Пловдивски исторически форум / Plovdiv Historical Forum
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p-ISSN: 2535-0935 / e-ISSN: 2535-0951
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Item THE APRIL UPRISING ON THE PAGES OF THE NEWSPAPER “REVIVAL”(Plovdiv University Press "Paisii Hilendarski", 2024) Ivanov, DenisThe Bulgarian political newspaper “Revival” published several materials dedicated to the preparation and course of the April Uprising of 1876. In these materials, the uprising was presented in a romantic and hyperbolic manner. The available documentary evidence suggests that the main reason for this was the desire of the newspaper’s editorial board to convince the representatives of the Bulgarian emigration to provide moral and, above all, material support to their rebellious compatriots.Item WOMEN AND ECONOMY: REFLECTIONS ON A DESCRIPTION IN ΓΕΩΠΟΝΙΚΑ AND A FRESCO FROM THE ZEMEN MONASTERY(Plovdiv University Press "Paisii Hilendarski", 2024) Georgieva, TeodoraThis study aims to present the social demands on women, the moral considerations that deter mined their participation in the economy and the production process in the Middle Ages. The starting point for the refl ections on this topic are two diff erent types of evidence. The fi rst description is contained in the Byzantine agricultural handbook "Geoponica" (Γεωπονικά), compiled in the 10th century. The second source of information is a fourteenth-century fresco from the Zemen monastery of ‚‘St. John the Theologian“. Despite the diversity of the two accounts, they appear to have a similar discourse, and that is about women and their role in the economic life of the medieval Balkans. As a consequence of the strict notions of the role of women, restrictions on the participation of female in agricultural activities have arisen. ‚‘Geoponica“ alludes to ritual purity, especially in relation to nutrition and agriculture, and the risk of women ‚‘contaminating“ the produce. This means that medieval society had a mar ginal attitude towards women. The fresco from Zemen monastery also suggest the idea of women‘s place. The traditional understanding of a woman‘s role extended mainly to the home – one of her main activities being spinning and weaving, which were loaded with positive symbolic connotations, in contrast to blacksmithing. Despite the demands of medieval society, evidence from the ‚‘Geoponicа“ and the Zemen monastery mural show that women (albeit with a secondary role) participated in various socio-economic activities, including agriculture and craft production (blacksmithing). But this participation was accompanied by a moral and social norm.Item PECHENEG POTTERY FROM BULGARIA(Plovdiv University Press "Paisii Hilendarski", 2024) Ivanov, Rosen; Ivanov, RumenThe article examines ceramics that were discovered during the archaeological investigations of medieval settlements and fortresses in Bulgaria and can be related to the Pechenegs. Two categories of ceram ic dishes are registered – kitchenware and tableware. The most numerous is the fi rst category of pottery, which was used to prepare food. Table ceramics are represented by a small amount of vessels that have no analogues among medieval ceramics from the Balkans. The earliest vessels are from Northeastern Bulgaria, where the earliest Pecheneg invasions took place, namely in the 30s–40s of the 11th century, and those from Southeastern Bulgaria can be dated to the middle or 2nd half of the 11th century.Item ANAX SEUALCES IN THE “PERSIANS” OF AESCHYLUS: A POSSIBLE REFLECTION OF A THRACIAN RULER FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE 5TH CENTURY BC(Plovdiv University Press "Paisii Hilendarski", 2024) Mitrev, Georgi; Iliev, JordanThis article examines King Seualces, a character mentioned only once in “The Persians” of Aeschylus. He is of the same rank (anax) as the well-known Persian kings Darius I and Xerxes, indicating that he must have participated in the war as an ally of Xerxes and an active ruler. Although the name Seualces does not appear in other sources, its specifi city allows for reasoned observations supporting his Thracian ethno-cultural affi liation. Moreover, such a king could have existed only in the Balkans, specifi cally in Thrace, since the Near Eastern territories up to India were already under Persian control. The available knowledge of Thraco-Persian relations in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC even allows for the suggestion of a connection with the Odrysian kingdom. Behind the fi gure of Seualces, one can recognize a close relative of Teres I or his elder brother. In this context, the death of Seualces at the end of the summer of 480 BC may be used to date the beginning of Teres I’s reign.Item “OLD” NAMES OF SETTLEMENTS AS EVIDENCES OF ALIANS’ PRESENCE IN THE FORMER DISTRICT OF MASTANLI – SOME NEW OUTLINES TO THE LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORY OF THE ALEVISM IN THE EASTERN RHODOPES MOUNTAIN (1920 – 1934)(Plovdiv University Press "Paisii Hilendarski", 2024) Ivanova, Vanya; Semerdzhieva, ElisavetaA mai n object of research in the presented article are some old names of settlements in the former district of Mastanli which as oykonyms show the presence of Alevi population (Alians) in the region of the Eastern Rhodopes Mountain. The above-mentioned territories became an integral part of the Bulgarian kingdom in 1913 but the predominant part of listed names had been changes by the official Bulgarian government in 1934. The Alevi as representatives of the “heterodox” (or Sufi ) Islam (compared to the “orthodox” Sunni one) had been the predominant part of pioneers’ colonists in the above-mentioned territories during the years of 15th – 17th c. At the same time, all of old settlement names are saved in the so called “Lists of populated places” that summarized the results of census of Bulgaria’s population in 1920, 1926 and 1934. Exactly, in the cited “Lists…” the authors of the article found names of settlements that show past or present Alevi attendance in the Eastern Rhodopes. These are 29 villages and 75 mahalas or as a sum – 104 new places of settlements that have to add to previously known 44 ones (35 villages and 9 mahalas).Item NOTES ON THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESSING OF MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN TIMES IMPACT WEAPONS(Plovdiv University Press "Paisii Hilendarski", 2024) Popov, StoyanThe here presented work off ers a methodology and a detailed protocol of action in the scientific processing of impact weapons. It is based on the principle of maximum extraction and registration of information about the considered artifact. Often, at the time of research, this registration may seem too (even unnecessarily) detailed. According to the author, however, this is only at first glance, since this detailed description is a “snapshot” of the current state of the artifact, which (especially in the case of objects made of iron) changes (sometimes too quickly) irreversibly. Along with this, science and its methods are in a constant state of development, which may at some point make use of the data from the “snapshot” in question. Along with the protocol on the processing of the artifacts, an attempt was also made to introduce terminological definitions regarding the individual parts of the weapons in question from the point of view of the Bulgarian language. The individual stages in the processing of artifacts – representatives of impact weapons, have been tracked and commented on. These stages are both common to all types of such weaponry, and specific to maces, kistens, and warhammers. The thoughts expressed regarding the methodological aspects of working with the group of weapons in question are based on the author‘s practical work with such specimens from the Middle Ages and Modern times.Item ANDRONIKOS III PALAIOLOGOS – THE LAST SOLDIER-EMPEROR OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE(Plovdiv University Press "Paisii Hilendarski", 2024) Michailidis, GeorgeThe reign of Andronikos III Palaiologos often remains overshadowed by the tumultuous civil conflicts of the Palaiologan era and the subsequent events precipitating the rapid territorial decline and ultimate collapse of the Byzantine Empire. Amidst the multifaceted challenges confronting the empire during Andronikos’s ascendancy, characterized notably by the loss of nearly all remaining territories in Asia Minor, his reign witnessed a noteworthy consolidation of imperial power. Through the pursuit of an assertive foreign policy, particularly marked by military engagements and demonstration of the empire’s martial prowess, Andronikos managed, to the extent feasible, to effectuate a notable territorial expansion, constituting the final significant territorial expansion of the empire. By commanding the army personally and actively engaging in more than twenty campaigns and battles, Andronikos could rightfully earn the epithet of the last soldier-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.Item THE CAMPAIGNS OF THE RUS’ IN THE BALKANS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 9TH AND THE END OF THE 10TH CENTURIES IN UKRAINIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE TURN OF THE XX – XXI CENTURIES(Plovdiv University Press "Paisii Hilendarski", 2024) Shinakov, Evgeniy; Fedosov, AndreyThe report includes preliminary results of the research on this topic within the framework of the grant of the Russian Science Foundation “Ukrainian Historiography of Medieval Rus’ at the End of XX – Beginning of XXI Centuries: Concepts, Origins, Trends”. It draws attention mainly to the internal aspect and consequences of the campaigns of the Rus’ against the “Greeks” and Bulgarians: changes in the composition of participants in connection with the dynamics of the structures of Rus’ from the middle of the ninth to the end of the tenth century, creating favorable conditions for Christianization. From the external aspects the emphasis is made only on the desire of Svyatoslav to move the capital of Rus’ to the territory of Bulgaria and the beginning of the Pecheneg aggression as a reaction of Byzantium to the campaigns of Svyatoslav. Original, though contradictory to the sources, is the point of view that in 987 the “Tauro-Scythian” help to the basileus was rendered not against the rebellion of Bardas Phokas, but against the Bulgarians. A lot of attention is paid to Vladimir’s “forced” campaign to Korsun in 988, its religious and political consequences. In addition, an interesting idea of Pritsak is presented, who calls the Rus’ “the nomads of the sea”, comparing their model of interaction with sedentary societies with that of the steppe nomads.