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The Guduscani or Goduscani ( hr, Guduščani, Gačani) were a tribe whose location and origin on the territory of early medieval Croatia remains a matter of dispute. According to one hypothesis they were located around present-day
Constantine VII
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe ...
(905–959) mentioned in his work ''
The Guduscani or Goduscani ( hr, Guduščani, Gačani) were a tribe whose location and origin on the territory of early medieval Croatia remains a matter of dispute. According to one hypothesis they were located around present-day Gacka
Gacka is a river located in the Lika region in central Croatia. Because for a large part of its course it is a subterranean river, estimates on its length vary. The overground part has undergone substantial human intervention - before it was long ...
(Lika
Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east b ...
), between upper Kupa river and the Dalmatian coast, or that were inhabitants around the river Guduča near the Bribir region.
Etymology
They are mentioned three times in the ''Frankish Annals
The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales regni Francorum''), also called the ''Annales Laurissenses maiores'' ('Greater Lorsch Annals'), are a series of annals composed in Latin in the Carolingian Francia, recording year-by-year the state ...
'' (''Guduscani'', ''Guduscanorum'', ''Guduscanis'') and twice in '' Vita Hludovici'' (''Goduscanorum''). Petar Skok
Petar Skok (; 1 March 1881 – 3 February 1956) was a Croatian linguist and onomastics expert.
History
Skok was born to a Croatian family in the village of Jurkovo Selo, Žumberak. From 1892 to 1900 he attended the Higher Real Gymnasium in Rako ...
and Radoslav Katičić derived their ethnonym from Proto-Slavic ''*gъd-'', similar to Proto-Prussian ''gude'' in the meaning of "forest". Skok, and Petar Šimunović, also derived it from Proto-Slavic ''*gadъ'' (''De Administrando Imperio
''De Administrando Imperio'' ("On the Governance of the Empire") is the Latin title of a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is ("To yown son Romanos"). It is a domes ...
'' a '' županija'' in Croatia in the 10th century called "Gūtzēkă", which is translated as Gacka
Gacka is a river located in the Lika region in central Croatia. Because for a large part of its course it is a subterranean river, estimates on its length vary. The overground part has undergone substantial human intervention - before it was long ...
. Some tried to connect Gacka as an ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and us ...
of the Guduscans, but it is not certain that Gacka got its name from the tribe. The hypothetical derivation from the toponym of Roman city of ''Guduscum'' ( Kučevo in Serbia) is rejected by now because such a toponym never existed. The theory relating their name to the name of Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...
is problematic because the suffix indicates that the ethnonym originates from name of a place and not people.
History
In the ''Frankish Annals
The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales regni Francorum''), also called the ''Annales Laurissenses maiores'' ('Greater Lorsch Annals'), are a series of annals composed in Latin in the Carolingian Francia, recording year-by-year the state ...
'', the Guduscani are mentioned as allies to the Carolingians, and the ''Duke'' Borna is mentioned as ''"dux Dalmaciae", "dux Dalmatiae et Liburniae"'' and ''"dux Guduscanorum"''. However, there exist different semantic readings of the source, some saying that Borna was the duke of Guduscani, of Guduscani and Timočani
The Timočani (also Timochani, or Timochans; Serbian and Bulgarian: Тимочани) were a medieval South Slavic tribe that lived in the territory of present-day eastern Serbia, west of the Timok River, as well as in the regions of Banat, S ...
or a separate duke from both of them.
Borna seemingly was the first titled duke, i.e. prince (dux) of Guduscani, which indicates that the Guduscans initially could have been the temporary basis of Borna's authority and could have occupied a much larger territory from Bribir (river Guduča, a confluence of Krka river) in Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...
to Gacka
Gacka is a river located in the Lika region in central Croatia. Because for a large part of its course it is a subterranean river, estimates on its length vary. The overground part has undergone substantial human intervention - before it was long ...
in Lika
Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east b ...
, south of Lower Pannonia. The old consideration that the Guduscani originated from the territory of Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
(present-day Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
) and that together with the Timočani became allies of the Franks is disputable due to lack of evidence and arguments.
In 818 they were part of an envoy of Borna sent with the other South Slavic tribes (''nationes'') of Timočani and Praedenecenti Praedenecenti was an early medieval Slavic tribe, mentioned only in the '' Royal Frankish Annals'' in 822 and 824. They lived in the buffer zone between the Carolingian and Bulgarian empires. The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' associated them with the ...
(possibly an off-shot of Abodrites) to the court of Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqu ...
in Herstal
Herstal (; wa, Hesta), formerly known as Heristal, or Héristal, is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. It lies along the Meuse river. Herstal is included in the "Greater Liège" agglomeration, which c ...
. Some scholars also related them to the Khashānīn (possibly Kashubians
The Kashubians ( csb, Kaszëbi; pl, Kaszubi; german: Kaschuben), also known as Cassubians or Kashubs, are a Lechitic ( West Slavic) ethnic group native to the historical region of Pomerania, including its eastern part called Pomerelia, in nor ...
) mentioned by Al-Masudi
Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the " Herodotu ...
. In 819 alongside Borna fought against Ljudevit, the Duke of the Slavs in Lower Pannonia
Early Slavs settled in the eastern and southern parts of the former Roman province of Pannonia. The term ''Lower Pannonia'' ( la, Pannonia inferior, hu, Alsó-pannoniai grófság, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Donja Panonija, Доња Панонија, sl, S ...
. They were part of the army of Borna against Ljudevit at the Battle of Kupa (819) but deserted before the battle. Borna conquered their lands again upon returning from the battle.
Identity
Seemingly only after the fall of Guduscani, and during the time of Mislav or Trpimir, was imposed a dynasty with undisputed Croatian identity which legitimized and spread it further. Depending on the interpretation of the Byzantine and Frankish sources, some historians consider them to be a tribe separate from the Croats and that the emergence of the Croatian political identity and power is not related to the region of Lika yet of Northern Dalmatia. Some argue that Borna possibly was their gentile chieftain and they represented only one small tribe among others in medieval Croatia. However, Borna most probably was not a member of the Guduscani because they later deserted him and got reconquered. The events and their behavior indicates that Guduscani were a separate identity and group from the Croats in Dalmatia, possibly related to the account of Avars living in Croatia from ''De Administrando Imperio
''De Administrando Imperio'' ("On the Governance of the Empire") is the Latin title of a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is ("To yown son Romanos"). It is a domes ...
'' and that were more similar or shared more history with Pannonian Slavs than Croats. The view that the Guduscani were Gothic remnants is not widely accepted, as the state of the Goths was in Italy and it ceased to exist in the mid-6th century, while their presence in the former Roman province of Dalmatia and Liburnia was not dominant, however, there were Valagoths as well in the region.
References
Sources
* * * * * {{Slavic ethnic groups (VII-XII century) Medieval Croatia South Slavic tribes 9th century in Croatia 10th century in Croatia History of Lika