Demetrius, Prince of the Tatars ( la, Demetrius princeps Tartarorum) was a Mongol or Tatar ruler in the second half of the .

In primary sources

Demetrius was mentioned in medieval chronicles and in a Hungarian royal charter of 1368. According to the ''Lithuanian-Ruthenian Chronicle'', preserved in the ''

Codex Suprasliensis The Codex Suprasliensis is a 10th-century Cyrillic literary monument, the largest extant Old Church Slavonic canon manuscript and the oldest Slavic literary work in Poland. As of September 20, 2007, it is on UNESCO's Memory of the World list. The ...

'' and other codices,

Algirdas Algirdas ( be, Альгерд, Alhierd, uk, Ольгерд, Ольґерд, Olherd, Olgerd, pl, Olgierd; – May 1377) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He ruled the Lithuanians and Ruthenians from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his bro ...

Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Lithuania, which was established as an absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three ducal dynasties that managed to stay in power—House ...

, invaded

Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...

in 1363 and 1364 and defeated three Tatar chieftainsKutlug Bey, Hacı Bey and Demetriusin the

Battle of Blue Waters The Battle of Blue Waters ( lt, Mūšis prie Mėlynųjų Vandenų, be, Бітва на Сініх Водах, uk, Битва на Синіх Водах) was a battle fought at some time in autumn 1362 or 1363 on the banks of the Syniukha river, ...

in 1362 or 1363. Algirdas's invasion was the first military campaign that a European power launched in the territory of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...

. According ''Latopis Nikonowski'' the battle was in 1363, according to ''Latopis Hustyński'' in 1362.Księga ku czci Oskara Haleckiego, wydana w XXV-lecie jego pracy naukowej, 1935, p. 125. "Lord Demetrius, Prince of the Tatars" ''(dominus Demetrius princeps Tartarorum)'' was mentioned in a royal charter, issued 22 June 1368 by

Louis I of Hungary Louis I, also Louis the Great ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 ...

. According to the charter, King Louis granted the merchants who came from Demetrius's country an exemption from paying custom duties in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

in exchange for Demetrius's identical grant for the merchants of

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

who visited the Tatar prince's country.

In modern historiography

Historian Virgil Ciocîltan describes Demetrius as the "last magnate of Bujak" who emerged in the period of the disintegration of the Golden Horde in the 1340s. According to historian Laurenţiu Rădvan, Demetrius controlled the land between the upper courses of the rivers

Prut The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates ...

and

Dniester The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...

, including the trading ports on the coast of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. His title "princeps" shows that Demetrius was an independent ruler who was not subjected to the Khan of the Golden Horde in 1368.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Refend Golden Horde Medieval Ukraine 14th-century Asian people