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Foundation of Dobrudja, Terra Dobrotici

 

Inscription with Romanian Name Petre on a jug of 900's 

History of Dobudja

 at: http://sulina-tourism.eu/continut/enistoric.html

    

 Timeline

 

at: http://www.raven-glass.com/vlad/romania/timeline.html

943 ---  The fragment of Slavonic inscription discovered at Mircea Voda village, mentions a "jupan Dimitrie" (boyar), the first written testimony of the social stratification on the Lower Danube.

Dimitri (Дѣимитрѣ жѹпанѣ), a local feudal landlord in the south of the region in 943. It says that the inscription was found in the castrum no. VIII, near the railway station of Mircea Voda, on a slab of limestone

 http://www.jstor.org/pss/4205183

  http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Dobruja

 

 

968 (summer) and 969 (summer). ---  The expeditions of the great Prince of Kiev, Svyatoslav Igorevitch (ca. 964-972) to the Lower Danube, where the Russian chronicle The Story of By- Gone Times mentions the existence of an intense economic life (80 walled cities); an area where the great trading routes from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe converge. Svyatoslav considers the possibility to take residence in Dobruja, at Pereyaslavets, an important trade centre.

971 July. ---   At the end of the month, after a three month siege, the Byzantine armies, led by Emperor John I Tzimisces (969-976) oblige Svyatoslav Igorevitch who was by then in the Dorostolon fortress (Silistra) to surrender; the knyaz of Kiev pledges, among others, to leave Dobruja. The restoration of Byzantine rule over the Lower Danubian territories. After his victory, Emperor Tzimisces receives the messengers of Constantia (prob. Constantiana Daphne) and of other north Danubian cities who submit themselves; Byzantine garrisons are placed in the newly subjected fortresses.

10th-11th C. ---  The Byzantine authorities raise a powerful fortress at Garvan-Dinogetia in northern Dobruja on the 4th-6th C. ruins, as well as religious edifices, which are still favouring the penetration of Byzantine influences on the territories of the Lower Danube.

1018 ---  End of the first Bulgarian Czardom. After several victories, the Byzantine emperor Basil II (963, 976-1025) expanded the Byzantine domination over the entire territory of the former Bulgarian state.

In 1018, the Pechenegs were allies of Grand Prince Sviatopolk I of Kiev (1015-1019) against his brother, Grand Prince Yaroslav I the Wise (1019-1054)).[17] The unknown author of an early 13th-century biography of St. Olaf of Norway also mentions Blókumenn among Sviatopolk’s allies.[17] Similarly, the inscription of an 11th-century runestone commemorates a merchant who was traveling to Constantinople and was killed by Blakumen.[17] The traditional interpretation of the ethnonym Blokumenn is Vlach (that is Romanian).[

ca. 1045 ---  Byzantine-Pecheneg agreement. Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-1055) accepts a part of the Pechenegs, led by Kegenes, to settle down in Dobruja where they received land and three fortresses, with the mission to defend the empire's border line from the Danube fords, against the attacks of other Pecheneg tribes, led by Tyrach.

1054 July 16. ---   The Great Schism. Patriarch Michael Cerularius (1043-1058) and Pope Leo IX (1049-1054) excommunicate one another; final separation of the Church of Rome and that of Constantinople. The Romanian people remain among the groups of peoples of Orthodox faith, which is under the canonical authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

1320 --- The oldest mention of Dobruja, as a self-depending political structure; nevertheless, it had been in existence since earlier times.

1325 --- The Patriarchate of Byzantium, nominates as "Metropolitan of Varna and Carbona" (of the feudal independent state of Dobruja) the archbishop Metodie.

1346 ---  Balica, leader of Dobruja, interferes in the internal struggles of the Byzantine Empire. He sends 1,000 soldiers under the command of Dobrotici and his brother Theodor to support Anne of Savoya, mother of John V Paleologus, against John VI Cantacuzenus, pretender to the imperial throne.

 1348 ---  Dobrotici becomes the ruler of Dobruja, after Balica's disappearance in unknown circumstances.

 


http://www.historia.ro/exclusiv_web/actualitate/articol/sute-schelete-secolul-al-ix-lea-descoperite-santierul-autostrazii-s 

Sute de schelete, despre care arheologii spun că ar fi ale strămoşilor noştri care au trăit în secolul al IX-lea într-un sat din zona Valul lui Traian, judeţul Constanţa, au fost descoperite recent pe şantierul Autostrăzii Soarelui.

Pe lângă cimitirul care se întinde pe sute de metri pătraţi, arheologii au mai găsit şi câteva bordeie de piatră, semn că acolo ar fi fost o aşezare rurală despre care nu se ştia absolut nimic.

Istoricii sunt de părere că satul din mileniul I descoperit chiar în locul pe unde ar trebui să treacă axul autostrăzii, era unul destul de înstărit, date fiind relicvele de bronz şi fier găsite lângă morminte. Cum din spate vin utilajele care muncesc la construcţia drumului, arheologii muncesc din greu să scoată la lumină fiecare schelet, pe care să-l ducă apoi la institutele de antropologie şi la muzeele specializate. Această descoperire ar putea să aducă puţină lumină asupra perioadei secolelor VII - X, epocă cunoscută la noi ca o mare pată albă a istoriei strămoşilor noştri. După retragerea aureliană din secolul III şi după ce Imperiul bizantin a intrat în declin fiind incapabil să mai controleze zona vecină Dunării, misterul supravieţuirii populaţiei în aceste zone sporeşte, după cum şi spoziţiile legate de proto-români.

Sursă: www.stirileprotv.ro

 

 

Dobruja

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobruja

During this period Silistra became an important Bulgarian ecclesiastical centre—an episcopate after 865 and seat of the Bulgarian Patriarch at the end of 10th century.[45] In 895, Magyar tribes from Budjak invaded Dobruja and northeastern Bulgaria. An old Slavic inscription, found at Mircea Vodă, mentions Zhupan Dimitri (Дѣимитрѣ жѹпанѣ), a local feudal landlord in the south of the region in 943.[46]   

 

Return of the Byzantine rule and late migrations. Second Valachian Bulgarian Empire and Mongol domination

On Nikephoros II Phocas demand, Sviatoslav I of Kiev occupied Dobruja in 968. He also moved the capital of Kievan Rus' to Pereyaslavets, in the north of the region. However, Byzantines under John I Tzimisces reconquered it in 971 and included it in the Theme Mesopotamia of the West (Μεσοποταμια της Δυσεον).[47] According to some historians soon after 976[48] or in 986, the southern part of Dobruja was included in the Bulgarian state of Samuil, while the northern part remained under Byzantine rule, being reorganised in an autonomous klimata.[49][50] According to other theories, Northern Dobruja was reconquered by Bulgarians as well.[51] In 1000, a Byzantine army commanded by Theodorokanos reconquered the whole Dobruja,[52] organizing the region as Strategia of Dorostolon and, after 1020, as Thema Paristrion (Paradunavon). To prevent mounted attacks from the north, the Byzantines constructed three ramparts from the Black Sea down to the Danube, in the 10th–11th centuries.[53][54] However, according to the Bulgarian archaeologists and historians, these fortifications are earlier, and were erected by the First Bulgarian Empire in connection with the threat of Khazars' raids.[55][56]

Beginning with the 10th century, Byzantines accepted the settling of small groups of Pechenegs in Dobruja.[57] In the spring of 1036, an invasion of the Pechenegs devastated large parts of the region,[58][dead link] destroying the forts at Capidava and Dervent and burning the settlement in Dinogeţia. In 1046 the Byzantines accepted the settling of Pechenegs under Kegen in Paristrion as foederati.[59][dead link] They established some form of domination until 1059, when Isaac I Komnenos reconquered Dobruja. In 1064, the great invasion of the Uzes affected the region. In 1072–1074, when Nestor, the new strategos of Paristrion, came to Dristra, he found a ruler in rebellion there, Tatrys. In 1091, three autonomous, probably Pecheneg,[60] rulers were mentioned in the Alexiad: Tatos (Τατοῦ) or Chalis (χαλῆ), in the area of Dristra (probably the same as Tatrys),[61] and Sesthlav (Σεσθλάβου) and Satza (Σατζά) in the area of Vicina.[62]

First Bulgarian Empire rule

Monument to Asparuh, the founder of the First Bulgarian State, in Dobrich: Dobruja was part of the state from Asparuh's conquest in the 7th century on

The results of the archaeological researches indicate that Byzantine presence in Dobruja's mainland and on the banks of Danube lost weight in the end of the 6th century under the pressure of the Migration Period. In the coastal fortifications on the southern bank of Danube, latest Byzantine coin finds date from the time of the emperors Tiberius II Constantine (574–582) and Heraclius (610–641). After that period all inland Byzantine cities were demolished and abandoned.[29] On the other hand, some of the earliest Slavic settlements to the south of Danube were discovered in Dobruja, near the villages of Popina, Gărvan and Nova Cherna, and were dated to the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th centuries.[30] These lands became the main zone of compact Bulgar settlement in the end of 7th century.[31]

According to the peace treaty of 681, signed after the Bulgarian victory over Byzantines in the Battle of Ongala, Dobruja became part of the First Bulgarian Empire.[32] Shortly after, Bulgars founded near the southern border of Dobruja the city of Pliska, which became the first Bulgarian capital,[33] and rebuilt Madara as major Bulgarian pagan religious centre.[34] According to the Bulgarian Apocryphal Chronicle, from the 11th century, Bulgarian Tsar Ispor "accepted the Bulgarian tsardom", created "great cities, Drastar on the Danube", a "great wall from Danube to the sea", "the city of Pliska" and "populated the lands of Karvuna".[35] According to Bulgarian historians, during the 7th–10th centuries, the region was embraced by a large net of earthen and wooden strongholds and ramparts.[36] Around the end of the 8th century, wide building of new stone fortresses and defensive walls began.[37] The Bulgarian origin of the walls is disputed by Romanian historians, who base their position on the construction system and archaeological evidence. Some of the ruined Byzantine fortresses were reconstructed as well (Kaliakra and Silistra in the 8th century, Madara and Varna in the 9th).[38] According to some authors, during the following three centuries of Bulgarian domination, Byzantines still controlled the Black Sea coast and the mouths of Danube, and for short periods, even some cities.[39] However, according to Bulgarian archaeologists, the last coins, considered a proof of Byzantine presence, date in Kaliakra from the time of Emperor Justin II (565–578),[40] in Varna from the time of Emperor Heraclius (610–641),[41] and in Tomis from Constantine IV's rule (668–685).[42]

At the beginning of the 8th century, Justinian II visited Dobruja to ask Bulgarian Khan Tervel for military help. Khan Omurtag (815–831) built a "glorious home on Danube" and erected a mound in the middle of the distance between Pliska and his new building, according to his inscription kept in SS. Forty Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo. The location of this edifice is unclear; the main theories place it at Silistra or at Păcuiul lui Soare.[43] Many early medieval Bulgar stone inscriptions were found in Dobruja, including historical narratives, inventories of armament or buildings and commemorative texts.[44] During this period Silistra became an important Bulgarian ecclesiastical centre—an episcopate after 865 and seat of the Bulgarian Patriarch at the end of 10th century.[45] In 895, Magyar tribes from Budjak invaded Dobruja and northeastern Bulgaria. An old Slavic inscription, found at Mircea Vodă, mentions Zhupan Dimitri (Дѣимитрѣ жѹпанѣ), a local feudal landlord in the south of the region in 943.[46]

Return of the Byzantine rule and late migrations. Second Vlach-Bulgarian Empire and Mongol domination

On Nikephoros II Phocas demand, Sviatoslav I of Kiev occupied Dobruja in 968. He also moved the capital of Kievan Rus' to Pereyaslavets, in the north of the region. However, Byzantines under John I Tzimisces reconquered it in 971 and included it in the Theme Mesopotamia of the West (Μεσοποταμια της Δυσεον).[47] According to some historians soon after 976[48] or in 986, the southern part of Dobruja was included in the Bulgarian state of Samuil, while the northern part remained under Byzantine rule, being reorganised in an autonomous klimata.[49][50] According to other theories, Northern Dobruja was reconquered by Bulgarians as well.[51] In 1000, a Byzantine army commanded by Theodorokanos reconquered the whole Dobruja,[52] organizing the region as Strategia of Dorostolon and, after 1020, as Thema Paristrion (Paradunavon). To prevent mounted attacks from the north, the Byzantines constructed three ramparts from the Black Sea down to the Danube, in the 10th–11th centuries.[53][54] However, according to the Bulgarian archaeologists and historians, these fortifications are earlier, and were erected by the First Bulgarian Empire in connection with the threat of Khazars' raids.[55][56]

Beginning with the 10th century, Byzantines accepted the settling of small groups of Pechenegs in Dobruja.[57] In the spring of 1036, an invasion of the Pechenegs devastated large parts of the region,[58][dead link] destroying the forts at Capidava and Dervent and burning the settlement in Dinogeţia. In 1046 the Byzantines accepted the settling of Pechenegs under Kegen in Paristrion as foederati.[59][dead link] They established some form of domination until 1059, when Isaac I Komnenos reconquered Dobruja. In 1064, the great invasion of the Uzes affected the region. In 1072–1074, when Nestor, the new strategos of Paristrion, came to Dristra, he found a ruler in rebellion there, Tatrys. In 1091, three autonomous, probably Pecheneg,[60] rulers were mentioned in the Alexiad: Tatos (Τατοῦ) or Chalis (χαλῆ), in the area of Dristra (probably the same as Tatrys),[61] and Sesthlav (Σεσθλάβου) and Satza (Σατζά) in the area of Vicina.[62]

 

Bulgaria in the second half of the 13th century. The red points show the range of the Ivailo Uprising.

Cumans came in Dobruja in 1094 and maintained an important role until the advent of the Ottoman Empire.[63] In 1187 the Byzantines lost what is now Dobruja to the resorted Bulgarian Empire. In 1241, the first Tatar groups, under Kadan, invaded Dobruja starting a century long history of turmoil in the region.[64] In 1263–1264, Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus gave permission to Sultan Kaykaus II to settle in the area with a group of Seljuk Turks from Anatolia.[65] A missionary Turkish mystic, Sarı Saltuk, was the spiritual leader of this group;[66] his tomb in Babadag (which was named after him)[67] is still a place of pilgrimage for the Muslims. That happened during the campaign of Michael Glava Tarhaniotes against Bulgaria.[68] A part of these Turks returned to Anatolia in 1307, while those who remained became Christianised and adopted the name Gagauz.[69][70] In the 1265 the Bulgarian Emperor Constantine Tikh Asen hired 20,000 Tatar to cross the Danube and attack Byzantine Thrace.[71][72] On their way back the Tatars forced most of the Seljuk Turks including their chief Sarı Saltuk to resettle in Kipchak (Cumania).[73][74] In the second part of the 13th century, the Turkic–Mongolian Golden Horde Empire continuously raided and plundered Dobruja.[75] The incapability of the Bulgarian authorities to cope with the numerous raids became the main reason for the uprising of Ivailo (1277–1280) which broke out in eastern Bulgaria.[76] Ivailo's army defeated the Tatars who were forced to leave the Bulgarian territory, then routed Constantine Tikh's army and Ivailo was crowned Emperor of Bulgaria. The war with the Tatars, however, raged—in 1278, after a new Tatar invasion in Dobruja, Ivailo was forced to retreat to the strong fortress of Silistra in which he withstood a three-month siege.[77] In 1280 the Bulgarian nobility, which feared the growing influence of the peasant emperor, organised a coup and Ivailo had to flee to his enemy the Tatar Nogai Khan, who later killed him.[78] In 1300 the new Khan of the Golden Horde Toqta ceded Bessarabia to Emperor Theodore Svetoslav.[79]

Kaliakra fortress, the seat of the autonomous Dobrujan Principality

Autonomous Dobruja. The wars against the Ottomans

Main article: Principality of Karvuna

In 1325, the Ecumenical Patriarch nominated a certain Methodius Metropolitan of Varna and Carvona.[80] After this date, a local ruler, Balik/Balica,[81] is mentioned in Southern Dobruja. In 1346, he supported John V Palaeologus in the dispute for the Byzantine throne with John VI Cantacuzenus by sending an army corps under his son Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici and his brother, Theodore, to help the mother of John Palaeologus, Anna of Savoy. For his bravery, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici received the title of strategos and married the daughter of megadux Apokaukos.[82][dead link] After the reconciliation of the two pretenders, a territorial dispute broke out between the Dobrujan polity and the Byzantine Empire for the port of Midia.[83] In 1347, on John V Palaeologus' demand, Emir Bahud-din Umur, Bey of Aydin, led a naval expedition against Balik/Balica, destroying Dobruja's seaports. Balik/Balica and Theodore died during the confrontations, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici becoming the new ruler.[84]

DOBROGEA- TERRA DOBROTICI

Between 1352 and 1359, with the fall of Golden Horde rule in Northern Dobruja, a new state appeared, under Tatar prince Demetrius, who claimed to be the protector of the mouths of the Danube.[85]

In 1357 Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici was mentioned as a despot ruling over a large territory, including the fortresses of Varna, Kozeakos (near Obzor) and Emona.[86] In 1366, John V Palaeologus visited Rome and Buda, trying to gather military support for his campaigns, but on the way home he was blocked at Vidin by Ivan Alexander, Tsar of Tarnovo, who considered that the new alliances were directed against his realm. An anti-Ottoman crusade under Amadeus VI of Savoy, supported by Venice and Genoa, was diverted to free the Byzantine emperor. Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici collaborated with the crusaders, and after the allies conquered several Bulgarian forts on the Black Sea, Ivan Alexander freed John and negotiated peace. The Dobrujan ruler's position in this conflict brought him numerous political advantages: his daughter married one of John V's sons, Michael, and his principality extended its control over some of the forts lost by the Bulgarians (Anchialos and Mesembria).

In 1368, after the death of Demetrius, he was recognised as ruler by Pangalia and other cities on the right bank of the Danube. In 1369, together with Vladislav I of Wallachia, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici helped Prince Stratsimir to win back the throne of Vidin.

Between 1370 and 1375, allied with Venice, he challenged Genoese power in the Black Sea. In 1376, he tried to impose his son-in law, Michael, as Emperor of Trebizond, but achieved no success. Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici supported John V Palaeologus against his son Andronicus IV Palaeologus. In 1379, the Dobrujan fleet participated in the blockade of Constantinople, fighting with the Genoese fleet.

In 1386, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici died and was succeeded by Ivanko/Ioankos, who in the same year accepted a peace with Murad I and in 1387 signed a commercial treaty with Genoa. Ivanko/Ioankos was killed in 1388 during the expedition of Ottoman Grand Vizier Çandarli Ali Pasha against Tarnovo and Dristra. The expedition brought most of the Dobrujan forts under Turkish rule.

In 1388/1389 Dobruja (Terrae Dobrodicii—as mentioned in a document from 1390) and Dristra (Dârstor) came under the control of Mircea the Elder, ruler of Wallachia, who defeated the Grand Vizier.

Dobruja (Terra Dobrotici) as part of Wallachia under Mircea the Elder

Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I conquered the southern part of the territory in 1393, attacking Mircea one year later, but without success. Moreover, in the spring of 1395 Mircea regained the lost Dobrujan territories, with the help of his Hungarian allies. Ottoman recaptured Dobruja in 1397 and ruled it to 1404, although in 1401 Mircea heavily defeated an Ottoman army.

The defeat of Sultan Beyazid I by Tamerlane at Ankara in 1402 opened a period of anarchy in the Ottoman Empire. Mircea took advantage of it to organise a new anti-Ottoman campaign: in 1403, he occupied the Genoese fort of Kilia at the mouths of the Danube, thus being able, in 1404, to impose his authority on Dobruja. In 1416, Mircea supported the revolt against Sultan Mehmed I, led by Sheikh Bedreddin in the area of Deliorman, in Southern Dobruja.[87]

After his death in 1418, his son Mihail I fought against the amplified Ottoman attacks, eventually losing his life in a battle in 1420. That year, the Sultan Mehmed I personally conducted the definitive conquest of Dobruja by the Turks. Wallachia kept only the mouths of the Danube, and not for long t

Dobrotitsa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobrotitsa

Dobrotitsa (Bulgarian: Добротица, pronounced [dɔˈbrɔtitsa]; Romanian: Dobrotici or Dobrotiţă; Τομπροτίτζας in contemporaneous Byzantine documents;[1] Dobrodicie in contemporaneous Genoese documents[2]) was a Bulgarian noble, ruler of the de facto independent Principality of Karvuna and the Kaliakra fortress from 1354 to 1379–1386. His ethnic origin is disputed, in consequence Dobrotitsa is considered by some a Bulgarian[3] noble kindred of the Terter dynasty[4] [5], to others a Vlach[6], and to others a Christianized Turk[7]. Venetian sources from the late 14th century refer to Dobrotitsa as a "despot of Bulgarians" (DESPOTUM BULGARORUM DOBROTICAM) and to his realm as "parts of Zagore subordinate to Dobrotitsa" (PARTES ZAGORAE SUBDITAS DOBROTICAE).[8]

In 1346, Dobrotitsa and his brother Theodore were sent along with 1,000 soldiers by the Dobrujan ruler Balik/Balica to help the Byzantine empress Anna of Savoy in the civil war against John VI Kantakouzenos, but were defeated. The following year, after the death of Balik, he became the ruler of Dobruja. In 1348 Dobrotitsa took over the fortress of Midia and by 1356 managed to seize Kozyak (present-day Obzor) and Emona from the Byzantines.[9]

In 1366 Emperor Ivan Alexander refused to give conduct to the Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos who was returning home from Hungary. In order to force the Bulgarians to do this, Ioan V orderred his relative Count Amadeus VI of Savoy to attack the Bulgarian coastal towns. In the fall of the same year Amadeo's navy capturred Anhialo, Nessebar, Emona and on 25 October he besieged the strong fortress Varna, where he was repulsed. As a result Ivan Alexander gave the Byzantine save conduct across Bulgaria and they kept the conquered towns.[10] In 1369 he and Vladislav I of Wallachia helped Emperor Ivan Alexander to defeat the Hungarians and retake Vidin.[11]. Out of gratitude, the Emperor gave Dobrotitsa Emona and Kozyak. [12] Later he built a navy in Varna which was engaged in actions as far as Trebizond. The Genoese manuscripts write that his Navy was very strong albeit rather small and achieved successes against the Ottomans and Genoese[2]. He was succeeded by his son Juanchus/Ivanko in 1386.

The names of the region of Dobruja derives from the Turkish rendition of his name.[13] The city of Dobrich and two villages in northern Bulgaria are also named after him.

References

  1. ^ John Kantakouzenos, Historiarum, II, p584-585, ed. Bonn
  2. ^ a b M. Balard, Actes de Kilia du notaire Antonio di Ponzo, 1360 in Genes et l'Outre-Mer, II, Paris, 1980 [1]
  3. ^ Васил Н. Златарски, История на българската държава през средните векове, Част I, II изд., Наука и изкуство, София 1970.
  4. ^ Г. Бакалов, История на българите, Том 1, 2003, с457
  5. ^ Петър Николов, Сквирските князе Половци-Рожиновски — клон на династията Тертер, online, retrieved 03-24-2007
  6. ^ Nicolae Iorga, Notes d’un historien relatives aux événements des Balcans in Bulletin de la Section Historique de l'Academie Roumaine, Bucharest, 1913
  7. ^ Halil Inalcik, Dobrudja in Encyclopedia of Islam, II, Leiden, 1991
  8. ^ Васил Гюзелев, ed (2001) (in Bulgarian). Венециански документи за историята на България и българите от XII–XV в.. София: Главно управление на архивите при Министерския съвет. pp. p. 108, p. 136. ISBN 954-0800-22-9. 
  9. ^ Ioannes Cantacuzenus Historiarum..., II, p384 sq
  10. ^ Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, p. 367
  11. ^ Георги Бакалов, История на България, "Есента, 1369 г."
  12. ^ Гюзелев в. Средновековната крепост Калиакра, с.127
  13. ^ Paul Wittek, Yazijioghlu 'Ali on the Christian Turks of the Dobruja in BSOAS, London, 1952

Principality of Karvuna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Karvuna
 

The Bulgarian lands during the reign of Ivan Alexander[1]
Map of the Principality of Karvuna

The Principality of Karvuna (Bulgarian: Добруджанско деспотство or Карвунско деспотство, Romanian: Ţara Cărvunei) was a 14th-century quasi-independent state in the region of modern Dobruja. It emerged as a polity under the influence of the Byzantine Empire, and probably had a population composed of Bulgarians, Gagauz, Greeks, Tatars, and Vlachs. The principality's name is derived from the fortress of Karvuna (modern Kavarna, Italian: Carbona, ancient Greek: Bizone), mentioned in Bulgarian and Byzantine documents and Italian portolans of the 14th century as its first capital,[citation needed] and located between Varna and Cape Kaliakra.

The principality was spun off from the Second Bulgarian Empire (followed by other frontier regions of Bulgaria such as Vidin and Velbuzhd) around 1320 under Balik (member of the Bulgarian-Cuman dynasty of Terter according to some authors[2]) and placed itself ecclesiastically under the Patriarchate of Constantinople. A "Metropolitan of Varna and Carbona" was mentioned in 1325. Under Balik's son Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici (1347–1386; ruling with the title of "despot" after 1357) the principality came to its greatest power and extension and the capital was moved to Kaliakra.

In 1358, the principality was plagued by the Black Death, transmitted by Genoese boats from Caffa before they finally brought it to Sicily, Genoa and the whole of Western Europe. The principality had its own navy, which also engaged in piracy forcing the Genoese to complain, and possibly took part in an operation off Trebizond. In 1453, the Ottoman navy at the siege of Constantinople was initially lead by one admiral Baltoglu, a Bulgarian convert from the former principality.

In 1366, Ivan Alexander refused to give conduct to the John V Palaiologos who was returning home from Hungary. In order to force the Bulgarians to comply, John V ordered his relative Count Amadeus VI of Savoy to attack the Bulgarian coastal towns. In the fall of the same year, Amadeus' navy took Pomorie, Nessebar, Emona, and Kozyak, and on 25 October besieged the strong fortress of Varna, where it was repulsed. As a result, Ivan Alexander gave the Byzantines safe conduct across Bulgaria and they kept the conquered towns;[3] Varna was ceded to Dobrotitsa for his help against Amadeus.

As a traditional breadbasket, Dobruja supplied wheat to Constantonople mostly via the major ports of Varna and Kaliakra frequented by the Genoese and Venetian fleets. The republics held their consulates at Varna and kept trading colonies at Castritsi and Galata outside that city.[citation needed]

Between 1370 and 1375, allied with Venice, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici challenged Genoese power in the Black Sea. In 1376, he tried to impose his son-in law, Michael, as Emperor of Trebizond, but achieved no success. Dobrotitsa supported John V Palaeologus against his son Andronicus IV Palaeologus. In 1379, the Bulgarian fleet[citation needed] participated in the blockade of Constantinople, fighting with the Genoese fleet.

In 1386, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici died and was succeeded by Ivanko, who in the same year made peace with Murad I, moved his capital from Kaliakra to Varna, and in 1387 signed a commercial treaty with Genoa at Pera. This same year, Ivan Shishman attacked him, defeating and killing his former vassal Dan I of Wallachia, an ally of Ivanko's, but didn't manage to bring Dobruja back under his rule. Varna fell to the Ottomans in 1389, Ivanko himself dying in battle in 1388. The same year, parts Dobrudja with Drastar citadel was put under the rule of Mircea cel Bătrân, until 1420 (with short interruptions).[4] In 1414, the area was devastated by Tatars. In 1413, Varna was turned over to Manuel II Palaiologos until 1444, when the Ottomans secured it after the Battle of Varna.

In the very end of the 14th century, German traveller Johann Schiltberger described these lands as follows:[5]

“I was in three regions, and all three were called Bulgaria. The first Bulgaria extends there, where you pass from Hungary through the Iron Gate. Its capital is called Vidin. The other Bulgaria lies opposite Wallachia, and its capital is called Tarnovo. The third Bulgaria is there, where the Danube flows into the sea. Its capital is called Kaliakra.”

Venetian sources from the late 14th century refer to Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici as a "despot of Bulgarians" (DESPOTUM BULGARORUM DOBROTICAM) and to his realm as "parts of Zagora (Bulgaria) subordinate to Dobrotitsa" (PARTES ZAGORAE (BULGARIAE) SUBDITAS DOBROTICAE).[6]

References

  1. ^ Based on Lalkov, Rulers of Bulgaria
  2. ^ Г. Бакалов, История на българите, Том 1, 2003, с. 457
  3. ^ Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, p. 367
  4. ^ İnalcık, Halil. (1998). "Dobrudja". Encyclopaedia of Islam II. Leiden: E. J. Brill. 611 a-b
  5. ^ Delev, Petǎr; Valeri Kacunov, Plamen Mitev, Evgenija Kalinova, Iskra Baeva, Bojan Dobrev (2006). "19. Bǎlgarija pri Car Ivan Aleksandǎr" (in Bulgarian). Istorija i civilizacija za 11. klas. Trud, Sirma. 
  6. ^ Васил Гюзелев, ed (2001) (in Bulgarian). Венециански документи за историята на България и българите от XII–XV в.. София: Главно управление на архивите при Министерския съвет. pp. 108, p. 136. ISBN 954-0800-22-9. 

 SITES: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/fcurta/ROCK.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

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