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Chapter 67: Magyars, Slavs and Vlachs
So here we are back, on the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia. This country had been tributary under the Macedonian dynasty to the Rhomaic Empire, however as the opportunity for independence arrived, the Croats quickly took advantage of it.
View attachment 486610
A political map of the area
The Croatian language is known to be composed of three different dialects: Chakavian, Shtokavian and Kajkavian. These dialects are of course located in different parts of the country, and the predominance of one over another also signifies the predominant cultural ties of the country. The Kajkavian dialect is spoken in the area around Zagreb and Varaždin, and is closer to Slovene than anything else. One could even speculate and claim that Kaykavians are those Slovenes who stayed outside the borders of Germany. Nevertheless, this dialect is closely connected to German influence. The Štokavian dialect spoken in the eastern parts, near Bosnia is very similar to Serbian, and is connected to Rhomaic influence. Ultimately, the Chakavian dialect, uniquely Croat, although sharing quite a few Romance features, is spoken in the littoral areas, from Rijeka down to Split, and is influenced of course by Italy (1).
Croatia during the 11th century includes the entire Adriatic Coast, from Rijeka down to the Neretva estuary, as well as the Tropolje region (2), as well as the valleys of the rivers Una, Sana and Vrbas. In the north, Croatia extends up to the Drava River, which forms its northern borders roughly from Varaždin to its confluence with Danube.
The Dalmatian speakers, descendants of the Romanized Illyrians are still a considerable factor in the kingdom of Croatia. They can be found in the littoral areas, especially on the Dalmatian islands, but also in the coastal towns of Jadera, Tragur, and Spalato (3). These urban communities were an important factor in the economy of the kingdom; outside the control of the Croat kings were the Dalmatians in Venetian Cattaro (4) and the independent merchant republic of Ragusa.
Stradun, the main street of Ragusa
Further inland, there was the emerging Duchy of Bosnia, based around the eponymous river. The rather isolated highland area was thinly populated and when they broke free, no one really cared, had they not embraced a heretical religion. As it happened, a significant number of Paulicians had been deported from their homeland on the borders between Anatolia and Armenia, and were installed in central Thrace (5). Apparently, those areas were visited by Vlach herders, who somehow carried those ideas with them into Bosnia. There, the Paulician faith (Pavličenstvo) became the state religion of the Duke and many of his nobles (6). The Paulicians of Bosnia are sometimes described as an offshoot of Manicheans, other times as Dualists – basically something very similar to the Cathars. Anyhow, this choice of religion has made Bosnia the odd one out in the Balkans.
View attachment 486609
The Paulician enclaves in Bosnia and Thrace.
The eastern neighbour of Bosnia, Serbia, remains true to the Orthodox faith, however. Serbia in the 11th century is centred on the mountainous regions between the Neretva River and Lake Skadar, plus extending northwards along the Drina Valley. Although unified under a common king, the country is still divided into two entities: Zeta in the littoral (7) and Raška (8) further inland. Serbia struggles to maintain its newly achieved independence vis-à-vis the energetic Rhomaic Empire.
The Pannonian Basin, encircled by the Carpathian Mountains, is naturally destined to be unified as one political or at least economic entity. The Kingdom of Hungary under the House of Arpád now involves also the Duchy of Zemplín (ruled as a fief under the House of Laborecký) and the Duchy of Nitra (ruled by the House of Divinsky). The kingdom did also include the valley of the Morava and Thaya Rivers as well
Saint Stephen is celebrated as the founder of the Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary is thus a more decentralized realm (9), which also features a striking ethnic diversity. The lowland regions, especially the Alfold, was inhabited predominantly by Magyars, an Ugric people, who have assimilated the remains of Avars and Turkic Bulgarians in the area. The second most numerous linguistic group were of course the speakers of Slavic languages: especially Sloviens (10) living in the valleys of the Váh Nitra, Hron and other rivers at the southern foothills of the Western Carpathians, as well as in Moravia. The Sloviens had a superior material culture that Magyars, and as you can see, much of Magyar terminology was derived from Slavic terms.
Other Slavic groups within the Hungarian realm include the Ruthenes at the eastern extremities of the Carpathian Mountains, or Wends (11) in southwestern Pannonia around the Zala River, akin to their cousins in Styria, Carinthia and Carniola. These are thought to have been the descendants of the people ruled by Koceľ (12) a century earlier.
Ultimately, we still have some Pannonian Romance speakers, located in Transdanubia. Apart from a few villages and towns in the Vesprém Mountains, they are otherwise restricted to the region of Baranya in southeastern Transdanubia. Most of them live as artisans and guildsmen, and amongst them was a very high proportion of local Hungarian clergy. Many bishops and abbots in the kingdom were of Pannonian descent.
View attachment 486608
The diverse linguistic makeup of the Lower and Central Danube Basins
An increasing number of Germans was also arriving into the Kingdom of Hungary. They were welcome as urban townsmen and did not settle in the countryside at all. Most of them were directed either into Pannonia, or Slovakia.
Outside of the control of Hungarian kings remains the Duchy of Ardeal, also known in Latin sources as Transylvania. The Transylvanian Basin is indeed a square-shaped mountain fortress, and the Dukes of Ardeal managed to preserve its independence throughout the entire century. Its population consisted of Slavic Bulgarians in the north (in the foothills of the Eastern Carpathians) and Vlachs in the south (on the foothills of the Southern Carpathians). However, both of these ethnic groups were rather diverging from their cousins to the south of the Danube. Especially Transylvanian Bulgarian was converging with neighbouring Russian to such extent, that Erdeljan Bulgar should be rather classified as an East Slavic language, than as a South Slavic one.
Also the Rhomaic authors spoke of “Balachos peradrumi” (Vlachs beyond the forests), whom they regard as barbaric and tough, yet still having a hidden piece of “Roman-ness” in them, in contrast to the Vlachs living within the boundaries of the Empire.
Unlike Hungary, Ardeal continues to use the Eastern-Rite Christianity, taking Slavonic as the liturgical language.
The southern neighbour of Ardeal is Oltenia, with its capital in Severin. Oltenia is exposed to Pecheneg raids from the east.
(1) Early Croatia, when it was centered on Dalmatia and Lika was predominantly Chakavian speaking. Shtokavian is the present-day standard form OTL, and became so widespread only after the Ottoman incursions.
(2) Around the towns of Livno, Duvno and Drvar.
(3) Zadar, Trogir and Split.
(4) Kotor in Montenegro
(5) Interestingly enough, those areas are home to Bulgarian-speaking Muslims, called Pomaks
(6) Yes, this is Bogomilism, but the Bulgarian priest Bogomil isn’t around, as we don’t have that many Bulgarians around either…
(7) Montenegro
(8) Roughly Sanjak.
(9) Compared to OTL, especially in the north.
(10)Slovaks. The suffix –ák is much later, originally they were called as such
(11)Contiguous with Prekmurje Slovenes. I suppose that the Wends used to occupy a much larger area historically
(12)Son of Pribina. Latinising his name into Cocelius sounds fun J
View attachment 486610
A political map of the area
The Croatian language is known to be composed of three different dialects: Chakavian, Shtokavian and Kajkavian. These dialects are of course located in different parts of the country, and the predominance of one over another also signifies the predominant cultural ties of the country. The Kajkavian dialect is spoken in the area around Zagreb and Varaždin, and is closer to Slovene than anything else. One could even speculate and claim that Kaykavians are those Slovenes who stayed outside the borders of Germany. Nevertheless, this dialect is closely connected to German influence. The Štokavian dialect spoken in the eastern parts, near Bosnia is very similar to Serbian, and is connected to Rhomaic influence. Ultimately, the Chakavian dialect, uniquely Croat, although sharing quite a few Romance features, is spoken in the littoral areas, from Rijeka down to Split, and is influenced of course by Italy (1).
Croatia during the 11th century includes the entire Adriatic Coast, from Rijeka down to the Neretva estuary, as well as the Tropolje region (2), as well as the valleys of the rivers Una, Sana and Vrbas. In the north, Croatia extends up to the Drava River, which forms its northern borders roughly from Varaždin to its confluence with Danube.
The Dalmatian speakers, descendants of the Romanized Illyrians are still a considerable factor in the kingdom of Croatia. They can be found in the littoral areas, especially on the Dalmatian islands, but also in the coastal towns of Jadera, Tragur, and Spalato (3). These urban communities were an important factor in the economy of the kingdom; outside the control of the Croat kings were the Dalmatians in Venetian Cattaro (4) and the independent merchant republic of Ragusa.
Stradun, the main street of Ragusa
Further inland, there was the emerging Duchy of Bosnia, based around the eponymous river. The rather isolated highland area was thinly populated and when they broke free, no one really cared, had they not embraced a heretical religion. As it happened, a significant number of Paulicians had been deported from their homeland on the borders between Anatolia and Armenia, and were installed in central Thrace (5). Apparently, those areas were visited by Vlach herders, who somehow carried those ideas with them into Bosnia. There, the Paulician faith (Pavličenstvo) became the state religion of the Duke and many of his nobles (6). The Paulicians of Bosnia are sometimes described as an offshoot of Manicheans, other times as Dualists – basically something very similar to the Cathars. Anyhow, this choice of religion has made Bosnia the odd one out in the Balkans.
View attachment 486609
The Paulician enclaves in Bosnia and Thrace.
The eastern neighbour of Bosnia, Serbia, remains true to the Orthodox faith, however. Serbia in the 11th century is centred on the mountainous regions between the Neretva River and Lake Skadar, plus extending northwards along the Drina Valley. Although unified under a common king, the country is still divided into two entities: Zeta in the littoral (7) and Raška (8) further inland. Serbia struggles to maintain its newly achieved independence vis-à-vis the energetic Rhomaic Empire.
The Pannonian Basin, encircled by the Carpathian Mountains, is naturally destined to be unified as one political or at least economic entity. The Kingdom of Hungary under the House of Arpád now involves also the Duchy of Zemplín (ruled as a fief under the House of Laborecký) and the Duchy of Nitra (ruled by the House of Divinsky). The kingdom did also include the valley of the Morava and Thaya Rivers as well
Saint Stephen is celebrated as the founder of the Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary is thus a more decentralized realm (9), which also features a striking ethnic diversity. The lowland regions, especially the Alfold, was inhabited predominantly by Magyars, an Ugric people, who have assimilated the remains of Avars and Turkic Bulgarians in the area. The second most numerous linguistic group were of course the speakers of Slavic languages: especially Sloviens (10) living in the valleys of the Váh Nitra, Hron and other rivers at the southern foothills of the Western Carpathians, as well as in Moravia. The Sloviens had a superior material culture that Magyars, and as you can see, much of Magyar terminology was derived from Slavic terms.
Other Slavic groups within the Hungarian realm include the Ruthenes at the eastern extremities of the Carpathian Mountains, or Wends (11) in southwestern Pannonia around the Zala River, akin to their cousins in Styria, Carinthia and Carniola. These are thought to have been the descendants of the people ruled by Koceľ (12) a century earlier.
Ultimately, we still have some Pannonian Romance speakers, located in Transdanubia. Apart from a few villages and towns in the Vesprém Mountains, they are otherwise restricted to the region of Baranya in southeastern Transdanubia. Most of them live as artisans and guildsmen, and amongst them was a very high proportion of local Hungarian clergy. Many bishops and abbots in the kingdom were of Pannonian descent.
View attachment 486608
The diverse linguistic makeup of the Lower and Central Danube Basins
An increasing number of Germans was also arriving into the Kingdom of Hungary. They were welcome as urban townsmen and did not settle in the countryside at all. Most of them were directed either into Pannonia, or Slovakia.
Outside of the control of Hungarian kings remains the Duchy of Ardeal, also known in Latin sources as Transylvania. The Transylvanian Basin is indeed a square-shaped mountain fortress, and the Dukes of Ardeal managed to preserve its independence throughout the entire century. Its population consisted of Slavic Bulgarians in the north (in the foothills of the Eastern Carpathians) and Vlachs in the south (on the foothills of the Southern Carpathians). However, both of these ethnic groups were rather diverging from their cousins to the south of the Danube. Especially Transylvanian Bulgarian was converging with neighbouring Russian to such extent, that Erdeljan Bulgar should be rather classified as an East Slavic language, than as a South Slavic one.
Also the Rhomaic authors spoke of “Balachos peradrumi” (Vlachs beyond the forests), whom they regard as barbaric and tough, yet still having a hidden piece of “Roman-ness” in them, in contrast to the Vlachs living within the boundaries of the Empire.
Unlike Hungary, Ardeal continues to use the Eastern-Rite Christianity, taking Slavonic as the liturgical language.
The southern neighbour of Ardeal is Oltenia, with its capital in Severin. Oltenia is exposed to Pecheneg raids from the east.
(1) Early Croatia, when it was centered on Dalmatia and Lika was predominantly Chakavian speaking. Shtokavian is the present-day standard form OTL, and became so widespread only after the Ottoman incursions.
(2) Around the towns of Livno, Duvno and Drvar.
(3) Zadar, Trogir and Split.
(4) Kotor in Montenegro
(5) Interestingly enough, those areas are home to Bulgarian-speaking Muslims, called Pomaks
(6) Yes, this is Bogomilism, but the Bulgarian priest Bogomil isn’t around, as we don’t have that many Bulgarians around either…
(7) Montenegro
(8) Roughly Sanjak.
(9) Compared to OTL, especially in the north.
(10)Slovaks. The suffix –ák is much later, originally they were called as such
(11)Contiguous with Prekmurje Slovenes. I suppose that the Wends used to occupy a much larger area historically
(12)Son of Pribina. Latinising his name into Cocelius sounds fun J
- Tomislav Addai
- Word Count: 1.3k