THE RUTHENIANS - WHY THEY ARE NOT RUSSIANS

I thought the book Empress of the East by author Leslie Pierce was outstanding but I did have one problem with it and that was her identification of Roxelana as Russian. You see Ruthenians are not Russians.  They are Slavic, but they are not ethnically Russian.  To those who are Ruthenian that is not OK.

The word SLAVE comes from the word Slav...

The slavers who took boys and girls, men and women, away from Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, and other areas of Central and Eastern Europe focused on poor areas that did not have a defense. When it came to the Turks in the 1500,  Slavers were part of a supply chain. Slavers were not just Tatars (a Moslem group) but also the Venetians (people from Venice before it was Italy) and other ethnic groups who human trafficked. Some of these people did not make the journey, some of them died young, and for women their fate had a lot to do with how physically attractive they were.

The Ruthenians are a Slavic group that has traditionally lived in and around the Carpathian Mountains, which using today's maps, are in four countries.  There are three groups - you could say ethnic subgroups - that make the Ruthenians, who are usually  Byzantine ie Greek Catholic (Orthodox) rather than Roman Catholic. Through the centuries various languages have come up with different names for them including Western Ukrainians. 

Based on the area in which Roxelana was captured, she was most likely of the Lemko group.

If you're more interested check out this link! CARPATHO RUSYN ORG - LEMKOS

You may also be interested in this achieved month"

SEX TRAFFICKING : MORE PEOPLE ARE SEX TRAFFICKED TODAY THEN THERE WERE EVER AFRICAN SLAVES IN AMERICA  in April 2021

Missy