Late Medieval Nomads in the Bulgarian Historical Apocalyptic Literature Images and Realities

Absztrakt

This article aims to demonstrate some descriptive strategies of unknown Bulgarian scribes (monks) regarding the image of late nomads (Magyars, Pechenegs, Cumans). The texts under study come from the so-called historical apocalyptic literature in Bulgaria from the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. For the Bulgarian literati, the peak moments in the process of perceiving the arch-enemy before the Second Coming of Christ were during the 10th century (personified by the Magyars before the year 992), and during the 11th century (personified by the Pechenegs before the year 1092). In light of these facts, it is surprising that these Bulgarian sources do not contain any notion of the Cumans as the arch-enemy. The authors are of the opinion that the image of the Cumans in medieval Bulgaria, which possessed characteristics of both own and other, can be classified into a specific category, which does not fit or fall into the category of “Ishmaelites” or “Peoples of Gog and Magog”.