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, Paris, 1980 ) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n noble, ruler of the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' independent Principality of Karvuna and the

Kaliakra Kaliakra ( bg, Калиакра; ro, Caliacra) is a cape in the Southern Dobruja region of the northern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, which ends with a long and narrow headland east of Kavarna, northeast of Varna and southwest of Mangalia. Th ...

fortress from 1354 to 1379–1386. Dobrotitsa's ethnic origin is disputed, in consequence he is considered by some a Bulgarian noble kindred of the Terter dynasty (from the

Cuman 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 ...

Terteroba The Terter or Terteroba ( Bulgarian and russian: Тертер-оба, Тертровичи) was a Cuman–Kipchak tribe or clan that took refuge in Hungary and then Bulgaria in the mid-13th century and may have produced the Terter dynasty that event ...

clan), to others a

Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...

(mostly by Romanian historians), and to others a Christianized Turk. Venetian sources from the late 14th century refer to Dobrotitsa as a "''despot of Bulgarians''" (''DESPOTUM BULGARORUM DOBROTICAM'') and to his realm as "''parts of

Zagore Zagore may refer to: * Zagore (region) (also Zagora, Zagorie, Zagoriya), a region in medieval Bulgaria * , a village Mošćenička Draga Municipality, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia * , a village Stara Zagora Municipality, Stara Zagora Prov ...

(Bulgaria) subordinate to Dobrotitsa''" (''PARTES ZAGORAE SUBDITAS DOBROTICAE''). In 1346, Dobrotitsa and his brother Theodore were sent along with 1,000 soldiers by the Dobrujan ruler Balik to help the

Byzantine Empress This is a list of Roman and Byzantine empresses. A Roman empress was a woman who was the wife of a Roman emperor, the ruler of the Roman Empire. The Romans had no single term for the position: Latin and Greek titles such as '' augusta'' (Greek ...

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 ...

in the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

against

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 ...

, but were defeated by George Phakrases. The following year, after the death of Balik, he became the ruler of Dobruja. In 1348 Dobrotitsa took over the fortress of

Midia ''Midia'' is a monotypic taxon, monotypic genus of Linyphiidae, dwarf spiders containing the single species, ''Midia midas''. It was first described by Michael Saaristo, Michael I. Saaristo & J. Wunderlich in 1995. See also * List of Linyphiida ...

and by 1356 managed to seize Kozyak (present-day Obzor) and

Emona Emona (early gkm, Ἤμονα) or Aemona (short for ) was a Roman castrum, located in the area where the navigable Ljubljanica river came closest to Castle Hill,

from the Byzantines. In 1366 Emperor Ivan Alexander refused to allow the Byzantine emperor

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 ...

, who was returning home from Hungary, passage through Bulgaria. In order to force the Bulgarians, a relative of John V, Count Amadeus VI of Savoy, then leading his own the Savoyard crusade, attacked the Bulgarian coastal towns. In the fall of the same year Amadeo's navy captured Anchialos,

Mesembria Mesembria ( grc, Μεσημβρία; grc-x-doric, Μεσαμβρία, Mesambria) was an important Greek city in ancient Thrace. It was situated on the coast of the Euxine and at the foot of Mount Haemus; consequently upon the confines of Moe ...

, Emona and on 25 October he besieged the strong fortress Varna, where he was repulsed. As a result, Ivan Alexander gave the Byzantines safe conduct across Bulgaria and they kept the conquered towns. In 1369 Dobrotitsa and

Vladislav I of Wallachia Vladislav I or Vladimareïo/ Vila·Dumas of the Basarab dynasty, also known as Vlaicu or Vlaicu-Vodă, was the Voivode of Wallachia between 1364 and 1377. He was the son of Nicholas Alexander of Wallachia and Clara Dobokai. In February 136 ...

helped Ivan Alexander to defeat the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

and retake Vidin. Out of gratitude, the Emperor gave Dobrotitsa Emona and Kozyak. Later he built a navy in Varna which was engaged in actions as far as Trebizond. The Genoese manuscripts write that his navy was very strong albeit rather small and achieved successes against the Ottomans and Genoese. He was succeeded by his son Ivanko in 1386. The names of the region of

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

derives from the Turkish rendition of his name.Paul Wittek, ''Yazijioghlu 'Ali on the Christian Turks of the Dobruja'' in ''BSOAS'', London, 1952 The city of Dobrich and two villages in northern

are also named after him.

References

Sources

{{Commons category, Dobrotitsa * Васил Н. Златарски, ''История на българската държава през средните векове'', Част I, II изд., Наука и изкуство, София 1970. Medieval Bulgarian nobility 14th-century births 1386 deaths 14th-century Bulgarian people Medieval Dobruja Medieval Bulgarian military personnel Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown People of the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars Despots of the Second Bulgarian Empire