"The Man Who Would Be King" (1888) is a story by Rudyard Kipling about two British adventurers in British India who become kings of Kafiristan, a remote part of Afghanistan. The story was first published in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales (1888); it also appeared in Wee Willie Winkie and Other Child Stories (1895) and numerous later editions of that collection. It has been adapted for other media a number of times.
Hunedoara is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southwestern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boș (Bós), Groș (Grós), Hășdat, Peștișu Mare (Alpestes), and Răcăștia (Rákosd).
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus was a Roman general, author, and patron of literature and art.
John Hunyadi was a leading Hungarian military and political figure in Central and Southeastern Europe during the 15th century. According to most contemporary sources, he was the member of a noble family of Wallachian ancestry. He mastered his military skills on the southern borderlands of the Kingdom of Hungary that were exposed to Ottoman attacks. Appointed voivode of Transylvania and head of a number of southern counties, he assumed responsibility for the defense of the frontiers in 1441.
Vlad II, also known as Vlad Dracul or Vlad the Dragon, was Voivode of Wallachia from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He is internationally known as the father of Vlad the Impaler, or Dracula. Born an illegitimate son of Mircea I of Wallachia, he spent his youth at the court of Sigismund of Luxembourg, who made him a member of the Order of the Dragon in 1431. Sigismund also recognized him as the lawful Voivode of Wallachia, allowing him to settle in nearby Transylvania. Vlad could not assert his claim during the life of his half-brother, Alexander I Aldea, who acknowledged the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultan, Murad II.
Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula, was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian history and a national hero of Romania.
The siege of Belgrade, or siege of Nándorfehérvár was a military blockade of Belgrade that occurred 4–22 July 1456 in the aftermath of the fall of Constantinople in 1453 marking the Ottomans' attempts to expand further into Europe. Led by Sultan Mehmed II, the Ottoman forces sought to capture the strategic city of Belgrade, which was then under Hungarian control and was crucial for maintaining control over the Danube River and the Balkans.
The Crusade of Varna was an unsuccessful military campaign mounted by several European leaders to check the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Central Europe, specifically the Balkans between 1443 and 1444. It was called by Pope Eugene IV on 1 January 1443 and led by King Władysław III of Poland, John Hunyadi, Voivode of Transylvania, and Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy.
El Borak, otherwise known as Francis Xavier Gordon, is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. Gordon was a Texan gunfighter from El Paso who had travelled the world and settled in Afghanistan. He is known in Asia for his exploits in that continent.
A list of prose works by Robert E. Howard. The works are sorted by genre, by series and then alphabetically. Untitled works and fragments are listed separately by their opening line.
Kirby O'Donnell is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. He is an American treasure hunter in early-twentieth century Afghanistan disguised as a Kurdish merchant, "Ali el Ghazi". Howard only wrote three stories about O'Donnell, one of which was not published within his lifetime.
"Son of the White Wolf" is an El Borak short story by American writer Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the December 1936 issue of the pulp magazine Thrilling Adventures.
"The Daughter of Erlik Khan" is an El Borak short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the December 1934 issue of the pulp magazine Top-Notch.
"Hawk of the Hills" is an El Borak short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the June 1935 issue of the pulp magazine Top-Notch, one of only five of the El Borak stories published within Howard's lifetime. The story was featured as the cover of that issue.
"Blood of the Gods" is an El Borak short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the July 1935 issue of the pulp magazine Top-Notch.
"Country of the Knife" is an El Borak short story by Robert E. Howard. It was originally published in the August 1936 issue of the pulp magazine Complete Stories. The story is also known as "Sons of the Hawk".
"Three-Bladed Doom" is an adventure short story by American writer Robert E. Howard, featuring his character El Borak. It was not published within Howard's lifetime.
"The Coming of El Borak" is an El Borak short story by Robert E. Howard. First printed in the chapbook The Coming of El Borak, it was not published in Howard's lifetime. The chapbook features art by Stephen Fabian, and was edited by Robert M. Price.
"North of Khyber" is an El Borak short story by Robert E. Howard. It was not published within Howard's lifetime - it was first printed in the chapbook North of Khyber. All stories in the chapbook also feature another of Howard's characters, The Sonora Kid.
The Hunyadi family was one of the most powerful noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th century. A member of the family, Matthias Corvinus, was King of Hungary from 1458 until 1490, King of Bohemia from 1469 until 1490, and Duke of Austria from 1487 until 1490. His illegitimate son, John Corvinus, ruled the Duchy of Troppau from 1485 until 1501, and five further Silesian duchies, including Bytom, Głubczyce, Loslau, Racibórz, and Tost, from 1485 until 1490. The Hunyadi coat-of-arms depicted a raven with a golden ring in its beak.
