• 1 Brigand song from Eastern Moravia, Karel Plicka and František Volf, Český rok v pohádkách, pí (...)

I will die because of Turk or I will die in the forest
Or I will be hanged,
oh my dear.1

• 2 Mikhail Kizilov, “Slave Trade in the Early Modern Crimea from the Perspective of Christian, Muslim (...)
• 3 Kniha o bolesti a smutku: výbor z moravských kronik XVII. století [Book of Pain and Sorrow. Anth (...)

1The ethnographic region of today’s Moravian Wallachia, located along the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia, is today widely known as a region where traditional slivovice (plum spirit) comes from and where some ancient customs and traditions have been preserved until now; such as a carnival procession with scary and hairy masks of devils ringing their bells or specific dance of men called odzemek or the procession of female demons with covered faces just before Christmas (lucky). For more than a century, however, Wallachia (together with its neighbor, Moravian Slovakia) was situated very close to the Ottoman border, to Budin pashalik or eyalet (province). From the end of the 16^th century through the turbulent period of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) until the so-called kuruc uprisings (1703-1711), this region became the target of frequent raids from the East. These incursions are in the frame of historical memory depicted as “Turkish and Tatar incursions”. The high number of plundered villages and small towns, a significant decline in population and tens of thousands of prisoners taken to markets in Istanbul and Crimean port Caffa2 foreshadowed the centuries to come, that contemporary chroniclers described in their lamentations as a time of “pain and sorrow”.3 As stated in the famous contemporary “Lamentation of Moravian Land” composed by an anonymous author at the very beginning of 17^th century:

• 5 František Dostál, Valašská povstání za třicetileté války (1621-1644) [Wallachian Revolts d (...)

2Several common features of the Moravian-Hungarian border can be mentioned here – the extremely perceived vulnerability of the region (endangered Moravia with feminine attributes), omnipresent danger from the “Turk and Tatar”, resistance against Habsburgs and their violent re-Catholicization, the glorification of border guards and brigands and, last but not least, the stereotype of the bellicosity of highlanders, already mentioned in the texts of Jan Amos Comenius.5

• 6 For more details: Stanislav Brouček, Mýtus českého národa, aneb, Národopisná výstava česko (...)
• 7 Národopisná výstava českoslovanská v Praze 1895: hlavní katalog a průvodce, Praha, nakl. Vý (...)
• 8 Weapons of the soul or spirit – the moral force of military weak and not very numerous nations as t (...)
• 9 Touristic project from 1997, issuing own Wallachian passports, etc.
• 10 Based on the novel of Ivan Olbracht, Nikola Šuhaj loupežník [Nikola Šuhaj the Robber] is the mu (...)

3The mountain region of Moravian Wallachia (and partially Moravian Slovakia) shows till today some attributes of specific regional identity of the “upper people”, as highlanders are surnamed in chronicles from the 16th-17th century. Considered as rebels, fighting against a variety of enemies (Turks, Habsburgs, Catholics), they also became a danger to their own neighbours. The sense of Wallachian “freedom” and “rebellion” marked intensively Czech and Moravian leaders of the National Revival, struggling for the maintenance of the Czech language and its dialects. Codified by ethnographers at the end of the 19th century, this stereotype of Wallachian identity became an iconic image used especially on the occasion of the Czechoslovak Ethnographic Exhibition, which took place in Prague in 1895.6 Organized according to the model of the World’s Fair in Paris, this exhibition showed Wallachia as a very attractive region because of its traditional music, songs and dances. Its distinctiveness and archaic “Slavic” roots at the same time were visually presented.7 Hospoda (pub), paseky (scattered wooden architecture on the slopes of the hills, in this case on Prague hill Petřín), bača (shepherds and their sheep) and hudci (traditional music with violin, bagpipes and dulcimer); all this “performance” was organized following the idealized vision of the first Panslavists.8 This iconic image of Wallachia partially survives till today, either in the form of the satirical and recessive “Wallachian Kingdom”9 or through the great popularity of a musical (later film) entitled “Nikola Šuhaj the Robber”, which was in the 70s and 80s of the 20^th century understood as a protest against the Communist regime.10

• 11 The conception of ethnographical borders was defined mostly according to traditional costumes of (...)
• 12 Tzvetan Todorov, les Abus de la mémoire, Paris, Arléa, 1998, p. 14.
• 13 For example the motif of „Turkish bells“ probably taken from German speaking Slovakian mining towns (...)
• 14 Leoš Šatava, Jazyk a identita etnických menšin [Language and Identity of Ethnic Minorities], Pr (...)

4By interdisciplinary analysis in the cross-road between imagology and history, this study deals with the comparison of stereotypical images formed along the borders of historical margraviate of Moravia and kingdom of Hungary, taking into account the proximity of Ottoman Empire and either real or imaginary borders perceived by local people. Despite the fact that the ethnographical border of “Wallachia” was not even partially codified until the 19^th century,11 these stereotypes date from the period of 17^th century and they were later instrumented politically. Their codification and representation in specific geographical locations could be considered to be the result of previous memory selection.12 Stereotypical images usually have their specific historical background, but the migration of topoi can also play an important role.13 Thus, the images of enemies (Turks and Tatars) and rangers and rebels (Wallachians) could represent either the main topic linked to the particular and specific historical event or they could be explained within general framework of folk-stories transmitted by “small isolated groups with the higher need for self-identification”14 through the Balkans, Central Europe and East Europe.

• 15 Anti-Ottoman newspapers spread out mainly in German speaking countries, probably due to the central (...)

5The article deals primarily with the phenomenon of the border as moveable confines, where the number of transitional identities is mixed and which has a fundamental influence on their construction per se. Specifically, it focuses on stereotypes of Turk and Wallachian, widespread in the border region of southeastern Moravia (Wallachia) in the period of 16^th and 17^th century „raids from the Hungarian and Turkish side“. In terms of methodology, the article is based on the textual analysis of the historical memory of this mountainous micro-region in the second half of the 16^th century and especially in the 17^th century; the source of comparison are mainly local chronicles and preserved folk materials as folk songs, ballads, historical songs, etc. Among other preserved sources could also be listed contemporary illustrated newspapers, prayers, journals and sermons (in the category of turcica).15

• 16 Vincent Yzerbyt and Georges Schadron, Connaître et juger autrui, Grenoble, Presses universitaires, (...)
• 17 The successor of Bohuslav Balbín, author of Prodromus Moravographiae (1663), Mars Moravicus (1676) (...)
• 18 For example in the Anonymous Chronicle of Holešov, analyzed further.

6As primary sources, chronicles could be described either as texts written by the contemporary elite (well-educated members of noble families, both Catholics and Protestants), or as local chronicles, called minor or písmácké (as písmák are known members of clergy or bourgeoisie from small towns). The assumption, that písmák chronicles show greater variability of the examined stereotypes (for they are not “burdened” by the majority discourse of the time), seems to be confirmed by the subsequent analysis of the texts.16 Despite the fact that the majority of Moravian elite and písmák chronicles was written on the demand of historian and theologian Tomáš Pěšina from Čechorod,17 a certain dichotomy between texts of Catholic and Protestant/Lutheran authors could be observed (for example, a greater affection for the Wallachian rebels in the case of Lutheran authors).18

• 19 Oldřich Šuléř, Je to chůze po kotárech, Praha, Vyšehrad, 1989, p. 174.
• 20 Petr Odehnal and Alois Šimonů, „Památky o kuruckých vojnách“ [Memories of Kuruc Wars], Vlastiv (...)

7Regional chronicles from Wallachia as the Chronicle of Meziříčí town, Anonymous Chronicle of Holešov, Chronicle of Bystřice pod Hostýnem, Chronicle of Ondřej Sivý, Chronicle of Martin Zikmundek, Chronicle of Matyáš Haškonius, Chronicle of Václav Letocha, Jiří Přenský or Pavel Urbanides,19 the chronicle of Kráčalík20 and others represent the corpus of texts, extending from the description of religious persecution during Thirty Years’ War through raids of Ottoman irregulars to the ancestral history of local peasant families or millers during the 17^th century. Their authors came from urban milieu (towns as Valašské Meziříčí, Lipník, Holešov, Uherský Brod, Uherské Hradiště), respecting mostly the dominant discourse of that period; thus the point of view of wealthy Catholic nobles or burghers as privileged citizens.

• 21 More details in : Bedřich Slavík, Písemnictví na moravském Valašsku [Literáty Tradition of M (...)
• 22 Zdeněk Rotrekl, Barokní fenomén v současnosti [Baroque Phenomenon in Contemporary World], Praha (...)
• 23 For example : Karel Jaromír Erben, Leoš Janáček, František Sušil, Eduard Peck, František Bar (...)

8Later, codified stereotypes taken from chronicles were reconstructed and re-actualized during the period of the National Renaissance, when first ethnographers, teachers and clergymen started to show their interest in Volksgeist or “genius of people”. Their impuls to think about the “future of the nation” (in an excited atmosphere after the Napoleonic Wars) led them to collect folk songs and folk-stories, organize lectures and initiate anthologies concerning Wallachia.21 The Moravian branch of National Revival was closely linked with the educated elite from south-moravian town Brno (Brünn), whose specific position was given by the proximity of Vienna and Ottoman borders.22 Among scholars and revivalists interested in Panslavism and its local variants, only a few of them concentrated their effort to depict Wallachian “archaic rituals in pure form”.23 The later reinterpretation of 17^th century stereotypical images has shown a higher degree of simplification; in this case, Habsburgs and Catholic nobles (and Turks, of course) were always represented as the “dark side”, while Wallachians were viewed only in positive connotations (even if contemporary sources depict them as the danger comparable to “Turks and Tatars”).

• 24 Jitka Malečková and Petr Kučera, Z Istanbulu až na konec světa : osmanské cestopisy z přelom (...)
• 25 Roger Kanet, Religion and the Conceptual Boundary in Central and Eastern Europe, London, Palgrave M (...)

9Specific features of Wallachia and its “threshold” aspect could be reconstructed (albeit partially) through the analysis of primary sources. The concept of the border in Central Europe has always been dynamic and variable.24 Its frequent metamorphoses – both in time and space – led to the emergence of stereotypical images, oscillating between real aspect and imaginary aspect of the boundary between two empires (for example frontiers between Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Habsburg Empire, Moldavia (Romanian) Wallachia, Cossack territories, Russia, etc.).25 The medieval concept of the frontier, perceived as the potential battlefield of religions, found its reinterpretation later during the period of Romanticism and National Revival.

• 26 Nora Berend, “Défense de la chrétienté et naissance d’une identité”, Annales. Histoire Sciences (...)
• 27 Jolana Pekacz, “Antemurale of Europe”, History of European Ideas, 1995, vol 2, no 1/3, p. 419-424.
• 28 Lilia Berezhnaya and Heidi Hein-Kircher, Rampart Nations : the Bulwark Myths of East European Multi (...)
• 29 Fodor Pál and Dávid Géza (eds.), Ottomans, Hungarians and Habsburgs in Central Europe : The Mili (...)
• 30 Philippe Sénac, l’Occident médiéval face à l’islam (l’image de l’autre), Paris, Flammarion, 200 (...)
• 31 Especially after the fall of Constantinople, Margaret Meserve, Empires of Islam in Renaissance Hist (...)

10The origin of the myth known as antemurale christianitatis goes back to the 13^th century and it is connected with the history of the kingdom of Hungary and the king Béla IV.26 The myth was strongly established in Rzeczpospolita (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) during the 15^th century, accentuating the role of Polish kings, who presented themselves as the dominating power able to defend the Christianity and the borders of Europe against the danger and incursions from the East.27 In the context of the 16^th and 17^th centuries, antemurale or “bulwark of Christianity” was perceived as the battle of Catholics against Islam, thus Poles against Ottomans, with the notion of mission civilisatrice.28 The dichotomy between the perception of East and West could be here partially described as a part of Renaissance period heritage, as the frontier between believers and unbelievers, between Us and Others. The potential of this mission (maintaining existing borders of Christianity and even promoting this faith beyond them, thus suppressing the influence of the Ottoman Empire) was later adopted also by Habsburg emperors.29 Centralized contemporary propaganda spread out the notion of Ottoman or “Turkish” threat as omnipresent, because of its potential to mobilization. Turks, who replaced the notion of Saracens,30 were often described as revival of barbarians or Scythians in Renaissance discourse.31

• 32 Militägrenze as Military frontier or Voyna Krajina (Serbian) ; buffer zone on the borders of Habsb (...)
• 33 Pål Kolstø, Myths and Boundaries in South-Eastern Europe, London, Hurst & Company, 2005, p. 36.
• 34 Hungarian kapu from Turkish kapı, the gate, the door. Czech and Moravian brána, the gate (the word (...)
• 35 Géza Pálffy, The Kingdom of Hungary and the Habsburg Monarchy in the Sixteenth Century, Budapest, (...)

11The fortified march corresponding to antemurale existed in today’s Croatia (later famous Militägrenze32), Hungary, Poland and western Ukraine.33 It was characteristic by the chain of strongholds and fortresses, which were supposed to guard main roads, mountain passes, etc. The language itself could be seen as a tool to shape (both through the positive and negative connotations of “defense” and “threat”) the final metaphor of border, as we could see in some examples from Slovakian or (Moravian) Wallachian toponymy. Words as brána (the gate),34 ostroh (guard) or stráž (patrol) imply the defensive character of the whole region. Some of the main symbolic borders were formed by rivers (Danube, Váh), some by mountain passes in the Carpathian mountain range. Close to these rivers and mountains, military garrisons (placed in strategically situated fortresses) were paid directly by the king or magnates and systematically maintained, in order to be able to respond quickly to any threat.35

• 36 Arnold van Gennep, in : Bjorn Thomassen, Liminality and the Modern – Living Through the In-Between, (...)
• 37 So-called line of castles or hradská soustava, in : Studia medievalia pragensia IV, Praha, Karolin (...)
• 38 So-called Bruno Olomucensis, Bishop of Moravia (Olomouc), founder of Kroměříž town, the Hukva (...)
• 39 Charles King, Černé moře [Black Sea], Praha, BB art, 2007, p. 32.
• 40 As stated in contemporary chronicle of František Pražský, in : Cyril Hádek, Konec Přemyslovců (...)

12The analysis of historical sources shows that in the context of Moravian Wallachia, the notion of the border is inextricably linked with mountains and forests – both in Wallachian dialect known as hora, the general metaphor of forest-mountain-refuge. Enemies come from mountain passes to plunder the land and locals run to the mountains to hide; hora could be explained as a sort of threshold or transition between two words.36 During the reign of Přemyslid dynasty, Eastern Moravia formed a sort of confinium or border land between the Bohemian and Hungarian kingdoms. Přemyslid kings strongly supported the construction of border castles, which became the basis of the monarchs’ power37 – in the region of Eastern Moravia it was especially Bruno of Schauenburg, bishop of Olomouc and the main adviser of Wenceslaus I. and Přemysl Ottokar II., who initiated the settlement in previously inhabited areas.38 In the second half of the 13^th century, the notion of fortified march started to emerge. Castles as Lukov, Brumov or Světlov located in the western Carpathians, formed a “bulwark” against raids from the direction of Hungary. From both sides of the frontier, the chain of fortresses guarded the fragile line, established as the ultimate limit within which the empire was able, even temporarily, to enforce its power.39 “Hungarian land” is in some contemporary late medieval sources perceived as a danger and a certain prelude of the decline of the Přemyslid dynasty power.40

• 41 Czech King and Roman Emperor Charles IV. restored the king’s power by buying border castles as Luko (...)
• 42 Howard Kaminsky, A History of the Hussite Revolution, Eugene, Stock Publisher, 2004, p. 141.
• 43 Czechs were during 15th and 16th century generally known as heretics in western European discourse, (...)
• 44 Jaroslava Kašparová, České země a jejich obyvatelé očima románského světa 16.-17. stoleti (...)

13After the fall of the Přemyslids, the last kings of Luxemburg dynasty faced a significant challenge to royal authority41 – Hussite rebellions, which at the beginning of 15^th century (spreading from Western Bohemia to actual Slovakia) influenced deeply also the region of Eastern Moravia. After the burning of Jan Hus (popular reformist preacher and teacher at Charles University, considered as a martyr because of his execution at the council of Constance in 1415), his disciples were burned to death in Moravian capital Olomouc.42 As the response, a great wave of resistance and uprisings emerged, challenging Catholics and proto-Protestants (Utraquists) to fight against each other. Clashes between royal power, noble families from fortified towns, clergy and rural areas intensified to such an extent, that for more then three decades Bohemia (together with the margraviate of Moravia) were plunged into civil war. Czech lands even faced series of crusades,43 giving cause to the emergence – especially due to Historia Bohemica by Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini – of the stereotype of Czech heretics and rebels.44

• 45 Klímová, „K otázkám formy historické pověsti“, p. 127-142.

14Late 15^th century and the beginning of 16^th century meant a period of profound changes in the social and economic history of Moravia, always incorporated as margraviate in the lands of Bohemian crown. These lands were during this period under the domination of the Jagiellonian dynasty, briefly ruling also over Hungary. Ottoman Empire expanded the boundaries of its dominion, when battles of Nándórfehérvár or Belgrade (1521) and Mohács (1526) predetermined the future division of mutual power relations between Ottomans and Habsburgs. Simultaneously, long time uninhabited areas located in the mountains between Moravia and Hungary started to be settled by newcomers; so-called Wallachians, whose migration waves have created a kind of “bridge” along the Carpathians. In this sense, “dangerous” Hungarian landscape became close and alien at the same time; among others due to the Wallachian colonization and the migration of various topoi as well as folk motifs through the Balkans.45

• 46 Principalities of Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia, today’s Romania and Moldova.
• 47 Vladimír Nekuda et al., Zlínsko [Zlín District], Brno, Muzejní a vlastivědná společnost, 199 (...)
• 48 Jaroslav Štika, Valaši a Valašsko (o původu Valachů, valašské kolonizaci, vzniku a historii (...)
• 49 Karel Kadlec, Valaši a valašské právo v zemích slovanských a uherských [Wallachians and Wall (...)
• 50 Ibid., p. 72-73.
• 51 Dostál, Valašská povstání za třicetileté války, p. 214-215.
• 52 Wallachian colonization had an impact on the landscape itself ; for example sheep grazing in high (...)
• 53 Matouš Václavek, Moravské Valašsko : lidopisné obrazy [Moravian Wallachia : Chapters from Ethn (...)
• 54 Alena Jeřábková, Lidová oděvní kultura : Příspěvky k ikonografii, typologii a metodologii (...)

15The frontier character of Eastern Moravia was reflected on the one hand by the historical background (proximity of Hungarian borders, later Ottoman Empire), on the other hand by the type of landscape (mountains) and by ethnographic and sociological profile of the society (migration waves from today’s northern Balkans, semi-pastoral way of life, etc.). Neighbours always considered Wallachians to be foreigners and aliens; calling them highlanders (Horáci) or free people (svobodníci). So-called Wallachian colonization dating from the 16^th century and originating from regions known as Muntenia, Oltenia or Transylvania,46 which consequently affected the whole Carpathian range from the south to the north, meant probably not the mass exodus of semi-nomads directly from Romania, but rather the gradual process of adopting a nomadic way of life by local Slavic populations.47 Theories about purely Slavic or (on the contrary) purely Romanian origin of Wallachians of course do exist and contradict each other; but as sources suggest, neither ethnic or religious identity seemed to play a dominant role in the emergence of stereotypical image of Wallachians. The fundamental difference – quintessence of their alterity – was the pastoral way of life and their “freedom” (compared to other rural populations directly subjected to their landlords), redeemed by duty to pay compulsory taxes in number of sheep (so-called Wallachian tax).48 Wallachians are described in contemporary historical sources as independent “free shepherds” with their own privileges and their own customs,49 which evidently differed from what was known until then. Their motivation to move to other localities along the Carpathian range was probably supported by local magnates, nobles, even kings; as we know from Matthias Corvinus’ privileges, given to Wallachians as new settlers in the region of Orava (actual northern Slovakia).50 Moravian Wallachians are for the first time mentioned as “free shepherds” in 1556 in Northern Moravia (Lachia, Silesia).51 Wallachians were invited by local rulers in order to increase sources of revenues in the case of low-income mountainous regions (by intensifying charcoal production, sheep cheese products, wool, etc.). The semi-pastoral way of life enabled the colonization of mountains, which were till that time rarely inhabited; hence the support of new settlers from the part of landlords.52 Although mostly Protestants, religion of Wallachians was not considered to be a decisive factor, as both the Catholic and Protestant faith were tolerated in Czech lands until Thirty Years’ War. “Freed” from the obligatory labor (robota) for local landlords and from the majority of taxes (except from the already mentioned Wallachian tax on sheep and cheese), Wallachians served also as an armed escort in mountain passes to Hungary, Transylvania and Silesia. Specific traditional costumes distinguished Wallachians from their neighbours. They were usually depicted with the hat from sheepskin known as baranica,53 leather shoes called krpce, small ax (valaška) and, last but not least, with characteristic hairstyle (tangled braids).54

• 55 The term Vlakhoi is still used in the Southern Balkans, precisely in the case of Aromun identity, V (...)
• 56 František Bartoš, Moravské Valašsko : kraj i lid [Moravian Wallachia : Landscape and People], B (...)
• 57 Wallachian principality, located in today’s Southern Romania, was from the beginning of the 15th ce (...)
• 58 For more details see : Josef Macůrek, Valaši v západních Karpatech v 15.-18. století [Wallachi (...)

16Since the late Middle Ages, Wallachians were referred also as Vlakhs (from Greek Vlakhoi) or Olakhs (Hungarian derivation of Greek denomination).55 “Vlakhs” or Wallachians is in contemporary sources the synonym for the pastoral way of life (in definition close to Turkish yaylak as summer highland pasture) anywhere in the Carpathian mountains – in actual Romania, Ukraine, Eastern Poland, Slovakia, Eastern Moravia, parts of northern Bulgaria, Macedonia, etc.56 Wallachians as professional shepherds usually left their villages soon after the date of first grazing, which was celebrated as a very important feast, and they lived during the summer months with their herds in the mountains; their huts were called salaš. This is one of the words directly related to specific way of life, which originally derived from Romanian language and than enriched the vocabulary of local languages along the Carpathian range. Many lexical borrowings from Romanian concerned sheep breeding and sheep cheese production: as for example bryndza (a specific type of cheese), košár or kotár (sheep enclosure), čutora (water bottle), fujara (shepherd’s flute with a specific melancholic sound), koliba (cottage for shepherds), etc. The word bača (shepherd) belongs to this list of borrowings too and it is generally comprehensible across the whole region of Carpathians. The landscape characteristic for the Carpathian range provided conditions of the same kind of sheep and goat breeding; starting from Parâng and Fǎgǎraş mountains in central Romania and Bukovina in the north,57 continuing through Rusyn and Hutzul areas in Transcarpathian region of Western Ukraine and Eastern Slovakia, through Gural area in Poland, finishing in the region of Western Carpathians in Slovakia and Eastern Moravia.58 There are also striking similarities in case of some toponyms, which could be found as well as in the Beskids or Javorníky mountains (eastern Moravia) or in Kysúce, Orava, Liptov and Spiš (northern Slovakia) – words as magura (distinctive round-shaped hill), kyčera, grúň (deforested mountain ridge for pasture), polonina or polana (“alpine” pasture), etc.

• 59 Michal Mudrik, Moravsko-uherská hranice ve středověku [Moravia-Hungary Border in Middle Ages, Ma (...)
• 60 Uncertain delimitation of the border between Moravia and Hungary was partially caused by the divisi (...)
• 61 Štika, Valaši a Valašsko, p. 109, 138.
• 62 Even the castle’s name (Světlov) evokes the fire signals as the warning against enemies (světlo – (...)
• 63 Jiří Kohoutek, Hrady jihovýchodní Moravy [Castles of South-Eastern Moravia], Zlín, Archa, 1995 (...)
• 64 Laurenţiu Rădvan, At Europe’s Borders : Medieval Towns in the Romanian Principalites, Leiden, Bri (...)
• 65 Roman Hargaš, „Historie loupeživých nájezdů na Moravu přes Kopanický průsmyk“ [History of (...)
• 66 Specific Wallachian police or gendarmes called portáš existed till 1830, but the tradition persis (...)

17In Eastern Moravia, regions concerned by Wallachian settlement and semi-pastoral way of life were especially Wallachia and Kopanice (mountainous part of Moravian Slovakia). The borderland with Hungary was formed mostly by dense forests, difficult to penetrate, sort of buffer zone, suffering from the policy of scorched earth during every attack.59 Disputed frontier line60 was usually controlled by walking around in the presence of voyt (chairman of the village), accompanied by the council of elders and many witnesses; all border lines should have been well remembered and their knowledge transferred to following generations: “as I heard from elders… these mountains were the true border”.61All main trade roads were guarded, as stated above, by a fortified line of castles (Lukov, Brumov, Světlov,62 Trenčín, Holíč, Branč, Čachtice, Vršatec – actually in the territory of Czech Republic and Slovakia). The main road to Great Hungarian Plain led either through Carpathian passes (Vlárský/Brumovský mountain pass and Starohrozenkovský/Kopanický pass) or through lowlands near the Danube. From North to South, this road represented an extension of the ancient Amber Road;63 in the direction to the East, it joined via tartarica, a famous road connecting Baltic seaports with the Black sea region.64 All passes could be at the time of war hastily closed by a wooden palisade, so-called zásek (chop the wood) or šance (straight palisade built in perpendicular style to the axis of the pass, defensible only in the direction of intended attack).65 Zasekat or zarubat the forest, it was the traditional way of defense from the part of Wallachians. As already mentioned, these “free men”, allowed to move across the border without permission of their landlord (especially in the case of fishing, collecting wood in forests and grazing the cattle and sheep) were during the 16^th and 17^th centuries used as semi-professional armed escort on Hungarian roads. Thus, the gradual settlement of the Wallachian borderland between Moravia and Hungary corresponds (both in time and in space) to the Ottoman advance to the North. Wallachians (as defenders of borders66) were forced to face the Turks, especially in the period before, during and after the Thirty Years’ War.

• 67 František Palacký, Dějiny národu českého v Čechách i v Moravě, [History of the Czech Natio (...)
• 68 A. C. S. Peacock, The Frontiers of the Ottoman World, Oxford, British Academy 2009, p. 74.
• 69 David Géza and Fodor Pál, Ransom Slavery along the Ottoman Borders, Leiden, Brill 2007, p. 90.
• 70 Luďa Klusáková, Cestou do Istanbulu : osmanská města v 16. století viděná křesťanskýma o (...)
• 71 All these „rebels“ and influent Transylvanian magnates were potential allies of the Ottomans. Rataj (...)

18The historical context of the late 16^th century was inseparably connected with the permanent threat of potential Ottoman invasion – after Mohács, the Ottoman danger became omnipresent and war inevitable. One of the first historical experiences of the kingdom of Bohemia and margraviate of Moravia with the Ottoman Empire is linked with the so-called Black Army, Black battalion or legio nigra, a unit partially formed from remnants of Hussites, fighting as mercenary forces from 1458-1494 on the side of Matthias Corvinus Hunyadi, king of Hungary.67 Due to the Ottoman conquests in the late 15^th and the first half of the 16^th century (especially during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent and his campaigns), the Ottoman border approached closely Vienna and Moravian towns of Brno and Olomouc. The line of fortresses in Northern Hungaria (végvár) tried to prevent the Ottoman advance further North;68 nevertheless, captives from Moravia started to appear on Ottoman slave markets since then.69 Starting from 1543, Esztergom, the seat of Hungarian Archbishops on the banks of the Danube, has been known as the first stop on the road from Central European countries to the land of Ottomans, being already under the rule of Muslims.70 During more than one and half-century – between 1590 and 1711 (from the Long War between Habsburgs and Ottomans through the rebellion of István Bocskai, Gabriel Bethlen, to Thököly, Rákóczi uprisings and their kuruc soldiers71), Eastern Moravia became a sort of battlefield. Frequent war campaigns during the Thirty Years’ War have even more contributed to the general image of permanent danger from the direction of Hungarian borders.

• 72 Miloš Mendel and Bronislav Ostřanský and Tomáš Rataj, Islám v srdci Evropy [Islam in the Hear (...)
• 73 Jean-Léon Beauvois and Nicole Dubios and Willem Doise, la Construction sociale de la personne, Gre (...)
• 74 Didier Nourrisson and Yves Perrin, le Barbare, l’étranger : l’image de l’autre, Saint-Étienne, Pu (...)
• 75 Rataj, České země ve stínu půlměsíce, p. 219.
• 76 Sénac,l’Occidentmédiévalfaceàl’islam,p.149.
• 77 Travel accounts in commented editions : Kryštof Harant from Polžice and Bezdružice, Cesta z Krá (...)

19In the 16th century, the general stereotype of Turks in Central Europe dealt with the notion of the enemy of Christians, oscillating between the figure of hereditary and religious enemy. Turks started to be perceived as God’s punishment for sins of Christians,72 always displayed as a homogenous unit of Others, being compared to a heterogenous group of Us (the second one a priori showing its individual characteristics and positive features).73 Dehumanization, even diabolization of enemies, presented as barbarians, pagans and impious infidels, was one of the main marginalization strategies. Being an “unbeliever” symbolized one of main medieval and post-medieval dichotomies.74 Turks referred in contemporary sources as “the main enemy of all Christianity”75 and perceived as the embodiment of all previous characteristics of unbelievers, pagans and Muslims76 frequently occurred in late 16^th century chronicles and travel accounts of Czech and Moravian travelers to the Ottoman Empire. They all belonged to the circle of wealthy and well-educated Renaissance noblemen; as for example Oldřich Prefát from Vlkanov (1523-1565), Václav Budovec from Budov (1551-1621) or Kryštof Harant from Polžice and Bezdružice (1564-1621). They traveled to the Holy Land and provided texts, which were later considered as a reference description of the Ottoman Empire.77 Václav Vratislav from Mitrovice, young member of Habsburg delegation to Constantinople before the outbreak of the Long War (1590-1606), mentioned in his emotionally coloured words the presence of Christian prisoners in Ottoman capital (having no idea that the same fate awaited him later):

• 79 Klára Hégyi, The Ottoman Military Organization in Hungary : Fortresses, Fortress Garrisons and Fi (...)
• 80 The same pattern was described also in the case of Dalmatia, Bosnia etc., James D. Tracy, Balkan Wa (...)
• 81 Gábor Ágoston (ed.), Guns for the Sultan : Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman (...)
• 82 Mantran, Histoire de l’Empire ottoman, p. 201.
• 83 Halil Inalcik (ed.), Studies in Ottoman Social and Economic History, London, Variorum Reprints, 198 (...)
• 84 Géza Dávid and Fodor Pál (eds.), Ottomans, Hungarians and Habsburgs in Central Europe : The Mili (...)
• 85 Mark L. Stein, Guarding the Frontier : Ottoman Border Forts and Garrisons in Europe, London, Blooms (...)

21The Ottoman line of fortresses in Hungary provided the base for plundering raids.79 They usually took place in the summer or in the autumn (immediately after the harvest); smoke signals were used as the warning and Wallachian guards kept watch on mountain passes. The mobilization against the enemy helped to increase the climate of mistrust and the search for potential spies.80 Ottoman garrisons, located less than 300 km from Wallachian passes, were able – after crossing the Váh River or Danube – to reach the border within a few days. The regular Ottoman army was formed by janissaries and sipahis; the number of elite troops of janissaries in this area was about 37 000 in 1609 (after the treaty Zsitvatorok).81 These regular troops were preceded by irregular ones, called akinji,82 pandur83 or gharib igitlar or foreign fighters (in Northern Hungary).84 The proportion of irregular units gradually increased (because of the Sublime Porte’s cash flow problems and deficits in treasury); many of these foreign fighters were in fact converted (or even not converted) Hungarian or Transylvanian soldiers, fighting against Habsburgs on the Ottoman side. Gradual increase of the number of irregulars, crossing the border for the booty,85 evidently even more codified the stereotype of merciless invader.

• 86 Vojtěch Dangl, Slovensko vo víre stavovských povstání [Slovakia in the Turmoil of Estate Rebel (...)
• 87 Mantran, Histoire de l’Empire ottoman, p. 305. Guntram H. Herb and David H. Kaplan (eds.), Nested I (...)
• 88 Hégyi, The Ottoman Military Organization in Hungary, p. 149.

22The defensive system of the left bank of river Morava – fortified towns, the system of castles, etc. – played during the 17^th century, which was also affected by the conflicts of the Thirty Years’ War, a very important role. Before the treaty of Zsitvatorok (1609), which had ended the Long War between Habsburgs and Ottomans, Eastern Moravia and especially mountain villages in Wallachia and towns in Moravian Slovakia were regularly plundered by insurgents, named after István/Stephen Bocskai, reactivating the memory of “Turks and Tatars” in Moravian imaginary. Bocskai’s soldiers and mercenaries (fighting against Habsburgs on the Ottoman side) often copied the way the janissaries dressed,86 hence their direct identification with Turks. Another impulse to revive the negative image came at the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War during military campaigns of Transylvanian prince Gábor/Gabriel Bethlen, who sided with the Protestant cause87 and whose army was accompanied by thousands of janissaries.88

• 90 Hannah Barker, The Most Precious Merchandise : The Mediterranean Trade in Black Sea Slaves, Philade (...)
• 91 Igor Jalůvka, “Výpravy polských lisovčíků proti Valachům” [Expeditions of Polish Lisowczyc (...)
• 92 Testimonies of contemporary Czech and Armenian travelers from Prague or Lvov to Constantinople : Pr (...)

24Tens of thousands of prisoners were captured to be sold on slave markets, either in Constantinople or in Crimean Caffa90 – only in one turbulent year 1623, ten thousand captives from South-Eastern Moravia were taken by Bethlens’ soldiers.91 Slaves from the territory of the Habsburg Empire and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were especially popular and sought after because of their hair and skin; the economic importance of slaves speaking Slavic languages in the Black Sea region was evident and testified by many contemporary sources92 (these prisoners were mainly appointed for domestic service and sexual slavery).

• 93 František Müller, Báje a pověsti z kraje pod starým Světlovem [Legends and Folk-Stories from (...)
• 94 Hargaš, „Historie loupeživých nájezdů na Moravu přes Kopanický průsmyk“, p. 40-41.

25Turks “rushed in like hungry wolves in the winter”, “like hungry biting locusts”, as local folk legends stated.93 More than two hundred Wallachian guardians of the mountain pass near Hrozenkov (Bedová) were killed during the night attack;94 their funeral in the chapel of Bedová created a sort of lieu de mémoire, visited till today. The chronicler from Uherský Brod, Matyáš Haškonius, writes about this incursion:

• 97 Mária Kosová, „Historické pověsti s tureckou tematikou : k teórii fabuly a sujetu“ [Folk Tales (...)
• 98 Mendel, Ostřanský, Rataj, Islám v srdci Evropy, p. 206-207.
• 99 The Chronicle of Kráčalík, in : Petr Odehnal, “K autorství památky o kuruckých vojnách” [The (...)

27This phenomenon of luring out of hidings, using future prisoners’ native language, has become one of the topoi in the so-called Turkish folklore motifs.97 Turkish topoi witnessed a sort of “renaissance” during the second siege of Vienna in 1683 and after.98 At the beginning of 18th century, the last wave of anti-Habsburg uprisings touched the region of Eastern Moravia. During socalled kuruc wars (inspired by armies of Thököly and Rákóczi), especially villages near Wallachian passes were all destroyed, sometimes plundered several times a year: “Kuruc soldiers caught everybody whom they could capture… (here) they did only little damage, because they didn’t want to go up to the mountains”, states contemporary chronicler from the town Valašské Klobouky.99

• 100 Dagmar Klímová, „Úkoly textové kritiky na základě pověstí o Turcích“ [Textual Critical Ana (...)
• 101 Dagmar Klímová-Rychnová, „Kulturní zázemí epiteta Tataré-psohlavci“ [Cultural Background of (...)
• 102 Alexandrine N. St. Clair, The Image of the Turk in Europe, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 19 (...)
• 103 In the 18th century, this epithet was often used also in the sense of comparison betweeen the stere (...)
• 104 Patrick Brugh, Gunpowder, Masculinity and Warfare in German texts 1400-1700, Woodbridge, Boydel and (...)

28The general stereotype of Turk and Tatar in folklore (denomination of Tatars could be found mostly in Eastern Slovakia and Ukraine100) is the same as in chronicles – in the form of permanent war threat,101 this negative image finds its expression through established epithets preserved in many contemporary sources. Highlighted cruelty, arrogance, pride and military power102 (especially in relation to oppressed Christians) are considered to be the backbone of stereotypical images in Central Europe.103 In accordance with the process of stereotyping, these epithets used to be more negative and simplifying if their authors themselves had no direct experience with the Ottoman Empire.104

• 105 “Turk” depicted as “azhdaya prokleta” (demon with snakes rising from his shoulders), in : Maria Tod (...)
• 106 Oldřich Sirovátka, “Rozšíření balad s tureckou tematikou v české a slovenské tradici” [Bal (...)
• 107 Hana Urbancová, „The Image of the Turk in Slovak Folk Ballads“ in Ethnic Mobility in Ballads, ed. (...)
• 108 Eduard Peck, Valašské národní písně a říkadla s nápěvy do textu vřaděnými, Lid na Vyzo (...)
• 109 Oldřich Sirovátka, „Vyprávění a dramatická řeč v lidové baladě“ [Story Telling and Dramat (...)
• 110 Věra Frolcová, Velikonoce v české lidové kultuře [Easter in Czech Traditional Culture], Praha (...)
• 111 Müller, Báje a pověsti : Z kraje mezi Starým a Novým Světlovem, p. 50.

29The thematic layer of the vast majority of folk stories, ballads, war songs and historical songs inspired by the figure of “Turk” falls into the period of 17^th century and corresponds with the tradition of neighbouring Slovakia and, in broader context, with the tradition spread in Balkan countries.105 The core repertoire reflects the period of Ottoman wars against Habsburgs and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The direct parallel between real historical events, their perception in ballads and their geographical distribution could be established. The widespread motif of the “terrible Turk” in ballads about captured girls (motifs of “kidnapped bride” or “married to Turk”) could be found mostly on the left bank of river Morava, while on the North (to Silesia) and to the West (to Bohemia), the frequency of these motifs is decreasing.106 The stereotype of Turk on the right bank of Morava is preserved mostly as comic character of ridiculed Turk107 and as a mask during carnival celebrations (with significant attributes as moustache, sabre or sword and baggy trousers known as shalvar). This set of generally negative images oscillates between tragic and sometimes even comic perspectives: “The Turk goes through Moravia, his sabre glittering, Moravians run away, their shoes whistling”.108 Dramatically expressed dialogues between invaders and their victims, which could be found in ballads, contrast with moralizing tendencies in kramářské songs. These songs were usually sung in front of a public in markets and fairs and they were able to reach a larger audience.109 Directly pronounced narrations about wars, raids and kidnappings were accompanied by imitations of the language of the enemy – these so-called “Turkish” exclamations were popular, mainly in songs’ refrains (basateremtete). Some Turkish borrowings and inspirations occurred in Wallachian and Slovakian dialects, as “Turkish headscarf” (in vivid red colour), black boots known as čižmy (from Ottoman Turkish çizme) or jančary (from boots of janissaries). Till today, Wallachian dialect uses the word tatar as a synonym for traditional Easter baton or woven whip of willow, used to beat girls for they stay “young, healthy and fertile”.110 We also find expressions “to beat as a Turk” (without mercy), “to play as pandurs” (to beat someone severely), “to come as Turk” (in a hurry)111 or “Turkish household” (disorder) in Wallachian sayings. Another proverb maybe reflects the historical memory of Bocskai’s soldiers and other armies of Transylvanian princes: “a turkified one is worse than a Turk”.

• 112 František Sušil (ed.), Moravské národní písně [Moravian Folk Songs], Praha, Argo, 1998, p. 1 (...)
• 113 Soňa Burlasová (ed.), L’udové balady na Horehroní [Folk Ballads from Upper Hron Region], Bratis (...)

30Thus, the most frequent motif in songs and ballads is “Turk” as invader and kidnapper,112 whose tragic impact finds its parallel in the Balkans.113 He comes as an enemy, either to take a bride by force, or to pay a ransom for her in advance – in both cases, the girl prefers death in the river Danube: “eat me, Danube fish, eat me, I will rather be dead than to be the Turk’s wife”, while Turk’s mother is crying over her, lamenting: “why did you drown, oh my bride, you could live here, lying here in gold and silk”. The notion of forced departure from home is accentuated:

• 115 Popelka, Příběhy v písních vyzpívané, p. 298-300.
• 116 Sušil, Moravské národní písně, p. 104, 118, 131 ; Burlasová, L’udové balady na Horehroní, (...)
• 117 Oldřich Sirovátka, “Lidové balady na Slovácku” [Folk Ballads in Moravian Slovakia], Kultura a t (...)
• 118 Sušil, Moravské národní písně, p. 104 ; Popelka, Příběhy v písních vyzpívané, p. 183-1 (...)
• 119 Popelka, Příběhy v písních vyzpívané, p. 72.
• 120 Dieter Langewiesche in : Miloš Řezník, Formování moderního národa (evropské „dlouhé“ 19. s (...)
• 121 Jan Nepomuk Polášek and Arnošt Kubeša, Valašské pesničky, vol. I [Folk Songs from Wallachia] (...)

31The tragic motif of “kidnapped bride” is also linked with another motif of the kidnapped widow, crying over her abandoned children. “Hey widow, do you feel sorry for your children? I miss the most my youngest one, the most precious flower”, answers the widow, while “her heart is broken”.115 Other frequent motifs are also “kidnapped janissaire” (the mother meets her son, who was stolen from her as a child a long time ago116 and he eventually recognizes her because of her lullaby117) and “fighter-girl”118 (the youngest daughter goes to the battle against Turks instead of her old father, she defeats all enemies in disguise of a soldier and she eventually becomes Habsburg empress). The well-known song about the unexpected meeting of brother and sister (previously abducted into Ottoman captivity)119 mirrors the phenomenon of the slave trade; another version of this story tells about the fate of the kidnapped boy, who returns home after a long time, but dies alone in front of his native house, unrecognized by his parents. The experience of “Turkish war” appears to be essential in shaping regional historical memory;120 using during 19th century also the comparison with Napoleon’s campaigns in Central Europe: “ah, the French war… but even worse is, oh my son, the Turkish war.”121

• 123 The legend states that Madonna thanks to lightnings and storms drove away the Tatars in 1241-1242 a (...)
• 124 Miroslav Kafka, Pověsti a povídačky z kraje pod Komoncem, [Folk Stories From the Region of Mount (...)

32Some places or objects were considered sacred because of the belief that they were able to make invaders turn away – starting from the famous icon of Saint Mary of Hostýn or Madonna dei fulmini, located in the pilgrimage church on the Carpathian mountain of saint Hostýn123 or the statue called Black John in the city of Uherský Brod, considered to be a saviour of the town during kuruc wars. Many folk stories and legends reflect the phenomenon of Ottoman-Habsburg wars connected with specific places as the basis of their narrative.124

• 125 Anthony D. Smith, Myths and Memories of the Nations, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 229.

33The idea of defence against “Turk and Tatar” invaders emerged in mythomoteur125 or “driving force” of ethnic myth construction in this region. Turkish topoi in songs and ballads could be understood as an embodiment of historical experiments in cross-border regions such as Wallachia and Moravian Slovakia.

• 127 Kronika Holešovská 1615-1645 [Anonymous Chronicle of Holešov Town], Vlasta Fialová (ed.) Holeš (...)
• 128 Anonymous Chronicle of Holešov, p. 90-91.

34Turkish topoi and the historical background of incursions led through Wallachian passes had determined the way the stereotypical image of Wallachians was constructed. Wallachians were both – fighting against Turks and Tatars and fighting against Habsburg Emperor and his nobles; thus, these images intertwined between the defender and the rebel. Anti-Habsburg and anti-Catholic sentiments played a very important role in the emergence of Wallachian peasant rebellions against the centre (Vienna), which took place between the years 1621-1644 (during the Thirty Years’ War). There were several reasons for this great Wallachian revolt; among them the general distrust of the centralized power, which was not able to prevent and stop raids of “Turks and Tatars”, the resistance to the Catholic faith and the discontent because of the loss of ancient privileges. Wallachians were generally known among their neighbours as “free people” because of their absence of robota and because of their right to move freely between villages and towns (even beyond the border to Hungary), to chop the wood in beech forests, to catch fish, etc. Instability prevailing during the beginning of the 17^th century had contested these privileges; their gradual abolition then contributed to a series of uprisings and revolts, generally attributed to “mountain brigands”. The process of reCatholicization was forced to such an extent that all Protestants had to pay a heavy fine; the prohibition of all professions and activities concerned all who refused to convert more than one year (for example, the ban on beer tapping, wine, weaving, etc.). “They (Catholics) cut off the hearts of our bells, they beat off the inscriptions… (people) had to go to Catholic priests to be confessed under a fine,”127 states the anonymous chronicler from Holešov, adding that: “people had nothing to eat, so they changed (the religion), great wailing and crying among the people”128 Religious controversies have influenced the structure of Wallachian villages that it is visible till today – the Catholic and Protestant churches often stand opposite each other, competing by the height of their bell towers.

• 129 František Matějek, Morava za třicetileté války [Moravia During the Thirty Years’ War], Praha, (...)
• 130 Topos „zbojnická pravda“, „pravda u zbojníka“ (brigand’s truth, brigand’s right) – according to l (...)
• 131 Šuléř, Je to chůze po kotárech, p. 23.

35First Wallachian rebellions occurred already in 1621 after the battle of White Mountain when Wallachians started to support Gábor Bethlen’s army. Led by their hetmans (foyt, voyt), they took refuge in the mountains, where they supported Protestant troops and attacked the domains of Catholic nobles.129 Especially inhabitants of Northern Wallachia (Vsetín, Vsacko) revolted; it is not surprising that it was here that the stereotype of a brigand defending his “truth”130 against his lords was later codified.131 The Wallachian chronicler Ondřej Sivý from Valašské Meziříčí wrote down following words about the emergence of this uprising:

• 133 Poles or Cossacks in contemporary 17th century sources, irregular light cavalry formed by hetman Ja (...)

36Wallachian allies (as well as their enemies) changed rapidly in the context of the Thirty Years’ War. Bethlen’s Hungarians, Czech Protestant emigrant army of Jan Jiří Krnovský, Danes and finally Swedes followed one another (Wallachians helped them by military force, clothing, supplies, especially salt, during winter, etc.).The reputed Wallachian hetman Jan Adam from Víckov, the nephew of the famous Albrecht von Wallenstein, had fortified in the border castle Lukov,133 becoming (even after his unexplained death) an icon of Wallachian rebellion. The specific feature of the Wallachian rebellion consisted of the fighting also during winter months (which was a tactic unknown here till then, based on the support of the local population in the style of a guerrilla movement). Nevertheless, there was a paradoxical situation because contemporary sources started to mention Wallachians with the same distrust as before the invaders from beyond the border, against whom the same Wallachians had defended mountain passes in the past. Thus, the stereotype of Wallachians was double-faced – on the one hand, perceived as guards against Turkish threat. On the other hand, the codified image of Wallachians as dangerous rebels merged with the stereotype of glorified outlaws and brigands.

• 134 Anonymous Chronicle of Holešov, p. 117-118.
• 135 For more details : Bohuslav Burian, Dějiny protestantismu na Vsetínsku [History of Protestatism i (...)
• 136 As other fighters of religion in Balkans – Greek klephtoi, Serbian hajduks or Croatian uskoks, more (...)

37At the very end of the Thirty Years’ War (1644), more than 400 Wallachian rebels were publicly executed at the central place of Vsetín town. This execution contributed to the creation of another lieu de mémoire: “soldiers went to the mountains (to persecute) Wallachians… Some (of rebels) were hung on, some exposed to be spat at, others on the wheel and their bodies quartered … the wailing from their wives and children was so great that it was unbearable to listen”, writes the anonymous contemporary chronicler of Holešov.134 Even after this execution, the majority of Wallachians retained their original Protestant (mostly Lutheran) faith, as testified by number of false tolerance edicts, issued before the Patent of Toleration of Habsburg Emperor Joseph II.135 The general anarchy during and after the Thirty Years’ War even more deepened the glorification of stereotype of bandit, which was later re-actualized in the period of Romanticism, when robberies were not seen as the crime, but as a legitimate way of living, and brigands were understood as defenders of religion and nation.136

• 137 Stories about brigands and gendarmes in : Šuléř, Je to chůze po kotárech, p. 23.
• 138 Codification of brigands’ stories in 18th century, Šuléř, Je to chůze po kotárech, pp. 174-175 (...)

38Wallachian brigand tradition is closely linked with the Silesian and Slovakian tradition, both inseparably connected with Carpathian Mountains, perceived as mountain refuge and shelter for outlaws. This romanticized stereotype is seen on the one hand as a source of ethnic pride, on the other hand as a marker of alterity and danger – here, it is partially intertwined with the “Turkish danger”. Eastern Moravia could be considered in this context as the depository of folk legends and songs about brigands (zbojník), depicted as heroic figures, “tall as a fir-tree, agile like a snake, smart like a fox”.137 Perceived as protectors of poor peasants against their oppressors (in Robin Hood style), brigands as Slovakian Jánošík or Silesian Juráš and Ondráš entered in collective historical memory as a specific narrative of brave heroes gifted by supernatural powers, even strengthened during the first phase of the National Revival movement.138

• 139 Československá vlastivěda vol. III, Lidová Kultura [Czechoslovak Ethnography : Traditional Cult (...)
• 140 Peck, Valašské národní písně a říkadla, p. 150.
• 141 František Bartoš (ed.), Národní písně moravské : písně baladické [Folk Moravian Balladic (...)
• 142 Incantations from specific magical books or ritual prayers, more details in : Peck, Valašské nár (...)

39Their masculine strength was associated primarily with their belt, axe (valaška), baton (palaš) later replaced by pistol (karabina), and with specific boots called krpce (footwear tied to the laces wrapped around the foot). Wallachian axes, decorated by carvings and inlays,139 were considered in local legends as magical objects (with their help, hidden treasures in the ruins of castles could be found).140 If the enemy seized the axe, the brigand was defeated immediately; only his weapons gave him an aura of immortality. Thus, famous outlaws in legends were always defeated because of the betrayal of their former friends or their mistress; lamentations over their death were an integral part of this topos.141 Brigands were persecuted by portáš, gendarmes (directly intended to suppress banditry after the Thirty Years’ War). The fate of brigands was sometimes very closely connected with hidden treasures and with the magical power of folk healers, known in Carpathian mountains as bohyně or božec (she or he could foretell the future, explain the past, heal and incant some diseases, to cause the infertility or to cure it, evoke the love by means of white magic or to kill somebody by using black magic).142

• 143 Helena Milanová, „Vlasta Grycová – zpěvačka lidových písní ze Strání“ [V. Grycová, Sing (...)
• 144 František Bartoš, Moravský Lid [Moravian People], Telč, 1892, p. 32.

40The brigand tradition was also closely linked to folk dances, such as axe dance (part of male dances, where dancers used to demonstrate their ability, dexterity and strength). Dance called podšable, usually performed with swords, was traditionally connected with brigands or captured kuruc sodiers.143 Sword dances used to be danced during carnival celebrations (fašank, masopust)144 or before the ritual of morena – carrying away the symbol of Winter and death at the beginning of the Spring. The role of audience in these dances was also very important, for it evaluates and appreciates the dancer’s performance, especially during the improvisation itself. This is the case of odzemek, Wallachian dance with axes and sabres, or the case of verbunk, Moravian Slovakian dance of war recruits (now the part of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO).

• 145 To name but a few, we can mention the folk musical Nikola Šuhaj the Robber, music band Hradišť (...)

41Songs about “forest robbers” or “boys from beech forests” are still listed among the most popular folk songs. Many variants of brigands’ songs are characterized by certain recklessness and carefree approach, which gained them in popularity especially in the time of National Revival: “Let’s go, boys, let’s go plunder because we have nothing to drink for…”; “Oh mountain, mountain, oak tree, helps us, oh God, something to steal – horse or oxen, or the girl that I love”; “I will not become a hunter, I will be brigand, I will walk through the path of sheep”. The notion of freedom and resistance against central power (Habsburgs, gendarmes, Ottomans, etc.) was strongly appreciated by first ethnographers and folklorists, who interpreted these songs as the expression of heroism and the fight of Moravian rural population against oppressors. Symbols of mountain-refuge are sometimes shown with humorous aspect, even intermingling between fatalism, which probably even more increased their attractiveness: “Oh mother, give me to school to learn how to read the letters. When I learn to read, I learn how to steal, starting with the oxen from my neighbors”; “They are not brigands, they are good boys, what they see during the day they steal in the night”. These brigand songs, revitalized during Soviet Czechoslovakia in an organized form of “pure folklore”, still appear today in the repertoire of various music groups across all genres.145

• 147 Crossing vectors of memory, Eva Krekovičová, Mentálne obrazy, stereotypy a mýty vo folklore a v (...)
• 148 Margareta Sanchez-Mazas and Laurent Licatta, l’Autre : regards psychosociaux, Grenoble, Presses uni (...)
• 149 Pierre Nora et al., les Lieux de mémoire, vol. I, la République, Paris, Gallimard, 1984, p. 19-20 (...)
• 150 Maurice Halbwachs, la Mémoire collective, Paris, Albin Michel, 1994, p. 113.

42Stereotypes, mirroring the interpretation (sometimes contradictory147) of past events, could be understood as an integral part of each ethnohistory. It is a set of knowledge about the history of the region, assumed, constructed and transmitted on the basis of regional chronicles, colophons, historical songs, ballads, testimonies from contemporary and more recent periods148 and always reactualized through the prism of the present.149 This re-actualization, albeit reconstruction of memories150 makes the memory of region still living. While creating lieux de mémoire as monuments of famous battlefields or executions of national heroes, the maintenance of a specific regional identity could continue. In the case of Moravian Wallachia, it is the monument of Wallachian rebels’ execution in Vsetín, the monument of Wallachian guards in Bedová and many others, leaving visible traces in the landscape. In the analysed case of West Carpathian Mountains of Moravian Wallachia and Slovakia, the images of “Turks and Tatars” as invaders and images of Wallachians as guardians and rebels have been both particularly focused, showing that the proximity of Ottoman borderland had closely affected the history of the lands of the Bohemian Crown for almost two centuries. In contrast to the category of Turks as the figure of the Enemy, Wallachians were depicted as guards of Order and Christian (Protestant) religion; both in the fight against Ottoman Turks and against Habsburgs (Catholics). Wallachian opposition to Habsburgs’ efforts to re-Catholicize the whole region had also its profound significance, even more accentuated in the period of the National Revival. The self-image of a strongly tied mountainous community respecting its traditions could be understood as the backbone of today’s Wallachian ethnolinguistic identity. The stereotype of Moravian Wallachia influenced not only the historical region of Eastern Moravia, but also its relations with historical Bohemia. This issue falls within the scope of understanding the potential tensions in the broader context of today’s Czech Republic as well as the comeback of regional identity revival.