Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250

Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages stood at a strategically important crossroads of trade and crusading routes and fell within the spheres of influence of both the Byzantine Orthodox Church and Latin Christendom. This comprehensive and authoritative survey draws on historical and archaeological sources to illuminate 750 years of the region’s history, covering Romania, southern Ukraine, southern Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Monte- negro, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. Exploring the social, political, and economic changes that marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages, the book addresses important themes such as the rise of medieval states, the conversion to Christianity, the monastic movement inspired by developments in Western Europe and in Byzantium, and the role of material culture (architecture, the arts, and objects of daily life) in the representation of power.

FLORIN CURTA is Associate Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology at the University of Florida. He is the author of The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c. 500–700 AD (Cambridge University Press, 2001).

Cambridge Medieval Textbooks

This is a series of introductions to important topics in medieval history aimed primarily at advanced students and faculty, and is designed to complement the monograph series Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought. It includes both chronological and thematic approaches and addresses both British and European topics.

For a list of titles in the series, see end of book.

SOUTHEASTERN

EUROPE IN THE

MIDDLE AGES

500–1250

FLORIN CURTA

University of Florida

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo

Cambridge University Press

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org

Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521894524

© Florin Curta 2006

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception

and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,

no reproduction of any part may take place without

the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2006

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

ISBN-13 978-0-521-81539-0 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-81539-8 hardback

ISBN-13 978-0-521-89452-4 paperback
ISBN-10 0-521-89452-2 paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

To Ana and Lucia

CONTENTS

MAPS

1		Southeastern Europe in the sixth century. Location of the principal sites mentioned in the text by ancient or modern (in parenthesis) names.	Paage 41
2		Southeastern Europe in the “Dark Ages.”	71
3		Southeastern Europe in the ninth century.	113
4		Southeastern Europe in the tenth century.	181
5		Southeastern Europe in the eleventh century.	249
6		Southeastern Europe in the twelfth century.	313
7		Southeastern Europe between 1200 and 1250.	367

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The debts incurred over the four years during which this book has taken – and changed – shape are numerous. In what follows I can only acknowledge a few specific and particularly important contributions. At the onset of this project is the work of many scholars in Southeast European countries, both historians and archaeologists. For all my efforts at synthesis, this book would not exist without their remarkable accomplishments and dedication. It goes without saying that I alone am responsible for the use that has been made in this book of their ideas and representations of the past.

   Thanks for financial support are due to the Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame for the Mellon fellowship that made possible a valuable year of final research and first drafts. The Hilandar Research Library at the Ohio State University kindly opened its doors and provided the space and time for a brief visit before the manuscript entered its final stage. Recognition is also due to my students at the University of Florida, who first raised in seminars and senior colloquia some of the questions that I have tried to elucidate in the following pages. Among friends and colleagues who were particularly supportive of this work, I want to acknowledge Piotr Górecki, Maria Todorova, Jonathan Shepard, Roman Kovalev, Paul Barford, Cvetelin Stepanov, Joachim Henning, Alexandru Madgearu, and Paul Stephenson.

   My largest thanks go to my wife, Lucia, for helping me see this book to completion, and to my daughter, Ana, for her patience and resilience.

NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION, NAMES, DATES, AND WORDS

The transliteration of personal and place names follows a modified version of the Library of Congress system. This is especially true for Bulgarian words: “Velbăzhd” instead of “Velbuzhd” and “Carevec” instead of “Tsarevets.” As a consequence, and for the sake of uniformity, I have altered the standard transliteration for Ukrainian names, e.g., “Lenkyvcy” instead of “Lenkivtsi.” In general, the geographical terminology closely follows the language in use in any given area. Commonly accepted equivalents are excepted from this rule. For example, “Cenad,” “Durrës,” and “Zadar” are favored over “Csanád,” “Durazzo,” and “Zara,” but “Belgrade,” “Bucharest,” and “Corinth” are preferred to “Beograd,” “Bucureşti,” and “Korinthos.” It is particularly difficult to be consistent about Greek forms, especially for names of emperors. In such cases, I have followed the established convention and used Constantine Porphyrogenitus and Andronicus, instead of Konstantine Porphyrogennetos and Andronikos. The same is true for several Slavic names. I have preferred Cyril to Kiril, John to Ivan, and Peter to Petar or Petăr. On the other hand, I strove to respect differing spellings, when anglicized versions have been long accepted as such. Thus the first Bulgarian emperor is Symeon, but his namesake, the first saint of Serbia, is Simeon.

   Since all dates are from the medieval period, “AD” is not used unless necessary in the context. Where imprecise, years are given in the form “935/6” to indicate one year or the other, but as “1203 or 1208,” when the options are separated by a longer span.

   Certain terms are sometimes used in a technical sense, which is specific to the space and period considered in this book, not in their widely accepted meaning. Such is the case of the word “duke” to refer to a military commander or warlord. For example, the Cro- atian dukes of Bribir were local governors of that fortress and of the surrounding hinterland, but most importantly, local warlords. They should not be viewed as a part of a feudal hierarchy in the same sense as, for example, the Duke of Burgundy might be viewed. In much the same way, a Byzantine duke was a commander of troops, not a title referring to a position in the social and political hierarchy. The duke of Valona, for example, was a military governor appointed by the emperor. “ǪQagan” is the highest “imperial” title in medieval nomadic societies, while “khan” (qan) is a lesser title. I use “theme” in the sense of a (Byzantine) province, although the first attestation of the word in Byzantine sources seems to point to army units. “Roman” and “Byzantine” are used for distinct periods of time in the history of the Eastern Roman Empire, which has been arbitrarily divided by modern historians into an earlier and a later period, respectively, separated from each other by the reign of Emperor Heraclius (610–642).

CHRONOLOGY

ABBREVIATIONS