Cuman Warriors in the Fight of Byzantium with the Latins

Vásáry, István (2004) Cuman Warriors in the Fight of Byzantium with the Latins. Acta Orientalia, 57 (3). pp. 263-270. ISSN 0001-6446

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Abstract

From 1091 onwards the nomadic confederacy of the Cumans had played an eminent historical role in the Balkans. The present paper investigates the Cuman participation in the fight of Byzantium with the Latins, during and after the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and comes to the conclusion that the Cumans' historical role in the restoration of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185-1186 and in the following events of the upcoming two decades is undeniable. The Cumans had no strategic aims, their primary and short-time goal being robbery and pillage. Though their employment in campaigns and battles as mercenaries was of prime importance for both the Vlakho-Bulgarians and the Byzantines and the Latins, they did not present a real long-term menace to the statehood of either of the waring factions.

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