Paristrion as Centre and Periphery: from Byzantine Border Province to Heartland of the Second Bulgarian Tsardom

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.12.12

Keywords:

Byzantine history, Medieval Bulgaria, Ethnicity, Peripheries, Medieval Nomads, Medieval Statehood

Abstract

In 1185, after a successful revolt against the Byzantine empire, the so-called second Bulgarian kingdom was established on the territory of the former province of Paradounavon/Paristrion, that had been the first area of settlement of the Bulgars who had crossed the Danube and established their state in 681, and had become a peripheral region of the Byzantine empire after the conquests of Tzimiskes and Basil II. Even before the 1185 revolt, however, Paristrion had already begun to develop an embryonal degree of self-consciousness, although not in a ‘national’ way, owing to its peculiar history and ethnic composition. During the course of the 9th–12th century it had experienced a constant influx of invaders from the north, many of whom had in the end settled, either forcibly or after reaching an agreement with the imperial authorities. Those mixobarbaroi, half-civilized barbarians (according to the Byzantine point of view) had gradually integrated with the local population, made of Bulgarians, Vlachs, and Byzantine soldiers, settlers and administrators coming from the various provinces of the empire. When the military presence on the Danube was strong the region prospered economically, and became integrated in a vast trade network managed by Cuman and Rus’ traders and raiders; but during the 12th century the empire gradually withdrew its troops and its interest in Paristion, and this relative prosperity began to diminish. Coupled with the remembrance, in popular traditions, of the past glory and abundance of the first Bulgarian empire, and with the increasing fiscal burden that oppressed the local traders, the Paristrians gradually became convinced that their future prosperity, much like at the time of the first Bulgarian kingdom, was in their independence from the empire. Once again, this peripheral region began the centre of an independent polity that traced its roots in the past Bulgarian kingdom, but exhibited also some radically different traits.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Historia de expeditione Friderici imperatoris, rec. A. Chroust, Berolini 1928, p. 15–70.
Google Scholar

Historia Peregrinorum, rec. A. Chroust, Berolini 1928, p. 129–152.
Google Scholar

Michaelis Attaliatae Historia, ed. E.Th. Tsolakis, Athens 2011 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae. Series Atheniensis, 50].
Google Scholar

Michaelis Choniatae Epistulae, ed. H.-G. Beck, A. Kambylis, R. Keydell, Berlin–New York 2001.
Google Scholar

Nicetae Choniatae Historia, ed. J. L. van Dieten, Berlin–New York 1975 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae, 11].
Google Scholar

Nicetae Choniatae Orationes et Epistulae, ed. J. L. van Dieten, Berlin–New York 1972 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae, 3].
Google Scholar

Die Register Innocenz’ III, vol. VII, Pontifikatsjahr, 1204/1205. Texte und Indices, ed. O. Hageneder et al., Wien 1997.
Google Scholar

Tŭpkova-Zaimova V., Miltenova A., Historical-Apocalyptic Literature in Byzantium and Medieval Bulgaria, Sofia 2001.
Google Scholar

Tŭpkova-Zaimova V., Miltenova A., Istoriko-Apokaliptičnata knižnina vŭv Vizantija i v srednovekovna Bălgarija, Sofija 1996.
Google Scholar

Ahrweiler H., Byzantine Concepts of the Foreigner: the Case of the Nomads, [in:] Studies on the Internal Diaspora of the Byzantine Empire, ed. H. Ahrweiler, A. Laiou, Washington D. C. 1998, p. 1–15.
Google Scholar

Angold M., Church and Society in Byzantium under the Comneni, 1081–1261, Cambridge 2000.
Google Scholar

Atanasov G., Drăstr (Silistra) i dunavskata residencija na bălgarskite hanove prez părvata polovina na IX v., “Археология” / “Arheologija” 53.1, 2012, p. 28–45.
Google Scholar

Atanasov G., On the Initial Date of the Medieval Lower Danube Fortress of Păcuiul lui Soare and its Harbour, “Archaeologia Bulgarica” 23.3, 2018, p. 77–106.
Google Scholar

Atanasov G., Ošte vednŭž za datirovkata, prinadležnostta i identificiraneto na krepostta Păcuiul lui Soare i pristaništeto [in:] Acta Mediaevalia Magnae Tarnovie, vol. I, Vladetel, Dăržava i Cerkva na Balkanite prez srednovekovieto. Sbornik v čest na 60-Godišninata na Prof. D-R Plamen Pavlov, Veliko Tărnovo 2020, p. 626–674.
Google Scholar

Atanasov G., Mihajlov K., Novi danni za dvoreca na han Omurtag v Drăstr (Silistra) (= ύπέρφυμον ΰκον ίς τόν Δανούβην), [in:] Treti meždunaroden kongres po bălgaristika, 23–26 maj 2013 g. Sekcija “Istorja i Arheologija”, podeskcija “Arheologija i stara istorija”, ed. T. Popnedelev, Sofija 2015, p. 213–245.
Google Scholar

Bălgarskijat zlaten vek. Sbornik v čest na car Simeon Veliki (893–927), ed. V. Gjuzelev, I. Iliev, K. Nenov, Plovdiv 2015.
Google Scholar

Barnea I., Ştefanescu Ş., Din istoria Dobrogei, vol. III, Bizantini, români şi bulgari la Dunărea de Jos, Bucarest 1971.
Google Scholar

Bartusis M., Land and Privilege in Byzantium. The Institution of Pronoia, Cambridge 2012, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511841903
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511841903

Biliarsky I., The Tale of the Prophet Isaiah. The Destiny and Meanings of an Apocryphal Text, Leiden 2013 [= East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450, 23], https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004254381
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004254381

Birkenmeier J., The Development of the Komnenian Army, 1081–1180, Leiden 2002, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004476431
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004476431

Bonarek J., Le Bas Danube dans la seconde moitié du XI-ème siècle: nouveaux états ou noveaux peuples?, “Byzantina et Slavica Cracoviensia” 5, 2007, p. 193–200.
Google Scholar

Božilov I., Familijata na Asenevci (1186–1460). Genealogija i Prosopografija, Sofija 1994.
Google Scholar

Božilov I., Gjuzelev V., Istorija na Dobrudža, Varna 2004.
Google Scholar

Božilov I., Gjuzelev V., Istorija na srednovekovna Bălgarija, VII–XIV vek, Sofija 1999.
Google Scholar

Brand C., Byzantium Confronts the West, 1180–1204, Cambridge Mass. 1968.
Google Scholar

The Bulgarian State in 927–969. The Epoch of Tsar Peter I, ed. M. Leszka, K. Marinow, Łódź–Kraków 2018.
Google Scholar

Bŭnescu N., Les duchés byzantins de Paristrion (Paradounavon) et de Bulgarie, Bucarest 1946.
Google Scholar

Byzantium, 1180–1204: ‘the Sad Quarter of a Century’?, ed. A. Simpson, Athens 2015.
Google Scholar

Cheynet J.-C., Pouvoir et contestations à Byzance (963–1210), Paris 1990.
Google Scholar

Curta F., The Image and the Archaeology of the Pechenegs, “Banatica” 23, 2013, p. 143–202.
Google Scholar

Curta F., Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250, Cambridge 2006 [= Cambridge Medieval Textbooks], https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815638
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815638

Dall’Aglio F., ‘As it Had Been in the Past’: the Idea of National Continuity in the Establishment of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, [in:] Laudator Temporis Acti. Studia in Memoriam Ioannis A. Božilov, vol. I, ed. I. Biliarsky, Sofia 2018, p. 282–299.
Google Scholar

Dall’Aglio F., The Interaction between Nomadic and Sedentary Peoples on the Lower Danube: the Cumans and the ‘Second Bulgarian Empire’, [in:] The Steppe Lands and the World beyond them. Studies in Honor of Victor Spinei on his 70th Birthday, ed. F. Curta, B.-P. Maleon, Iaşi 2013, p. 299–312.
Google Scholar

Dall’Aglio F., The Military Alliance between the Cumans and Bulgaria from the Establishment of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom to the Mongol Invasion, “Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi” 16, 2008/2009, p. 29–54.
Google Scholar

Daskalov R., Feud over the Middle Ages: Bulgarian-Romanian Historiographical Debates, [in:] Entangled Histories of the Balkans, vol. III, Shared Pasts, Disputed Legacies, ed. R. Daskalov, A. Vezenkov, Leiden 2015, p. 274–354, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004290365_005
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004290365_005

Diaconu P., Les Coumans au Bas-Danube aux XIe et XIIe siècles, Bucarest 1978.
Google Scholar

Diaconu P., Les Petchénègues au Bas-Danube, Bucarest 1970.
Google Scholar

Fine J. V.A. Jr., The Early Medieval Balkans. A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century, Ann Arbor 1983.
Google Scholar

Fine J. V.A. Jr., The Late Medieval Balkans. A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, Ann Arbor 1994, https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.7807
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.7807

Gjuzelev V., Nikolov G., Evropejskijat Jugoistok prez vtorata polovina na X – načaloto na XI vek. Istorija i kultura, Sofija 2015.
Google Scholar

Golden P. B., The Cumans, [in:] The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, ed. D. Sinor, Cambridge 1990, p. 277–284.
Google Scholar

Golden P. B., Nomads and their Sedentary Neighbors in Pre-Činggisid Eurasia, “Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi” 7, 1987–1991, p. 41–81.
Google Scholar

Golden P. B., The Quipchaks of Medieval Eurasia: an Example of Stateless Adaptation in the Steppes, [in:] Rulers from the Steppe. State Formation on the Eurasian Periphery, ed. G. Seaman, D. Marks, Los Angeles 1991, p. 132–157.
Google Scholar

Golev K., The Bulgarophilia of the Cumans in the Times of the First Asenids of Bulgaria, “Zolotoordinskoe Obozrenie / Golden Horde Review” 6.3, 2018, p. 452–471, https://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2018-6-3.452-471
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2018-6-3.452-471

Golev K., On the Edge of “Another World”: the Balkans and Crimea as Contact Zones between the Cuman-Qïpchaqs and the Outside World, “Études Balkaniques” 54, 2018, p. 89–126.
Google Scholar

Gyóni M., La transhumance des Vlaques Balcaniques au Moyen Age, “Byzantinoslavica” 12, 1951, p. 29–42.
Google Scholar

Gyóni M., Le nom de Βλάχοι dans l’Alexiade d’Anne Comnène, “Byzantinische Zeitschrift” 44, 1951, p. 241–252, https://doi.org/10.1515/bz-1951-1232
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/bz-1951-1232

Hartog F., Le miroir d’Hérodote. Essai sur le représentation de l’Autre, Paris 1980.
Google Scholar

Hoffmann J., Rudimente von Territorialstaaten im byzantinischen Reich (1071–1210). Untersuchungen über Unabhängigkeitsbestrebungen und ihr Verhältnis zu Kaiser und Reich, München 1974 [= Miscellanea Byzantina Monacensia, 17].
Google Scholar

Jordanov I., Pečatite ot strategijata v Preslav (971–1088), Sofija 1993.
Google Scholar

Kaimakamova M., Vlast i istorija prez srednovekovna Bălgarija, VII–XIV vek, Sofija 2011.
Google Scholar

Kaldellis A., Provincial Identities in Byzantium, [in:] The Routledge Handbook on Identity in Byzantium, ed. M. E. Stewart, D. A. Parnell, C. Whatley, New York 2022, p. 248–262, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429031373-17
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429031373-17

Kazhdan A., Agrarnije otnošenija v Bizantii, XIII–XIV vv., Moscow 1952.
Google Scholar

Kazhdan A., Pronoia: the History of a Scholarly Discussion, “Mediterranean Historical Review” 10, 1995, p. 133–163, https://doi.org/10.1080/09518969508569689
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09518969508569689

Laiou A., Peasant Society in the Late Byzantine Empire, Princeton 1977.
Google Scholar

Lemerle P., The Agrarian History of Byzantium from the Origins to the Twelfth Century, Galway 1979.
Google Scholar

Leszka M., Marinow K., Carstwo Bułgarskie. Polityka, społeczeństwo, gospodarka, kultura 866–971, Warszawa 2015.
Google Scholar

Litavrin G., Novoe issledovanie o vosstanii v Paristrione i obrazovanii vtorogo Bolgarskovo carstva, “Византийский временник” / “Vizantijski vremennik” 41, 1980, p. 92–112.
Google Scholar

Madgearu A., The Asanids. The Political and Military History of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1280), Leiden 2017 [= East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450, 41], https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004333192
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004333192

Madgearu A., Byzantine Military Organization on the Danube, 10th–12th Centuries, Leiden 2013 [= East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450, 22], https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004252493
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004252493

Madgearu A., Dunărea în epoca bizantină (secolele X–XII): o frontieră permeabilă, “Revista Istorică” 10, 1999, p. 41–55.
Google Scholar

Madgearu A., The Military Organization of Paradunavon, “Byzantinoslavica” 60.2, 1999, p. 421–446.
Google Scholar

Makk, F., The Árpáds and the Comneni. Political Relations between Hungary and Byzantium in the 12th Century, Budapest 1989.
Google Scholar

Maksimović L., Organizacija vizantijske vlasti u novoosvojenii oblastima posle 1018 godine, “Зборник Радова Византолошког Института” / “Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta” 36, 1997, p. 31–42.
Google Scholar

Malamut É., L’image byzantine des Petchénègues, “Byzantinische Zeitschrift” 88, 1995, p. 105–147, https://doi.org/10.1515/byzs.1995.88.1.105
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/byzs.1995.88.1.105

Malingoudis Ph., Die Nachrichten des Niketas Choniates über die Entstehung des zweiten bulgarisches Staates, “Βυζαντινά” / “Vyzantiná” 10, 1980, p. 51–147.
Google Scholar

Marinow K., Across Haimos: Inconveniences and Dangers in Crossing the Mountains of Bulgaria in the Middle Ages, “VTU Review: Studia in the Humanities and Social Sciences” 1.1, 2018, p. 11–24.
Google Scholar

Marinow K., Strategičeskata rolija na Staroplaninskata i Srednogorskata verigi v svetlinata na bălgaro-vizantijskite voenni sblŭszi prez VII–XI vek, “Известия на Регионалния исторически музей – Габрово” / “Izvestija na Regionalnija Istoričeski Muzej – Gabrovo” 2, 2014, p. 111–134.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.34024/olhares.2014.v2.233

Năsturel P. Ş., Les Valaques balkaniques aux Xe–XIIIe siècles. Mouvements de population et colonisation dans la Romanie grecque et latine, “Byzantinische Forschungen” 7, 1979, p. 89–112.
Google Scholar

Oikonomides N., Recherches sur l’histoire du Bas-Danube au Xe–XIe siècles: la Mésopotamie d’Occident, “Revue des Études Sud-Est Européennes” 3, 1965, p. 57–79.
Google Scholar

Pavlov P., Za ruskoto prisŭstvie na Dolni Dunav i bălgaro-ruskite vrŭski prez XI–XII v., “Добруджа. Сборник от студии” / “Dobrudža. Sbornik ot studii” 3, 1986, p. 11–20.
Google Scholar

Pirivatrić S., Samuilova država. Obit i karakter, Beograd 1997.
Google Scholar

Pylypčuk Y., Kipčaki i Vizantija (konec XI – načalo XIII v.), “Studia Historica Europae Orientalis” 5, 2012, p. 41–52.
Google Scholar

Pylypčuk Y., Socijalna istorija kipčakiv ІХ–ХІІІ st., Kiev 2018.
Google Scholar

Rudt de Collenberg W. H., L’empereur Isaac de Chypre et sa fille (1155–1207), “Byzantion” 38, 1968, p. 123–179.
Google Scholar

Shepard J., Information, Disinformation and Delay in Byzantine Diplomacy, “Byzantinische Forschungen” 10, 1985, p. 233–293.
Google Scholar

Shepard J., John Mauropous, Leo Tornicius and an Alleged Russian Army: the Chronology of the Pecheneg Crisis of 1048–1049, “Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik” 24, 1975, p. 61–89.
Google Scholar

Shepard J., Tzetzes’ Letters to Leo at Dristra, “Byzantinische Forschungen” 6, 1979, p. 191–239.
Google Scholar

Simpson A., Byzantium’s Retreating Balkan Frontiers during the Reign of the Angeloi (1185–1203): a Reconsideration, [in:] The Balkans and the Byzantine World before and after the Captures of Constantinople, 1204 and 1453, ed. V. Stanković, Lanham 2016 [= Byzantium: A European Empire and its Legacy], p. 3–22.
Google Scholar

Stănescu E., La population vlaque de l’Empire Byzantin au XIe–XIIIe siècle, “Byzantinische Forschungen” 7, 1979, p. 23–53.
Google Scholar

Stepanov Ts., Periphery as Universe, “Byzantinoslavica” 59, 1998, p. 247–254.
Google Scholar

Stepanov Ts., The Bulgars and the Steppe Empire in the Early Middle Ages. The Problem of the Others, Leiden 2010 [= East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450, 8], https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004180017.i-186
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004180017.i-186

Stephenson P., The Byzantine Frontier at the Lower Danube in the Late Tenth and Eleventh Centuries, [in:] Frontiers in Question. Eurasian Borderlands, 700–1700, ed. D. Power, N. Standen, London 1996, p. 80–104, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27439-0_4
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27439-0_4

Stephenson P., Byzantium Transformed, c. 950–1200, “Medieval Encounters” 10, 2004, p. 185–210, https://doi.org/10.1163/1570067043077788
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/1570067043077788

Stephenson P., Byzantium’s Balkan Frontier. A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900–1204, Cambridge 2000.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496615

Stojanov V., Kumanite v bălgarskata istorija (XI–XIV v.), “Исторически преглед” / “Istoričeski Pregled” 61.5/6, 2005, p. 3–25.
Google Scholar

Tanașoca N.-Ș., Les Mixobarbares et les formations politiques paristriennes du XIe siècle, “Revue Roumaine d’Histoire” 12.1, 1973, p. 61–82.
Google Scholar

Tremblay V., L’identité romaine est-elle exclusive à Constantinople? Dichotomie entre Byzance et les Balkans à l’époque médiobyzantine (VIe–XIIe siècles), [in:] From Constantinople to the Frontier. The City and the Cities, ed. N. Matheou, T. Kampianaki, L. Bondioli, Leiden 2016 [= The Medieval Mediterranean, 106], p. 25–40, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004307742_004
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004307742_004

Tŭpkova-Zaimova V., Dolni Dunav, granična zona na vizantijskija zapad: kăm istorijata na severnite i severnoistočnite bălgarski zemi, kraja na X–XII v., Sofija 1976.
Google Scholar

Tŭpkova-Zaimova V., La population du Bas-Danube et le pouvoir byzantine (XIe–XIIe s.), [in:] V. Tŭpkova-Zaimova, Byzance, la Bulgarie, les Balkans, Plovdiv 2010, p. 68–76.
Google Scholar

Tŭpkova-Zaimova V., Les Mixobarbaroi et la situation politique et éthnique au Bas-Danube pendant la seconde moitié du XIe siècle, [in:] V. Tŭpkova-Zaimova, Byzance et le Balkans à partir du VIe siècle, London 1979, p. 615–619.
Google Scholar

Tŭpkova-Zaimova V., Les mouvements des populations en Mésie et en Thrace entre le début du XIe et le début du XIIIe s., [in:] V. Tŭpkova-Zaimova, Byzance, la Bulgarie, les Balkans, Plovdiv 2010, p. 77–85.
Google Scholar

Vásáry I., Cumans and Tatars. Oriental Military in the pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365, Cambridge 2005, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496622
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496622

Žekova Ž., Pečati na nomadi na služba vŭv Vizantija (XI–XII v.), [in:] Acta Mediaevalia Magnae Tarnovie, vol. I, Vladetel, Dăržava i Cerkva na Balkanite prez srednovekovieto. Sbornik v čest na 60-Godišninata na Prof. D-R Plamen Pavlov, Veliko Tărnovo 2020, p. 836–845.
Google Scholar

Ziemann D., Pliska and Preslav: Bulgarian Capitals between Relocation and Invention, [in:] ed. G. Nikolov, A. Nikolov, Bălgarsko srednovekovie: obštestvo, vlast, istorija. Sbornik v čest na Prof. D-R Miliana Kajmakamova, Sofija 2013, p. 170–185.
Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

2022-11-21

How to Cite

Dall’Aglio, F. (2022). Paristrion as Centre and Periphery: from Byzantine Border Province to Heartland of the Second Bulgarian Tsardom. Studia Ceranea, 12, 29–50. https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.12.12

Issue

Section

Articles