Principality of Karvuna - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Principality of Karvuna or Despotate of Dobruja was a 14th-century quasi-independent state in the region of modern Dobruja

Dobruja

Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...

. It emerged as a polity under the influence of the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

, and probably had a population composed of Bulgarians

Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

, Gagauz

Gagauz people

The Gagauz people are Turkic speaking group living mostly in southern Moldova , southwestern Ukraine , south-eastern Romania and northeastern Bulgaria. Unlike most other Turkic speaking people, the Gagauz are predominantly Orthodox Christians...

, Greeks

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

, Tatars

Tatars

Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...

, and Vlachs

Vlachs

Vlach is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. English variations on the name include: Walla, Wlachs, Wallachs, Vlahs, Olahs or Ulahs...

.
The principality's name is derived from the fortress of Karvuna (modern Kavarna

Kavarna

Kavarna is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Dobruja region of northeastern Bulgaria. It lies 64 km northeast of Varna and 49 km from Dobrich on the international road E87. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 11,397 inhabitants. A little yacht port, a...

, Italian: Carbona, ancient Greek: Bizone), mentioned in Bulgarian and Byzantine documents and Italian portolans of the 14th century as its first capital, and located between Varna

Varna

Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...

and Cape Kaliakra.

The principality was spun off from the Second Bulgarian Empire

Second Bulgarian Empire

The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...

(followed by other frontier regions of Bulgaria such as Vidin and Velbuzhd) around 1320 under Balik (member of the Bulgarian-Cuman dynasty of Terter according to some authors) and placed itself ecclesiastically under the Patriarchate of Constantinople. A "Metropolitan of Varna and Carbona" was mentioned in 1325. Under Balik's son Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici

Dobrotitsa

Dobrotitsa was a Bulgarian noble, ruler of the de facto independent Principality of Karvuna and the Kaliakra fortress from 1354 to 1379–1386....

(1347–1386; ruling with the title of "despot" after 1357) the principality came to its greatest power and extension and the capital was moved to Kaliakra

Kaliakra

Kaliakra is a long and narrow headland in the Southern Dobruja region of the northern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located 12 km east of Kavarna and 60 km northeast of Varna. The coast is steep with vertical cliffs reaching 70 m down to the sea....

.

In 1346 or 1347, the principality was plagued by the Black Death

Black Death

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...

, transmitted by Genoese boats from Caffa before they finally brought it to Sicily, Genoa and the whole of Western Europe. The principality had its own navy, which also engaged in piracy forcing the Genoese to complain, and possibly took part in an operation off Trebizond. In 1453, the Ottoman navy at the siege of Constantinople was initially led by one admiral Baltoglu, a Bulgarian convert from the former principality.

In 1366, Ivan Alexander

Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria

Ivan Alexander , also known as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history...

refused to give conduct to the John V Palaiologos

John V Palaiologos

John V Palaiologos was a Byzantine emperor, who succeeded his father in 1341, at age nine.-Biography:...

who was returning home from Hungary. In order to force the Bulgarians to comply, John V ordered his relative Count Amadeus VI of Savoy

Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy

Amadeus VI , nicknamed the Green Count was Count of Savoy from 1343 to 1383. He was the eldest son of Aimone, Count of Savoy and Yolande of Montferrat....

to attack the Bulgarian coastal towns. In the fall of the same year, Amadeus' navy took Pomorie

Pomorie

Pomorie is a town and seaside resort in southeastern Bulgaria, located on a narrow rocky peninsula in Burgas Bay on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is situated in Burgas Province, 20 km away from the city of Burgas and 18 km from the Sunny Beach resort. The ultrasaline lagoon...

, Nessebar, Emona, and Kozyak, and on 25 October besieged the strong fortress of Varna, where it was repulsed. As a result, Ivan Alexander gave the Byzantines safe conduct across Bulgaria and they kept the conquered towns; Varna was ceded to Dobrotitsa for his help against Amadeus.

As a traditional breadbasket, Dobruja supplied wheat to Constantonople mostly via the major ports of Varna and Kaliakra frequented by the Genoese and Venetian fleets. The republics held their consulates at Varna and kept trading colonies at Castritsi and Galata outside that city.

Between 1370 and 1375, allied with Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici challenged Genoese

Republic of Genoa

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....

power in the Black Sea. In 1376, he tried to impose his son-in law, Michael, as Emperor of Trebizond

Empire of Trebizond

The Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...

, but achieved no success. Dobrotitsa supported John V Palaeologus against his son Andronicus IV Palaeologus. In 1379, the Bulgarian fleet

Medieval Bulgarian Navy

During most of the Middle Ages the Bulgarians did not maintain naval forces. The first records of Bulgarians ships come from the reign of Khan Omurtag: during his war against the Franks he came with ships from the Danube and landed troops in the rear of the Franks.The first organised Bulgarian...

participated in the blockade of Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, fighting with the Genoese fleet.

In 1386, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici died and was succeeded by Ivanko, who in the same year made peace with Murad I

Murad I

Murad I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1361 to 1389...

, moved his capital from Kaliakra to Varna, and in 1387 signed a commercial treaty with Genoa at Pera

Beyoglu

Beyoğlu is a district located on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city by the Golden Horn...

. This same year, Ivan Shishman

Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria

Ivan Shishman ruled as emperor of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 July 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire. His indecisive and inconsistent policy did little to prevent the fall of his country under Ottoman rule. In 1393 the Ottoman...

attacked him, defeating and killing his former vassal Dan I of Wallachia

Dan I of Wallachia

Dan I was a voivode of the principality of Wallachia . During the war with Bulgaria he perished in battle against the troops of Tsar Ivan Shishman...

, an ally of Ivanko's, but didn't manage to bring Dobruja back under his rule. Varna fell to the Ottomans

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

in 1389, Ivanko himself dying in battle in 1388. The same year, parts Dobrudja with Drastar citadel was put under the rule of Mircea cel Bătrân, until 1420 (with short interruptions). In 1414, the area was devastated by Tatars. In 1413, Varna was turned over to Manuel II Palaiologos

Manuel II Palaiologos

Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus was Byzantine Emperor from 1391 to 1425.-Life:...

until 1444, when the Ottomans secured it after the Battle of Varna

Battle of Varna

The Battle of Varna took place on November 10, 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. In this battle the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Murad II defeated the Polish and Hungarian armies under Władysław III of Poland and János Hunyadi...

.

In the very end of the 14th century, German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

traveller Johann Schiltberger

Johann Schiltberger

Johann Schiltberger was a German traveller and writer. He was born of a noble family, probably at Hollern near Lohhof halfway between Munich and Freising.- Travels:...

described these lands as follows:
Venetian sources from the late 14th century refer to Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici as a "despot of Bulgarians" (DESPOTUM BULGARORUM DOBROTICAM) and to his realm as "parts of Zagora (Bulgaria) subordinate to Dobrotitsa" (PARTES ZAGORAE (BULGARIAE) SUBDITAS DOBROTICAE).

Further reading

See also