The Principality of Theodoro ( el, Αὐθεντία πόλεως Θεοδωροῦς καὶ παραθαλασσίας), also known as Gothia ( el, Γοτθία) or the Principality of Theodoro-Mangup, was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
principality in the southern part of Crimea, specifically on the foothills of the
Crimean Mountains. It represented one of the final
rump state
A rump state is the remnant of a once much larger state, left with a reduced territory in the wake of secession, annexation, occupation, decolonization, or a successful coup d'état or revolution on part of its former territory. In the last case ...
s of the
Eastern Roman Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
and the last territorial vestige of the
Crimean Goths
The Crimean Goths were Greuthungi-Gothic tribes who remained in the lands around the Black Sea, especially in Crimea. They were the longest-lasting of the Gothic communities. Their existence is well attested through the ages, though the exact p ...
until its conquest by the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
by the Ottoman Albanian
Gedik Ahmed Pasha
Gedik Ahmed Pasha (; died 18 November 1482) was an Ottoman statesman and admiral who served as Grand Vizier and Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy) during the reigns of sultans Mehmed II and Bayezid II.
Very little was known abou ...
in 1475. Its capital was
Doros, also sometimes called Theodoro and now known as
Mangup
, settlement_type = Historic settlement
, image_skyline = Mangup Fortress2.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Ruins of the Gate of the Citadel at Mangup
, pushpin_map = Crimea
, pushpin_re ...
. The state was closely allied with the
Empire of Trebizond.
History
In the late 12th century, the Crimean peninsula had seceded from the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, but soon after the
sack of Constantinople
The sack of Constantinople occurred in April 1204 and marked the culmination of the Fourth Crusade. Crusader armies captured, looted, and destroyed parts of Constantinople, then the capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the capture of the ...
in 1204 parts of it were included in the
Trapezuntine ''
Gazarian Perateia''. This dependence was never very strong and was eventually replaced by the invading
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
, who in 1238 poured into the peninsula, occupied its east and enforced a tribute on the western half, including Gothia. Apart from said tribute their influence was limited, leaving administrative matters in native hands.
The Principality of Gothia is first mentioned in the early 14th century, with the earliest date offered by the post-Byzantine historian
Theodore Spandounes Theodore Spandounes ( el, Θεόδωρος Σπανδούνης, it, Teodoro Spandugino) was an early 16th-century Greek historian of noble Byzantine extraction, the son of exiles fleeing the Ottoman conquest of Byzantium who had settled in Venice ...
, who records the existence of a "Prince of Gothia" in the reign of
Andronikos III Palaiologos (1328–1341). Further references occur over the course of the 14th century, with several scholars identifying the "Dmitry", one of the three
Tatar
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different princes in the
Battle of Blue Waters (c. 1362/1363), with a Prince of Gothia. The name, in this case, may possibly be the baptismal name of a Tatar lord of Mangup, named Khuitani (see
below). The name "Theodoro" (in the corrupted form Θεοδωραω) appears for the first time in a Greek inscription also dated to c. 1361/1362, and then again as "Theodoro Mangop" in a Genoese document of 1374. It was suggested by A. Mercati that the form is a corruption of the Greek plural ''Theodoroi'' 'the Theodores', meaning Saints
Theodore Stratelates
Theodore Stratelates ( grc-gre, Ἅγιος Θεόδωρος ὁ Στρατηλάτης (); cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲑⲉⲟⲇⲱⲣⲟⲥ), also known as Theodore of Heraclea ( grc-gre, Θεόδωρος Ἡρακλείας; AD 281–319) ...
and
Theodore Tiro
: ''For another Saint Theodore, see: Theodore Stratelates or Saint Theodore (disambiguation)''.
Saint Theodore Tiron ( grc-gre, Ἅγιος Θεόδωρος Τήρων) is one of the two recognized saints called Theodore who are venerated as w ...
, but N. Bănescu proposed the alternative explanation that it resulted from the definitive Greek name τὸ Δόρος (''to Doros'') or τὸ Δόρυ (''to Dory''), after the early medieval name of the region. Whatever its provenance, the name stuck: by the 1420s the official titulature of the prince read "Lord of the city of Theodoro and the Maritime Region" (), while colloquially it was called Θεοδωρίτσι (''Theodoritsi'', 'little Theodoro') by its inhabitants.
In 1395 the warlord
Tamerlane
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
invaded the Crimean peninsula, destroying several towns including Gothia's capital Theodoro. After his death in 1404 Gothia grew to become one of the most significant powers of the Black Sea, profiting from a period of
Genoese instability and the neglect of its Black Sea colonies, but also the rise of the
Crimean Khanate
The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...
. In 1432 Gothia sided with
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
against Genoa due to the latter's promise to grant Gothia access to the sea.
![Каламита 013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0_013.jpg)
The principality had peaceful relations with the
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...
to its north, paying an annual tribute as vassals, but was in constant strife with
Genoese Gazaria
Gazaria (also Cassaria, Cacsarea, and Gasaria) was the name given to the colonial possessions of the Republic of Genoa in Crimea and around the Black Sea coasts in the territories of the modern regions of Russia, Ukraine and Romania, from the m ...
colonies to the south over access to the coasts and the trade that went through the Crimean harbors. A narrow strip of the coastal land from Yamboli (
Balaklava
Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Cri ...
) in the west to Allston (
Alushta
Alushta ( uk, Алушта; crh, Aluşta; ) is a city of regional significance on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula which is within the Republic of Crimea, an internationally recognized ''de jure'' part of Ukraine, but since 2014 a ''de ...
) in the east initially part of the principality soon fell under Genoese control. Local Greeks called this region Parathalassia ( el, Παραθαλασσια, "seashore"), while under Genoese rule it was known as Captainship of Gothia. After they had lost harbors on the southern coast Theodorites built a new port called Avlita at the mouth of the
Chernaya River and fortified it with the fortress of Kalamata (modern
Inkerman
Inkerman ( uk, Інкерман, russian: Инкерман, crh, İnkerman) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is '' de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but '' de jure'' within Ukraine. It li ...
).
![Mangup-IV-7-fortress-ruins](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Mangup-IV-7-fortress-ruins.jpg)
During 1474, the people of
Caffa
uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe
, official_name = ()
, settlement_type=
, image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa
, image_shield = Fe ...
appeared to have been on the verge of rebellion; official documents from this year describe the damage done to Gothic landowners and farmers or the burning of buildings in the border districts of Alushta and Cembalo. The Prince at the time, Isaac (Italian documents write him Saichus or Saicus and the Russian Isaiko), presented a formal complaint to the Genoese fearing a war with Caffa. On 6 June 1475, the Ottoman Albanian commander
Gedik Ahmet Pasha conquered
Caffa
uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe
, official_name = ()
, settlement_type=
, image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa
, image_shield = Fe ...
after five days of siege.
The siege of
Mangup
, settlement_type = Historic settlement
, image_skyline = Mangup Fortress2.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Ruins of the Gate of the Citadel at Mangup
, pushpin_map = Crimea
, pushpin_re ...
began sometime in September. The prince had three hundred Wallachians fighting in the defense. According to Vasiliev, the city endured five major assaults during the siege; in the end, Theodoro's food supply was blockaded and the people began to succumb to famine. At the end of December 1475,
Mangup
, settlement_type = Historic settlement
, image_skyline = Mangup Fortress2.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Ruins of the Gate of the Citadel at Mangup
, pushpin_map = Crimea
, pushpin_re ...
surrendered to the Ottomans under the condition that the Prince, the people, and their property would be spared. While much of the rest of Crimea remained part of the
Crimean Khanate
The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...
, now an Ottoman vassal, the former lands of Theodoro and southern Crimea were administered directly by the
Sublime Porte
The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire.
History
The name ...
.
According to the Ottoman historian
Ashik Pasha-Zade, after Mangup surrendered the Ottomans treated it the same way as Caffa. The Ottomans took the chiefs of the city and brought them to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
where they were executed. Their treasures were handed over to the Sultan, while their wives and daughters were given as presents to the Sultan’s officials. After the city's capitulation, one of the churches was converted into a mosque, where a prayer was said for the Sultan. According to an Ottoman chronicler, "the house of the infidel became the house of Islam."
With the fall of Mangup, the Principality of Theodoro had ceased to exist and taking with it the last remnant of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
, after 2,228 years of Roman civilization since the legendary
Founding of Rome
The tale of the founding of Rome is recounted in traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves as the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth. The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous o ...
in 753 BC.
Princes of Theodoro
![Stone of Funa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Stone_of_Funa.jpg)
The historian
Alexander Vasiliev identifies the first prince as Demetrios, attested at the Battle of Blue Waters in . According to Vasiliev, he is possibly to be identified with the ''
hekatontarches'' Khuitani, who erected the stone inscription mentioning the name "Theodoro" on the walls of Mangup at about the same time.
![MariaPaleóloga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/MariaPale%C3%B3loga.jpg)
The princes following after Demetrios are known solely through Russian sources. A branch of the Greek dynasty
Gabras
Gabras or Gavras ( el, , tr, ) feminine form Gabraina (Γάβραινα), is the name of an important Byzantine aristocratic family which became especially prominent in the late 11th and early 12th centuries as the semi-independent and quasi-h ...
were the rulers of Theodoro and are commonly identified by scholars with the family known from Russian sources as "Khovra". The prince Stephen ("Stepan Vasilyevich Khovra"), emigrated to Moscow in 1391 or 1402 along with his son Gregory. His patronymic implies the existence of a father named Basil, who possibly preceded him as prince (and was in turn possibly Demetrios' son). Stephen and Gregory became monks, and Gregory later founded the
Simonov Monastery
Simonov Monastery (russian: Симонов монастырь) in Moscow was established in 1370 by monk Feodor, a nephew and disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh. It became one of the richest and most famous monastery, comprising six major churches ...
in Moscow. The Russian noble families of Khovrin and
Golovin claimed descent from them. In Gothia, Stephen was succeeded by another son, Alexios I, who ruled until his death in 1444–45 or 1447. Alexios' heir was his eldest son John, who was married to
Maria Asanina, a woman connected to the Byzantine imperial dynasty of the
Palaiologoi
The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; grc-gre, Παλαιολόγος, pl. , female version Palaiologina; grc-gre, Παλαιολογίνα), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek f ...
and the noble lines of
Asanes and
Tzamplakon. The couple had a son, also named Alexios, who died young c. 1446/7, probably at Trebizond. His epitaph, titled "''To the Prince's son''" (), was composed by
John Eugenikos
John Eugenikos ( el, Ἰωάννης Εὐγενικός, Constantinople, after 1394 – Laconia, after 1454/5) was a late Byzantine cleric and writer.
He was the brother of Mark Eugenikos, and like him an ardent opponent of the Union of the Chu ...
and offers unique genealogical data on the family. John's reign appears to have been very short, or he may indeed not have reigned at all – A. Vasiliev speculates that he left Gothia for Trebizond as soon as Alexios I died – so another son of Alexios I, Olubei, succeeded as prince in c. 1447 and ruled until c. 1458. A daughter of Alexios I,
Maria of Gothia Maria of Gothia was the first wife of David of Trebizond, last Emperor of Trebizond, whom she married in 1426.
Family
She was a daughter of Alexios I of Theodoro, ruler of the Principality of Theodoro in Crimea.Anthony Bryer, "A Byzantine Famil ...
, became in 1426 the first wife of the last Trapezuntine emperor,
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
.
Olubei is no longer mentioned after c. 1458, and no princes are known by name for some while; Genoese documents only mention "the lord of Theodoro and his brothers" (''dominus Tedori et fratres ejus''). In 1465, Prince Isaac is mentioned, probably Olubei's son and hence possibly reigning already since c. 1458. In the face of the mounting Ottoman danger, he engaged in a ''rapprochement'' with the Genoese at
Caffa
uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe
, official_name = ()
, settlement_type=
, image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa
, image_shield = Fe ...
and wed his sister
Maria Asanina Palaiologina to
Stephen the Great, ruler of
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...
. His increasingly pro-Ottoman stance in later years, however, led to his overthrow by his brother Alexander in 1475, with Stephen the Great's backing. This came too late to save Theodoro: in December 1475, after conquering the other Christian strongholds along the Crimean coast, the Ottomans captured the city after a three-month siege. Alexander and his family were taken captive to Constantinople, where the prince was beheaded. His son was forcibly converted to Islam, and his wife and daughters became part of the Sultan's
harem
Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...
.
Culture
![Eski Kermen (Crimea) horseman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Eski_Kermen_%28Crimea%29_horseman.jpeg/1200px-Eski_Kermen_%28Crimea%29_horseman.jpeg)
Gothia's population was a mixture of
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
,
Crimean Goths
The Crimean Goths were Greuthungi-Gothic tribes who remained in the lands around the Black Sea, especially in Crimea. They were the longest-lasting of the Gothic communities. Their existence is well attested through the ages, though the exact p ...
,
Alans
The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...
,
Circassians
The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia ...
,
Bulgars,
Cumans
The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many so ...
,
Kipchaks, and other ethnic groups, most of whom were adherents to
Orthodox Christianity
Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion.
Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Chur ...
and
Hellenized
Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in th ...
. The principality's official language was Greek.
Various cultural influences can be traced in Gothia: its architecture and Christian wall paintings were essentially Byzantine, although some of its fortresses also display a local as well as Genoese character. Inscribed marble slabs found in the region were decorated with a mixture of Byzantine, Italian, and Tatar decorative elements.
In 1901, a Greek inscription was discovered in the city of Mangup. The inscription shows that in 1503, almost thirty years after the Turkish conquest, the inhabitants of Mangup still spoke Greek. The city was under the power of a Turkish governor. The next years, many Greek inscriptions, dated before the Ottoman conquest were found at the city.
Greek inscriptions were also found at the city of
Inkerman
Inkerman ( uk, Інкерман, russian: Инкерман, crh, İnkerman) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is '' de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but '' de jure'' within Ukraine. It li ...
.
Βyzantine bronze weights excavated at Mangup supply evidence that the residents followed the imperial weighting system.
Dushenko A. Byzantine Weights Excavated at Mangup
/ref>
After the Turkish conquest in 1475, the Turks preserved the religion and religious institutions of the Greeks, as well as the Greek ecclesiastical organisation.
See also
* Despotate of the Morea
The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...
* Fall of Constantinople
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Brief history of Theodoro Principality (Mangup) ENG
(also features inscriptions from Theodoro)
Further reading
*Androuidis, Pascal (2017)
"Présence de l’aigle bicéphale en Trebizonde et dans la principauté grecque de Théodoro en Crimée (XIVe-XVe siècles"
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theodoro, Principality of
Lists of princes
Principality of Theodoro
Former monarchies
Former principalities