Editing Nicolae Iorga (section)

===Studies abroad===
[[File:Nicolae Iorga - Thomas III Marquis de Saluces.png|thumb|Title page of ''Thomas III, marquis de Saluces'', 1893]]
[[File:Nicolae Iorga - Philippe de Mezieres - Prima pagina.png|thumb|Title page of Iorga's ''Philippe de Mézières'', in its 1896 edition]]
Having received the scholarship early in the year, he made his first study trips to Italy (April and June 1890), and subsequently left for a longer stay in France, enlisting at the ''[[École pratique des hautes études]]''.<ref name="ivxxxii"/> He was a contributor for the ''[[Encyclopédie française]]'', personally recommended there by [[Slavic studies|Slavist]] [[Louis Léger]].<ref name="ivxxxii"/> Reflecting back on this time, he stated: "I never had as much time at my disposal, as much freedom of spirit, as much joy of learning from those great figures of mankind&nbsp;... than back then, in that summer of 1890".<ref>Iova, pp. xxxii–xxxiii</ref> While preparing for his second diploma, Iorga also pursued his interest in philology, learning English, German, and rudiments of other Germanic languages.<ref name="ivxxxiii">Iova, p. xxxiii</ref> In 1892, he was in England and in Italy, researching historical sources for his French-language thesis on [[Philippe de Mézières]], a Frenchman in the [[Alexandrian Crusade|Crusade of 1365]].<ref name="ivxxxiii"/> In tandem, he became a contributor to ''[[Revue Historique]]'', a leading French academic journal.<ref name="ivxxxiii"/>

Somewhat dissatisfied with French education,<ref>Nastasă (2003), pp. 154, 233–234; (2007), pp. 179–180, 201–202</ref> Iorga presented his dissertation and, in 1893, left for the [[German Empire]], attempting to enlist in the [[University of Berlin]]'s PhD program. His working paper, on [[Thomas III of Saluzzo]], was not received, because Iorga had not spent three years in training, as required. As an alternative, he gave formal pledge that the paper in question was entirely his own work, but his statement was invalidated by technicality: Iorga's work had been redacted by a more proficient speaker of German, whose intervention did not touch the substance of Iorga's research.<ref name="ivxxxiii"/> The ensuing controversy led him to apply for a [[University of Leipzig]] PhD: his text, once reviewed by a commission grouping three prominent German scholars ([[Adolf Birch-Hirschfeld]], [[Karl Gotthard Lamprecht]], [[Charles Wachsmuth]]), earned him the needed diploma in August.<ref>Iova, pp. xxxiii–xxxiv</ref> On 25 July, Iorga had also received his {{Lang|fr|École pratique}} diploma for the earlier work on de Mézières, following its review by [[Gaston Paris]] and [[Charles Bémont]].<ref name="ivxxxiii"/> He spent his time further investigating the historical sources, at archives in Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden.<ref name="ivxxxiv">Iova, p. xxxiv</ref> Between 1890 and the end of 1893, he had published three works: his debut in poetry ({{Lang|ro|Poezii}}, "Poems"), the first volume of {{Lang|ro|Schițe din literatura română}} ("Sketches on Romanian Literature", 1893; second volume 1894), and his Leipzig thesis, printed in Paris as {{Lang|fr|Thomas III, marquis �de Saluces. Étude historique et littéraire}} ("Thomas, Margrave of Saluzzo. Historical and Literary Study").<ref>Iova, pp. xxxiv–xxxv. See also Călinescu, p. 1010</ref>

Living in poor conditions (as reported by visiting scholar [[Teohari Antonescu]]),<ref>Nastasă (2003), pp. 66–68</ref> the four-year engagement of his scholarship still applicable, Nicolae Iorga decided to spend his remaining time abroad, researching more city archives in Germany (Munich), Austria (Innsbruck) and Italy (Florence, Milan, Naples, Rome, Venice etc.)<ref name="ivxxxiv"/> In this instance, his primordial focus was on historical figures from his Romanian homeland, the defunct [[Danubian Principalities]] of [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]]: the [[List of rulers of Moldavia|Moldavian Prince]] [[Peter the Lame]], his son Ștefăniță, and Romania's national hero, the [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Wallachian Prince]] [[Michael the Brave]].<ref name="ivxxxiv"/> He also met, befriended and often collaborated with fellow historians from European countries other than Romania: the editors of ''[[Revue de l'Orient Latin]]'', who first published studies Iorga later grouped in the six volumes of {{Lang|fr|Notes et extraits}} ("Notices and Excerpts") and [[Frantz Funck-Brentano]], who enlisted his parallel contribution for ''Revue Critique''.<ref>Iova, p. xxxiv. See also Setton, p. 62</ref> Iorga's articles were also featured in two magazines for ethnic Romanian communities in [[Austria-Hungary]]: ''[[Familia (literary magazine)|Familia]]'' and ''[[Vatra (Romanian magazine)|Vatra]]''.<ref name="ivxxxiv"/>