Victor Spinei (born 26 October 1943 in Lozova , Lăpușna County , Romania ) is Emeritus Professor of history and archaeology at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University , member and vice president of the Romanian Academy . He is a specialist on the history of Romania and the Romanian people in the Early and High Middle Ages , the history of migratory peoples in Eastern and Southeastern Europe during this period, and the production and circulation of cult objects in Eastern and Southeastern Europe during the Middle Ages.
58-568: Blakumen or Blökumenn were a people mentioned in Scandinavian sources dating from the 11th through 13th centuries. The name of their land, Blokumannaland , has also been preserved. Victor Spinei , Florin Curta , Florin Pintescu and other historians identify them as Romanians (variation of the exonym Vlach ), while Omeljan Pritsak argues that they were Cumans . Judith Jesch adds
116-487: A separate chapter on the adventures of a Norwegian prince, Eymund, at the court of Prince Jarizleifr in Novgorod . The chapter narrates that Eymund informed Jarizleifr of the departure of Jarizleifr's brother, Burizlaf, to Tyrkland, and added that Burizlaf was preparing to attack Jarizleifr with a huge army formed by Tyrkir , Blökumen and other peoples. Curta, Spinei and other scholars identify Jarizleifr with Yaroslav
174-769: A PhD from the Nicolae Iorga Institute of History in Bucharest, under Ștefan Ștefănescu (initially under Ion Nestor at the University of Bucharest ). Between 1966 and 1990 Spinei was a researcher at the A.D. Xenopol Institute of History and Archaeology of the Romanian Academy in Iași. The archaeology section split in 1990, forming the Iași Institute of Archaeology (likewise under the aegis of
232-730: A combined Byzantine and Cuman army under Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos . Alexios I recruited the defeated Pechenegs, whom he settled in the district of Moglena (today in Macedonia ) into a tagma "of the Moglena Pechenegs". Attacked again in 1094 by the Cumans, many Pechenegs were slain or absorbed. The Byzantines defeated the Pechenegs again at the Battle of Beroia in 1122, on the territory of modern-day Bulgaria. With time
290-702: A company of horsemen, and huge waggons with embrasures on top. Victor Spinei In 1961 Spinei graduated from the Costache Negruzzi National College . In 1966 he received a Bachelor of Science in History and Philosophy from the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University , after which he specialised at the Institute for Prehistory and Historical Archaeology from Saarland University (1973–1974). In 1977 he earned
348-531: A voyage abroad", and assumes that he was murdered by local merchants who betrayed his trust. Jesch translates Blakumen as Vlachs, confronting their treachery with their untrustworthiness as claimed by Kekaumenos . Jesch also allows for the possibility that the term may have meant "black men", in which case the meaning is unclear. Pritsak refuses to identify the Blakumen in the inscription with Vlachs, instead stating that they were Cumans , whose migration towards
406-642: Is hinted at in the remark of al-Biruni regarding a people that "are of the race of al-Lān and that of al-Ās and their language is a mixture of the languages of Khwarazmians and the Badjanak.". If the latter assumption is valid, the Kangars' ethnonym suggests that (East) Iranian elements contributed to the formation of the Pecheneg people but Spinei concedes that Pechenegs were of "a predominantly Turkic character... beyond any doubt". This may be mirrored in
464-541: Is uncertain whether this group's formation is connected to the Pechenegs' first or second migration (as it is proposed by Pritsak and Golden, respectively). According to Mahmud al-Kashgari, one of the Üçok clans of the Oghuz Turks was still formed by Pechenegs in the 1060s. In the 9th century, the Byzantines allied with the Pechenegs, using them to fend off other, more dangerous tribes such as Kievan Rus' and
522-723: The Chagatai word gang ("chariot"), semantically related to the Turkic Gaoche . Omeljan Pritsak proposed that the name had initially been a composite term (Kängär As , mentioned in Old Turkic texts) deriving from the Tocharian word for stone (kank) and the ethnonym As , suggesting that they were Tocharian-speaking or at least formed a confederation consisting of Tocharian, Eastern Iranian and Bulgaric Turkic elements. Their connection with Eastern Iranian elements
580-541: The Free University of Berlin (Institut für Prähistorische Archäologie), the University of Mainz (Historisches Seminar), the University of Konstanz (Fachbereich: Geschichte und Soziologie), the University of Freiburg (Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften / Fachbereich: Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie und Archäologie des Mittelalters), and Moldova State University in Chișinău . Between 2001 and 2015 Spinei
638-672: The Kangly ; however, Wang Pu 's institutional historical work Tang Huiyao apparently distinguishes the Kang(ju) from the Kangheli (aka Kangly ). Menges saw in Kang-ar-as the plural-suffix -as , and Klyashtorny the Turkic numerus collectivus -ar- , -er- . Mahmud al-Kashgari , an 11th-century man of letters who specialized in Turkic dialects argued that the language spoken by
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#1732772963568696-589: The Magyars (Hungarians). The Uzes, another Turkic steppe people, eventually expelled the Pechenegs from their homeland; in the process, they also seized most of their livestock and other goods. An alliance of Oghuz , Kimeks , and Karluks was also pressing the Pechenegs, but another group, the Samanids , defeated that alliance. Driven further west by the Khazars and Cumans by 889, the Pechenegs in turn drove
754-695: The Norman king of Sicily , William the Bad . A group of Pechenegs was present at the Battle of Andria in 1155. The Pechenegs as a group were last mentioned in 1168 as members of Turkic tribes known in the chronicles as the " Chorni Klobuky (Black Hats)". It is likely that the Pecheneg population of Hungary was decimated by the Mongol invasion of Hungary , but names of Pecheneg origin continue to be reported in official documents. The title of "Comes Bissenorum" (Count of
812-602: The Old Rus translation of Josephus Flavius (ed. Meshcherskiy, 454) which adds "the Yas , as is known, descended from the Pecheneg tribe." On the basis of their fragmentary linguistic remains, scholars view them as Common Turkic -speakers, most probably Kipchak ( Németh , followed by Ligeti ) or Oguz ( Baskakov ). Hammer-Purgstall classifies the Chinese Kangju and Byzantine Kangar as purely Turkic name variants of
870-924: The Pecheneg language . In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Pechenegs controlled much of the steppes of southeast Europe and the Crimean Peninsula . In the 9th century the Pechenegs began a period of wars against Kievan Rus' , and for more than two centuries launched raids into the lands of Rus', which sometimes escalated into full-scale wars. The Pechenegs were mentioned as Bjnak , Bjanak or Bajanak in medieval Arabic and Persian texts, as Be-ča-nag in Classical Tibetan documents, and as Pačanak-i in works written in Georgian . Anna Komnene and other Byzantine authors referred to them as Patzinakoi or Patzinakitai . In medieval Latin texts,
928-618: The " Torkmens , Pechenegs, Torks , and Polovcians " descended from "the godless sons of Ishmael , who had been sent as a chastisement to the Christians". The Turkic Khaganate collapsed in 744 which gave rise to a series of intertribal confrontations in the Eurasian steppes . The Karluks attacked the Oghuz Turks , forcing them to launch a westward migration towards the Pechenegs' lands. The Uighur envoy's report testifies that
986-665: The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University and the Romanian Academy. Since 2012 he has been a member of the Commission for History and Cultural Studies of the Romanian National Council for Attesting Titles, Diplomas and University Certificates. Pechenegs ( Tokhara Yabghus , Turk Shahis ) The Pechenegs ( / ˈ p ɛ tʃ ə n ɛ ɡ / ) or Patzinaks were a semi-nomadic Oghuz Turkic people from Central Asia who spoke
1044-477: The Chazars and the so-called Uzes. But fifty years ago the so-called Uzes made common cause with the Chazars and joined battle with the Pechenegs and prevailed over them and expelled them from their country, which the so-called Uzes have occupied till this day. [...] At the time when the Pechenegs were expelled from their country, some of them of their own will and personal decision stayed behind there and united with
1102-771: The Danube as Blokummanaland , because the latter term referred to the Second Bulgarian Empire in Sturluson's time. In the modern Icelandic language, the term Blokumannaland may refer to either Wallachia or Africa . The following happened in Greece , the time when King Kirjalax ruled there and was on an expedition against Blokumannaland. When he arrived at the Pézína Plains , a heathen king advanced against him with an irresistible host. They had with them
1160-521: The Kangars received this denomination because "they are more valiant and noble than the rest" of the people "and that is what the title Kangar signifies". Because no Turkic word with a similar meaning is known, Ármin Vámbéry connected the ethnonym to the Kyrgyz words kangir ("agile"), kangirmak ("to go out riding") and kani-kara ("black-blooded"), while Carlile Aylmer Macartney associated it with
1218-524: The Khazars supremacy. In addition to these two branches, a third group of Pechenegs existed in this period: Constantine Porphyrogenitus and Ibn Fadlan mention that those who decided not to leave their homeland were incorporated into the Oghuz federation of Turkic tribes. Originally, the Pechenegs had their dwelling on the river Atil (Volga), and likewise on the river Geïch , having common frontiers with
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#17327729635681276-744: The Magyars west of the Dnieper River by 892. Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria employed the Pechenegs to help fend off the Magyars. The Pechenegs were so successful that they drove out the Magyars remaining in Etelköz and the Pontic steppes , forcing them westward towards the Pannonian plain , where they later founded the Hungarian state . By the 9th and 10th centuries, Pechenegs controlled much of
1334-602: The Oghuz and Pecheneg waged war against each other already in the 8th century, most probably for the control of the trade routes. The Oghuz made an alliance with the Karluks and Kimaks and defeated the Pechenegs and their allies in a battle near the Lake Aral before 850, according to the 10th-century scholar, Al-Masudi . Most Pechenegs launched a new migration towards the Volga River , but some groups were forced to join
1392-618: The Oghuz. The latter formed the 19th tribe of the Oghuz tribal federation in the 11th century. The Pechenegs who left their homeland settled between the Ural and Volga rivers. According to Gardizi and other Muslim scholars who based their works on 9th-century sources, the Pechenegs' new territory was quite large, with a 30-day-walk extension, and were bordered by the Cumans , Khazars , Oghuz Turks and Slavs . The same sources also narrate that
1450-727: The Pecheneg Horde moved towards the Danube , crossed the river, and disappeared out of the Pontic steppes . Pecheneg mercenaries served under the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert . After centuries of fighting involving all their neighbours—the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria , Kievan Rus', Khazaria, and the Magyars—the Pechenegs were annihilated as an independent force in 1091 at the Battle of Levounion by
1508-542: The Pecheneg realm, stretched west as far as the Siret River (or even the Eastern Carpathian Mountains ), and was four days distant from "Tourkias" (i.e. Hungary ). The whole of Patzinakia is divided into eight provinces with the same number of great princes. The provinces are these: the name of the first province is Irtim; of the second, Tzour; of the third, Gyla; of the fourth, Koulpeï; of
1566-712: The Pechenegs attacked and besieged Kiev ; some joined the Prince of Kiev, Sviatoslav I , in his Byzantine campaign of 970–971, though eventually they ambushed and killed the Kievan prince in 972. According to the Primary Chronicle , the Pecheneg Khan Kurya made a chalice from Sviatoslav's skull, in accordance with the custom of steppe nomads. The fortunes of the Rus'-Pecheneg confrontation swung during
1624-570: The Pechenegs made regular raids against their neighbors, in particular against the Khazars and the latter's vassals, the Burtas , and sold their captives. The Khazars made an alliance with the Ouzes against the Pechenegs and attacked them from two directions. Outnumbered by the enemy, the Pechenegs were forced into a new westward migration. They marched across the Khazar Khaganate, invaded
1682-481: The Pechenegs south of the Danube lost their national identity and became fully assimilated, mostly with Romanians and Bulgarians . Significant communities settled in the Hungarian kingdom , around 150 villages. In the 12th century, according to Byzantine historian John Kinnamos , the Pechenegs fought as mercenaries for the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos in southern Italy against
1740-620: The Pechenegs spoke a Turkic language. The Pechenegs are thought to have belonged to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic family , but their language is poorly documented and therefore difficult to further classify. Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos lists eight Pecheneg tribal groupings, four on each side of the Dnieper river , reflecting the bipartite left-right Turkic organization. These eight tribes were in turn divided into 40 sub-tribes, probably clans. Constantine VII also records
1798-514: The Pechenegs was a variant of the Cuman and Oghuz idioms. He suggested that foreign influences on the Pechenegs gave rise to phonetical differences between their tongue and the idiom spoken by other Turkic peoples. Anna Komnene likewise stated that the Pechenegs and the Cumans shared a common language. Although the Pecheneg language itself died out centuries ago, the names of the Pecheneg "provinces" recorded by Constantine Porphyrogenitus prove that
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1856-1003: The Pechenegs were referred to as Pizenaci , Bisseni or Bessi . East Slavic peoples use the terms Pečenegi or Pečenezi (plural of Pečeneg ), while the Poles mention them as Pieczyngowie or Piecinigi . The Hungarian word for Pecheneg is Besenyő ; the Romanian term is Pecenegi . According to Max Vasmer and some other researchers the ethnonym may have derived from the Old Turkic word for "brother-in-law, relative” ( baja , baja-naq or bajinaq ; Azerbaijani : bacanaq , Kyrgyz : baja , Turkmen : baja and Turkish : bacanak ), implying that it initially referred to an "in-law related clan or tribe". Peter Golden considers this derivation by no means certain. In Mahmud Kashgari 's 11th-century work Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk , Pechenegs were described as "a Turkic nation living around
1914-412: The Pechenegs) lasted for at least another 200 years. In 15th-century Hungary, some people adopted the surname Besenyö ( Hungarian for "Pecheneg"); they were most numerous in the county of Tolna . One of the earliest introductions of Islam into Eastern Europe came about through the work of an early 11th-century Muslim prisoner who was captured by the Byzantines. The Muslim prisoner was brought into
1972-415: The Romanian Academy), in which Spinei continued his work until 2012. He was the director of the Iași Institute of Archaeology between 2003 and 2011, and has been an Honorary Director since 2014. Since 2015 he has been a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute . Since 1990 he has been a faculty member at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iași. He has also lectured as guest professor at
2030-528: The Wise , and Burizlaf with Sviatopolk I of Kiev . They argue that the reference to the Tyrkir and Blökumen proves that Sviatopolk I hired Pechenegs and Vlachs when he decided to go to war with Yaroslav. Furthermore, they propose that the Blökumenn of the Flatey Book , like the Blakumen of the runic inscription from Gottland, were Vlachs from Moldavia or Wallachia . "It was easier for [Burizlaf] to lose his banner than his life," said Eymund, "and I understood that he escaped and has been in Tyrkland over
2088-449: The World") from the 13th century. The book narrates how the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos , referred to by the name Kirjalax, invaded Blokumannaland where he fought against pagan tribes. Since these pagans have not been identified, there is disagreement as to the actual date of the Byzantine invasion. For instance, Spinei identifies the events prescribed in the Heimskringla with the Battle of Levounion of 1091 AD, which ended with
2146-446: The black Cumans") is highly improbable. Hróðvísl and Hróðelfr, they had stones set up in memory of [their] three sons. This one in memory of Hróðfúss. Blakumen betrayed him on an expedition. God help Hróðfúss' soul. God betray those who betrayed him. Blökumen are mentioned in the Flateyjarbók , an Icelandic manuscript from the late 14th century, which preserved a 13th-century biography of King Olaf of Norway . This work contains
2204-400: The catastrophic defeat of the Pechenegs by the Byzantines. He argues that Blokumannaland refers to a territory inhabited by Vlachs south of the Lower Danube. On the other hand, Sandaaker proposes that the battle took place in 1040 AD, while the latest date of 1122 AD was proposed by Ellis Davidson and Blöndal. Alexandru Madgearu says that Sturluson anachronistically mentioned the lands south of
2262-468: The country of the Rum ", where Rum was the Turkic word for the Eastern Roman Empire or Anatolia , and "a branch of Oghuz Turks "; he subsequently described the Oghuz as being formed of 22 branches, of which the Pecheneg were the 19th. Pechenegs are mentioned as one of 24 ancient tribes of Oghuzes by 14th-century statesman and historian of Ilkhanate -ruled Iran Rashid-al-Din Hamadani in his work Jāmiʿ al-Tawārīkh ("Compendium of Chronicles") with
2320-550: The distinction between the "Turkic Pechenegs" and "Khazar Pechenegs" mentioned in the 10th-century Hudud al-'alam had its origin in this period. The Hudud al-'Alam —a late 10th-century Persian geography—distinguished two Pecheneg groups, referring to those who lived along the Donets as "Turkic Pechenegs", and to those along the Kuban as "Khazarian Pechenegs". Spinei proposes that the latter denomination most probably refers to Pecheneg groups accepting Khazar suzerainty, implies that some Pecheneg tribes had been forced to acknowledge
2378-414: The dwelling places of the Hungarians , and expelled them from the lands along the Kuban River and the upper course of the river Donets . There is no consensual date for this second migration of the Pechenegs: Pritsak argues that it took place around 830, but Kristó suggests that it could hardly occur before the 850s. The Pechenegs settled along the rivers Donets and Kuban . It is plausible that
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2436-413: The ethnonym was an inscription on a runestone in the Sjonhem cemetery in Gotland in Sweden. The forms of the runes on the memorial stone suggest that it was raised in approximately 1050 AD. According to its inscription, a Varangian couple named Hróðvísl and Hróðelfr set up the stone in memory of one of their sons, Hróðfúss, who had been treacherously killed by Blakumen while traveling abroad. Although
2494-407: The fifth, Charaboï; of the sixth, Talmat; of the seventh, Chopon; of the eighth, Tzopon. At the time at which the Pechenegs were expelled from their country, their princes were, in the province of Irtim, Baïtzas; in Tzour, Kouel; in Gyla, Kourkoutai; in Koulpeï, Ipaos; in Charaboï, Kaïdoum; in the province of Talmat, Kostas; in Chopon, Giazis; in the province of Tzopon, Batas. Paul Pelliot originated
2552-447: The first certain reference to the Pechenegs. The report recorded an armed conflict between the Be-ča-nag and the Hor ( Uyghurs or Oghuz Turks ) peoples in the region of the river Syr Darya . Ibn Khordadbeh (c. 820 – 912 CE), Mahmud al-Kashgari (11th century), Muhammad al-Idrisi (1100–1165), and many other Muslim scholars agree that the Pechenegs belonged to the Turkic peoples. The Russian Primary Chronicle stated that
2610-401: The inscription does not contain more information about the crime, Spinei expands on the inscription, arguing that Hróðfúss was murdered by Vlachs in the regions east of the Carpathian Mountains . Curta proposes that Hróðfúss was a merchant traveling towards Constantinople , who was attacked and killed by Vlachs north of the Lower Danube . Jesch likewise suggests that Hróðfúss was a merchant "on
2668-447: The lands of Rus', which sometimes escalated into full-scale wars (like the 920 war on the Pechenegs by Igor of Kiev , reported in the Primary Chronicle ). The Pecheneg wars against Kievan Rus' caused the Slavs from Walachian territories to gradually migrate north of the Dniestr in the 10th and 11th centuries. Rus'/Pecheneg temporary military alliances also occurred however, as during the Byzantine campaign in 943 led by Igor. In 968
2726-490: The meaning of the ethnonym as "the one who shows eagerness". The 17th-century Khan of the Khanate of Khiva and historian Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur mentions the Pechenegs as bechene among 24 ancient tribes of Turkmens (or Oghuzes) in his book Shajara-i Tarākima (“Genealogy of the Turkmen") and provides for its meaning as "the one who makes". Three of the eight Pecheneg "provinces" or clans were collectively known as Kangars . According to Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus ,
2784-434: The names of eight former tribal leaders who had been leading the Pechenegs when they were expelled by the Khazars and Oghuzes . Golden , following Németh and Ligeti , proposes that each tribal name consists of two parts: the first part being an equine coat color , the other the tribal ruler's title. The Erdim, Čur, and Yula tribes formed the Qangar/Kenger ( Greek : Καγγαρ) and were deemed "more valiant and noble than
2842-399: The possibility that the terms meant "black men", the meaning of which is unclear. Historians identify Blokumannaland as the lands south of the Lower Danube which were inhabited by Vlachs in the Middle Ages, adding that the term may refer to either Wallachia (to the north of the Danube) or Africa in the modern Icelandic language . The only preserved example of the variant Blakumen of
2900-516: The proposal that the Book of Sui —a 7th-century Chinese work—preserved the earliest record on the Pechenegs. The book mentioned a people named Bĕirù , who had settled near the Ēnqū and Alan peoples (identified as Onogurs and Alans , respectively), to the east of Fulin (or the Eastern Roman Empire ). Victor Spinei emphasizes that the Pechenegs' association with the Bĕirù is "uncertain". He proposes that an 8th-century Uighur envoy's report, which survives in Tibetan translation, contains
2958-445: The reign of Vladimir I of Kiev (990–995), who founded the town of Pereyaslav upon the site of his victory over the Pechenegs, followed by the defeat of the Pechenegs during the reign of Yaroslav I the Wise in 1036. Shortly thereafter, other nomadic peoples replaced the weakened Pechenegs in the Pontic steppe : the Cumans and the Torks . According to Mykhailo Hrushevsky ( History of Ukraine-Ruthenia ), after its defeat near Kiev
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#17327729635683016-546: The rest". According to Omeljan Pritsak , the Pechenegs are descendants from the ancient Kangars who originate from Tashkent . The Orkhon inscriptions listed the Kangars among the subject peoples of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate . Pritsak says that the Pechenegs' homeland was located between the Aral Sea and the middle course of the Syr Darya, along the important trade routes connecting Central Asia with Eastern Europe, and associates them with Kangars . According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus , writing in c. 950, Patzinakia,
3074-425: The so-called Uzes, and even to this day they live among them, and wear such distinguishing marks as separate them off and betray their origin and how it came about that they were split off from their own folk: for their tunics are short, reaching to the knee, and their sleeves are cut off at the shoulder, whereby, you see, they indicate that they have been cut off from their own folk and those of their race. However, it
3132-403: The steppes of southeast Europe and the Crimean Peninsula . Although an important factor in the region at the time, like most nomadic tribes their concept of statecraft failed to go beyond random attacks on neighbours and spells as mercenaries for other powers. In the 9th century the Pechenegs began a period of wars against Kievan Rus' . For more than two centuries they had launched raids into
3190-485: The term is not concordant with the Varangian ethnic terminology (derived from either Germanic or East-Slavic naming traditions), that it is not attested in mirror forms in other languages (such as * cumani nigri in Latin or * mauro Koumanoi in Greek), and that the juxtaposition of a Scandinavian adjective and a proper name of Greek or Latin origin (at the expense of the German Walven designating Cumans) to produce Blakumen ("black Cumans") and Blokumannaland ("the land of
3248-399: The westernmost regions of the Pontic steppes began around the time when the memorial stone was erected. Spinei counters this view because several mentions of the Blakumen or Blökumen (for instance in the Eymund's Saga) occur in contexts taking place decades before the earliest appearance of the Cumans in the Pontic steppe. Spinei also says that if understood as meaning "Black Cumans", then
3306-454: The winter. Now he means to lead another army against [Jarizleifr]. He's gathered an unbeatable army with Tyrkir, Blökumen, and a good many of other nasty people, and I've also heard that he's quite likely to give up his Christian faith and hand over both kingdoms to these unpleasant people should he manage to take Russia away from you [Jarizleifr]". Blokumannaland is a territory mentioned in Snorri Sturluson 's Heimskringla ("The Circle of
3364-444: Was a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy ; he became a titular member of the Academy on July 5, 2015, and was elected vice president on November 27, 2015. He is member of several editorial boards, including Arheologia Moldovei , Dacia , Historia Urbana , Studii și Cercetări de Istorie Veche și Arheologie , Res Historica , and Acta Euroasiatica ; he also founded and coordinates several academic book series published by
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