Balik ( bg, Балик,
Byzantine Greek: ; fl. c. 1320 and died 1347) was a noble of the
Second Bulgarian Empire who increased the autonomy of his province and became
despot of the
Principality of Karvuna
The Despotate of Dobruja or Principality of Karvuna ( bg, Добруджанско деспотство or ; ro, Despotatul Dobrogei or ) was a 14th-century quasi-independent polity in the region of modern Dobruja, that split off from the Secon ...
. An account cited that he finally broke away from the empire in the 1340s and, as a result, the dioceses in his region, which was later named Dobrudja, were subsumed under the jurisdiction of the
Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...
. This came after
Tsar Ivan Alexander divided Bulgaria into three territories that were held by his sons.
V. Stoyanov explains the name through Turkic balik - 'city', or balïk - 'fish'. But another Turkic etymology can also be indicated. balq – 'shines, sparkles, shines', balqï, Turkish dial. balqïn – 'beautiful, shining', balqïr – 'lightning', or with Turk. Chagatai balga, Kalmyk balig – 'mace'.
During the
Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiologan Civil War, was a conflict that broke out in the Byzantine Empire after the death of Andronikos III Palaiologos over the guardianship of his nine-year-old so ...
he supported the regent
Anna of Savoy
Anna of Savoy, born Giovanna (1306–1365) was a Byzantine Empress consort, as the second spouse of Andronikos III Palaiologos. She served as regent, with the titles '' augusta'' and '' autokratorissa'', during the minority of her son John V Palai ...
against pretender
John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under ...
. Balik died in 1347, either during an outbreak of the
Black Death or killed during a retaliation campaign led by
Umur Beg, on behalf of
John V Palaiologos
John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions.
Biography
John V was the son of E ...
, that destroyed Dobruja's seaports. In 1359, Balik's brother
Dobrotitsa
Dobrotitsa ( bg, Добротица, ; ro, Dobrotici or ; in contemporaneous Byzantine documents; ''Dobrodicie'' in contemporaneous Genoese documentsM. Balard, ''Actes de Kilia du notaire Antonio di Ponzo, 1360'' in ''Genes et l'Outre-Mer'', II ...
was appointed head of a new province created by the Anna of Savoy as his reward for helping her gain the Byzantine throne.
He succeeded Balik after he recaptured Karvuna in 1354.
References
1347 deaths
Medieval Bulgarian nobility
14th-century Bulgarian people
Year of birth unknown
Medieval Dobruja
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