Principality of Theodoro: Map & History

History

In the late 12th century, the Crimean peninsula had seceded from the Byzantine Empire, but soon after the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, parts of it were included in the Trapezuntine Gazarian Perateia. This dependence was never very strong and was eventually replaced by the invading Mongols, who in 1238 poured into the peninsula, occupied its east and enforced a tribute on the western half, including Gothia. Their influence was limited, leaving administrative matters in native hands.

The Principality of Gothia is first mentioned in the early 14th century, with the earliest date offered by the post-Byzantine historian Theodore Spandounes, who records the existence of a "Prince of Gothia" in the reign of Andronikos III Palaiologos (1328–1341).

Ethnic origins

Experts have developed several points of view on the ethnic origins of the rulers of the principality.

The claim that the rulers of Theodoro were of Greek origin is the traditional historiographical position, a view primarily supported by the Greek names of the majority of the state's monarchs. Historians such as A. A. Vasiliev, N. V. Malitsky, and A. L. Yakobson advanced the theory that the ruling dynasty belonged to the Gabras (Gavras) family, a prominent Byzantine aristocratic house of the Komnenos era that had previously ruled the Empire of Trebizond. Vasiliev pointed to the historical existence of a village named Gavra in Crimea as onomastic evidence.

Culture

Gothia's population was a mixture of Greeks, Crimean Goths, Alans, Circassians, Bulgars, Cumans, Kipchaks, and other ethnic groups, most of whom were adherents to Orthodox Christianity and Hellenized. The principality's official language was Greek.

The Crimean Goths had settled in Crimea since the 3rd century AD and became increasingly Hellenized, speaking both Greek and adhering to Orthodox Christianity. In the medieval period they mainly lived in rural areas and were still able to speak their language at least until the 16th and perhaps as late as the 18th century.

Geography

The Theodoro principality wíth its capital Theodoro (also known as Mangup) was located in the Crimean Mountains in southern Crimea. From the first half of the 15th century it also included parts of the coastline, now stretching from Kalamita Bay in the west to possibly as far east as modern Rybache just west of Kanaka.