Английская Википедия:Boniak
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use dmy dates Boniak, Bonyak or Maniac, also known as Boniak the Mangy (Шаблон:Lang-rus), was "one of the most prominent Cuman chieftains"Шаблон:Sfn in the late 11th century and the early 12th century. He headed a powerful Cuman tribe or clan that inhabited the steppes to west of the Dnieper River. He supported the Byzantines against the Pechenegs in the Battle of Levounion in 1091. He defeated Coloman, King of Hungary in 1097 or 1099.
Origins
Boniak's descent is uncertain.Шаблон:Sfn Svetlana Pletneva associates him with the Burch tribe, Peter B. Golden with the Ölberli tribe of the "Wild Cumans", and Omeljan Pritsak with the Qay clan.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Boniak's nicknameШаблон:Spaced ndashthe MangyШаблон:Spaced ndashmay show that he was born with the caul, according to the Hungarian historian Szilvia Kovács.Шаблон:Sfn In Anna Komnene's Alexiad, he is called Maniac.Шаблон:Sfn
Boniak's exact position cannot be determined, but his career shows that he must have been the head of powerful Cuman tribal federation, tribe, or clan.Шаблон:Sfn When pursuing Boniak, Sviatopolk II of Kiev and Vladimir Monomach "advanced to the Bug and later beyond the Ros' ",[1] according to Vladimir's Testament, which suggests that Boniak's people dwelled between the rivers Dnieper and Southern Bug or Dniester.Шаблон:Sfn His participation in military campaigns in the Balkan Peninsula also shows that his people lived near the Lower Danube.Шаблон:Sfn
Career
First records
Along with Tugorkan, Boniak, or Maniak, was one of the Cumans' "outstanding leaders",[2] named by Anna Komnene, who came to assist the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos against the Pechenegs.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The united Byzantine and Cuman army annihilated the Pechenegs in the Battle of Levounion on 29 April 1091.Шаблон:Sfn Historian Florin Curta writes that the two Cuman chieftains plundered the eastern regions of the Kingdom of Hungary on their return to the Desht-i Kypchak, or Cuman steppes.Шаблон:Sfn Pletneva says that Boniak and Tugorkan together supported the pretender Pseudo-Diogenes against Emperor Alexios I in 1094, but Anna Komnene did not refer to Boniak's participation in the fights.Шаблон:Sfn
Wars in Rus'
The Russian Primary Chronicle recorded two events connected to Boniak under the year 6604, that is 1095Шаблон:Sfn or 1096 AD.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn First Boniak and his Cumans "appeared before Kiev ..., and while ravaging the environs, they burned the prince's palace at Berestovo"[3] around 24 May.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn On 20 July, "Boniak, that godless, mangy thief and bandit, came suddenly to Kiev for the second time"[4] and plundered three monasteries, including the Cave Monastery.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn During the second campaign, the Cumans "planted two standards before the monastery gates",[4] which may show that they were under the command of two chieftains, according to Kovács.Шаблон:Sfn Kovács writes that Boniak's action preceded the campaign that Sviatopolk II and Vladimir Monomach launched against Oleg I of Chernigov.Шаблон:Sfn According to Simon Franklin and Jonathan Shepard, Boniak invaded only after Sviatopolk and his army left Kiev for a campaign against Chernigov (Chernihiv in Ukraine).Шаблон:Sfn Kovács says that the joint campaign of Sviatopolk and Vladimir Monomach against Boniak's land over the river Ros' that Monomach mentioned in his Testament seems to have been a retaliatory action after Bonia's plundering raids in Kiev.Шаблон:Sfn
Sviatopolk of Kiev expelled David Igorevich, Prince of Volhynia, from his principality in the late 1090s.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn David Igorevich fled to the Cumans and persuaded Bonyak and another Cuman chieftain, Altunopa, to join him to fight against Sviatopolk who had sought assistance from Coloman, King of Hungary.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn On the eve of the battle against the Hungarians, Boniak "rode away from the troops" and "began to howl like a wolf, till first one and then many wolves answered him with their howls",[5] according to the Russian Primary Chronicle.Шаблон:Sfn On his return, Boniak predicted to David Igorevich that they would defeat the Hungarians in the battle.Шаблон:Sfn The Cumans annihilated the Hungarian army and seized the royal treasury.Шаблон:Sfn According to the Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle, "[r]arely did Hungarians suffer such slaughter as in this battle".[6]Шаблон:Sfn However, David Igorevich could not reconquer Volhynia and was again forced to seek refuge among the Cumans.Шаблон:Sfn Boniak again joined them and their united armies seized Lutsk and Volodymyr-Volynskyi.Шаблон:Sfn According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, these events occurred in 1097, but many historians (including Kovács and Martin Dimnik) say that the fights took place two years later.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
The Russian Primary Chronicle recorded that five Rus' princesШаблон:Spaced ndashSviatopolk II of Kiev, Vladimir Monomach, Davyd Sviatoslavich, Oleg Sviatoslavich and Yaroslav SviatoslavichШаблон:Spaced ndashassembled on the left bank of the Dnieper near Kiev in 1101.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn On learning of the princes' meeting, all Cuman chieftains sent envoys to them "with propositions of peace".[7]Шаблон:Sfn The princes and the Cuman chieftains met at Sakov on the Dnieper and made peace on 15 September.Шаблон:Sfn Two years later Sviatopolk II of Kiev, Vladimir Monomach and Davyd Sviatoslavich invaded the Cuman steppes and routed a large Cuman army, killing 20 Cuman chieftains.Шаблон:Sfn
According to the Hypatian version of the Russian Primary Chronicle, Boniak made an incursion into the region of Zarub in the Principality of Pereyaslavl, fighting with the Torks and Berendei in the winter of 1105 and 1106.Шаблон:Sfn The Russian Primary Chronicle recorded that Boniak "raided and seized many horses in the vicinity of Pereyaslavl' "[8] in May 1107.Шаблон:Sfn During the summer, he returned accompanied by Sharukan and other Cuman chieftains and laid siege to Lubno on the Sula River.Шаблон:Sfn Vladimir Monomach, Prince of Pereyaslavl, persuaded Svyatopolk II of Kiev and other Rus' princes to come to fight against the invaders.Шаблон:Sfn Their unified armies unexpectedly crossed the Sula, forcing the terrified Cumans to lift the siege and leave their camp on 12 August.Шаблон:Sfn According to an alternative narration, recorded in Vladimir Monomach's Testament, the united forces of the Rus' princes routed Boniak and his Cuman allies on the banks of the Sula in summer, and Monomach alone defeated Boniak at Lubno alone only in 1108.Шаблон:Sfn
Svyatoplok II of Kiev died on 16 April 1113 or 1114.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn After the Cumans learned of Svyatopluk's death, the Cumans marched as far as Vyr' River.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The Cumans were under the command of Aepa and Boniak, according to the Testament of Vladimir Monomach who succeeded Svyatopolk in Kiev.Шаблон:Sfn Monomach wrote that he "advanced to meet them as far as"[9] Romny with his sons and Oleg Sviatoslavich, forcing the Cumans to flee.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Boniak is often represented as a sorcerer in Rus' folklore.[10]
See also
References
Sources
Primary sources
- Anna Comnena: The Alexiad (Translated by E. R. A. Sewter) (1969). Penguin Books. Шаблон:ISBN.
- The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle: Chronica de Gestis Hungarorum (Edited by Dezső Dercsényi) (1970). Corvina, Taplinger Publishing. Шаблон:ISBN.
- The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text (Translated and edited by Samuel Hazzard Cross and Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor) (1953). Medieval Academy of America. Шаблон:ISBN.
Secondary sources
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite journal
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Шаблон:Cite journal
- Шаблон:Cite book
External links
- ↑ Russian Primary Chronicle (Appendix I: The Testament of Vladimir Monomakh), p. 213.
- ↑ Anna Comnena: The Alexiad (8.4.), p. 253.
- ↑ Russian Primary Chronicle (year 6604), p. 182.
- ↑ 4,0 4,1 Russian Primary Chronicle (year 6604), p. 183.
- ↑ Russian Primary Chronicle (year 6605), p. 196.
- ↑ The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle (ch. 145.104), p. 132.
- ↑ Russian Primary Chronicle (year 6609), p. 199.
- ↑ Russian Primary Chronicle (year 6615), p. 203.
- ↑ Russian Primary Chronicle (Appendix I: The Testament of Vladimir Monomakh), p. 268.
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Cumans
