Until Boris I (852–889), the title of the Bulgarian monarchs was knyaz (Кнѣзъ). His son, Simeon I (893–927), adopted the title tsar (emperor), which became the title of the subsequent Bulgarian rulers.
A knyaz, also knez, knjaz, kniaź or kniaz (Church Slavonic: кънѧѕь, romanized:kŭnędzĭ), is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times. It is usually translated into English as 'prince', 'king' or 'duke', depending on specific historical context and the potentially known Latin equivalents at the time; the word was originally derived from the common Germanic*kuningaz ('king').[1]
Feminine forms of the word may be divided into two groups:
"Princess", be it princess consort (wife of a reigning prince), princess regnant (reigning princess suo jure), or princess regent (reigning on behalf of an underage prince, usually her son after her husband's death)
The title is pronounced and written similarly in different European languages. In Serbo-Croatian and some West Slavic languages, the word has later come to denote "lord", and in Czech, Polish and Slovak also came to mean "priest" (kněz, ksiądz, kňaz) as well as "prince/duke" (knez, kníže, książę, knieža).[3] In Sorbian it means simply "Mister" (from "Master". Compare French monsieur from mon sieur "my lord"), and the Catholic title "monsignor" for a priest. Today the term knez is still used as the most common translation of "prince" in Slovenian, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian literature. Knez is also found as a surname in former Yugoslavia.[4]
Etymology
The title knez appeared in the early 12th-century GlagoliticBaška tablet inscription, found on the island of Krk, Croatia.[5][6]
The rulers of the Duchy of Poland bore the title of książę, which was rendered as dux or princeps in Latin, and later adopted krol (from Karl, the name of Charlemagne) and its equivalent rex following Bolesław I's coronation in 1025.[10][11] Similarly, the ruler of the Duchy of Lithuania, called kunigaikštis (also derived from kuningaz) in Polish, was called magnus dux instead of the Polish word for "king", karalius (also derived from Karl).[12] Medieval German records, however, translated knyaz as koning (king) until at least the 15th century.[13]
Middle Ages
The meaning of the term changed over the course of history. Initially the term was used to denote the chieftain of a Slavic tribe. Later, with the development of feudal statehood, it became the title of a ruler of a state, and among East Slavs (Russian: княжество (knyazhestvo), Ukrainian: князівство, romanized:kniazivstvo) traditionally translated as duchy or principality, for example, of Kievan Rus'.
In Medieval Bulgaria
In First Bulgarian Empire, Boris I of Bulgaria (852–889) changed his title to knyaz after his conversion to Christianity in 864, abandoning the pagan title 'khan' of his predecessors. The new titles were applied to his sons Vladimir Rasate (889-893) and Simeon I (893–927), however knyaz Simeon took the higher title of tsar soon in 913.[14][15][16]
According to Florin Curta, the primary sources have a variety of names for the rulers of the Bulgars before christianisation - such as including ‘rex’, ‘basileus’ and ‘khagan’. Omurtag (814–831) and his son Malamir (831–836) are mentioned in inscriptions as 'kanasubigi'.[17][18] However, secondary sources are almost always 'khan'.[19]
In Kievan Rus'
In Kievan Rus', as the degree of centralization grew, the ruler acquired the title Velikii Knyaz (Великий Князь) (translated as Grand Prince or Grand Duke, see Russian Grand Dukes). He ruled a Russian: Великое Княжеcтво, romanized:Velikoye Knyazhestvo or Ukrainian: Велике Князiвcтво, romanized:Velyke Knyazivstvo (Grand Duchy), while a ruler of its vassal constituent (udel, udelnoe knyazivstvo or volost) was called udelny knyaz or simply knyaz.
In the 19th century, the Serbian term knez (кнез) and the Bulgarian term knyaz (княз) were revived to denote semi-independent rulers of those countries, such as Alexander Karađorđević and Alexander of Battenberg. In parts of Serbia and western Bulgaria, knez was the informal title of the elder or mayor of a village or zadruga until around the 19th century. Those are officially called gradonačelnik (градоначелник) (Serbia) and gradonachalnik (градоначалник) or kmet (кмет) (Bulgaria).
Bulgaria
Prior to Battenberg, the title knyaz was born by Simeon I during the First Bulgarian Empire (9th–10th century). At the height of his power, Simeon adopted the title of tsar ("emperor"), as did the Bulgarian rulers after the country became officially independent in 1908.
As of Bulgaria's independence in 1908, Knyaz Ferdinand became Tsar Ferdinand, and the words knyaz and knyaginya began to be used instead for the tsar's children– the heir to the throne, for example, held the title Knyaz Tarnovski (Prince of Tarnovo").
Later it was held by several of most powerful magnates (in Bosnia vlastelin) of the era, sometime along with an office title given to a person through service to the monarch, such as Grand Duke of Bosnia (Veliki vojvoda bosanski), which was office of the supreme military commander of the realm. Other noble titles included the knez, the duke (vojvoda) and the župan. The title knez is equivalent to that of prince. Among most influential of Bosnian nobleman with the title knez was Pavle Radinović of Radinović-Pavlović noble family, while other include several noblemen from Radojević-Mirković family, such as Batić Mirković. Further families that bear this title are for example Šantić noble family and most members of Hrvatinić.
Croatia
knez was the monarchial title used by the medieval rulers of the Duchy of Lower Pannonia and the Duchy of Croatia from the 7th to the 10th century, who were mostly titled as dux[22][23] and rarely as princeps[24][25] in Latin sources and translated as Dukes in English ones.
knez[21] was, in the Late Middle Ages, a hereditary feudal title borne by Croatian vassal noble families who were great territorial magnates of high social class (such as knezovi Bribirski (Counts of Bribir), knezovi Krčki (Counts of Krk) and knezovi Zrinski (Counts of Zrin)) and went by the title of comes in Latin and Count in English.
knez (кнез) or knjaz (књаз) is a common term used in Serbian historiography for Serbian rulers in the Early Middle Ages, who were titled archon in Greek.
knez (кнез) was a title borne by local Serbian chiefs under the Ottoman Empire. It was another name for the Ottoman Turkish rank of kodjabashi, held by local Christian chiefs.[26]
obor-knez (обор-кнез) was a title borne by elected local native Serbian chiefs of the nahiyah (district of a group of villages) in the Ottoman Sanjak of Smederevo (also known as the Belgrade Pashaluk) and in the Negotin Krajina, an autonomous timar of valide sultan.[27][28][29] The obor-knez was senior chief and responsible for his district's people and was their spokesman (intermediary) in direct relations with the Pasha, though usually through the sipahi, and was in charge of the transfer of taxes levied on the villages.
knez (кнез) or knjaz (књаз) was the monarchial title used by Miloš Obrenović in Principality of Serbia, translated as "Prince". Serbia known as Kneževina Srbija (Кнежевина Србија) was de facto independent since 1817, becoming de jure independent with the 1869 constitution. The successors of Miloš used the title until 1882 when Serbia was elevated into a kingdom.
↑Даль В. Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка в 4-х т. М., 1956. Т. 2, с. 126; Рабинович М. Г. Очерки этнографии феодального города. М., 1978, с. 228.
↑Chernetsov, A. V. (1978). Types on Russian Coins of the XIV and XV Centuries. BAR International Series. Translated by H. Bartlett Wells. British Archaeological Reports. p.25. ISBN978-0-86054-214-8. This is attested in particular by diplomatic documents. In treaties between Novgorod and the Livonian cities veli[k]ii knyaz (grand prince) is translated as "great king" - in German, grote koning - treaties of 1342, 1371, 1372, 1420 and elsewhere.
↑Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio, Chapter 32.
↑Николов, Г., Централизъм и регионализъм в ранносредновековна България (края на VII – началото на XI в.), Академично издателство „Марин Дринов“, София 2005, ISBN954-430-787-7, с. 107.
↑Гюзелев, В., Кавханите и ичиргу-боилите на българското ханство-царство (VII – XI в.), Фондация Българско историческо наследство; Пловдив 2007, ISBN978-954-91983-1-7, с. 40, 61;
↑Nagy, Balázs; Schmieder, Felicitas; Vadas, András, eds. (2019). The medieval networks in East Central Europe: commerce, contacts, communication. London: Routledge. p.21. ISBN978-1-351-37116-2. OCLC1097111080.
↑Vuk Stefanović Karadžić: Istorijski spisi 2, Sabrana dela ("Collected Works") 16, Belgrade, 1969, p. 394
↑Konstantin N. Nenadović, Život i dela velikog Đorđa Petrovića Kara-Đorđa vrhovnoh vožda, oslobodioca i vladara Srbije i život njegovi vojvoda i junaka, Vienna, 1883, p. 741
↑Felix Philipp Kanitz: Serbien: Historisch-ethnographische Reisestudien aus den Jahren 1859–1868, Leipzig, 1868, passim
Sources
Mihaljčić, R. (1999) Knez. in: Ćirković S.i R.Mihaljčić [ed.] Leksikon srpskog srednjeg veka, Beograd, str. 299–301
