Timochans

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The Timochans (Latin Timociani ) were a South Slavic tribe and lived in today's Serbia in the 9th century . The Timotschans settled on the Timok (lat. Timacus) in the province of Moesia superior (today Serbia).

history

In the course of the Bulgarian expansion, there were campaigns of conquest and persecution of Christians around 814/815, with Christian martyrdoms and massacres of prisoners. The Timochans were first mentioned in 818 when an embassy of them, accompanied by Prince Borna , asked Emperor Ludwig the Pious for protection against the Bulgarians . In 819 the Timochans supported Prince Lyudevit of Lower Pannonia in his rebellion against the supremacy of the Franconian Empire.

In 827 Khan Omurtag conquered the new settlement area of ​​the Timotschans during his attack on the Frankish Empire and made the province tributary to the Bulgarian Empire. At this point the Bulgarian Empire was at the zenith of its power. In the 12th century the Timochans were mentioned again in a Bulgarian text.

Source study

The Franconian chronicler Einhard wrote:

"Timocianorum quoque populum, qui dimissa Bulgarorum societate, ad imperatorum venire ac dicioni eius se permittere gestiebat, ne hoc efficeret, ita intercepit ac falsis persuasionibus inlexit, ut, omisso quod facere cogitabat, perfidiae illius socius et adiutor existeret."

“(Analogously) The people from Timacum fled from the Bulgarian society and placed themselves under the protection of the (Franconian) emperor. They informed the emperor through an envoy and settled in Lower Pannonia, where Liudewitus ruled. Liudewitus (dt. Ludwig, dux Segestria ) succeeded in winning the Timociani (dt. Timotschanen) for his cause through false promises. "

discussion

The expression societate is interpreted by some researchers in such a way that the people of Timacum themselves were Bulgarians or their allies (Latin societas ). They tie in with a legend according to which seven Slavic tribes were involved in the founding of the Bulgarian Empire. Over time, numerous tribes have been believed to be one of these seven tribes. This has not yet been proven.

These theses are also to be doubted; rather, societate can be interpreted as a subject population. However, the background to this can be seen. In this area, for the last 200 years, particularly strong, linguistically very different troops have been stationed at the Iron Gate and the Trajan's Bridge , whose families have settled in the area (also on Timok). This section of the Limes was therefore particularly strong against barbarian incursions from the north in order to protect the Danube provinces. This tactic failed when the attack by the Bulgarians (coming from Thrace) came from the south side. This led to the only possible escape route for the looted survivors to the west, where the Franconian Empire promised protection.

Byzantine historiography mentions numerous tribes of different language families who were stationed, settled or last named here, which indicates a multicultural, at least partially Christianized population from all areas of the Barbaricum, which can best be described as southern Slavs. The Franconian chronicler Einhard († 840) named these war refugees after the river from which they came.

The fact that Frankish chroniclers recorded how the Timotschans rebelled and fled against the expanding Bulgarians suggests that the Timok area and its population are of Serbian-Byzantine descent. In the Annales regni Francorum ("Annals of the Franconian Empire") the Timotschans, Guduscani and the Branitschewzen, led by Borna, are referred to as Serbs.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Einhard, Vita Karoli Magni, 205.43, 206.3-7.
  2. Predrag, K .; The Slavs of Mid-Danube Basin and the bulgarian Expansion in the first half of 9th century
  3. Theophanes the Confessor († 818) Breviarium historicum desf Patriarch Nicephorus (806–815, † 828)
  4. ^ Curta, F .; The making of slavs
  5. Срђан Рудић: Споменица академика Симе Ћирковића: Homage to Academician Sima Ćirković. Istorijski institut, 2011, ISBN 978-86-7743-091-7 ( google.de [accessed on May 5, 2020]).