and mayhem to the utopia with powers like his extending Beast Hands and his hypnotic Evil Sight. Death Phantom was later defeated by Neo-Queen Serenity, who banished him to the planet Nemesis where he will live out the rest of his days. But when Death Phantom died, his spirit and consciousness integrated into Nemesis, becoming the planet itself. He cloaked his decayed and crumbled human body to serve as a puppet and returned to Earth under the identity of Wiseman to find discontent among humans, recruiting the founding members of the Black Moon Clan whose hate towards 30th-century utopia of Crystal Tokyo and the Silver Crystal he exploited for his own. Wiseman provided the Black Moon with his Malefic Black Crystal, orchestrating their attack on Crystal Tokyo and 20th century Tokyo to shatter the Silver Crystal while exacting his revenge on Neo-Queen Serenity. Wiseman later acquires the future Silver Crystal from Chibiusa whom he corrupted into Black Lady to take the 20th century Silver Crystal as well, revealing his true colors and form as Death Phantom. But Death Phantom is destroyed when Sailor Moon and the recently awaken Sailor Chibi Moon use their Silver Crystals to obliterate the entirety of Nemesis.

In the anime adaptation, the Black Moon Clan were the descendants of evil people who fled to Nemesis after having attacked Crystal Tokyo centuries before. Posing as Wiseman, Death Phantom approached Prince Demand and Saphir when they were younger. He manipulated the clan into gathering power for him, with the ultimate goal being the opening of the Dark Gate. He promised he could give them the power and ability to go to Earth and conquer it to avenge their ancestors whom Wiseman claimed had been shunned away to Nemesis by the people of Earth. Wiseman's influence warped the minds of his pawns until they carried out his true plan for the ultimate destruction of the planet Earth. Wiseman counsels Rubeus during his mission for a long time, but is unconcerned about his death. He humiliates Esmeraude when she comes to him asking to be the queen of Nemesis, and brings about her transformation into a dragon and, ultimately, her doom at the hands of Sailor Moon. He manipulates Chibiusa's childhood memories to make her believe that her past was unhappy and that she is always alone, turning her into Black Lady. Wiseman kills Saphir when Saphir realizes that he and his brother have been lied to. He ultimately kills Prince Demand when the man shielded Sailor Moon from his energy-blade. In the end, Death Phantom is killed, but Nemesis and its remaining inhabitants are saved.

He is voiced by Eiji Maruyama in the original series and by Hiroshi Iwasaki in Sailor Moon Crystal. In the DIC English adaptation, Wiseman is voiced by Tony Daniels. In the Viz Media English adaptation, he is voiced by Steve Kramer. In the 2000 musical Tanjou! Ankoku no Princess Black Lady, he was portrayed by Kenji Tominaga.

Black Lady

Black Lady, more commonly known as Wicked Lady, is the evil form that Chibiusa assumed under Wiseman's influence, using her frustration of finding her place in the 30th Century to bring out her dark, malicious side and serve as his right hand. As Chibiusa's dream was to finally grow up and become a beautiful lady like her mother, Black Lady's form is something like a femme fatale with an overblown Electra complex.

Like her original self, she is voiced by Kae Araki in the first series and by Misato Fukuen in Crystal. In the DIC English adaptation, Black Lady's name is changed to Wicked Lady and is voiced by Liz Brown. In the Viz Media adaptation, she is voiced by Sandy Fox.

Specter Sisters
The  are a group of women that serve under Rubeus, each possessing a supernatural ability. They serve as the Black Moon's first line of offense in their attack on 20th Century Tokyo, their primary missions being the removal of Sailor Moon's four protectors and the capture of Chibiusa.

In the first anime adaptation, the Specter Sisters appear more frequently and their characters are expanded as shallow while eventually regretting their upbringing on Nemesis. Their mission is slightly altered to target strategic points that would be essential to Crystal Tokyo in the future. Compared to the manga and Crystal, the Specter Sisters are purified and allowed to remain in the 20th century while running a makeup stand.

The Specter Sisters appear as bosses on a spaceship in the Another Story video game.

Kōan
 is the youngest of the Specter Sisters and represents a counterpart of Sailor Mars. Her name is short for  and her attack is "Dark Fire", which is called "Ice Fire" in the original dub. Sensing Mars, Kōan receives Rubeus's blessing to "Code: 001, Operation: Recruit": Posing as a T.A Girls Academy student who is president of the supernatural club called the Black Moon. Kōan uses her fortunetelling ability to predict the impending deaths of people to recruit those she promises will die painlessly for the Black Moon's cause. She also uses her Dark Fire to incinerate others under the cover of Spontaneous human combustion. Rei confronts Kōan so she reveals her true self, while Rei transforms into Sailor Mars. In the ensuing battle, Kōan traps Sailor Mars in a fire barrier but is killed by Sailor Moon when she first acquired the Cutie Moon Rod.

In the first anime, Kōan is very vain about her appearance to the point of swearing death upon anyone who smudges her make-up or ruins her hair, and she relies on her charms to get what she wants. She thinks that she and Rubeus are in a relationship, and competes with her sisters for his love.  Kōan directly fights Sailor Mars and the others several times, with the climactic battle taking place at the Hikawa Shrine. After Kōan fails to capture Chibiusa, Rubeus reveals that she is a pawn and that he never loved her. Kōan snaps and attacks everyone in a blind rage, until Sailor Mars saves Kōan from getting hit by Sailor Jupiter, and convinces her that she is a good person that has been caught in a life of evil and that she deserves a second chance. She becomes the first sister purified with Sailor Moon's Silver Crystal. She later convinces each of her sisters to let Sailor Moon purify them.

In Japanese, Kōan is voiced by Wakana Yamazaki in Sailor Moon R and by Satsuki Yukino in Crystal. In the DiC English adaptation, her name is changed to Catzi and is first voiced by Alice Poon and later Mary Long. In the Viz Media English adaptation, she is voiced by Eden Riegel.  In the musicals she is portrayed by Seiko Takuma and Hinami Someya.

Berthier
 is the second youngest sister and represents a counterpart of Sailor Mercury. Her name is based on the mineral berthierite and her magical attack is "Dark water", carrying a dowsing pendulum made of Malefic Black Crystal. Berthier is sent by Rubeus to enact "Code: 002, Operation: Remove" to eliminate all opposition to the Black Moon which includes the Sailor Guardians. Berthier disguises herself as a normal human and wows people with her dowsing abilities prior to finding Ami Mizuno and deducing her as Sailor Mercury when she used her power to find a leak in a pipe at the school. Skilled at chess, Berthier goes on television to challenge Ami to a chess match. After losing the match despite having the advantage, a fight breaks out as Berthier manages to capture Mercury in a water barrier for the Black Moon before being killed by Sailor Moon.

In Sailor Moon R, Berthier has a very darkly playful personality, but is shown to have great respect for all of her sisters. She is the only one shown to be upset when Kōan is purified by the Silver Crystal. As with Ami, she is also a strategist and is incredibly talented at chess, though she apparently also cheats. She confronts Sailor Mercury in a game of chess. However, she is mocked for her failure by Calaveras and Petz, but Kōan persuades her that she is still loved and has a second chance. Berthier allows Sailor Moon to heal her. Later, she and Kōan, along with the Guardians, are able to convince their other two sisters to join them and become normal women.

She is voiced by Yuri Amano in Sailor Moon R and by Rumi Kasahara in Crystal. In the DiC English adaptation, her name is changed to Bertie and she is voiced by Kathleen Laskey. In the Viz Media English adaptation, she is voiced by Cindy Robinson. She is the only sister that does not appear in the first version of Ankoku no Princess Black Lady musical, but does she appear in the revision portrayed by Manami Wakayama.

Petz
 is the oldest of the four sisters and is a counterpart of Sailor Jupiter. She is named for the mineral petzite and her attack is "Dark Thunder". Petz asks Rubeus to allow her the chance to avenge Kōan and Berthier by enacting "Code: 003, Operation: Renew": infecting those among Tokyo populace with a debilitating cold so they can be replaced with Droids. Makoto is infected by one of the viruses and destroys a Droid double that attacks her while she starts to pass out in her apartment. Petz manages to take advantage of Jupiter's weakened condition to capture her in a barrier before being obliterated from behind by Sailor Moon.

In Sailor Moon R, Petz often clashes with Calaveras, but the majority of both women's operations end up with them working together. She is very proud and is willing to step on others to achieve personal glory and power. She also appears bitter over a past relationship and reacts strongly when Calaveras teases her about it. After the treachery of Kōan and Berthier, Rubeus gives her a stick and instructs her to use it to kill the Sailor Guardians and reconvert her fallen sisters. The stick dramatically increases Petz's powers and also corrupts her personality; however, the Guardians intervene. Rubeus appears and reveals he did not expect Petz to defeat the Guardians and activates the stick to create a massive time-vacuum that threatens to pull in everyone around it. No longer possessed, Petz decides that she has enough power in her body to destroy the stick and jumps into the vortex to sacrifice herself to stop it. However, she is stopped by her other three sisters who convince her that they still love her. After the vortex is destroyed by the Guardians, Petz is purified along with Calaveras. Later, Petz and her sisters soon discover a wounded Saphir, whom Petz tends to even though she at first thinks he came to punish her sisters. It is then that Petz and Saphir are revealed to have been romantically involved, and that Saphir is the person who caused Petz to be embittered about men. After Saphir is killed by Wiseman, Petz senses his death and is heartbroken, but remembers how he smiled for her.

In Japanese, Petz is voiced by Megumi Ogata in Sailor Moon R, and by Wasabi Mizuta in Crystal. In the DIC English adaptation, her name is changed to "Prizma" and is voiced by Norma Dell'Agnese. In the Viz Media English adaptation, she is voiced by Jessica Gee. Petz is one of two female characters in the musical series to have been portrayed by trans woman actress Karen Yoda, and in another musical she is portrayed by Ai Ikegami.

Calaveras
 is the second oldest of the sisters and is a counterpart of Sailor Venus. She is named for the mineral calaverite and her attack is "Dark Beauty". The last of the Specter Sisters to attack, Calaveras is sent by Rubeus to enact "Code: 004, Operation: Rebirth": using her powers of Mediumship to have Rubeus speak through her during a televised interview to promote a televised gathering of people the following day. The plan was for Calaveras to use her channeling powers to brainwash everyone at the event into joining a cult dedicated to the Black Moon. When Minako confronts her at the channeling, Artemis taking out TV cameras to prevent their enemy's influence from extending to the worldwide audience, Calaveras channels the three captive Sailor Guardians through the hypnotized Naru Osaka, Ittou Asanuma and Kotono Sarashina. Calaveras then uses her captives to channel the spirits of her sisters to use a Spirit Attack against Minako with the intend to kill, revealing that Rubeus is going after Usagi and Chibiusa at that moment. But Rubeus fails in eliminating them and Calaveras is killed by Sailor Moon when she comes to Sailor Venus's aid.

In Sailor Moon R, Calaveras is a petty woman who indulges in relentlessly teasing her other siblings, especially Petz. She also appears unwilling to do anything for herself. She never accepts a single mission and instead tags along on several of Petz's missions. Even her final mission is one of Petz's, in which the elder sister was asked to use a powerful stick to kill the Guardians and reclaim her now purified siblings Kōan and Berthier. While on the mission, Petz, corrupted by the stick, attempts to kill everyone, Calaveras included. Shocked by Petz's treachery, Calaveras is shown pity by Sailor Moon and eventually comes to understand human love. She then tells the other Guardians about the stick's power. When Rubeus arrives and uses the stick to create a time-vacuum on the bridge, Calaveras stops Petz from falling into the vortex by catching her sister using her whip. After the Guardians destroy the stick, Calaveras accepts purification and becomes a normal human woman.

In Japanese, she is voiced by Akiko Hiramatsu in Sailor Moon R, and by Tomoe Hanba in Crystal. In the DIC English adaptation, her name is changed to "Avery" and is voiced by Jennifer Griffiths. In the Viz Media English adaptation, she is voiced by Cassandra Morris. In the musicals, she is portrayed by Ado Endoh.

Servants

Boule Brothers
The   and  are two Black Moon Clan members who are under the service of Esmeraude, even appearing on her page in the Materials Collection art book. The brothers' mission is "Code: 005, Operation: Remake." They greet the Sailor Guardians when they arrive in Crystal Tokyo. They create a replica of the Crystal Palace as a trap. When Sailor Moon attacks them, she is paralyzed by a magnetic field from a man-made crystal at her feet. Tuxedo Mask destroys the crystal by willing it to break, and the brothers are killed.

In Sailor Moon R, the brothers grow "Dark Henges" at Jūban Park and Jūban Elementary School. They cause all of the pupils and teachers at the school to fight each other. They attack Chibiusa's best friend, Momoko Momohara. The Guardians fight off Chiral and Achiral, but are at a disadvantage until Chibiusa unleashes her power and attacks them after Momoko takes a hit while trying to protect Chibiusa. They are finally destroyed by Sailor Moon with her Moon Princess Halation attack. In the DIC English dub, they are called "Doom and Gloom".

Chiral and Achiral are respectively voiced by Masashi Ebara and Ryōtarō Okiayu in the original series, and by Wataru Hatano and Kazunari Tanaka in Sailor Moon Crystal and all media since. In the Viz Media English adaptation, Chiral is voiced by Doug Erholtz and Achiral is voiced by Kyle Hebert.

Musical-only characters
The musical Tanjou! Ankoku no Princess Black Lady introduced three new characters exclusive to this continuity: , a male servant of the Clan, and twin girls  and . Tilmun shares a friendship with the twins because all three of them are misfits within the Clan, with Tilmun having a half crescent black moon on his forehead, and Aaron and Manna not having any at all. When Wiseman begins killing the Black Moon members, Tilmun died protecting Aaron and Manna, while the girls are killed by him after Black Lady is reverted to Chibiusa.

Tilmum was played by Ikuya Moro, Aaron was played by Nagisa Adaniya, and Manna by Kasumi Suzuki.

Droids
The  are the Black Moon Clan's army of monsters of the week. The droids are robot-like creatures resembling sand figurines; they have no eyes or mouths, and they can only produce screeching noises rather than words. The droids were manufactured by Saphir, using the power of the Black Crystal, and are all similar in shape and form; however, they are able to take on the guise of humans.

In the first anime adaptation, all of the droids are individuals with feminine forms, and all can talk. When they are destroyed, they dissolve into a pile of sand, implying that they are similar to their manga counterparts, though they also produce a gemstone with the Clan's moon on it that fades away after its defeat. The musicals also feature individual droids, though they are characters originating in these adaptations.

The video games feature droids from both the manga and the anime as common enemies, with the manga versions of the enemies referred to as "Shade". Jakoku, the droid that attacks Chibiusa in her nightmare during episode 75, appears as a boss in Another Story.

Veneti and Aquatici
 and  are a pair of Droids that appear in the manga, the musicals, and Sailor Moon Crystal. They are considered perfect creations by Saphir. Usagi stumbles onto the Black Crystal Reactor where she is attacked by Veneti and Aquatici alongside Saphir. The two Droids are destroyed by the overflowing energy of golden light from Usagi and the crystal encasing Neo-Queen Serenity. In the manga, unlike all other droids, Veneti and Aquatici are wisp-like beings, while in the musicals they are humanoid. Veneti has a masculine form in the manga while Aquatici has a feminine form, but it is unknown if they have genders. They are both female, or at least played by female actors, in the musical. In the musicals, Veneti was played by Izumi Ogino and Aquatici was played by Yuka Kuwahara. In Crystal, they are voiced respectively by Yukiko Morishita and Hitomi Oowada, while Tara Sands voices both of them in the English adaptation.

Reception
The members of the Black Moon Clan are called by Navok and Rudranath "a separatist faction" that not only refused to live under the reign of Neo-Queen Serenity, but were also manipulated by Wiseman into destroying Tokyo in the past in order to prevent the founding of Crystal Tokyo. The authors also compare Black Moon's attack on Crystal Tokyo with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On an article on shinto, feminism and anime, author Sarah Reeves considered that Black Lady's overall misconduct and strategies are the result of a lack of husband and children, which can be explained by Chibiusa herself not being an adult and her platonic love not being requited by Tuxedo Mask.

Rebecca Silverman reviewed the Sailor Moon R blu-ray + DVD combo pack for Anime News Network and liked the fact that Black Moon members were given character development and were not just "one-off monsters, with the Specter Sisters being particularly good examples of this." She particularly focused on the relationship between Petz and Saphir, describing their scenes together as "touching and depressing", while serving as a "counterpoint to Usagi and Mamoru's relationship." The author noted the contrast between humorous scenes like that of Esmeraude showing up to battle in her bathrobe, and the transformation sequence of Chibiusa into Black Lady where her breasts and buttocks surprisingly enlarge, which she considered "nice, albeit awkward". Silverman praised voice actress Rena S. Mandel for her role as Esmeraude, saying she did a good English equivalent job of the Japanese good old "Oh ho ho ho" laugh.

While reviewing the second season of Sailor Moon Crystal, IGN writer Meghan Sullivan compared the Black Moon Clan to the previous villain group, the Dark Kingdom, and said that "Prince Diamond (Demand)'s court seems far deadlier than Metalia and her generals." In a later episode review, Sullivan admitted that while Esmeraude strangling Chibiusa or Demand kidnapping Usagi was "pretty darn disturbing", she was actually enjoying Black Moon's more aggressive tactics, as "it makes them feel like a legitimate threat, which in turn will make the Sailor Guardians' final victory over them all the sweeter." Regarding Demand's motivations, Sullivan asked "He attacked Earth because he thinks peace and longevity are unnatural? That didn't make much sense to me, given how he murdered the entire population of Crystal Tokyo and tried to alter history." Commenting on Wiseman, Sullivan described the revelation that he is actually Planet Nemesis itself as a "planet-sized bomb", and in the next episode review, she gave him "props for being tenacious" after showing yet another form: Death Phantom.

In the second official Sailor Moon popularity poll, out of fifty choices, Black Lady was ranked the thirteenth most popular character in the series, Berthier was nineteenth, Esmeraude was twenty-fourth, Demand was twenty-eighth, Kōan was thirtieth, Saphir was thirty first, Calaveras was thirty-third, Petz was thirty-fourth, Wiseman was thirty-fifth, Rubeus was fortieth, Aquatici was forty-fourth, Veneti was forty-fifth, Chiral was forty-sixth, and Achiral was forty-seventh.

See also
 Planets beyond Neptune
 Planet Nine
 Nemesis (hypothetical star)
 Foot Clan

References

Works cited

External links
 Green Jealousy - Contains information on the Green Esmeraude and her relations.
 Brilliantly Blue - Sapphire's Shrine - Contains information on the various versions of Blue Saphir, including the musical version.

Anime and manga characters who can teleport
Anime and manga supervillains
Comics characters introduced in 1993
Extraterrestrial supervillains
Fiction about trans-Neptunian objects
Fictional characters who can manipulate darkness or shadows
Fictional kidnappers
Fictional mass murderers
Fictional murderers
Fictional revolutionary organizations
Sailor Moon characters
Time travelers
Video game bosses

Black Moon Clan


Vlach ( or ), also Wallachian (and many other variants), is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe — south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula) and north of the Danube which includes the Romanians. The same name is still used in Polish(Włochy, Włosi, włoskie) and Hungarian (Olasz, Olaszország) as an exonym for Italy, while in Slovakian (Vlasi), Czech (Vlachy) and Slovenian (Laško, Láh, Láhinja, laško) it was replaced with the endonym Italia.

Although it has also been used to name present-day Romanians, the term "Vlach" today refers primarily to speakers of the Balkan Romance languages who live south of the Danube, in Albania, Bulgaria, northern Greece, North Macedonia and eastern Serbia. These people include the ethnic groups of the Aromanians, the Megleno-Romanians and, in Serbia, the Timok Romanians. The term also became a synonym in the Balkans for the social category of shepherds. The term is also used to refer to the ethnographic group of Moravian Vlachs who speak a Slavic language but originate from Romanians, as well as for Morlachs and Istro-Romanians.

Currently, Eastern Romance-speaking communities are estimated at 26–30 million people worldwide (including the Romanian diaspora and Moldovan diaspora).

Etymology
The word Vlach/Wallachian (and other variants such as Vlah, Valah, Valach, Voloh, Blac, oláh, Vlas, Ulah, etc.) is etymologically derived from the ethnonym of a Celtic tribe, adopted into Proto-Germanic *Walhaz, which meant "stranger", from *Wolkā- (Caesar's , Strabo and Ptolemy's ). Via Latin, in Gothic, as , the ethnonym took on the meaning "foreigner" or "Romance-speaker" and later "shepherd, nomad". The term was adopted into Greek as Vláhoi or Blachoi (), Slavic as Vlah () or Voloh, Hungarian as oláh and olasz, etc. The root word was notably adopted in Germanic for Wales and Walloon, and in Switzerland for Romansh-speakers (), and in Poland Włochy or in Hungary olasz became an exonym for Italians. The Slovenian term Lahi has also been used to designate Italians.

Romanian scholars have suggested that the term Vlach appeared for the first time in the Eastern Roman Empire and was subsequently spread to the Germanic- and then Slavic-speaking worlds through the Norsemen (possibly by Varangians), who were in trade and military contact with Byzantium during the early Middle Ages (see also Blakumen). According to them the forms which were recognised by linguist to designate the "Vlachs" are: Blaci, Blauen, Blachi found in Western medieval sources, Balachi, Walati found in Western sources derived from medieval German, while the Germanic population from Transylvania used also the variants Woloch, Blôch. French sources used mostly Valaques while the medieval Song of Roland used Blos. In English and in modern German the forms Wallachians, Walachen appear, respectively. In the Balkan Peninsula various names such as Rumer, Tzintzars, Morlachs, Maurovlachs, Armâns, Cincars, Koutzovlachs were used while muslim sources speak of Ulak, Ilak, Iflak.

History

According to one origin theory, modern Romanians, Moldovans and Aromanians originated from Dacians. According to some linguists and scholars, the Eastern Romance languages prove the survival of the Thraco-Romans in the lower Danube basin during the Migration Period. On the other hand, most non-Romanian historian believe that Romanians, Moldovans, Aromanians and other Eastern Romance groups originated in the southern Balkans, what is now North-Macedonia, Kosovo, and Thessaly and migrated north from there from the 11th-12th centuries onwards.

The term 'Vlach' first appeared in medieval sources and was used primarily as an exonym for speakers of the Balkan Romance languages, especially Romanians. But testimonies from the 13th and the 14th centuries show that, although in Europe and beyond, they were called Vlachs or Wallachians (oláh in Hungarian, Vláchoi (Βλάχοι) in Greek, Volóxi (Воло́хи) in Russian, Walachen in German, Valacchi in Italian, Valaques in French, Valacos in Spanish), the Romanians used the endonym Rumân or Român, from the Latin Romanus, meaning "Roman".

However, in historical sources the term "Vlach" could also refer to different peoples: "Slovak, Hungarian, Balkan, Transylvanian, Romanian, or even Albanian". In late Byzantine documents, the Vlachs are mentioned as Bulgaro-Albano-Vlachs (Bulgaralbanitoblahos), or Serbo-Albano-Bulgaro-Vlachs. According to the Serbian historian Sima Ćirković, the name "Vlach" in medieval sources had the same rank as the name "Greek", "Serb" or "Latin".

During the early history of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, there was a military class of Vlachs in Serbia and Ottoman Macedonia, made up of Christians who served as auxiliary forces and were exempted of certain taxes until the beginning of the 17th century. Some Greeks used Vlacho as a pejorative term. In Žumberak, members of the Greek Catholic Church were called Vlachs, while in Carniola, all inhabitants of Žumberak were called as such. In the Posavina and Bihać areas, Muslims used the term Vlasi for all Christians (both Orthodox and Catholics), while the Catholics used that name to refer to Eastern Christian Orthodox. Under the Ottoman rule, a large part of the Dalmatian hinterland was repopulated by Slavic settlers, both Orthodox and Catholic, speaking the Shtokavian dialect and called Vlach or Morlach by the inhabitants of the Dalmatian coast and islands. In these areas, the term Vlah evolved to Vlaj () and is still used as a derogatory term to refer to the rural inhabitants of the hinterland, both Croats and Serbs, as "peasants" and "ignorants". In Istria, the ethnonym Vlach is used by the Chakavian-speaking Croatian inhabitants to refer to the Istro-Romanians and the Slavs who settled in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Nowadays, the term Vlachs (also known under other names, such as "Koutsovlachs", "Tsintsars", "Karagouni", "Chobani", "Vlasi", etc.) is used in scholarship for the Romance-speaking communities in the Balkans, especially those in Greece, Albania and North Macedonia. In Serbia the term Vlach (Serbian Vlah, plural Vlasi) is also used to refer to Romanian speakers, especially those living in eastern Serbia. Aromanians themselves use the endonym "Armãn" (plural "Armãni") or "Rãmãn" (plural "Rãmãni"), etymologically from "Romanus", meaning "Roman". Megleno-Romanians designate themselves with the Macedonian form Vla (plural Vlaš) in their own language.

In modern Slovak, Valasi, other than denoting people of Vlachian ethnicity or origin, is synonymously and even more prominently used to describe shepherds, more commonly apprentice shepherds. The term originated following Vlachian arrival in mounts and hills of present-day Slovakia in 14th century and coinciding development in sheep herding and dairy industry. Further west, in Czech Republic, the area of Moravian Wallachia is known as Valašsko and the inhabitants as Valaši, names usually translated in English as Wallachia and Wallachians, respectively.

Medieval usage

8th century
First precise data about Vlachs are in connection with the Vlachs of the Rynchos river (present-day North Macedonia); the original document containing the information is from the Konstamonitou monastery.

10th century
During the Middle Ages, the term "Magna Vlachia" appears in Byzantine documents, which means the ancestral homeland of the Vlachs. This name was used for Thessaly and present-day North Macedonia.

John Skylitzes mentioned the Vlachs in 976, as guides and guards of Byzantine caravans in the Balkans. Between Prespa and Kastoria, they met and fought with a Bulgarian rebel named David. The Vlachs killed David in their first documented battle.

Ibn al-Nadīm published in 998 the work Kitāb al-Fihrist mentioning "Turks, Bulgars and Vlahs" (using Blagha for Vlachs) It is important to note, however, that Ibn al-Nadim is very clear that in this list he is talking about Turkic or Turkic-related peoples.

A monastic document from Mount Athos mentions that 300 Vlach families live near the mountain, and in their own language they call their settlements "Catuns".

Byzantine writer Kekaumenos, author of the Strategikon (1078), writes about a leader, Nikulitsa, who is given command by Basil II over the Vlachs in Hellada theme. Nikulitsa switched alliance to Samuel of Bulgaria after the conquest of Larissa by the Bulgarian Tsar.

Mutahhar al-Maqdisi, "They say that in the Turkic neighbourhood there are the Khazars, Russians, Slavs, Waladj, Alans, Greeks and many other peoples". According to other non-Romanian historians, based on the context, the "Waladj" are not the Vlachs, but a people living around the Volga.

11th century

Vlachs were present in large numbers, on the Chalkidiki peninsula around 1000, according to monastic documents from Mount Athos. On the peninsula, the Vlachs were famous for their cheese and meat products. In these texts sometimes they are called "Vlachorynhinii", which may be a mixture of the name "Vlach" and "Rynhini" a Slavic tribe who settled in the same area in the 7th century.

In 1013, a Byzantine document mentions the settlement of "Kimbalongu" in the mountains near Ohrid, which was a Vlach settlement.

The names Blakumen or Blökumenn is mentioned in Nordic sagas dating between the 11th and 13th centuries, with respect to events that took place in either 1018 or 1019 somewhere at the northwestern part of the Black Sea and believed by some to be related to the Vlachs. Other scholars on the subject, such as Omeljan Pritsak, however, point out that the texts probably refer to a nomadic Turkic people, since the "Blakumen" in the texts are "non-christian heathens" and nomadic horsemans.

In 1020, the Archdiocese of Ohrid was founded, which was responsible for "the spiritual care of all the Vlachs".

In 1022, Vlach sheperds from Thessaly and the Pindus mountains provided cheese for Constantinople.

In 1025, the Annales Barenses mentions a people called "Vlach" who live near the river Vardar.

The same chronicle the Annales Barenses describes that in 1027 the Byzantine army led by Orestes that tried to recapture Sicily from the Arabs, also included many Vlachs recruited from Macedonia.

Kekaumenos writes about the revolt in 1066 in the region of Thessaly led by Nikoulitzas Delphinas, nephew of the homonymous 10th century military commander, and father in law of the writer.

In 1071, a Byzantine document mentions that the herds of the Vlachs and their household spend the months of April to September beyond Thessaly, in the high mountains of Bulgaria, where it is very cold. (it is clear from the text that we are talking about the mountains of today's North Macedonia). The same text describes that the homeland of the Vlachs is Thessaly, precisely the part of the region divided by the river Pleres.  Florin Curta adds that Kekaumenos calls Vlachs "migrants from the northern parts", as  Kekaumenos associates them with Dacians or Bessi of Antiquity.

A Byzantine author, Kekaumenos writes about the Vlachs in Greece in connection about their origin and way of life in the Strategikon in 1075–1078. According to Kekaumenos, the Vlachs were Dacians and Bessus, who lived near and south from the Danube and the Sava, where the Serbs live now. They feigned loyalty to the Romans while they were constantly attacked and pillaged, therefore, Trajan launched a war, their leader, Decebalus was also killed, and then the Vlachs were scattered in Macedonia, Epirus and Hellas. Kekaumenos made the Dacians the ancestors of the Vlachs because he knew about the deceitfulness of the Dacians against the Romans, and according to him the Dacians and Vlachs had a perfectly matching nature, treachery and political unreliability, so much that in his opinion they should not be believed even if the Vlachs take an oath. Kekaumenos arbitrarily identified the Vlachs with the Dacians according to the archaizing efforts of his time, because the tendency to refer to later peoples with classical names was common in Byzantium at the time of Kekaumenos. Kekaumenos also confused the Roman province Dacia Traiana with Dacia Aureliana, and even he placed it further west where it actually was, that is why he mentioned the Serbian territory as the homeland, the Bessus tribe was a neighbor of the Roman province Macedonia.

Alexius Komnenos mentions that in 1082 he passed through a Vlach settlement called Exeva in Macedonia.

Anna Komnene mentions in her Alexiad that in 1091 Emperor Alexios ordered Nikephoros Melissenos to raise an army against invading Pechenegs. Melissenos recruited, among others, Bulgarians and "the nomadic tribes called Vlachs in popular parlance".

According to the Alexiad, in 1094–1095, Emperor Alexius Komnenos was notified by a Vlach chieftain called Poudila about the crossing of the Danube by a Cuman army, and that to prepare himself for the attack, then the Vlachs likewise led the Cumans through the gorges of the Balkan Mountains.

Also in 1094 the first mention of Vlachs in Moglena region is made, the document is kept in the archive of the monastery Great Lavra on Mount Athos. According to this Emperor Alexios I Komnenos replies to the monks of the monastery complaining that people on their domain are not paying taxes. The document contains some of the first Romanian names, such as Stan, Radu cel Şchiop, and Peducel.

In 1097, many Vlachs were resettled from the Chalkidiki peninsula to the Peloponnese by order of the Byzantine emperor Komnenos Alexis.

In 1099, crusading armies were attacked by Vlachs, in the mountains along the road from Braničevo to Niš.

12th century

The Russian Primary Chronicle, written c. 1113 states that the Slavs settled beside the Danube, then the Volochi people attacked the Slavs, settled among them and did them violance, leading to the Slavs departing and settling around the Vistula under the name of Leshi. According to the chronicle the Slavs settled there first, and the Volochi seized the territory of the Slavs, later, the Hungarians drove the Volochi away, took their land and settled among the Slavs. The Primary Chronicle thus contains a possible reference to Romanians. Other non-Romanian historians consider the Volochi the Franks, as their country is placed west to Baltic Sea and near England by the author of the work, Nestor the Chronicler. The Frankish Empire stretched from the North Sea to the Danube.

The Byzantine princess and scholar Anna Komnene, in her book Alexiad, mentions a Vlach settlement called Ezeba, which was near Larissa and Androneia. In the same work she also describes the Vlachs as "the nomadic tribes, called Vlachs in popular parlance".

In 1109, monks on Mount Athos mention the Vlachs in Chalkidiki and that the presence of women disturbed the monachal activities.

Traveler Benjamin of Tudela (1130–1173) of the Kingdom of Navarre was one of the first writers to use the word Vlachs for a Romance-speaking population. In his work he mentions that these Vlachs live high up in the mountains of Thessaly, and from there they sometimes come down to plunder, which they do quickly, as swift as deers, for which reasons there is no king to rule them.

Byzantine historian John Kinnamos described Leon Vatatzes' military expedition along the northern Danube, where Vatatzes mentioned the participation of Vlachs in battles with the Magyars (Hungarians) in 1166. John Kinnamos says Vlachs were "colonists brought from Italy".

The uprising of brothers Asen and Peter was a revolt of Bulgarians and Vlachs living in the theme of Paristrion of the Byzantine Empire, caused by a tax increase. It began on 26 October 1185, the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki, and ended with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire, also known in its early history as the Empire of Bulgarians and Vlachs.

According to Niketas Choniates, after the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos lost his wife, he wanted to marry the daughter of Bela III of Hungary, but there was not enough money for the wedding, so he imposed taxes in the regions and cities of the empire, but he angered the "barbarians who dwelt in the Haemos mountains, who were once called Moesians, but are now called Vlachs".

Mentions of Vlachs in Medieval Bulgaria also come from Niketas Choniates who writes about a Vlach called Dobromir Chrysos who established an autonomous polity in the upper region of Vardar river and Moglena. A similar event is recorded by the same author in the area of Philippopolis where a Vlach called Ivanko, formerly a boyar at the Asen brothers' court was given military command by Emperor Isaac and expanded his rule to Smolyan, Mosynopolis, and Xanthi.

According to Niketas Choniates, Thessaly and Macedonia is called "Magna Vlachia", Aetolia and Acarnata are called "Little Vlachia" and north-eastern Epirus is called "Upper Vlachia".

According to Niketas Choniates, the Vlachs are the barbarians who live in the Balkan mountains, in Moesia.

A Byzantine church document mentions that in 1190, "the Cumans and the Vlachs take the relics of Saint Ryli from Sofia to Tirnovo with a great pomp".

According to the "Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja", the authenticity of which is highly disputed by historians, around 600 the Avars conquered Salona, then, attacking further south, ravaged Macedonia and the "land of the black Latins, now called Morvlachs".

The first mention of Vlachs in Serbian medieval chronicles is dated from the time of Stefan Nemanjić, most likely 1198-1199, and it is related to a donation act towards restoration of Hilandar monastery with aid from the inhabitants of the area of Prizren.

The "History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick" mention the Vlachs as people living in the mountains and forests of the Balkans. The chronicle also describes the Vlachs' homeland as being near Thessaloniki. The chronicle describes how the Crusaders captured several Vlachs who told them that the Vlachs live in Macedonia, Thessaly and Bulgaria, and that because they were heavily taxed, they were rebelling.

Numerous Serbian documents from the very end of the 12th century speak of Vlach shepherds in the mountains between the Drina and the Morava.

13th century
Kaloyan was given the title  ("Emperor Kaloyan, Lord of All Bulgarians and Vlachs") by Patriarch Basil I of Bulgaria and the title  ("King of the Bulgarians and the Vlachs") by Pope Innocent II.

In 1204 and 1205 Raimbaut de Vaqueiras mentions the Vlachs as enemies of Boniface of Montferrat.

After 1207 Geoffrey of Villehardouin mentions twelve times the Vlachs part of the armies of Kaloyan of Bulgaria, either as defenders against Henry of Flanders or among the attackers of Adrianopole.

Around the same time Henry of Valenciennes writes about the country he calls Blasquie ruled by Burile (Borilă). Henry of Flanders conquers this land and awards it to Burile's cousin Esclas (Slav). From there on the country will be know as Blakie la Grant (Great Valachia).

The 13th century Venetian Chronicle refers to the land that would become Wallachia as "Black Cumania" and "the colony of black Vlachs who migrated northwards."

According to the medieval Hungarian chronicle, the Gesta Hungarorum ("The deeds of the Hungarians"), written in the early 13th century, when the Hungarians of Grand Prince Árpád conquered the Carpathian Basin, at that time Slavs, Bulgarians and Blachij, and also the shepherds of the Romans (sclauij, Bulgarij et Blachij, ac pastores romanorum) inhabited Pannonia. Most researchers say that the Blachij are the Vlachs, others that they are the Bulaqs, a Turkic people. The chronicle's authenticity is in question in historiography, because it confuses the peoples living in the area in the 12th century and the peoples of the 9th century. Among others, it includes the Cumans in Transylvania, who arrived only centuries later. Romanian historian Ioan-Aurel Pop states that some exaggerations and inaccuracies, typical of a chronicle at the time and mostly in favour of the Royal House, are not a sufficient reason to discredit the entire document as a historical source. It is important to note, however, that the chronicle mentions many rulers, but none of them is mentioned in any other contemporary chronicle. According to Romanian historian Florin Curta and leading Romanian medievalist Radu Popa, during the 1960–1989 period, the archaeological evidences were manipulated to meet the demands of the nationalist policies of the Ceaușescu's regime, and Romanian archaeologists made every possible attempt to prove that the Gesta Hungarorum is a reliable source for the Romanian presence in Transylvania prior to the Hungarian conquest, however no archaeological evidence was found to prove the subject. Hungarian archaeologist István Bóna also accused Romanian archaeologists of hiding evidence that did not fit their interpretation regarding the Gesta Hungarorum during the excavation of the early medieval hillfort at Dăbâca as Gelou's capital city. Wheter archeology supports the Gesta or not is disputed among historians. British-Romanian historian Dennis Deletant states the analysis of the Gesta Hungarorum shows that is too naive to claim it is an immaculate source, just as it is foolhardy to totally discredit its reliability, and the conclusion, the cases for and against the existence of Gelou and the Vlachs simply cannot be proven. British historian Carlile Aylmer Macartney writes in his critical and analytical guide of Anonymus that all Romanian historians refer to Anonymus, but they are not credible in the subject and the chronicle is not evidence for presence of Vlachs in Transylvania.  Madgearu attempts to prove that a Vlach-Slav population existed in Transylvania before the arrival of the Hungarians by recounting place names of Slavic origin he believes weren't adopted to Romanian via Hungarian.

In 1213, an army of Vlachs, Saxons and Pechenegs, led by the Count of Sibiu, Joachim Türje, attacked the Second Bulgarian Empire - Bulgarians and Cumans in the fortress of Vidin. After this, all Hungarian battles in the Carpathian region were supported by Romance-speaking soldiers from Transylvania.

Stefan the First-Crowned donates 200 families of Vlachs from Prokletije and Peći to Žiča monastery.

In 1220, king Stefan the First-Crowned proclaimed that all Vlachs of his kingdom belonged to the Eparchy of Žiča.

A royal chancellery document from 1223, connected to the foundation of the Cistercian abbey at Cârța around 1202, which was granted land, mentions it was built in the land of the Vlachs/Romanians. This is also the very first mention of the Vlachs in Hungarian documents.

In the Diploma Andreanum issued by King Andrew II of Hungary in 1224, "silva blacorum et bissenorum" was given to the Saxon settlers.

The Orthodox Vlachs spread further northward along the Carpathians to the present day territory of Poland, Slovakia, and Czech Republic, and were granted autonomy under the ''Vlach law''.

In 1230 Constantine Akropolites, in his writing about the conquests of Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen, notes that the "Magna Vlachia" is next to Albania.

Pope Gregory IX wrote several letters to the Hungarian king, in which he talks about the conversion of the Cumans who lived in the southern part of present-day Romania (Wallachia). In one of his letters he mentions the Vlachs, asking King Béla IV of Hungary to let them into his country: "for the sake of God, give refuge to those poor Vlachs who tried to escape from their Cuman rulers."

In 1247, Béla IV of Hungary gives the "Land of Severin" to the Knights Hospitallers with two polities (kenezatus of John and Farkas), except kenezatus of voivode Litovoi which was left to the Vlachs as they held it. The land of Hateg is excepted, while the voivodate of Seneslaus the king keeps for himself.

In 1247, a Hungarian royal document allowed the nobles of Hátszeg and Máramaros to settle Vlach families on their estates.

In 1252  King Béla IV of Hungary, for his services in various foreign embassies, donates to Vince,Comes of the Szekler of Sebus, the land called Zek between the territory of the Vlachs of Kyrch, the Saxons of Barasu, and the Szeklers of Sebus, which once belonged to a Saxon estate called Fulkun, but has been uninhabited since the Mongol invasion.

In 1256 King Béla IV of Hungary, upon the complaint of Archbishop Benedict of Esztergom, confirms the right of the archdiocese to tithes from mining wages and from animal taxes collected from the Szeklers and Vlachs to the king or anyone else, among the judicial, accommodation and taxation privileges of the archdiocese, with the exception of land rents from Saxons, but also from Vlachs from everywhere and from anywhere they came.

King Ottokar II of Bohemia reports to Pope Alexander IV that about the defeated of King Béla IV of Hungary on 12th of July 1260, on the border between Hungary and Austria, near the castle and town of Hemburg on the Moraua River. Among the people that fought in Béla's army Vlachs, called Walachorum, are named.

In 1272, King Ladislaus donates the royal lands or villages of Budula and Tohou, also known as Olahteleky, to Simon's son, Nicholas of Brașov.

From 1276 King Ladislaus allows the chapter of Alba Iulia to settle 60 Romanian households (mansiones) on the border of his estates called Fülesd and Enyed, separated from the episcopal lands, and to exempt them from all royal taxes, fiftieth and tithes.

In a grant (around 1280) Queen Helena confirmed the grant given by Stefan Vladislav to the Vranjina monastery, the Vlachs are separately mentioned, along with Arbanasi (Albanians), Latins, and Serbs.

In the 1280s, Simon of Kéza in the Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum mentions the Vlachs in his work three times: After the land had been conquered by King Attila, several people left Pannonia, the Vlachs (Blackis) were elected to remain in Pannonia who had been their shepherds and husbandmen. The Székelys were settled with the Vlachs (Blackis) in the border mountains, mingling with them, and adopting their alphabet. After the withdrawal of the Huns, the only people left in Pannonia were immigrants, Slavs, Greeks, Germans, Moravians, and Vlachs (Ulahis) who had been servants of Attila. Hungarian historians point out that the (Ulahis advenis) "Vlach newcomer", the adjective classifying Romanians as immigrants was omitted from the Romanian translation. Several scholars and historians noted that Simon of Kéza used different spellings for  and , arguing that  were actually the Turkic people Bulaqs who were confused with the Vlachs. According to Polish historian Ryszard Grzesik, the Vlachs appeared in Transylvania only in the 12th century, therefore Hungarian chroniclers identified the semi-nomadic lifestyle of the Vlachs as a distinguishing characteristic. Kézai wrote that the Vlachs gave script to the Székelys, but the reality is different, because Kézai wrote about the Székelys runs, and his opinion was based on the observation that the Vlach shepherds engraved symbols while counting their sheep. Kézai confused the Székely runs with the Cyrillic script which was used by the Vlachs.

Several sources cite that the passes of the Carpathians in Transylvania were defended by the Vlachs together with Székelys and Saxons during the Second Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1285.

According to the old Russian chronicle, Ladislaus IV of Hungary asked for help from Rome and Constantinople because he feared an invasion by the Tartars. Constantinople sent an army of Vlachs from what is now Serbia, but after the victorious battle, the Vlachs refused to go home and settled in the territory of Maramures.

Also in 1285, Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos decides to move the Vlachs from Thrace to Asia-Minor, fearing their possible alliance with the Tatars. The same Emperor, in 1289, confirms the rights of St. Andrew Monastery from Thessaly over the village Praktikatous or Vlachokatouna.

According to a legend, in 1290 Ladislaus the Cuman was assassinated; the new Hungarian king allegedly drove voivode Radu Negru and his people across the Carpathians, where they formed Wallachia along with its first capital Câmpulung, as a Hungarian vassal state.

In 1290 Andrew III of Hungary, in a document, grants three Transylvanian noble families the right to invite Vlachs into the country "from South of the mountains".

In 1291 Andrew III of Hungary presides over a meeting of "Nobles, Saxons, Szeklers, and Vlachs" in Alba Iulia.

In 1292, Andrew III of Hungary allows some Hungarian nobles to invite Vlachs to the country, to their estates called "Ilye", "Szád" and "Fenes".

In 1293, Andrew III of Hungary, publishes an "angry" charter to the Transylvanian nobility, mentions that all the Vlachs were supposed to be settled on the royal crown's property called "Székes", not on their own estates.

In November 1293, King Andrew confirms King Ladislaus's earlier concession to the chapter of Alba Iulia to keep the 60 households of Romanians (mansiones Olacorum) free from all taxes and services on the lands of Dalya, Ompaycza, Fylesd and Enugd, separated from the episcopal estates. These Romanians should not be forced by any royal tax collector to pay taxes, dues, or fiftieths. - The charter, confirmed by a double seal, is dated by the hand of Theodore, provost of Fehérvár, vice-chancellor.

14th century
Stefan Milutin Serbian king donated 6 katuns to the church of St Nikita in Bania.

Stefan Milutin, in another medieval Serbian document, mentions that 30 Vlach families live on a church estate near Pristina.

In 1321 on the island of Krk, a priest gave land to the church, and the given land extended to the land of Kneže, where Vlachs lived.

In a battle, Vlachs fought alongside Mladen Šubić near Trogir in 1322.

King Władysław I Łokietek attacks Brandenburg with neighboring Vlach reinforcements "etiam vicinorum populorum, videlicet Ruthenorum, Walachorum et Lithwanorum stipatusc".

Goods sold by the Vlachs are mentioned in after 1328 by Ragusan documents, among them formaedi vlacheschi, a type of cheese.

First mention of a Vlach called Radul in 1329, in the Istrian Peninsula.

In 1330 Stefan Dečanski gifts to Visoki Dečani monastery the Vlach pastures and katuns along Drim and Lim rivers.

Croatian chronicler Miha de Barbazanis writes that Vlachs from the area of Cetina River fought for Mladen II Šubić of Bribir against Charles I of Hungary and Ban John Babonić.

In the list of Papal Tithes from 1332–1337 in the Kingdom of Hungary, one settlement mentioned in the source as Romanian: "Căprioara". This Romanian place-name is the very first recorded Romanian toponym in the Kingdom of Hungary, including Transylvania.

In 1335, a royal commissioner, on the orders of the King of Hungary, arranges for a Vlach voivode named Bogdan to move to the Kingdom of Hungary "with his entire household and people". According to the charter, the settlement of the Vlach voivode and his people lasted from 1 November 1334 to 15 August 1335.

In 1341, a Hungarian royal document notes that the Hungarian Czibak noble family can invite and settle more Vlachs to their Mező-Telegd estate, "from the south".

Stefan Dušan styles himself "Imperator Raxie et Romanie, dispotus Lartae et Blachie comes" - Emperor of Rascia and Romania, despot of Arta and ispan of Vlachia.

Stefan Dušan donates 320 Vlach families to the Bistrica monastery.

A charter, issued by Stefan Dušan, mentions that, Dobrodoliane is inhabited by Vlachs.

Morlachs are first recorded in 1344, during the struggle between the counts of the Kurjaković and Nelipić families, in the regions near Knin and Krbava, when a region called "Morlacorum" mentioned.

A letter from 1345 from Pope Clement VI to the Hungarian king Louis I, the phrase quod Olachi Romani appears, which can be interpreted as an expression of the papal chancellery's conviction about the Roman origin of the Wallachians.

In 1349, another Hungarian royal charter mentions the Vlachs, allowing the Wallachian voivode to send a Vlach priest to Transylvania, thus encouraging more Vlachs to settle in the Hungarian kingdom from the south.

A Hungarian charter of 1352 states that, the lord lieutenant of Krassó County Szeri Pósa invited Vlachs to Hungary, to populate the area around the Mutnok stream.

Around 1355, Bogdan of Cuhea, former Voivode of Maramureș, but now in conflict with Louis I of Hungary, crosses the mountains with other Vlachs from Maramureș and takes over Moldavia.

In 1358, a Hungarian royal chronicler named Márk mentions Transylvania and its peoples: "It is the richest part of the Hungarian Kingdom, where Hungarian and Saxon cities bloom with industry and commerce, while the fertile lands of Hungarian farmers produce good wine, fat cattle, and plenty of grain for bread. High upon the mountains Vlach herdsmen tend to their sheep, and bring down good tasting cheese to the market-places".

In 1359, the King of Hungary allowed a Vlach noble family and their household to settle in the country, first giving them 13 villages, and then 6 years later another 5 villages in the Banat.

Also in 1359, the village of Lakság "near Várad", reports in a letter to the bishop of Várad that "the first Vlach inhabitants have arrived".

In 1365 Balc, son of Voivode Sas of Moldavia, defeated by Bogdan, moves to the Kingdom of Hungary and is given by Louis I of Hungary the confiscated domains of his opponent. Later, Balc became the head of Szatmár (Sătmar), Ugocsa and Máramaros (Maramureș) counties in the Kingdom of Hungary, and he was also invested with the title of Count of the Székelys.

Vlachs from the domain of Vidčeselo, between Lika and Zrmanja, are rewarded for their military support by the ban of Croatia .

In June 1366  King Louis I of Hungary grants through the Decree of Turda special privileges to the Transylvanian noblemen to take measures against malefactors belonging to any nation, especially the Vlachs.

In 1370, Louis I of Hungary decreed that only those Vlach settlers who were Catholic could receive royal grants.

The village of Wołodź in Ruthenia was first documented in 1373 as a Vlach settlement.

In a letter dates to 1374, the Cathedral chapter of Várad complains that he has only 9 Vlach villages, and asks for permission "to invite more Vlachs into the country" and to "settle them on his estates". Also in the same letter, he asks the " border nobles " that " if strangers come from Wallachia, do not stop them".

Papal documents from late 14th century reference the conquest of Medieș fortress "from the hands of schismatic Vlachs" by an unnamed King of Hungary. Historian Ioan-Aurel Pop places this event close to the Fourth Council of the Lateran

In 1374, the Cathedral chapter of Várad complained that the Vlachs living in its territory are not willing to give up their nomadic lifestyle.

In 1374, Bishop László of Várad obliges his successors not to prevent the Vlach knezes from settle further "foreigners" to the border areas of Bónafalva, Királybányatoplica and Keresztényfalva.

In 1376 the ban of Knin is also called "comes Holachorum".

In 1381 Croatian documents from Knin mention "universitas Valachorum".

In 1383 the so-called "Peace convention of Christian" is signed by Saxons and Romanians (Vlachs) from the area of Sibiu, aimed to ensure the peace between the two communities.

In 1385, the King of Hungary settles 10 Vlachs villages on the royal estate of Aranyosmedgyes in the area of Szilágy.

Vlachs are a documented presence in Belz region since the rule of Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia, probaly as early as 1388.

In the 14th century, royal charters from the Kingdom of Serbia included segregation policies stating that "a Serb shall not marry a Vlach." However, these laws were not successful and intermarriage between Slavs, Vlachs and also Albanians did take place.

15th century
In 1404, Archbishop Johannes de Galonifontibus, in his Libellus de notitia orbis, notes that the Vlachs originated from Macedonia, but were already living in "Great Vlachia" too, which corresponds to Wallachia.

In 1412, the captain of Zadar saved 3000 ducats to organise an army against the looting Morlachs, who lived in Ostravica, whose castle has even been taken by them. The leader of the Morlahcs was a person called Sandallor.

The biggest caravan shipment between Podvisoki in Bosnia and Republic of Ragusa was recorded on 9 August 1428, where Vlachs transported 1500 modius of salt with 600 horses.

In 1433 Vlach knezes, voievodes, and juzi from Croatia vow to respect the property right of the local St. John church.

Vlachs are mentioned in a document of Grand Duke Švitrigaila, in Kremenets, as part of the local population subject to mayor of Busk legal authority.

Nicholas of Ilok styled himself as "Bosniae and Valachiae Rex".

In 1450, the Vlachs are granted a privilege in Šibenik, allowing the Vlachs to enter the town if they call themselves Croats.

Italian humanist Poggio Bracciolini claims in 1450 that Trajan left a colony among the Sarmatians which still retains much of the Latin vocabulary, and that its members say: "oculum, digitum, manum, panem, and many other things, from which it appears that the Latins, who remained there as settlers, used the Latin language".

In 1453, Flavio Biondo notes that "the Dacians or Vlachs claim to have Roman origins and they think this fact is a decoration in itself" and that "when they spoke the language of their common and simple people it scent of a grammatically incorrect peasant Latin".

King Matthias confirmed the liberties of the Vlachs in an open letter, issued March 31, 1474 in the town of Ružomberok.

Jan Długosz in his Annales seu cronici incliti regni Poloniae wrote about Vlachs in Medieval Poland - Małopolska region, theorizing their origin as a population that came from Italy or Rome who  expeled the Ruthenian (Slavic) population from the Danube settlements, and then they themselves settled in the fertile lands there.

An attested reference to Romanian comes from a Latin title of an oath made in 1485 by the Moldavian Prince Stephen the Great to the Polish King Casimir, in which it is reported that —"This Inscription was translated from Valachian (Romanian) into Latin, but the King has received it written in the Ruthenian language (Slavic)".

Toponymy
In addition to the ethnic groups of Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians and Istro-Romanians who emerged during the Migration Period, other Vlachs could be found as far north as Poland, as far west as Moravia and Dalmatia. In search of better pasture, they were called Vlasi or Valaši by the Slavs.
States mentioned in medieval chronicles were:
 Wallachia – between the Southern Carpathians and the Danube (Ţara Românească in Romanian); Bassarab-Wallachia (Bassarab's Wallachia and Ungro-Wallachia or Wallachia Transalpina in administrative sources;
 Moldavia – between the Carpathians and the Dniester river (Bogdano-Wallachia; Bogdan's Wallachia, Moldo-Wallachia or Maurovlachia; Black Wallachia, Moldovlachia or Rousso-Vlachia in Byzantine sources);
Second Bulgarian Empire, between the Carpathians and the Balkan Mountains – Regnum Bulgarorum et Blachorum in documents by Pope Innocent III
Terra Prodnicorum (or Terra Brodnici), mentioned by Pope Honorius III in 1222. Vlachs led by Ploskanea supported the Tatars in the 1223 Battle of Kalka. Vlach lands near Galicia in the west, Volhynia in the north, Moldova in the south and the Bolohoveni lands in the east were conquered by Galicia.
Bolokhoveni was Vlach land between Kyiv and the Dniester in Ukraine. Place names were Olohovets, Olshani, Voloschi and Vlodava, mentioned in 11th-to-13th-century Slavonic chronicles. It was conquered by Galicia. But it is important to note that among historians, the Bolokhoveni are clearly a Slavic people, as their name and their archaeological finds clearly position them as Slavs, and written sources all refer to them as Slavs.

Regions and places are:
White Wallachia in Moesia
Great Wallachia (Μεγάλη Βλαχία; Megáli vlahía) in Thessaly
Small Wallachia (Μικρή Βλαχία; Mikrí vlahía) in Aetolia, Acarnania, Dorida and Locrida
Morlachia, in Lika-Dalmatia
Upper Valachia of Moscopole and Metsovon (Άνω Βλαχία; Áno Vlahía) in southern Macedonia, Albania and Epirus
Stari Vlah ("the Old Vlach"), a region in southwestern Serbia
Maior Vlachia, a region in southwestern part of Croatia mentioned in 1373
Romanija mountain (Romanija planina) in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina
Vlașca County, a former county of southern Wallachia (derived from Slavic Vlaška)
Greater Wallachia, an older name for the region of Muntenia, southeastern Romania
Lesser Wallachia, an older name for the region of Oltenia, southwestern Romania
An Italian writer called the Banat Valachia citeriore ("Wallachia on this side") in 1550.
Valahia transalpina, including Făgăraș and Hațeg
Moravian Wallachia (), in the Beskid Mountains (Czech: Beskydy) of the Czech Republic.

Shepherd culture
As national states appeared in the area of the former Ottoman Empire, new state borders were developed that divided the summer and winter habitats of many of the transhumance groups. During the Middle Ages, many Vlachs were shepherds who drove their flocks through the mountains of Central and Eastern Europe. Vlach shepherds may be found as far north as southern Poland (Podhale) and the eastern Czech Republic (Moravia) by following the Carpathians, the Dinaric Alps in the west, the Pindus Mountains in the south, and the Caucasus Mountains in the east. In Slovak language, the term Valasi became a synonym for apprentice shepherds.

Some researchers, like Bogumil Hrabak and Marian Wenzel, theorized that the origins of Stećci tombstones, which appeared in medieval Bosnia between 12th and 16th century, could be attributed to Vlach burial culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina of that times.

Gallery

Legacy
According to Ilona Czamańska "for several recent centuries the investigation of the Vlachian ethnogenesis was so much dominated by political issues that any progress in this respect was incredibly difficult." The transhumance of Vlachs, the heirs of Roman citizens, may be a key for solving the problem of ethnogenesis, but the problem is that many migrations were in multiple directions during the same time. These migrations were not just part of the Balkans and the Carpathians, they exist and in the Caucasus, the Adriatic islands and possibly over the entire region of the Mediterranean Sea. Because of this, our knowledge concerning primary migrations of the Vlachs and the ethnogenesis is more than modest.

Researcher have also raised a concern about cultural appropriation of Vlach heritage in the Balkans, denial of Vlach descend of various groups and personalities, and exclusion from political life.

See also

 Oláh
 Morlachs
 Romania in the Early Middle Ages
 Statuta Valachorum
 Supplex Libellus Valachorum
 Vlach (Ottoman social class)
 Vlach law
 Vlachs in medieval Serbia
 Vlachs in the history of Croatia
 Vlachs in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina

Notes

References
 G. Weigand, Die Aromunen, Bd.Α΄-B΄, J. A. Barth (A.Meiner), Leipzig 1895–1894.
 George Murnu, Istoria românilor din Pind, Vlahia Mare 980–1259 ("History of the Romanians of the Pindus, Greater Vlachia, 980–1259"), Bucharest, 1913
 Ilie Gherghel, Câteva consideraţiuni la cuprinsul noţiunii cuvântului "Vlach". Bucuresti: Convorbiri Literare, (1920).
 Theodor Capidan, Aromânii, dialectul aromân. Studiul lingvistic ("Aromanians, Aromanian dialect, Linguistic Study"), Bucharest, 1932
 A.Hâciu, Aromânii, Comerţ. Industrie. Arte. Expasiune. Civiliytie, tip. Cartea Putnei, Focşani 1936.
 Steriu T. Hagigogu, "Romanus şi valachus sau Ce este romanus, roman, român, aromân, valah şi vlah", Bucharest, 1939
 Τ. Winnifrith, The Vlachs. The History of a Balkan People, Duckworth 1987
 A. Koukoudis, Oi mitropoleis kai i diaspora ton Vlachon [Major Cities and Diaspora of the Vlachs], publ. University Studio Press, Thessaloniki 1999.
 A. Keramopoulos, Ti einai oi koutsovlachoi [What are the Koutsovlachs?], publ 2 University Studio Press, Thessaloniki 2000.

 Victor A. Friedman, "The Vlah Minority in Macedonia: Language, Identity, Dialectology, and Standardization" in Selected Papers in Slavic, Balkan, and Balkan Studies, ed. Juhani Nuoluoto, et al. Slavica Helsingiensa: 21, Helsinki: University of Helsinki. 2001. 26–50. full text Though focussed on the Vlachs of North Macedonia, has in-depth discussion of many topics, including the origins of the Vlachs, their status as a minority in various countries, their political use in various contexts, and so on.
 Asterios I. Koukoudis, The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora, 2003,

 Th Capidan, Aromânii, Dialectul Aromân, ed2 Εditură Fundaţiei Culturale Aromâne, București 2005
 Trifon, Nicolas. Les Aroumains, un peuple qui s'en va (Paris, 2005) ; Cincari, narod koji nestaje (Beograd, 2010)

Further reading
 The Watchmen, a documentary film by Alastair Kenneil and Tod Sedgwick (USA) 1971 describes life in the Vlach village of Samarina in Epiros, Northern Greece
 John Kennedy Campbell, 'Honour Family and Patronage' A Study of Institutions and Moral Values in a Greek Mountain Community, Oxford University Press, 1974
 Gheorghe Bogdan, MEMORY, IDENTITY, TYPOLOGY: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY RECONSTRUCTION OF VLACH ETHNOHISTORY, B.A., University of British Columbia, 1992
 Franck Vogel, a photo-essay on the Valchs published by GEO magazine (France), 2010.
 Adina Berciu-Drăghicescu, Aromâni, meglenoromâni, istroromâni : aspecte identitare şi culturale, Editura Universităţii din București, 2012,
 Octavian Ciobanu, "The Role of the Vlachs in the Bogomils' Expansion in the Balkans.", Journal of Balkan and Black Sea Studies, Year 4, Issue 7, December 2021, pp. 11–32.

External links

 ROMÂNII BALCANICI AROMÂNII—Maria Magiru about Aromanians
 The Vlach Connection and Further Reflections on Roman History
 Orbis Latinus: Wallachians, Walloons, Welschen
 Vlachs in Greece
 Cultural appropriation of Vlachs' heritage
 French Vlachs Association (in Vlach, EN and FR)
 Studies on the Vlachs , by Asterios Koukoudis
 Vlachs' in Greece (in Greek)
 Consiliul A Tinirlor Armanj, Youth Aromanian community and their Projects (in Vlach, EN and RO)
 Old Wallachia—a short Czech film from 1955 depicting life of Vlachs in Czech Moravia

Eastern Romance people
Transhumant ethnic groups

Vlachs


The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) is a non-profit, global organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States, that provides professional support for science centers, museums, and related institutions. ASTC's goal is to increase awareness of the contributions its members make to their communities and the field of informal STEM learning.

Founded in 1973, ASTC now represents nearly 700 members in almost 50 countries, including not only science centers and museums, but also nature centers, aquariums, planetariums, zoos, botanical gardens, and natural history and children's museums, as well as companies, consultants, and other organizations that share an interest in informal science education.

Member programs

Passport Program
ASTC member institutions can participate in ASTC's Passport Program, allowing members of participating institutions to visit other participating institutions for free, provided the member is visiting an institution more than 90 miles from their home institution. More than 300 institutions in over a dozen countries are currently participating in the Passport Program.

Annual Conference
Each year, nearly 2,000 individuals representing science centers and museums from across the world, informal science educators, and companies collaborating with the museum field gather for ASTC's Annual Conference.

Professional development
ASTC provides professional development opportunities for those who work in science centers and other institutions of informal learning. ASTC's professional development services include Communities of Practice (CoP), which provides informal science education professionals with resources and support for connecting with colleagues, convening meetings, and organizing workshops, among other activities.

ExhibitFiles
ExhibitFiles is an online community of exhibit practitioners building a shared collection of exhibition records and reviews. Community members can connect with colleagues, find out about exhibits, and share their experiences. ExhibitFiles was developed to preserve and share experiences and materials that are often unrecorded, temporary, and hard to locate. Visitors to the site can also search for, and post exhibitions rentals and sales.

Dimensions
ASTC publishes Dimensions, which features in-depth analysis of news and trends in the science center and museum field, in addition to articles about noteworthy events and resources. Dimensions readers include directors and staff of ASTC-member institutions around the world, as well as those with an interest in informal science education. Until 2020, Dimensions was a bimonthly print and online magazine; since mid-2020, it is an exclusively online publication that publishes continuously.

Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education
ASTC is home to the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE). CAISE's supports the informal science education (ISE) community by creating and disseminating resources, as well as catalyzing conversation and collaboration across the ISE field—including film and broadcast media, science centers and museums, zoos and aquariums, botanical gardens and nature centers, digital media and gaming, science journalism, and youth, community, and after-school programs. Founded in 2007 with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, CAISE is a partnership among ASTC and Co-Principal Investigators at Oregon State University (OSU), the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE), The Great Lakes Science Center and KQED San Francisco. CAISE manages the InformalScience.org website, which is a repository of project descriptions, evaluation reports and tools, and research papers and products that are collected and curated to provide informal STEM Learning practitioners with knowledge that can be used when developing new work and seeking potential collaborators.

See also
 List of science centers

References

External links
Official website

Science museums
Technology museums in the United States
Organizations established in 1973
1973 establishments in Washington, D.C.
International scientific organizations
Science and technology in the United States
Museum associations and consortia
Members of the International Science Council
Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.
501(c)(3) organizations


Vishnu Sitaram Sukthankar, also known as V. S. Sukthankar (4 May 1887 – 21 January 1943), was an Indologist and scholar of Sanskrit. He is principally known as the General Editor of the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata published by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune, India.

Early life
Vishnu Sitaram Sukthankar was born on 4 May 1887 to Sitaram Sukthankar, his father, a civil engineer, and Dhaklibai, his mother. He married Eleanor Bowing (1889–1927) on 29 July 1908. Together they had children named John (1908), Kathleen (1912) and Maurice (1913), and Lalnath (1923).

Education
Sukthankar was educated at the Maratha High School and later at St. Xavier's College in Bombay. After passing his Intermediate Examination, he left for England and studied mathematics  during the years 1903–1906 at St. John's College, Cambridge and passing his Mathematical Tripos. In 1909, he studied at the University of Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, his interests had  turned to Indology. He completed a doctorate between 1911 and 1914 at the Humboldt University in Berlin under the supervision of Heinrich Lüders. He was also a student of Hermann Jacobi. The subject of his thesis was the grammar of Shakatayana, together with the commentary of Yaksavarman. The outbreak of the First World War forced him to leave Germany, and he was formally awarded his degree only in 1921.

Work
In 1915, having returned to India, Sukthankar took up the post of Assistant Superintendent of the Western Circle in the  Archaeological Survey of India. In 1919, he returned to Britain, and re-joined his family.

In the years 1919–21, Sukthankar and his young family lived in New York. In 1920, he lectured at the annual convention of the American Oriental Society. During the early 1920s, he wrote a series of papers  on the plays (presumptively) by Bhasa, and moreover published a translation of his 'Svapnavasavadatta'. This material, together with Sukthankar's papers on epigraphy have been posthumously collected in the 2nd volume of the 'Sukthankar Memorial Edition'.

In 1925, Sukthankar assumed the General Editorship of the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune. After years of tireless labour and the assistance of several copyists and fellow scholars, the first fascicule of the Adi Parva (i.e., first of the eighteen Books of the Mahabharata) was published in 1927, followed by the entire Adi Parva in
1933. The work involved collating about 60 partial manuscripts of the Mahabharata in ten different scripts belonging to two major recensions (Northern and Southern). A lucid and detailed account of his methods of Textual Criticism may be found in the `Prolegomena' to the 1933 volume. Some of his writings on the Mahabharata have been collected in the first volume of the 'Sukthankar Memorial Edition'.

The subsequent Parvans were edited on the basis of his framework by a legion of scholars at the Bhandarkar Institute during his tenure and after his death, and the publication of the entire Critical Edition was finally complete in 1966. This work has proved to be immensely valuable for all subsequent scholarship on the Mahabharata. An English translation of the Critical Edition was undertaken by J. A. B. van Buitenen, who completed five of the Parvans before his death. This work is now being carried forward by other scholars.

Sukthankar's principles of textual criticism were also put to use towards the Critical Edition of the Ramayana, prepared during the years 1951-1975 by the Oriental Institute at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.

In January 1943, Sukthankar was invited to deliver a series of four lectures on the Mahabharata at the University of Bombay. However, on the eve of the fourth and final lecture, he died suddenly due to complications arising from a cerebral thrombosis. The lectures were later published as a book.

Contemporary accounts describe him as an aloof and reticent scholar, whose early mathematical training had led him to an insistence on precision in his philological
studies.

References

1887 births
1943 deaths
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge

Vishnu Sitaram Sukthankar


Robert Carson McKessock (born February 2, 1933) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1987, as a member of the Liberal Party.

Background
McKessock was born in Chatsworth, Ontario and educated at Georgian College. He worked as a farmer, and was a deacon in the Strathaven Baptist Church.

Politics
He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1975 provincial election defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent Eric Winkler by 277 votes in Grey.  The Progressive Conservatives won a minority government in this election, and McKessock served in opposition.  He was re-elected in the elections of 1977 and 1981.

McKessock won a landslide re-election victory in the 1985 campaign.  The Liberals formed a minority government after the election, and McKessock served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Correctional Services and Solicitor General. He did not seek re-election in 1987 and returned to his farming career.

References

External links

1933 births
Living people
Ontario Liberal Party MPPs
Liberal Party of Canada politicians

Bob McKessock


Monte delle Rose is a mountain in the Monti Sicani, in Sicily, southern Italy. It has an elevation of .

Description

The Monte delle Rose is located at the boundary with Sosio Valley Natural Reserve. Historically, it was mentioned by Aristotle and Pliny the Elder and was famous for its herbs, studied by numerous botanists.

References

Mountains of Sicily

Monte delle Rose


Lieutenant-colonel Fernand Mousseau, CD was an officer of the Canadian Army made famous in military circles for his participation in the liberation of Paris. During the Allied invasion of Normandy, Mousseau was one of the few Canadians to participate in the liberation of Paris in August 1944.  He was also a prominent businessman in his community and a notable civil servant.  Mousseau was awarded the French Legion of Honour in 2006 for his involvement in the liberation of Paris.

Military career

While studying at the University of Ottawa, Fernand Mousseau, from Hull enrolled in the Officer Training Corps in 1940 and was transferred to Le Régiment de Hull.  He was promoted to Lieutenant at the Brockville training camp for officers and was transferred to the Officer Candidate School in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec.  In 1942, Mousseau joined the Montreal unit, Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, in order to help bring the decimated unit back up to strength following the disastrous Dieppe Raid.

Mousseau quickly climbed the ranks to major.  In 1944, he was one of the Army's youngest majors at age 23.  In July 1944, Mousseau was injured during an attack in Beauvoir-Trotteval and was captured in Caen by the German Wehrmacht.  Mousseau was taken to Paris, where he was treated at Hôpital de la Pitié.  With the assistance of a network of nurses associated with the resistance, Mousseau escaped from the hospital and joined the French Resistance. Given his military experience and quick wits, Mousseau was put in command of a resistance cell in the heart of Paris, headquartered at the local police prefecture.  During that time, he participated in a number of raids against the enemy in order to disrupt traffic into Paris in view of the liberation of Paris.  When the Allies moved into Paris, Mousseau returned to England and rejoined his unit in Belgium.  Returning to duty as a company commander, Mousseau commanded the Fusiliers Mont-Royal contingent that occupied Berlin in 1945.  In October 1945, he returned to Montreal and served as deputy Commanding Officer to the Fusiliers Mont Royal. For his actions in France, Mousseau was awarded the Croix de Guerre avec étoile d'argent.

Post-war

The war over, Mousseau returned to his home town and his home unit, Le Régiment de Hull.  He completed his studies in accounting and became the general manager for a construction firm.  In the years that followed, Mousseau was a successful civil servant and served in a number of senior appointments.  In 1948, Fernand Mousseau was promoted to Lieutenant-colonel and took command of Le Régiment de Hull until 1952.  He then went on to serve as Honorary Colonel to Le Fusiliers Mont-Royal.

In 2006, he was inducted into the French Legion of Honour (Légion d'honneur) as a Knight.

Death

Mousseau died in Gatineau, on April 26, 2010, from Alzheimer's disease. Colonel Mousseau was accorded a full military funeral and was carried by members of Le Régiment de Hull and les Fusiliers Mont-Royal.

References

Recipients of the Legion of Honour
Canadian Army officers
French Resistance members
Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal officers
1920 births
2010 deaths

Fernand Mousseau