The Port of Maurocastro, Emperor Theodore Svetoslav and the Tatar Elite in the Pontic Steppes
The Port of Maurocastro, Emperor Theodore Svetoslav and the Tatar Elite in the Pontic Steppes

Summary/Abstract: The article is dedicated to the question of the disputed Bulgarian rule over the Black sea port of Maurocastro at the beginning of the fourteenth century. On the basis of relevant sources, it is concluded that Maurocastro was in Bulgarian hands during 1314–1316. It has been argued that the establishment of Bulgarian rule ensued as a consequence of internal dissensions in the lands of the Golden Horde that followed the accession of Khan Mohammad Uzbek. A focus is placed also on the relations between Emperor Theodore Svetoslav and influential Tatar nobles in the western parts of the Pontic Steppes. A new hypothesis is proposed with respect to the origin of empress Euphrosyne, the wife of Theodore Svetoslav.

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