I've been there. Been in the valleys
Where everything is tenderly caressed by the eye, On the terrible rapids I have been
Balkan inaccessible mountains.
I saw in the villages of those distant
Behind the bright plow of a Yunak, I was high on the peaks
Where the clouds rest.
I was there and in the hot summer, I used to be in blooming spring -
I breathed the whole region with the labor of the deceased, The swarm played in the colors of the kids.
Calmly, peacefully, the wives were spinning, And they sang the songs of the old days
And patiently waited
From the fields of their workers …
Gilyarovsky V. A. I saw them in the smoke, in the dust … / V. A. Gilyarovsky // Bulgaria in Russian poetry: an anthology / [comp. Boris Nikolaevich Romanov; artist Andrey Nikulin]. M., 2008.-- S. 160-161
Influence on the formation of the Balkan military culture
Knights and chivalry of three centuries. In the past article about the warriors of the Balkans, and above all the Serbs, Romanians and Bulgarians, was told in the words of the British historian D. Nicolas. But a sequel was promised, based on the works of Bulgarian historians, and here it is in front of you, including the materials of some English-speaking researchers.
The restoration of the weapons and history of the Bulgarian medieval elite is a very difficult task, since the written sources that have come down to us are small in size, which greatly complicates their interpretation. There are archaeological sites, manuscripts and frescoes originating from Bulgaria and adjacent regions. But the same frescoes are not entirely reliable source and should be treated very carefully.
Nevertheless, it is obvious that the Second Bulgarian Kingdom was already a completely feudal state, the elite of which consisted of aristocrats with significant land holdings, which included both villages and cities. Over time, their privileges and growing wealth turn them into local rulers with full autonomy in relation to the supreme state power. However, they submitted to this authority, and in exchange for the privileges bestowed on it, and the territories they owned. And since the main occupation of any medieval aristocrat was military affairs, it is obvious that the same thing took place among the Bulgarian aristocracy, who from childhood trained to wield weapons, ride a horse, and understand the basics of strategy and tactics.
And it is understandable that such socially significant people should have been well protected, although assumptions about the nature of the armor of the Bulgarian nobility are still controversial. What, however, is well known and cannot be disputed? For example, the fact that in the XII century. Crusaders from Western Europe moved across the territory of the Balkan Peninsula to the capital of Byzantium, Constantinople. Along with such a phenomenon as the invasion of the Normans, this inevitably led to borrowings in the field of military culture. First of all, this concerned heavy cavalry. At the same time, a number of historians note that it was the XII century that was a time of changes in Byzantine culture, since then many Western customs also appear in Byzantium. One of the innovations was knightly tournaments, in which the emperor Immanuel Comnenus competed with the rulers of the Latin kingdoms.
Part of the military elite who participated in these tournaments belonged to the Bulgarian boyars, such as Assen and Peter, a significant part of whose European possessions were located in Bulgaria.
In addition to Byzantium, the attacks of the Normans, Magyars and, as already noted, the Crusades, a significant part of which passed through the Bulgarian lands, had their influence on the formation of the Balkan military culture. At the same time, the growth of the Italian city-states began and their commercial expansion to the East. They soon gain significant influence in the Mediterranean and the Balkans. But after the Fourth Crusade, Western European influence in the Balkans entered a new phase. At that time, the presence of Western Europeans in the region increased, especially the French and Italians. And they brought with them new models of armor and weapons. In addition, more and more Germanic settlers appear on the borders with the Bulgarian kingdom in the north, from Hungary and western mercenaries in Serbia and Byzantium. In the 14th century, the influence of the Italian city-states and Dubrovnik increased even more, so that they became the main centers of trade in the region. This is confirmed by the finds of archaeologists: a significant number of monuments of material culture are of Western origin, mainly products of Italian artisans - jewelry and ornaments, weapons, belts, utensils, etc. All this indicates the significant influence of the West on the material culture of Bulgarian cities and the scale trade exchange between states west of Bulgaria.
In 1240 Bulgaria and other parts of Eastern and Central Europe fell under the blows of the Mongol Tatars. New conquerors from the Great Steppe bring with them a new type of armor that supplants the old ones. These are clothes made of fabric or leather, as well as steel plates. All this was fastened together and turned into a solid structure. At the same time, more and more metal protective devices for arms and legs began to appear on the armor of European warriors, which, in combination with chain mail, made it possible to create quite good protection. The story of the servilera, which eventually turned into a bascinet helmet, begins. Its first use was recorded at the end of the 13th century in Padua, where it was mentioned as a helmet used by the infantry, and then quickly spread throughout Europe, where its various modifications and forms appeared. At the same time, the "great helmet" was also used, but it was purely equestrian. However, it is unlikely that he enjoyed popularity in the Balkans and in the same Bulgaria, although in general its weapons followed Western fashion. This is clearly seen from archaeological finds, various images on frescoes, coins, miniatures, seals, and random drawings.
The trend of following European fashion
Despite the small number of finds of armor and weapons from the time of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, they nevertheless show us a clear tendency to follow European fashion. Moreover, there are not so many finds that would confirm this, but they are.
European swords, spurs and horseshoes for horses are found in different places on the territory of Bulgaria, there are samples of bascinet helmets from the late 14th century, as well as traces of lamellar "armor" of the brigandine type.
There are written sources from which it becomes clear that the Italian weapons were purchased by the Bulgarians both for themselves and for resale to their neighbors, which speaks of the well-established arms trade at that time and the widest distribution of the same Italian models in the Balkans.
How significant are these foreign purchases? There are written records for the period 1329 - 1349, when in the Kingdom of Serbia during this time 800 canvas gorgets, 750 iron knee pads, 500 chain mail shossses, more than 1300 sets of plate armor, 100 chain mail, 650 bascinets, 800 barbut helmets, 500 pairs were purchased plate gloves, 300 shields, 400 "Serbian-type" shields, 50 chapel-de-fer ("iron hats") helmets, 100 legguards, 500 greaves, 200 sets of forged hand plates, 500 shorts (obviously chain mail!), 250 complete sets "Armor", and in general - armor for 833 people and more weapons for 1200 people, all this with a total value of 1,500 gold ducats. And this was not a weapon for the knights. They always bought and ordered everything on their own. It was with royal money that uniform weapons were purchased for the royal army!
The illustrated manuscripts contain two significant and valuable sources that were created almost in the same period, and provide extremely rich information about the time - the Bulgarian copy of the Chronicle of Manasseh and the Hungarian illustrated Chronicle of Piktun. It should be noted that in their images there are both coincidences and some differences, but on the whole their analysis shows that jackets with long sleeves dominate in the miniatures of both chronicles.
In the Chronicles of Manasseh. in most cases, the armor is painted in a conditional blue color, which can lead to different interpretations of what is seen. But it is clear that there were several types of helmets, made mainly from one piece of metal: spherical (cervelier) and various examples of conical helmets. On the Bulgarian coins there are images of the "big helmet". Apparently, it was a symbol of chivalry and power.
As for the use of the cavalry's plate gloves, in the Chronicle of Manasseh, the artist painted horsemen with bare hands, but the horsemen from the Chronicle of Pictun wear classic European plate gloves. Interestingly, a similar glove is depicted on a fresco in the Markov Monastery near Prilep. The weapons written in both chronicles are swords and spears. The shields are triangular or in the form of an "inverted drop". The spurs and bits found by archaeologists are of typical Western style.
And now something like a conclusion, since in this cycle, conclusions after each material are not provided. As you can see, the second material substantially complements the first, that is, what D. Nicole wrote. Its authors are better acquainted with the primary sources (and it would be strange if it were not so!), But they themselves emphasize their limited nature. So we are still generally seeing a research process with a very sparse source base. And for lovers of the "last resort" truth, you can add - and it is always "out there"!
P. S. I don’t know how anyone, but personally it was difficult for me to read and translate Bulgarian texts, although the Bulgarian language is in many ways similar to Russian. It turned out to be easier to take and read English-language sources, which in this case are recommended in the list of references.
References
1. Hupchick, P. Dennis. The Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony. Germany, Springer International Publishing AG, 2017.
2. Haldon, John. The Byzantine Wars. Stroud, Gloucestershire, The History Press, 2008.
3. Haldon, John. Byzantium at War: AD 600-1453. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.
4. Sophoulis, Panos. Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775-831. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2011.
5. Treadgold, T. Warren. Byzantium and Its Army, 284-1081. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995.
