2019, vol. 7, no. 1. Uzelac A.

2019, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 8-21

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2019-7-1.8-21

   CUMANS IN THE LATIN EMPIRE OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Aleksandar Uzelac
Institute of History
Belgrade, Serbia
aleksandar.uzelac@iib.ac.rs

Abstract: Research objectives: An analysis of the background, circumstances and factors that led to the conclusion of the alliance between the Cuman fugitives from the Pontic Steppes and the Latin Empire of Constantinople, as well as its dissolution. Attention is also cast on some chronological issues and the participation of the Cumans in Frankish military campaigns.
Research materials: Contemporary sources in which this episode is detailed, among them the most important being the works of Byzantine historian George Akropolites, French chronicler Alberic (Aubry) de Trois-Fontaines and another French author, Jean de Joinville, biographer of the French King Louis IX (1226–1270).
Results and novelty of the study: The alliance concluded in Constantinople in the fall of 1239 between the Cumans and the Franks was without precedent in the western world. Together with the Cumans, the Frankish knights participated in a ceremony, performed according to nomadic customs. The ‘blood brotherhood’ was concluded between the two parties, and the alliance was consequently strengthened through the marital ties. Unlike Hungary, where the attempts to integrate the Cumans ended in failure due to the strong cultural and social differences between the newcomers and the local population, as well as internal instability, the Frankish elite in Constantinople was unanimous in their decision to compromise with the nomads, and there was no opposition to such an alliance. However, despite the fact that the Cumans were accepted in an exceptionally friendly manner, were held in high regard by the Frankish leadership and were allowed to retain their customs, the alliance did not last for long and was destined to be a failure. This was due to the complex internal and external factors such as lack of resources for the sustenance of the immigrants, the Mongol threat that loomed over the Latin Empire, and the untimely death of the Cuman leader Iona in 1241, whose personal authority was a guarantee of the alliance.

Кеywords: Cumans, Latin Empire, Iona, Saronius, Baldwin II, Mongol invasion, nomadic integration

For citation: Uzelac A. Cumans in the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Zoloto­ordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2019, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 8–21. DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2019-7-1.8-21

REFERENCES

  1. Albrici monachi Triumfontium Chronicon. Scheffer-Boichorst P. (ed.). Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Scriptores, XXIII. Hannoverae, Impensis Bibliopolii A. Hahniani, 1874, pp. 631–950. (In Latin)
  2. Asdracha C. La Région des Rhodopes aux XIII’ et XIV’ siècles: étude de géographie historique. Athènes, Verlag der Byzantinisch-Neugriechischen Jahrbücher, 294 p. (In French)
  3. Charanis P. Transfer of Population as a Policy in the Byzantine Empire. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 1961, no. 3/2, pp. 140–154.
  4. Chronicon Claustroneuburgense. Rauch A. (ed.). Scriptores Rerum Austriacarum, I. Vindobonae, apud Iosephum Stahel, 1793, pp. 1–126. (In Latin)
  5. Chronique rimée de Philippe Mouskés. Reiffenberg I. de (ed.), II. Bruxelles, M. Hayez, 1838. 880 p. (In Old French)
  6. Chronography of Gregory Abu’l-Faraj 1225–1286, the Son of Aaron, the Hebrew physician commonly known as Bar Hebraeus. Budge E.A.W. (ed. & trans.), I. London, Oxford University Press, 1932. 582 p.
  7. Dancheva-Vasileva A. B’lgariya i Latinskata imperiya (1204–1261) [Bulgaria and the Latin Empire (1204–1261)]. Sofia, BAN, 1985. 206 p. (In Bulgarian)
  8. Fratris Gerardi de Fracheto O.P. Vitae fratrum ordinis Praedicatorum. Reichert M. (ed.). Monumenta Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum Historica, I, Leuven, Typis E. Charpentier, 1896. 362 p. (In Latin)
  9. Geoffroi de Villehardouin. La conquête de Constantinople. Texte et traduction nouvelle avec notice, notes et glossaire. Bouchet E.. (ed.). Paris, Lemerre, 1891. 434 p. (In Old French)
  10. George Akropolites. The History. Macrides R. (ed. & tr.). Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007. 400 p.
  11. Georges Pachymérès. Relations Historiques, I. Failler A., Laurent V. (ed. & trans.). Paris, Société d’édition “Les Belles Lettres”, 325 p. (In Greek & French)
  12. Georgii Acropolitae Opera, I. Heisenberg A., Wirth P. (eds). Lipsiae, Bibliotheca Teubneriana, 1903. 366 p. (In Greek)
  13. Giebfried J. The Mongol Invasions and the Aegean world (1241–61). Mediterranean Historical Review, 2013, no. 28/2, pp. 129–139.
  14. Golden P. Wolwes, Dogs and Qipchaq Religion. Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 1997, no. 50, pp. 87–97.
  15. Guguev Yu. K. Rasskaz Zhana de Zhuanvilya o pohoronah znatnogo kumana [Jean de Joinville’s Story about the Funeral of a Cuman Noble]. Tyurkologicheskiy sbornik 2007–2008: Istoriya i kul’tura tyurkskih narodov Rossii i sopredel’nyh stran [Turkological Collection 2007–2008: History and Culture of the Turkic Peoples of Russia and the Neighboring Countries]. Moscow, Vostochnaya literatura, 2009, pp. 124–145. (In Russian)
  16. Guilelmi Tyrensis Continuata belli sacri historia. Migne J.P. (ed.). Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, CCI. Paris, Petit Montrouge, 1853, col. 893–1068. (In Latin)
  17. Hautala R. Ot «Davida, tsarya Indiy» do «nenavistnogo plebsa satany»: antologiya rannih latinskih svedeniy o tataro-mongolah [From David, “Emperor of India” to the “Hateful Plebs of Satan”: Anthology of Early Latin Testimonies about the Tatar-Mongols]. Kazan, Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences Publ., 2015. 496 p. (In Russian)
  18. Henricus Imperator Constantinopolitanus. De varia Latinorum in Imperio fortuna. Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France, XVIII. Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1822, pp. 527–529. (In Latin)
  19. Jackson P. The Mongols and the West (1221–1410). Harlow, Routledge, 2005. 448 p.
  20. Jean de Joinville. L’Histoire de Saint Louis. De Wailly N. (ed.). Paris, De Firmin Didot frères. 1874. 689 p. (In Old French)
  21. Konovalova I.G. Vostochnaya Evropa v sochineniyah arabskih geografov XIII–XIV vv. – tekst, perevod, komentariy [Eastern Europe in the Works of the Arabic Geographers of the 13th–14th centuries – Texts, Translation, Commentaries]. Moscow, Vostoch­naya literatura Publ., 2009. 226 p. (In Russian)
  22. Korobeinikov D. A Broken Mirror: the Kıpçak World in the Thirteenth century. The Other Еurope in the Middle Ages. Curta F., Kovalev R. (eds). Leiden–Boston. Brill, 2008, pp. 379–412.
  23. Korobeinikov D. The Cumans in Paphlagonia. Journal of Black Sea Studies, 2015, no. 18, pp. 29–44.
  24. Kr’stev L. ‘Chudesata na sv. Dimit’r Solunski’ i uchastieto na alani i kumani pri obsadata na Solun v 1207 g. [The Miracles of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica and participation of Alans and Cumans in the Siege of Thessalonica]. Istoriya [History], 1999, no. 4–5, pp. 61–65. (In Bulgarian)
  25. Li estoires de chiaus qui conquisent Constantinoble de Robert de Clari en Aminois, chevalier. Riant P.E. (ed.). Paris, Jouaust, 1868. 87 p. (In Old French)
  26. Longnon J. L’Empire latin de Constantinople et la principauté de Morée. Paris, Payot. 1949. 363 p. (In French)
  27. Madgearu A. The Assanids. The Political and Military History of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1280). Leiden–Boston, Brill, 2016. 359 p.
  28. Matthaei Parisiensis Chronica Majora, I–VII. Louard H. (ed.). London, Longman, 1872. (In Latin)
  29. Memoirs of the Crusades by Villehardouin and de Joinville. Marzials F. (trans.). London–Toronto, J. M. Dent & Sons. 1921. 340 p.
  30. Nicephori Grеgorae Byzantina Historia, I. Schopen L. (ed.) Bonnae, Impensis Ed. Weberi, 1829. 568 p. (In Greek)
  31. Pavlov P. Srednovekovna B’lgariya i kumanite – Voennopoliticheski otnosheniya (1186–1241 g.) [Medieval Bulgaria and the Cumans – Military and Political Relations (1186–1241)]. Trudove na Velikot’rnovskiya universitet “Sv. sv. Kiril i Metodiy” [The Proceedings of the University of Veliko Tarnovo “St. Cyril and Methodius”], 1989, no. 27, pp. 7–59. (In Bulgarian)
  32. Pavlov P. T”rnovskite tsaritsi [The Empresses of Tarnovo]. Veliko T’rnovo, DAR–RKh. 2006. 87 p. (In Bulgarian)
  33. Radoyichich G.S. Pandehovo skazanie 1259 g. (O Vizantii, tatarah, kumanah, russkih, vengrah, serbah, bolgarah) [The Legend of Pandech from 1259 (About Byzantium, Tatars, Cumans, Russians, Hungarians, Serbs and Bulgarians)]. Trudy Otdela drevnerusskoy literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature], 1960, no. 16, pp. 161–166. (In Russian)
  34. Richard J. À propos de la mission de Baudouin de Hainaut: l’empire latin de Constantinople et les Mongols. Journal des Savants, 1992, no. 1, pp. 115–121. (In French)
  35. Rogerii Carmen Miserabile. Juhász L. (ed.). Scriptores rerum Hungaricarum, II. Budapestini, Academia Litter. 1938, pp. 543–588. (In Latin)
  36. Shukurov R. The Byzantine Turks (1204–1261). Leiden–Boston, Brill, 2016. 513 p.
  37. Sinodik tsarya Borila [The Book of Boril]. Popruzhenko M.G. (ed.). Sofia, BAN, 1928. 96 + clxxix p. (In Bulgarian)
  38. Sinor D. John of Plano-Carpini’s Return from the Mongols: New Light from a Luxembourg Manuscript. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1957, pp. 193–206.
  39. Spinei V. The Great Migrations in the East and South East of Europe from the Ninth to the Thirteenth Century. Cluj-Napoca, Center for Transylvanian Studies. 2003. 546 p.
  40. Studemund W. Zu Johannes de Alta Silva De Rege et septem sapientibus – zweiter artikel. Zeitschrift für deutsches Alterthum, Neue Folge, 1875, no. 6, pp. 221–249. (In German & Latin)
  41. Tizengauzen V.G. Sbornik materialov, otnosyashchihsya k istorii Zolotoy Ordy, Vol. I: Izvlecheniya iz arabskih istochnikov [Collection of Materials about the History of the Golden Horde: Excerpts from Arabic Sources]. Petersburg, Imperatorskaya akademiya nauk. 1884. 563 p. (In Russian)
  42. Totev T. Za kumani v edin nadpis ot Preslav [About Cumans on an inscription from Preslav]. Kulturata na srednovekovniya T’rnov [Culture of Medieval Tarnov]. A. Popov A., Velkov V. (eds). Sofia, BAN, 1985, pp. 158–169. (In Bulgarian)
  43. Uzelac A. Latin Empire of Constantinople, the Jochids and Crimea in the Mid-Thirteenth Century. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2015, no. 3, pp. 62–75.
  44. Uzelac A. Pod senkom Psa – Tatari i јuzhnoslovenske zemlje u drugoј polovini XIII veka [Under the Shadow of the Dog: Tatars and South Slavic Lands in the Second Half of the 13th Century]. Beograd, Utopiјa. 2015. 321 p. (In Serbian)
  45. van Tricht F. The Latin Renovatio of Byzantium: The Empire of Constantinople (1204–1228). Leiden–Boston, Brill, 2011. 535 p.
  46. Vasary I. Cumans and Tatars – Oriental Military in the Pre-Оttoman Balkans 1185–1365. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2005. 230 p.
  47. Zhavoronkov P.I. Polozhenie i rol’ etnicheskih grupp v sotsial’no-politicheskoy strukture Nikeyskoy imperii [Position and role of Ethnic Groups in the Socio-Political Structure of the Empire of Nicaea]. Vizantiyskiy Vremennik [Byzantina Kronika], 1956, no. 56, pp. 134–143. (In Russian)

About the author: Aleksandar Uzelac – Ph.D. (History), Research Associate, The Institute of History Belgrade, ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0626-2928 (36/II, Kneza Mihaila Str., Belgrade 11000, Serbia). E-mail: aleksandar.uzelac@iib.ac.rs

Received  January 11, 2019   Accepted for publication  March 4, 2019
Published Online March 29, 2019