Despotate Dobruja

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Bulgaria during the reign of Tsar Ivan Alexander
Map of the Despotate Dobruja

The Despotate Dobrogea (also Principality of Dobrogea or Despotat Karwuna ; Bulgarian Добруджанско деспотство or Карвунско деспотство , Romanian Ţara Cărvunei ) was a virtually independent despot State / Principality in the field of Dobrogea , which in the 14th century existed. It is named after the Dobruja region, which is now located in north-east Bulgaria and south-east Romania .

The population consisted of Bulgarians , Gagauz , Greeks , Tatars and Wallachians .

Karwuna

The synonymous name Despotat Karwuna is derived from the place Karwuna, the first capital of the Despotate Dobruja. Karwuna is the old Bulgarian name of the ancient Dionispolis, today Balchik (Bulgaria). In the Balchik municipality there is still the village of Karwuna today .

The remains of the fortress of the Boljars Balik and Dobrotitsa (see below) can be found today above the city hospital in Balchik, in the Gemidschija district (Bulgarian Гемиджия). However, these remains are almost completely destroyed and weathered and can hardly be seen. In the Vasil Levski district are the remains of the Karwuna fortress , which was built by the Byzantines and used by both the Byzantines and the Bulgarians during the period of the First Bulgarian Empire in the 11th century.

The similarity of the name of today's city Kawarna with the name Karwuna leads some local researchers to equate both. However, the archaeological and historical facts do not support this thesis.

Creation of the Dobruja despotate

The weakness of the central power in the Second Bulgarian Empire in the 14th century resulted in the loss of a number of areas. Some local feudal lords broke away from the rule of the Bulgarian tsar. In the middle of the 14th century, this also happened in the region around Karwuna, which lies in the Dobruja. The Bulgarian boyar Balik, with the help of his brothers Teodor and Dobrotiza, made the region with the capital Karwuna an independent feudal domain.

Historians assume that the rulers of the Dobrudscha despotate came from the Bulgarian Tsar family of the Terterowzi ( House of Terter ). The name of Balik is as an indication given, probably from the people of the Kipchaks came, and the name of Terter, the second son of Dobrotiza.

In the middle of the 14th century a civil war raged in the Byzantine Empire between the guardian of the underage emperor John V Palaiologos and the usurper John VI. Kantakuzenos , who had usurped power. Most of the rulers of the Balkan Peninsula were also involved in this civil war.

In 1346 Balik sent 1000 soldiers under the command of his brothers Dobrotiza and Teodor to support John V. Palaiologos. Dobrotiza was appointed strategos by the guardian of John V Palaiologos , a kind of commander in chief. In the battle of Silivri (previously: Selimbria, Selimvria; in Thrace; 60 km west of Constantinople, on the north bank of the Marmara Sea ) he suffered a heavy defeat. He was later appointed administrator of Midea City (now Kıyıköy Village ). Dobrotitsa was married to the daughter of the regent Alexios Apokaukos .

When John VI. Kantakuzenos moved into Constantinople and proclaimed himself emperor, Dobrotiza refused to recognize his power. In response, John VI. In 1347 Kantakuzenos launched a campaign against Midea and took the city. The defeated Dobrotiza only then switched to his side.

Rule of the despot Dobrotitsa

It is believed that Balik died around 1366. Dobrotitsa became his successor. In historical sources it is mentioned as the ruler of the Despotate Dobrogea, the Tsar in connection with the coalition, Ivan Alexander in 1369 for the liberation Widins ( UK Vidin had organized) by the Hungarian occupation.

Together with the Wallachian voivode Vladislav Vlajku, Dobrotiza took part in the fighting against the Hungarians and then also in the negotiations between Ivan Alexander and the Hungarian King Sigismund III.

After Vidin in 1369 again came under Bulgarian rule, is likely Dobrotiza established definitively as ruler of Dobrogea and received by the Bulgarian Tsar as a reward for his help fortresses in Varna , Emona (at Cape Emine ) and Kozyak (now Obzor ).

Kaliakra fortress

Dobrotitsa moved its capital from Karwuna to the inaccessible fortress Kaliakra , which is located on Cape Kaliakra . As a sign of his complete independence, he began to mint his own coins and build up a fleet.

All the important fortresses of the Dobruja despotate were on the shores of the Black Sea . Maritime trade and shipbuilding experienced an upswing. Large quantities of grain have been cultivated in Dobruja since ancient times, and this was also the main trade item for sea transport at Dobrotiza. Textiles, incense, spices and luxury goods were imported.

By creating his own small fleet, the Despot Dobrotiza became a competitor for the Maritime Republic of Genoa , which claimed the monopoly on the Black Sea trade (see Officium Ghazariae ). This competition developed into an open military conflict around 1360, which also persisted under Ivanko, the successor of Dobrotitsa.

The Genoese carried out numerous attacks on the coastal towns of the Despotate Dobruja. With his small but well-organized fleet, Dobrotiza tried to repel their attacks. The despot maintained alliances with the Republic of Venice , the eternal enemy of the Republic of Genoa.

The northern border of the Dobruja despotate reached as far as the Danube Delta , here Dobrotitsa took the port fortress of Kilija . Constanța was also part of his domain .

Initially, Dobrotitsa got involved in a war against the Byzantine despot Michael Palaiologos , who ruled over neighboring Nessebar as the governor of his father John V. As a result, however, the two made peace, which they confirmed by the wedding (before 1373) between the daughter of Dobrotiza and Michael Palaiologos.

The alliance of the two despots was directed against the Empire of Trebizond with the aim of making Michael Palaiologos ruler of this region, which had split off from Byzantium. However, their campaign across the sea in November 1373 was unsuccessful.

Rule of the despot Ivanko

After Dobrotitsa's death around 1385, power passed into the hands of his son Ivanko. The war with the Genoese ended with a peace treaty that provided for a Genoese trading colony on the territory of the Despotate Dobruja and a Bulgarian trading colony in Genoa. The rights of the Genoese were listed in detail in the text of the treaty. They had sovereignty in their colony and the right to leave their trading colony in the Dobruja despotate with their belongings in the event of a renewed military conflict between the contracting parties. The treaty was signed on May 27, 1387 in Pera , the Genoese trading colony in Constantinople. The Council of Elders and two representatives of the Doge signed for the Genoese, and the boyars Kosta and Jolpani, envoy of the despot Iwanko, signed for the Bulgarians.

Relations between the despotate Dobruja and the Tarnow Kingdom ( Second Bulgarian Empire ) were ambivalent. This is also evidenced by the fact that, probably under the pressure of the despot, the clergy in the despotate moved away from the patriarchate in Tarnowo and submitted to the patriarch of Constantinople.

To demonstrate his full independence, the despot Iwanko, like his father, made his own silver and copper coins.

In 1387 the Ottoman Turks undertook a campaign against Tsar Ivan Shishman , who had refused to fulfill his vassal duties by providing auxiliary troops to Sultan Murad I. The Bulgarian cities of Shumen , Madara , Swishtov and Ovetsch fell into the hands of the Ottomans . Also Varna was under siege, the main port of the Despotate Dobrogea. However, the fortress of Varna withstood the attackers. Nevertheless, Iwanko was forced to submit to the Ottoman Sultan again as a vassal.

The end of the Dobruja despotate

In the Battle of Rovine (Bulgarian Битка при Ровине) the Ottomans suffered a defeat on May 17, 1395 by the troops of the Wallachian voivod Mircea cel Bătrân .

Since neither Ivan Shishman nor the despot Iwanko had sent military aid for Sultan Bayezid I , he undertook a punitive expedition against them and ended their rule.

According to oral tradition, the last not yet conquered fortress in the Dobruja despotate was the Kaliakra fortress. This siege is linked to the legend that the girl Kaliakra and 40 of her blond-braided fellow destinies are said to have thrown themselves into the sea from the steep cliffs of Cape Kaliakra in the face of the Ottoman conquerors in order not to end up in a harem .

Historical sources suggest that the fortress may have fallen into the hands of the Ottomans as early as 1395. However, the Ottomans did not establish complete rule over the Dobruja until 1417, after they had ended the rule of the Wallachian voivods, which began in parts of the Dobruja around 1390, with military force. The events of the 1444 crusade of Władysław III. of Poland and Hungary also strongly affected the Ottoman rule over the Dobruja. The fate of the despot Ivanko after his rule was broken is not known.

To secure their rule, the Ottomans organized the area administratively in a sanjak .

Individual evidence

  1. Wolfgang Kessler: East and Southeast German Homeland Books and Ortmonographien after 1945 , p. 285
  2. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ostdeutscher Familienforscher: Guide for research into ancestors from the East German and Sudeten German areas as well as from the German settlement areas in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe , p. 128
  3. Südosteuropa-Mitteilungen , Volume 48, Issues 4–6, p. 102
  4. ^ Romania. Ministerul Afacerilor Străine: The Dobruja , p. 30
  5. Petre Dan: Hotarele românismului în date , Editura, Litera International, Bucharest, 2005, pp. 32, 34