Boniak
Boniak, Bonyak or Maniac, also known as Boniak the Mangy (Old Church Slavonic: Бонякъ Шолудивый; ; ), was "one of the most prominent Cuman chieftains" in the late and the early . He headed a powerful Cuman tribe or clan that inhabited the steppes to west of the Dnieper River. He supported the Byzantines against the Pechenegs in the Battle of Levounion in 1091. He defeated Coloman, King of Hungary in 1097 or 1099. Origins Boniak's descent is uncertain. Svetlana Pletneva associates him with the Burch tribe, Peter B. Golden with the Ölberli tribe of the "Wild Cumans", and Omeljan Pritsak with the Qay clan. Boniak's nicknamethe Mangymay show that he was born with the caul, according to the Hungarian historian Szilvia Kovács. In Anna Komnene's ''Alexiad'', he is called Maniac. Boniak's exact position cannot be determined, but his career shows that he must have been the head of powerful Cuman tribal federation, tribe, or clan. When pursuing Boniak, Sviatopolk I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cumans
The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cumania, Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as "Cumans" in Western sources, and as "Kipchaks" in Eastern sources. Related to the Pecheneg, they inhabited a shifting area north of the Black Sea and along the Volga River known as Cumania, from which the Cuman–Kipchaks meddled in the politics of the Caucasus and the Khwarazmian Empire. The Cumans were fierce and formidable nomadic warriors of the Eurasian Steppe who exerted an enduring influence on the medieval Balkans. They were numerous, culturally sophisticated, and militarily powerful. Many eventually settled west of the Black Sea, influencing the politics of Kievan Rus', the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, Galicia–Volhynia Principality, the Golden Horde Khanate, the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Kingdom of Serbia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vladimir II Monomakh
Vladimir II Monomakh (; Christian name: ''Vasily''; 26 May 1053 – 19 May 1125) was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1113 to 1125. He is considered a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and is celebrated on May 6 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics), May 6. Family background His father was Vsevolod I of Kiev, Vsevolod Yaroslavich, born 1030 as the fifth son of grand prince of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise (); he himself would go on to reign as grand prince Vsevolod I of Kiev from 1078 to 1093. In 1046, to seal an armistice in the Rus'–Byzantine War (1043) , Rus'–Byzantine War, Vsevolod Yaroslavich, then a junior member of the princely Rurikids of Kievan Rus', contracted a diplomatic marriage with a relative of the reigning Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (), from whom Vladimir (born in 1053) likely inherited his sobriquet, ''Monomakh''. The name and ancestry of his mother are unknown; Byzantine sources do not mention the marriage at all, and the ''Primary Chronicle'' only says ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sviatopolk II Of Kiev
Sviatopolk II Iziaslavich (; 8 November 1050 – 16 April 1113) was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1093 to 1113. He was not a popular prince, and his reign was marked by incessant rivalry with his cousin Vladimir Monomakh. Early life Sviatopolk was the son of Iziaslav Iaroslavich by his concubine. During his brother Iaropolk's life, Sviatopolk was not regarded as a potential claimant to the throne of Kiev. In 1069 he was sent to Polotsk, a city briefly taken by his father from the local ruler Vseslav, and then he spent ten years (1078–88) ruling Novgorod. Upon his brother's death he succeeded him in Turov, which would remain in possession of his descendants until the 17th century. Reign When Vsevolod Iaroslavich died in 1093, Sviatopolk was acknowledged by other princes as the senior son of the grand prince and permitted to ascend the Kievan throne. Although he participated in the princely congresses organized by Vladimir Monomakh, he is sometimes charged with encouraging ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and constant warfare throughout his reign, Alexios was able to curb the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Seljuk Empire, Seljuk Turks were the catalyst that sparked the First Crusade. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenos, Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power and initiated a hereditary succession to the throne. The son of John Komnenos (Domestic of the Schools), John Komnenos and a nephew of Isaac I Komnenos, Alexios served with distinction under three Byzantine emperors. In 1081, he led a rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates and took ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Balkan Peninsula
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria. The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south, the Turkish straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined. The highest point of the Balkans is Musala, , in the Rila mountain range, Bulgaria. The concept of the Balkan Peninsula was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, who mistakenly considered the Balkan Mountains the dominant mountain system of southeastern Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. In the 19th century the term ''Balkan Peninsula'' was a synonym for Rumelia, the parts of Europe that were provinces of the Ottoman E ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lower Danube
The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important river, it was once a frontier of the Roman Empire. In the 21st century, it connects ten European countries, running through their territories or marking a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , passing through or bordering Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine. Among the many cities on the river are four national capitals: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade. Its drainage basin amounts to and extends into nine more countries. The Danube's longest headstream, the Breg, rises in Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, while the river carries its name from its source confluence in the palace park in Donaueschingen onwards. Since ancient times, the Danube has been a tradit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Byzantine Emperor
The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised sovereign authority are included, to the exclusion of junior co-emperors who never attained the status of sole or senior ruler, as well as of the List of Byzantine usurpers, various usurpers or rebels who claimed the imperial title. The following list starts with Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, who rebuilt the city of Byzantium as an imperial capital, Constantinople, and who was regarded by the later emperors as the model ruler. Modern historians distinguish this later phase of the Roman Empire as Byzantine due to the imperial seat moving from Rome to Byzantium, the Empire's integration of Christianity, and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin. The Byzantine Empire was the direct legal continuation of the eastern ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic languages, South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and remains the liturgical language of many Christian Orthodox churches. Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the language and undertaking the task of translating the Gospels and necessary Eastern Orthodox worship#Liturgical books, liturgical books into it as part of the Christianization of the Slavs. It is thought to have been based primarily on the dialect of the 9th-century Sclaveni, Byzantine Slavs living in the Thessalonica (theme), Province of Thessalonica (in present-day Greece). Old Church Slavonic played an important rol ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dniester
The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Ukrainian territory again. Names The name ''Dniester'' derives from Sarmatian ''dānu nazdya'' "the close river". (The Dnieper, also of Sarmatian origin, derives from the opposite meaning, "the river on the far side".) Alternatively, according to Vasily Abaev ''Dniester'' would be a blend of Scythian ''dānu'' "river" and Thracian ''Ister'', the previous name of the river, literally Dān-Ister (River Ister). The Ancient Greek name of Dniester, ''Tyras'' (Τύρας), is from Scythian ''tūra'', meaning "rapid". The names of the Don and Danube are also from the same Iranian word ''*dānu'' "river". Classical authors have also referred to it as ''Danaster.'' These early forms, without -''i''- but with -''a''-, contradict Abaev's hypoth ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kingdom Of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, coronation of the first king Stephen I of Hungary, Stephen I at Esztergom around the year 1000;Kristó Gyula – Barta János – Gergely Jenő: Magyarország története előidőktől 2000-ig (History of Hungary from the prehistory to 2000), Pannonica Kiadó, Budapest, 2002, , pp. 37, 113, 678 ("Magyarország a 12. század második felére jelentős európai tényezővé, középhatalommá vált."/"By the 12th century Hungary became an important European factor, became a middle power.", "A Nyugat részévé vált Magyarország.../Hungary became part of the West"), pp. 616–644 his family (the Árpád dynasty) led the monarchy for 300 years. By the 12th century, the kingdom became a European power. Du ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Desht-i Kypchak
The name Cumania originated as the Latin exonym for the Cuman–Kipchak confederation, which was a tribal confederation in the western part of the Eurasian Steppe, between the 10th and 13th centuries. The confederation was dominated by two Turkic nomadic tribes: the Cumans (also known as the Polovtsians or ''Folban'') and the Kipchaks. Cumania was known in Islamic sources as ''Dasht-i Qipchaq'' (دشت قپچاق) which means "Steppe of the Kipchaks" or "Kipchak Plains" in Persian, and ''al-Qumāniyīn'' (القمانيين) which means "The Cumans" or "The Cuman people" in Arabic. Russian sources have referred to Cumania as the "Polovtsian Steppe" (''Polovetskaia Step''), or the "Polovtsian Plain" (''Pole Polovetskoe''). A different, more organized entity that was later known as the Golden Horde was also referred to as "Comania" by Armenian chronicler Hethum (Hayton) of Korykos. "Cumania" was also the source of names, or alternate names, for several smaller areas – some of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |