Shifting Foundations The Cumans of Paristrion and Their Influence on the Second Bulgarian State

Absztrakt

Traditionally, the historiography of medieval Bulgaria tends to emphasize the European dimension of the Bulgarian polity, and its links to European political and cultural actors. While this is by no means incorrect, this position risks to limit the study of medieval Bulgaria to only a fraction of its extensive network of international connections, overlooking the strong ties it maintained with the steppe world throughout its history. This is especially true for the so-called ‟Second Bulgarian State” and its close association with the Cumans. While the military alliance between the two polities has been explored at length and it is well documented in the sources, less attention has been devoted to the socio-cultural interaction between the Bulgarians and the Cumans and, in general, to the role of the mixobarbaroi in bridging the gap between “steppe and sown” in South-Eastern Europe.