Tatars in the Byzantine Chronicles – “Chronica Breviora”: Reality and Stereotypes

• Main Author: Nikolov A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: State Institution «Sh.Marjani Institute of History of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences» 2019-03-01
• Series: Zolotoordynskoe Obozrenie
• Online Access: http://goldhorde.ru/en/stati2019-1-2/

Objective: This article is dedicated to the study of the Byzantine Chronica Breviora and the information about the Tatars recorded in them. Research materials: The main focus is on the Chronica Breviora which was once published by the famous German Byzantinist, Peter Schreiner. The composition of the chronicles is quite heterogeneous, but nevertheless they share some common features. This article presents those passages of the chronicles that refer to the mentions of Tatars in the broadest sense of the term. Results and novelty of the research: It should be noted that in the text of the chronicles one can find information about the Tatars in connection with three general events. The most important of them is the expansion of Tamerlane (Timur Leng) at the beginning of the 15th century in the Middle East and in Anatolia, in the context of his conflict with the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid Ι. This eventually ended up with Tamerlane’s victory near Ankara in 1402 and the devastation of Anatolia by the Tatars. It also saw the capture and death of Bayezid himself and the beginning of the interregnum in the Ottoman state. In the chronicles there is further information about the capture of the city of Varna in Bulgaria by the Tatars of Aqtau in 1399 AD, and information about the election of two Orthodox bishops in Saray in 1334 and 1343 AD with the participation of bishops from the Russian principalities. As far I know, these texts have been translated only partially into Russian.