![Byzantium as Seen by Itself – Images and Mechanisms at Work](/api/image/getbookcoverimage?id=document_cover-page-image_472000.jpg)
The notion Bulgaria in historical sources survived the end of the First Bulgarian State in 1018. The use of this term in the sources of the 11th and 12th centuries is not related to the adminstrative unit of the theme of Bulgaria, because it exceeds this unit both geographically and chronologically. This term was used by Byzantine, Latin (predominantly crusader) and Slavonic writers of the time to name the territory that stretched from the Rivers Sava and Danube in the North to the northern ranges of the Pindus Mountains in the South, and from the mountains between Ohrid and Durazzo in the West to the mountain gorges east of Sofia, in the East. It also covered a narrow strip of coastline around Valona, on the Ionian Sea. The term was applied consistantly to this same territory, in order to distigiush it from the rest of the Byzantine territory in the Balkans, which was called Romania, or Greece. This territory coincides with the jurisdictional area of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, the official name of which was the Archbishopric of Bulgaria. It preserved the name of the old Bulgarian Empire, with its traditions, for the land and the people under its jurisdiction. This Bulgaria should be treated by historians as a separete geographical and historical entity. It was divided between Serbia and the new Bulgarian state of Trnovo at the end of the 12th century.
More...During 2010, on the eastern slope of the fortress of Ras, a lead seal of the emperor Alexios I Komnenos was discovered beneath the stone fort. The obverse of the seal bears image of a bearded Christ, facing forwards and seated on a throne with a high back. Around the head of Christ is a nimbus. He wears a tunic and a colobion, and is giving a blessing with his right hand, while in his left, he holds the Gospel. The feet of Christ are resting on a circular pedestal. The inscription is not preserved but according to analogies with identical seals, it is certain that it contained the abbreviation IC — XC. The reverse shows the image of the emperor Alexios I facing forwards, standing on a pedestal. The emperor has a beard, is wearing a crown with prependoulia and is dressed in a divetesion, a maniakon and a loros, which is draped over his left shoulder. In his right hand he holds a labarum, which rests on the ground, and in his left hand holds a globus cruciger. One can distinguish only some of the letters in the inscription which formed a frame around the presentation. In the process of being pressed, the lead blank was not well-positioned in relation to the boulloterion, so that the imprint of the obverse and reverse were shifted in relation to the lead blank. The upper parts of the images, the head of Christ on the obverse and the upper part of the emperor's head on the reverse, are missing. Apart from that, the blank was narrower than the boulloterion itself, so that the inscriptions in the field on the obverse and along the rim of the reverse were not clearly imprinted. The seal itself has a diameter of 30 mm and weighs 20.5 g. Despite the fact that the inscription is poorly preserved and practically illegible, the identification of the seal does not present a particular problem. Based on the iconographic and stylistic features, it can be attributed to the emperor Alexios I Komnenos, whose seals are distinguished by a specific iconographic scheme with the presentation of Christ enthroned on the obverse and the standing figure of the ruler, facing forwards, who is holding a labarum and a globus cruciger on the reverse. According to the classification of the seals, proposed by G. Zacos and A. Veglery, in their corpus “Byzantine Lead Seals” our specimen would belong to the first variant of lead seals, subcategory two — n¿ 102b. For the consideration of our find, certainly the most important discovery in the area of Sirmium, Ma~vanska Mitrovica, to be more exact, is the seal of the sebastos and megas domestikos Alexios Komnenos, the future emperor, which Bo`idar Ferjan~i} dated to between the end of 1078 / beginning of 1079 and the month of March in 1081. This find, according to B. Ferjan~i}, represents an important testimony about the duration of Byzantine rule during the seventies and the beginning of the eighties of the 11th century. The discovery of the seal of the emperor Alexios I Komnenos in the fortress of Ras indicates the presence of Byzantine rule in this important stronghold in the region that bears the same name, and the find itself belongs to the time of the Byzantine take-over of the castle and the construction of the first fortification with an earthen palissade. The seal of the emperor Alexios I Komnenos points to the importance of fortifying the exposed Byzantine strongholds that were under constant threat from the Serbs, and his care for the Empire's western border. The importance which that border had for Byzantium is clearly testified in the reports by Anna Komnenos about the fact that the emperor Alexios visited the mountain passes between Dalmatia and Byzantium — at the border facing Serbia. He personally dealt with the fortification by constructing valli: trenches, palisades, observation towers, and wooden towers, as well as the construction of forts — towers made of brick and stone. Part of the policy of the emperor Alexios I was certainly the fortification of large military strongholds for the purpose of defending the Byzantine borders.
More...Within the process of the reorganization of the Byzantine Empire, after the defeat of the Bulgarians in 1014, the Archbishopric of Ohrid, with 33 dioceses, was established in 1025. Christianizing missions on the Balkans, originating from Constantinople, which started in the second half of the 9th century, could be traced through the literary sources, changes in the funeral character and through the remains of church architecture. Also, after the archbishopric was founded, the massive use of items of personal religiosity began. Those items can be divided into encolpia, cross-pendants, small icons, medallions, ampoules and rings. So far, from the territory of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, more than 600 items of personal religiosity have been published. Since the original archbishopric covered the territories of several modern countries, these types of finds were not published. Although their number is not final, it can be said that this is a small amount of items of personal religiosity, used by the relatively numerous Christian population on the broad territory during the two centuries. The items of personal religiosity, which had an apothropaic use, represented also a sign of belonging to a new social group. According to the available data, the most numerous are finds of encolpia and cross-pendants, certain types of which are characteristic just for some parts of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, while the other groups of items of personal religiosity are much less represented. Most of the finds with a certain archaeological background were discovered in the rural cemeteries, where inhumation according to the Christian funeral ritual was practiced. In most of the cases those finds were sporadic, with the exclusion of the necropolis near the Church of St. Panteleimon in Niš, where a large amount of finds was found. The quantitative analysis of the items of personal religiosity indicates that, most probably, for the use of those finds, the level of the urbanization of a certain town and religious centre, such as Ohrid, Prilep, Niš, Braničevo and Durostorum, had great importance. The Archbishopric of Ohrid played a significant role in the process of the Christianization of the Balkans, since during the first two centuries of its existance the new religion was firmly established. The completely Christian funerary practice, the development of the church architecture and the use of the items of personal religiosity testify to this. However, relicts of pagan customs were also registered. Those were explained mainly as the consequence of the low level of the Christianization, although it could also be explained by the necessity of the people to reach out for all the available assistance of “higher forces” during hard times.
More...On the whole, archaeological investigation to date has been extensive and varied in character, ranging from small-scale trial excavations, usually aimed at obtaining basic information about particular sites, and excavations within conservation and restoration projects, to long-term systematic excavations. Consequently, the obtained results vary in value. The best explored so far are the sites in the Danube basin and southwest Serbia, while the archaeological picture of other regions is much vaguer. Despite this disproportion, the results of fieldwork and post-fieldwork analysis provide a solid basis for designing a few major research projects, the final outcome of which is expected to have the value of first-rate historical sources. On this occasion, three projects chronologically corresponding to major phases of Byzantine political, economic and cultural history are proposed. First project is early-Byzantine, encompassing topics relating to fortifications and defence systems, the provisioning of garrisons and trade in general, models and characteristics of planned urbanization and church organization. Second project would deal with topics relating to the period of restored Byzantine control over the Balkans in the 11th and 12th centuries, such as military and administrative seats on the Empire’s re-established border, the Archbishopric of Ohrid, especially the issues such as Christianization and the extent of Byzantinization, including the identification of the symbiosis and distinguishing between Byzantine influence and Slavic legacy. Third project would focus on exploring Byzantine urban and proto-urban centres within the medieval Serbian state, involving programmes of physical and chemical analyses of the recovered archaeological material, which may provide key answers to questions concerning the nature of the economy and trade between the Byzantine core areas and the Balkans. The proposed archaeological projects are expected to come up with some answers to central questions in the field of Byzantine studies. In that sense, the early-Byzantine topics are fully in tune with current concerns within Byzantine studies in Europe, and will make a significant contribution to them. On the other hand, the proposed middle and late Byzantine projects fit into the concerns of Balkan Byzantinology and, as such, have a strong potential for improving the understanding of architecture, culture and art in the Byzantine Balkan provinces. Given that Byzantine archaeology forms an integral part of national archaeology in Serbia, these projects are expected to result in a significant, if not landmark, contribution to understanding the complexity of medieval Serbian culture in general and the decorative arts in particular. In that sense, apart from research based on the archaeological methods, programmes of physical and chemical analyses of products, semi-products and raw materials are proposed for all topics. In addition to identifying the nature of the economy and trade between the Byzantine core areas and the Balkans, such analyses should help clarify technological aspects, i.e. differences and similarities between Byzantine products and contemporary domestic products modelled after them, as well as artefacts of a later date relied on Byzantine technology and style. Of course, publication of excavation and post-excavation results, and the study of artefacts belonging to the Byzantine cultural orbit by origin or inspiration, remain the first and foremost prerequisite for accomplishing the defined project goals.
More...Keywords: Hungarian history
The immense, flat plain that lies between the Ural and Carpathian mountains, north of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, allowed dozens of nomadic peoples to wander, separating and mixing, approximately fifteen hundred years ago. A people appeared among them in the reports of Arab and Persian merchants in the 9th century A.D, a people who called themselves Magyar. They inhabited the region where the Kama and Volga Rivers meet (today it is the Bashkir Autonomous Federal Republic of the Russian Federation). Th is was the moment that the Hungarian people entered the writt en history of the world.
More...The aim of the following paper is to present the circulation of money in the legionary camp on the lower Danube together with an analysis of the extent to which coins contribute to the time dating of structures in which they were unearthed. An attempt was made at reconstruction of the monetary circulation in the camps along the Danube River, based on the material accessible to the author. It comprises coins from excavations conducted by Ośrodek Badań nad Antykiem Europy Południowo-Wschodniej of Warsaw University (OBA) at the site of a military camp in Novae in the province of Moesia Inferior (Bulgaria). Studies conducted by OBA encompassed the so-called Section IV. Therefore, the coins considered in the following analyses come from the excavations of this very site. Other legionary camps on the lower Danube have been archeologically studied only partially; excavations were conducted on irregular basis, and they are not continued. Generally,the state of research into the circulation of Roman coins in Moesia is still fragmentary. Whereas there is literature on the circulation of coins during the 1st and 2nd centuries, and attempts have been made at a synthesis, the 3rd and 4th centuries are barely known. Studies in Novae have been conducted for over 50 years by Bulgarian and Polish research centers.Warsaw University has participated in these studies since the beginning. The followinganalyses have been based on excavations, archival materials and the author’s own research. Inorder to show the possibilities of time dating based on coins, several structures from excavations of Section IV have been analyzed in this paper. The site of the legionary camp in Novae, comprising the so-called Section IV, perfectly illustrates its rich history. Structures uncovered during excavations belong to different periods, staring from the time of the stationing of Legio VIII Augusta until the Middle Ages. They include: baths, a military hospital — valetudinarium and civil architecture. The pool of coins in the finds at the site of Section IV seems to be representative. During excavations of this site, 765 items in total, coming from the 1st century AD until the 7th century AD, were registered. This numberwould be at least tripled if the rest of the area were unearthed. The most plentiful group consists of the 4th century coins and the least numerous - of the 2nd and the 6th century coins. The most numerous group of the 4th century issues constitutes nearly half of all the finds.The history of the legionary camp in Novae begins in the middle of the 1st century AD, whenLegio VIII Augusta was assigned there after the end of the campaign in Britannia in AD 45. The mark of the legion’s presence is the relatively many coins of Claudius I. It can be explained by the fact that in AD 45, Novae became a part of the Roman Empire. Legion VIII was assigned to this location; a camp had to be built. A large amount of money was sent from Rome to Novae for this purpose. It is reflected in the pool of coins found in Novae in Section IV. A great majority of coins from the discussed period are connected with the existence of the large sized thermae legionis, which were built during the rule of Emperor Vespasian. The remnants of the baths, which were in operation when the Italian Legion stationed there, are very scarce. Their walls were subsequently used to built a hospital. Among other things, the pavement of the baths floor bearing the stamp of the legion has been preserved. 38 coins are connected with the Flavian baths. There is a group of coins issued before AD 97. The context of this find is unknown, but one cannot exclude their connection with the baths. The period of the functioning of the baths encompasses the Flavian Dynasty’s rule. The fact that the period before the construction of the baths was uneventful at the site of Section IV is confirmed by the absence of any Republican coins in the finds. Coins from this period were in circulationunder Julius-Claudius Dynasty relatively often. Demolition of the baths must have been carried out at the beginning of Trajan’s rule at the latest, as indicated by the group of coins found in demolition layers. The exact numismatic dating of this fact is not possible due to the fact that the youngest coin from this complex is too degraded. Moreover, the date of its issue does not coincide with the exact date of the closure of the legion baths. However, no Hadrian’s coins, or any later coins, were unearthed in the context of the baths. From the point of view of numismatics, the most probable date of the demolition of the baths is around AD 98, or shortly after. The most important object revealed in excavations of Section IV is valetudinarium, i.e., a military hospital. Its construction was begun at the beginning of Trajan’s rule. As was mentioned before, coins indicate that the baths were rebuilt into a hospital in the first years of Trajan’s rule. This dating is additionally supported by historic events, including first of all, Romans’ preparations for the Dacian Wars. It is worth mentioning a structure within the hospital, where the coin was discovered, namely an asklepeion — a healing temple, situated in the center of the courtyard. When analyzing the obtained timelines, one has to bear in mind that coins had a different time of circulation in different parts of the Roman Empire. We still have less specific data for the provinces on the Danube. The finds of coins from the period of the functioning of valetudinarium indicate that the hospital cannot have been abandoned earlier than the rule of Alexander Severus. To be dated, coins from the functional layers had to be separated from the coins from the rubblelayers, where they settled after the structure was abandoned. Their occurence in the rubble layer is meaningful for establishing the chronology of valetudinarium. It is worth recalling that the group of finds during excavations of the hospital site indicates that the object was functioning as early as during Alexander Severus’ reign. Establishing the exact year of its abandonement is not possible yet. This is not contradictory to the facts established upon the examination of other finds — primarily, Maximinus Thrax’s head and a fragment of a marble stone bearing the name of the Legio I Italica with Maximinus’ nickname, which indicatesthe passing of demantio memoriae of the legion after the emperor’s death. This would imply that the valetudinarium was abandoned in 238.In the pool of coins from excavations of Section IV in Novae, the provincial issues characteristic of Moesia and Thracia, stand out. In the earliest history of the legionary camp in Novae, “bronzes” from the central mint in Rome prevail among the denominations. Starting from the reign of Commodus, the statistics begin to change in favor of the provincials, which become the most numerous denominations, practically until the end of Gordian III’s reign. One of the first provincial coins is a beautiful, magnificent “bronze” from the Perinthus mint, struck during the reign of Commodus; no coins from the Rome mint were found. They are accompanied by scarce denarii. Such a structure of coins is typical of the monetary circulation of both Moesia and Thracia in the first half of the 3rd century.The pool of coins found in excavations of Section IV in Novae indicates the characteristics of the circulation of coins solely in the discussed province.Moesian and Thracian mints began to operate as early as in the 2nd century. The height oftheir functioning falls, however, on the first half of the 3rd century, which is very apparent in the pool of coins unearthed in Section IV of the camp in Novae. The largest supplier of provincial “bronze” coins to Novae was, as seen from the pool, the Nikopolis ad Sistrum mint, situated nearest the camp. It was the source of nearly half of the assigned provincial “bronze” coins. Compared with other mints, Marcianopolis coins constitute a relatively large group. Issues from other mints are known only as one or two specimens. The predominance of coins struck in Nicopolis ad Istrum, and secondly, in Marcianopolis is natural because both mints were closest to Novae, especially the first one. What is more, the Nicopolis ad Istrum mint was very active during its short period of operation and put a great number of coins “into circulation”. It reached its pinnacle during the rule of the Severan Dynasty, and the largest quantities of coins reached Novae during Septimus Severus’ reign. It can be explained by the fact that during his reign, the demand for a “bronze” coin was not met by the mint of Rome. Therefore, provincial mints had to increase coinage. The Marcianopolis mint was in operation a little longer. A lot of coins were also issued by the Hadrianopolis mint, yet, these were not revealed in Section IV in substantial quantities. The youngest provincial coins revealed in Novae come from the Viminacium mint, which began to operate after the decline of Thracian and remaining Moesian mints. The number of Viminacium mint coins in Section IV is rather symbolic. The functioning of mints was very sensitive to political events taking place on the territory of Moesia. The stay of Emperor Elagabalus in Moesia in 218 was distinguished in Section IV by a relatively larger presence of provincial bronzes from the two most important mints for this region, namely Nicopolis ad Istrum and Marcianopolis. An increased influx of provincial coins occured during the reign of Gordian III, as is noticeable in the pool of coins from Section IV. This can be explained with troops marching south through the Balkans in 241. This period also saw the decline of at least the majority of Moesian and Thracian mints, which is also ascribed to political events, but mostly, to the specificity of the monetary system in the second half of the 3rd century. It was at that time that a rapid and decisive deterioration of a silver coin, the Antoninianus, ensued, and the minting of “bronze” coins ceased to be economically viable. Therefore, the finds of coins from the second half of the 3rd century from this region comprise exclusively the heavily debased Antoniniani. The finds of coins from the first half of the 3rd century indicate that the demand for money in Novae within this time frame was being met only by the nearby Moesian and Thracian mints. However, one has to remember that the pool of coins at our disposal is but a small part of the “living culture” and we can count on larger quantities of coins from local mints. It is almost certain that issues from Nicopolis ad Istrum, and secondly, from Marcianopolis prevailed during this period. Thus, it is an indication that also Roman soldiers were then paid in “bronze” provincial currency, all the more so because it was a period of intensified military action, and hence increased demand for money, while the treasury was short of silver. This was reflected in the larger quantity of Septimus Severus’ coins. The emperor had to fight a fierce battle for the throne with four claimants and owed his victory to fifteen legions, including Legio I Italica.The state of research into the circulation of Roman coins during the 3rd and 4th centuriesin Moesia is still much less complete than during the preceding period. It is demonstrateded, for instance, by the hoard discovered in Novae in the ruins of the military headquaters (principia) near the chapel of banners. The coins which were successfully assigned were dated to the 4th century; the majority came from the Balkan mints. Many of those were rare specimens and some were unknown. This would point to two facts. The manufacture of these mints constituted the main body of coins that were in circulation during the late 3rd and early 4th centuries in Moesia and Thracia. This should be expected because the supplies from local mints have substantially increased after Diocletian’s monetary reform in 294. Moreover, many types of 3rd and 4th century coins are unknowkn. It shows the incompletness of our knowledge concerning the issues of coins from the Balkan mints, and also the state of research into the 3rd and 4th centuries in the discussed region. The period of Gordian III’s reign, to the beginning of Gallien’s reign, is poorly represented in the pool of coins in Section IV. It was a period of barbarians’ attacks, including the Goths who besieged the camp in Novae in 250. 4th century coins are relatively numerous here. However, the fact that 4th century coins are generally most frequently encountered throughout Europe ought to be considered. The coins from Novae were mainly minted in the Balkan Siscia, Heraclea, Ticinum, but also in Nicomedia, Thessaloniki or Cyzicus, Sirmium and Constantinople.Thus, these results are in accordance with the remarks related to the above mentioned hoard from the Western treasury in the military headquaters . It seems justified to assume, based on the pool of coins from the legionary camp in Novae, that at the turn of 3rd and 4th centuries, and, at least in the early 4th century, issues from the Balkan and Asia Minor mints prevailed, whereas issues from Western mints were in circulation there in very small quantities.Coins found in various structures within legionary camps do not offer us many possibilitiesfor time dating. These chances increase if we have the exact data concerning the archeologicalcontext of the discovered coins and can situate them in the functional layers of a given structure, and correlate them with the specimens from demolition or rubble layers. Such actions yielded expected results in the case of the military hospital due to the fact that the coins allowed to determine the time when the hospital was certainly still in use, and the time when it was certainly abandoned. The finds of coins, however, did not contribute any new data, or any further conclusions about the timeline concerning legion baths and the temple of healing deities. They only gave us terminus post quem, which is not a relevant hint in these cases. Thus, coins help in time dating, provided that a structure was functioning for a longer period of time, and that we have exact data and detailed archeological documentation. However, the monetary system of the Roman Empire, the length and the specificity of circulation of particular denomination, depending on a particular province, should be kept in mind. To sum up the information on the circulation of coins in the legionary camp, it should be emphasized that primarily, the pool of coins mirrors the camp’s history. The relatively large number of coins of Julio-Claudian Dynasty points to the beginnigs of the camp. In its earliest history, the most numerous denomination is the “bronzes” from the Rome mint, predominantly the asses, followed by the sestertii and the duspondii. From the reign of Commodus, statistics begin to change in favor of provincial coins which rise to the status of prevalent denominations practically until the end of the reign of Gordian III. Coins from the central mint were actually not found then. The characteristic feature of circulation of coins in Novae is issues of provincial mints. The finds of coins from the first half of the 3rd century indicate that the demand for money in Novae in that period of time was met solely by the nearby Moesian and Thracian mints. Denarii are rare, which demonstrates that they were not the denomination mainly used within the camp. No gold coins were found at all. Such a structure of coins is typical of the monetary circulation in both Moesia and Thracia until the first half of the 3rd century. Coins from the 4th century occur in Section IV in relatively large quantities. “Bronzes” discovered in Novae were mainly issued at the Balkan mints, including Siscia, Heraclea, Ticinum, but also Nicomedia, Thessaloniki or Cyzicus, Sirmium and Constantinople. Based on the pool of coins in the legionary camp in Novae, it is justified to conclude that at the end of the 3rd and in the 4th century, or, at least in early 4th century, issues from the Baltic and Asia Minor mints prevailed; on the other hand, issues from Western mints found their way to Novae in very small quantities.The present state of research lets us assume that the observations made about the circulationof Roman coins in Novae, based on the pool of coins from Section IV, also pertain to otherlegionary camps and smaller military structures along the lower Danube River.
More...Keywords: Podunavlje (the Danube region); Posavina (the Sava region); Serbia; the Middle Ages; historical geography;
The period between the Battle of Kosovo (1389) and the formation of the eyelets of Buda (1541) and Temesvár (1552) was marked by the breakthrough of the Ottomans in the Danube region and their struggle with Serbia (until 1459) and Hungary to master this area. It is also the medieval period richest in sources for the study of social and economic history and historical geography of the Serbian Podunavlje and Posavina (the Danube and the Sava region). This paper presents a review of previous research on this issue, points out the main historical sources and problems that they put in front of researchers and presents the latest research results, in part resulting from the author’s research. The „land” (zemlja) in medieval Serbia was greater territorial and administrative unit, which included several župas (districts). In the area of northern Serbia, in Posavina, there was the “land” of Mačva, and in Podunavlje the “land” of Kučevo and Braničevo. More recent studies have defined the borders of specified areas and corrected earlier misconceptions about the propagation of the Hungarian government in northwestern Serbia in the late Middle Ages, caused by equalizing the Mačva “land” and the Hungarian Banat of Mačva (Macsó). The Hungarian Banat of Mačva was at that time confined to a narrow area next to the Sava with several fortresses and their districts. By change in the Hungarian-Serbian relations in the first half of 15th century, these regions were connected to the Serbian state until the Ottoman conquest in 1458/1459. Kučevo, which expanded between the rivers Velika Morava, Danube, Jasenica and the mountains of Avala and Kosmaj, was in administrative terms united with the “land” of Braničevo. However, during the 14th and the 15th century Kučevo survived as a particular geographical area. Comparing the data on settlements provided by Serbian charters with material from the Ottoman censuses – defters, one can get a picture of their continuity and discontinuity, which indirectly indicates depopulation during the warfare that led to the collapse of the Serbian state. Such research in the area of Braničevo shows that half of the villages of Braničevo completely lost their inhabitants during the Ottoman subjugation of Serbia. The comparison of the data of the medieval and Ottoman sources also showed a kind of continuity in economic centres – market places in the area of Braničevo. The Ottoman defters have shown that there were a large number of settlements in the Serbian Danube and the Sava region in the second half of the 15th and the first decades of the 16th century, but they were mostly small. Archaeological excavations provide valuable findings on the appearance of the settlements and way of life in the Danube and the Sava region. The Ottoman defters provide the insight into the economic structure in rural settlements during the second half of the 15th and early 16 century. The defters enable to obtain a relatively accurate picture of the proportional representation of crops in total production. On this basis, it may be noted that wheat was grown most of all the cereals (about 35%), followed by barley, rye, millet, oats. Among other crops, in addition to growing fruits and vegetables, followed by flax and hemp, vine was grown to a large extent.
More...Keywords: Croatian Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities;
The Croatian Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities, adopted in 2002 with a two-thirds majority of all MPs, stipulates special rights and freedoms of persons belonging to national minorities in order to enable their active and effective participation in public affairs and public life at all levels. Minorities in Croatia are thus guaranteed the right to proportional representation in the state administration, police and judicial bodies. This right is to be exercised using population fi gures from offi cial census results. According to the latest 2011 census, minorities comprise 7.67%, and Serbs 4.36%, of the total population of Croatia.
More...Keywords: Jerzy Kolendo; archaeology; Poland; Europe; University of Warsaw; Polish Academy of Sciences
A collection of over thirty studies written by renowned Polish scholars (archaeologists and historians), dedicated to the memory of a distinguished archaeologist, working for a long-time at the Polish Academy of Sciences and at the University of Warsaw, Professor Jerzy Kolendo. The articles deal with a broad range of issues – those concerned with the archaeology of different Polish regions (e.g., Mazovia, Western Pomerania) and of Europe (e.g., Sicily, Dacia, Germania).
More...Keywords: Danube; Balkans; Crimea; Great Migration Period; East Germans;fibulae;
Big fingered fibulae of the East German tradition, such as Archar-Histria type, are addressed in this article. In the late phase of the Great Migration Period, they spread throughout the East Roman Empire, south of the Danube, as well as in the Crimea. These fibulae belong to the East German tradition of women's costume and date from the second half of the 5th — the beginning of the 6th centuries. Most likely, they spread from the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula along with migrations of the Goths to the West and the East. Perhaps, the finds of such fibulae in the Crimea (Luchistoe, Artek, Kerch) reflect one of the Gothic migrations from the Balkans, not recorded by written sources.
More...Keywords: Geography of Yugoslavia;
The Yugoslav nation, like most European nations, is primarily the creation of its environment. Not only the present population pattern but also the characteristic culture of the nation are mainly determined by geographical structure. It will therefore be profitable to examine the structure of the regions traversed by the Slav peoples in their migrations southward from the basin of the Vistula to the valleys of the Sava, Morava, and Vardar, and to the Dinaric and Rhodope Mountains.
More...Keywords: ancient coins; medieval period; graves; hillfort; collecting
The paper provides an overview of Celtic, Greek, and Roman coins found in Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia in contexts of the 8th to 17th centuries. In the Early Middle Ages, coins can be found both in graves and in hillforts. However, only the graves can be considered as certain archaeological contexts. The function of these coins was clearly non-monetary – in most cases they were used as ornaments; from the 9th century on we cannot exclude their symbolic use as the ‘obol of the dead’. In 11th century cemeteries, ancient coins are completely absent. From the 12th century on, these coins were mostly regarded as curious artefacts. An exceptional case is their employment as a foundation offering in a 13th century church in Staré Město u Bruntálu. Beginning in the Late Middle Ages, ancient coins gained a new social function – with the ever deepening interest in Antiquity that is characteristic of this period, they became sought by collectors and thus objects of commerce.
More...Keywords: Minsk agreements;
Two years have passed since the Minsk agreements were approved. The agreements were endorsed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2202 on February 17, 2015 as a tool of conflict resolution in eastern Ukraine. Minsk-2 contributed to de-escalation of the conflict and suspension of full-scale fighting, but not to the conflict settlement. If the Minsk agreements remain as a “no-alternative-mechanism” for conflict settlement in the east of our country, their implementation will require new, additional instruments which are prescribed by the Minsk agreements, but do not contradict to them. The introductionof the International Interim Administration (IIA) under the UN auspices in the non-controlled territories can be one of such innovative tools for the conflict settlement in Donbas. IIA can become acceptable to all conflict parties and a ‘model’ of the Minsk agreements implementation and restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty over certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
More...Keywords: poverty; older people; national pension; Republic of Croatia; aging society;
According to Eurostat (2021), the at-risk-of-poverty rate of older people in the Republic of Croatia has increased over the past several years. In December 2020, it was 31 percent. The Strategy for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion in the Republic of Croatia 2014-2020 (Strategy) recognizes older people as vulnerable to poverty, social exclusion, material deprivation, and discrimination. Poverty in the Republic of Croatia also has a territorial dimension. The highest geographical concentration of factors influencing the share of people at risk of poverty can be found in small towns and settlements in the country’s east and southeast regions and rural areas. This chapter aims to emphasize the problem of poverty among older people in the Republic of Croatia. The findings and recommendations may be used for policy suggestions to relevant institutions.
More...Keywords: Ancient Bosnia and Herzegovina; Western Balkan historiography; methodology; Rome; Bellum Batonianum; archeology;
The research of ancient history in institutional terms is less represented than other historic periods, which certainly has an impact on the quality and quantity of published papers. We should also bear in mind one specific characteristic of ancient historiography – the difficulty of making a clear distinction between historical and archaeological research of the ancient history of Bosnia and Herzegovina – thus the results of both of these scholarly fields can be observed through the prism of comparability of their themes. A noticeable stagnation in the process of archaeological and historical research is the result of the war of 1992–1995 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the recent period witnessed the birth of a significant number of papers addressing topics such as Roman conquests, peregrine communities (civitates peregrinae), municipal units, and Romanization and urbanization of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. We should emphasize that the majority of these papers address the topics from the period of Augustus’s and Tiberius’s reign. The focus is on the study of the position of indigenous communities during the military conflicts with Rome, while the issue of their development following Bellum Batonianum (AD 6–9) is quite neglected. Apart from Slovenian scholar Marjeta Šašel Kos, the first phases of the Roman conquests of the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina were mostly studied by Croatian scholars – Siniša Bilić-Dujmušić, Danijel Džino, and Marin Zaninović – as part of their wider scope of research during the last two decades. Their research assumes two opposite directions. Firstly, they believe that the conquest of the Adriatic hinterland, i.e. the interior of Illyricum, should be traced through military and political interaction of Rome with individual indigenous communities and polities. Secondly, they believe that the sources are interpreted by tracing the essential political interaction between Rome and the entire regional geopolitical system of Illyricum in order to avoid defining Roman interactions with certain smaller political bodies. In the context of regional historiography regarding Roman conquests, we should single out the papers of already mentioned Danijel Džino. Although his stances frequently part ways with the scholars from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Džino should be acknowledged for making a methodological contribution to the study of the ancient history of Bosnia and Herzegovina through his research.
More...Keywords: Branislav Đurđev; historian; bibliography;
1. Discussions, articles and contributions 2. Discussions at congresses, scientific meetings and conferences 3. Work on the publication of historical sources 4. Critiques and reviews
More...Keywords: Serbian literature; Milos Crnjanski; short story;
Când se produc în lume cutremure, despre ele se vorbește și se povestește mult. Se consemnează, în actualitate, fiecare amănunt. Se notează numărul victimelor omenești și numele victimelor. Și se știe și câte case au fost, cu acest prilej, distruse. După câțiva ani, însă, numărul victimelor omenești se uită și este umflat, plăsmuit, și rămân în amintire doar locurile unde au fost cutremure.
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