The triangle of the Byzantine-Bulgarian-Russian conflict in the Western Black Sea region of the 10th century in the interpretation by Marin Drinov
Abstract
The article deals with M. Drinov’s perception and evaluation of the enemies of Bulgaria in the Russo-Byzantine-Bulgarian confrontation of the tenth century. Particular attention is paid to the impact of Drinov’s personal socio-political views on his interpretation of the Byzantine-Bulgarian war of 966–972 and Prince Sviatoslav’s struggle for supremacy in the Balkans.
The «anti-Byzantine position» of Drinov, though a common knowledge in historiography, remains almost without confirmation in his depiction of the Russo-Byzantine-Bulgarian conflict of 966–971. M. Drinov refrains from negative characterizations of Greeks, considering the conquest of Bulgaria by the Rus’ worse than Byzantine control. M. Drinov views Byzantines as a «lesser evil» for Bulgarians than the Rus’. This view is confirmed by the cited examples of the Rus’ army’s atrocities in Bulgaria, such as the execution of over three hundred boyars and twenty thousand civilian population. M. Drinov sympathizes with the Orthodox Emperors more than with the pagan Rus’ Prince; at least the actions of the Byzantines in the Bulgarian lands are not depicted negatively, although it is unlikely that they refrained from pillage.
Turning the eastern areas of the Bulgarian state into a Byzantine province made them closer to the powerful Empire and was objectively a progressive development. The rule of the familiar Byzantine Empire, with its orderly system of government and shared Orthodox faith, appeared to M. Drinov a better outcome for Bulgarians. It was to assure a further development of Bulgarian society by following the lead of the brilliant Byzantine civilization. The possible submission to the rule of the cruel pagan Rus’ Prince Sviatoslav, on the other hand, would have thrown Bulgarians back into the recent barbarity, which they had managed to escape thanks to the Empire.
Analyzing the context of Drinov’s study thus shows that, according to the scholar, Bulgarians saw in Byzantium their near future and were determined to follow the Byzantine example in developing their statehood. Sviatoslav’s Rus’, on the other hand, presented to them an image of their recent barbaric past to which they by no means wanted to return. In his study “Southern Slavs and Byzantium in the Tenth Century” M. Drinov came very near to the key idea in the conception of the Byzantine Commonwealth, formulated almost a hundred years later by D. Obolensky. This conception underscored the attractiveness of the Byzantine model for the ruling elites of the peoples that entered the imperial orbit. The elites’ wish to copy the Byzantine civilization paradoxically went hand in hand with hostility towards the Empire’s Universalist pretensions and with a desire to distance them from the Empire and to affirm their own independence. At the same time, when it was necessary to choose between Byzantium and a more backward semi-barbaric nation, the choice was unequivocally in favor of the Empire.
Downloads
References
Burmov, A. K. 1960. Marin Drinov kato istorik na Bulgaria [Marin Drinov as a historian of Bulgaria]. Izsledvania v chest na Marin S. Drinov [Research in honor of Marin S. Drinov]. Sofia: BAS, s. 105–118. (In Bulgarian).
Chornij, V. 2007. Istoriya Bolgariyi / Navchal`ne vy`dannya [History of Bulgaria / Training Edition]. Lviv: PAIS, 404 s.
Dogovor Rusi s Vizantiey 971 g. [Treaty of Russia with Byzantium 971]. Pamyatniki russkogo prava, vip. 1: Pamyatniki prava Kievskogo gosudarstva [Monuments of Russian law, issue 1: Monuments of Law of the Kiev State]. Moskva, 1952, s. 58. (In Russian).
Drinov, M. 1876. Yuzhnye slavyane i Vizantiya v X veke [Southern Slavs and Byzantium in the X century]. Moskva: University printing house, 152 s. (In Russian).
Gilferding, A. 1868. Istoriya serbov i bolgar [History of Serbs and Bulgarians]. Sobranie sochineniy A. Gilferdingа, т. 1 [Collected works of A. Hilferding, vol. 1]. St. Petersburg: Pechatnya V. Golovin, s. 3–280. (In Russian).
Gorina, L. V. 1986. Marin S. Drinov – istorik i obshchestvennyy deyatel [Marine S. Drinov – historian and public figure]. Moskva: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 196 s. (In Russian).
Ivanov, S. A. 1981. Vizantiysko-bolgarskie otnosheniya v 966–969 gg. [Byzantine-Bulgarian relations in 966–969]. Vizantiyskiy vremennik, vol. 42. Moskva, s. 88–100. (In Russian).
Irechek, K. Yu. 1878. Istoriya bolgar [History of the Bulgarians]. Odessa: Printing house L. Pitche, 785 s. (In Russian).
Kazhdan, A. P. 1998. Ocherki istorii Vizantii i yuzhnykh slavyan. Izd. 2-e, ispr. [Essays on the History of Byzantium and the Southern Slavs. Ed. 2nd, corrected]. St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 336 s. (In Russian).
Karyshkovskiy, P. O. 1951. Russko-bolgarskie otnosheniya vo vremya Balkanskikh voyn Svyatoslava [Russian-Bulgarian relations during the Balkan Wars Svyatoslav]. Voprosy istorii, issue 8, c. 101–105. (In Russian).
Karyshkovskiy, P. O. 1952. O khronologii russko-vizantiyskoy voyny pri Svyatoslave [On the chronology of the Russian-Byzantine war at Svyatoslav]. Vizantiyskiy vremennik, issue 5, s. 127–138. (In Russian).
Kozmenko, I. V. 1957. Obshchestvenno-politicheskaya deyatelnost M. S. Drinova [Social and political activity of M. S. Drinov]. Kratkie soobshcheniya Instituta slavyanovedeniya AN SSSR, issue 21, s. 13–22. (In Russian).
Kravchenko, V. V. 1991. Marin Stepanovich Drinov v sovetskoy istoriografii [Marine Stepanovich Drinov in Soviet historiography]. Marin Drinov v issledovaniyakh kharkovskikh uchenykh, posvyashchennykh 150-letiyu so dnya ego rozhdeniya [Marin Drinov in studies of Kharkov scientists dedicated to the 150th anniversary of his birth]. Sofia: University Press Clement of Ohrid, s. 37–49. (In Russian).
Lapteva, L., P., 2005. Istoriya slavyanovedeniya v Rossii v ХІХ veke [History of Slavic Studies in Russia in the 19th Century]. Moskva: Indrik, 848 s.
Leszka, M. J. et al. 2018. The Bulgarian State in 927–969. The Epoch of Tsar Peter I. Łódź, 2018, 700 pp. [Byzantina Lodziensia XXXIV].
Lev Diakon, 1988. Istoriya [History]. Moskva: Science, 240 s. (In Russian).
Levchenko, M. V. 1956. Ocherki po istorii russko-vizantiyskikh otnosheniy [Essays on the history of Russian-Byzantine relations]. Moskva: Institute of History, USSR Academy of Sciences, 554 s. (In Russian).
Liman, S. I. 2009. Idei v latakh: Zapad ili Vostok? Srednevekove v otsenkakh medievistov Ukrainy (1804 – pervaya polovina 1880-kh gg.) [Ideas in lats: West or East? The Middle Ages in the estimates of the Ukrainian medievalists (1804 – the first half of the 1880s)]. Kharkov: KhSAK, 688 s. (In Russian).
Liman, S. I. et al. 2009. Kharkovskiy period nauchno-pedagogicheskoy i obshchestvennoy deyatelnosti Marina Drinova. Kriticheskoe prochtenie istochnikov [The Kharkov period of scientific, pedagogical and social activity Marina Drinova. Critical Reading of Sources]. Sbornik po sluchay 170-godishninata ot rozhdenieto na prof. Marin Drinov [Collection on the occasion of the 170th anniversary of the birth of Prof. Marin Drinov]. Sofia: BAS, Institute of History, s. 52–71. (In Russian).
Liman, S. I. 2011. Istoriya Pershogo Bolgars`kogo czarstva v pracyax ta navchal`ny`x kursax doslidny`kiv Ukrayiny` (XIX – pochatok XX st.) Bulletin of the State Academy of Culture, issue 34. URL: http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/portal/soc_gum/vkhdak/2011_34/V34-1-4.pdf (Date of the application 18.01.2011). (In Ukrainian).
Litavrin, G. G. 1967. Vizantiya i Rus v ІХ–Х vv. [Rus and Byzantium in 9–10 cent.]. Istoriya Vizantii [History of Byzantium]. Moskva: Science, s. 226–236. (In Russian).
Litavrin, G. G. 1967. Vnutrennyaya i vneshnyaya politika Vizantii vo vtoroy polovine X – pervoy chetverti XI vv. [Domestic and foreign policy of Byzantium in the second half of 10th – the first quarter of 11th century]. Istoriya Vizantii [History of Byzantium]. Moskva: Science, s. 206–227. (In Russian).
Litopy`s rus`ky`j za Ipats`ky`m spy`skom / Pereklad L. Maxnovcya. 1990 [Russian Chronicle of the Ipatsky List / Translated by L. Makhnowets]. Kyiv: Dnipro. 592 s. (In Ukrainian).
Mitryaev, A. I. 1979. Drinov Marin Stoyanov. Slavyanovedenie v dorevolyutsionnoy Rossii. Biobibliograficheskiy slovar [Slavic studies in pre-revolutionary Russia. Bibliographic Dictionary]. Moskva: Science, s. 146–149. (In Russian).
Mitryaev, A. I. et al. 1978. Do py`tannya pro ocinku Mary`na Drinova yak istory`ka-slavista [To the question of the assessment of Marina Drinova as a Slavic historian]. Bulletin of Kharkiv University, No. 167, History: issue 10, s. 66–73. (In Ukrainian).
Mutafchiev, P. 1931. Russko-bolgarskie otnosheniya pri Svyatoslave [Russian-Bulgarian relations under Svyatoslav]. Seminarium Kondakovianum, issue IV. Prague, p. 77–92. (In Russian).
Nikitin, S. A. 1957. M. S. Drinov kak istorik. Short messages of the Institute of Slavic Studies, No. 21, s. 3–12. (In Russian).
Obolenskiy, D. 1998. Vizantiyskoe sodruzhestvo natsiy. Shest vizantiyskikh portretov [Byzantine Commonwealth of Nations. Six Byzantine portraits]. Moskva: Yanus-K, 655 s. (In Russian).
Paskaleva, V. 1960. Prinos kam na biografiyata na Marin Drinov [Contribution to the biography of Marin Drinov]. Izsledovania v chest na Marin S. Drinov [Research in honor of Marin S. Drinov]. Sofia: BAS, s. 9–50. (In Bulgarian).
Pogodin, M. P. 1846. Issledovaniya, zamechaniya i lektsii o russkoy istorii [Studies, comments and lectures on Russian history. Vol. III]. Moskva, 280 s. (In Russian).
Ransimen, S. 2009. Istoriya Pervogo Bolgarskogo tsarstva [History of the First Bulgarian Kingdom]. St. Petersburg: Eurasia, 384 s. (In Russian).
Sakharov, A. N. 1982. Diplomatiya Svyatoslava [Diplomacy Svyatoslav]. Moskva: International relationships, 240 s. (In Russian).
Shikanov, V. N. 2006. Vizantiya. Orel i lev: Bolgaro-vizantiyskie voyny VII–XIV vv. [Eagle and Lion: Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars 7–14 centuries]. St. Petersburg: Shaton, 156 s. (In Russian).
Skilitsa. 1988. O voyne s Rusyu imperatorov Nikifora Foki i Ioanna Tsimiskhiya [On the war with Russia of the emperors Nicephorus Foka and John Tzimiskes]. Lev Diakon. 1988. Istoriya [History]. Moskva: Science, s. 121–133. (In Russian).
Sorlin, I. 1961. Les tratiés de Byzance avec la Russie au Xe siècle. Cahiers du monde Russe et Soviétique, vol. 2, No. 3–4, р. 447–475.
Stokes, A. D. 1962. The background and Chronology of the Balkan Campaigns of Svyatoslav Igorevich. The Slavonic and East European review, vol. 40, No. 94, p. 44–57.
Stokes, A. D. 1962. The Balkan Campaigns of Svyatoslav Igorevich. The Slavonic and East European review, vol. 40, No. 95, p. 466–496.
Uspenskiy, F. I. 1997. Istoriya Vizantiyskoy imperii. T. 3. Period Makedonskoy dinastii (867–1057) [History of the Byzantine Empire. Vol. 3. The period of the Macedonian dynasty (867–1057)]. Moskva: Think, s. 554–581. (In Russian).
Zlatarski, V. N. 1927. Istoria na Balgarskata darzhava preza srednite vekove. T. 1. Parvo Balgarsko tsarstvo. Ch. 2. [History of the Bulgarian State in the Middle Ages. Vol. 1. First Bulgarian Kingdom. Part 2.]. Sofia, 606 s. (In Bulgarian).
