There is also speculation that the name Galata comes from the Italian word for descent (calata), an appropriate description of the steep and staired streets that slope down the hill from Beyoglu to the Golden Horn.

The 18 martial techniques begin with unarmed training, or gwonbeop, including punching, wrestling and kicking , all of which are fundamental to the higher levels of armed training.

The four top ranking families in the anzianate were thus not only banking families but three of the four held a significantly larger proportion of their terms in the anzianate in the second period, after the bankers (along with their merchants) lost their numerical advantage in that office.

What is a pigwidgeon? you ask. That's Mister Pigwidgeon to you, says the elf with a sniff, and I'd like to know what gives you the right to interrupt my afternoon nap.