Dristra crossing

Who holds it

Name

Not a lordship: a river crossing

Title

None

Confidence

low

Dristra (Silistra) on the south bank is Kaloyan's (Bulgaria record). The island of Pacuiul lui Soare downstream had a Byzantine fortress (about 971 to the early 11th century) and a settlement that lasted into the 13th-14th centuries; Diaconu identified it with Vicina.

Lord in 1200

No lord recorded on the north bank; Dristra across the river is Kaloyan's.

Overlord

None recorded.

What the town holds

Not recorded.

Allies and rivals

Not recorded.

How things stand that morning

An open crossing between Kaloyan's Dristra and the Cuman Baragan.

Wealth

Not recorded.

Military

None recorded.

Threats

• None recorded

Council

None recorded.

Communities

None recorded.

Fairs and markets

None recorded.

Militia

None recorded.

Walls and castle

None on the north bank.

Trade and crafts

None recorded.

Places of note

• Pacuiul lui Soare: Danube island by Dristra: Byzantine fort (about 971 to the early 11th century), later settlement into the 13th-14th centuries

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Geography; the island settlement of Pacuiul lui Soare is known from archaeology.

On the map: A point on the north bank opposite Dristra.

Primary sources for The Cumans

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
• The Laurentian Chronicle (the Suzdal continuation kept in the late 12th and 13th centuries; manuscript 1377). The court record of Vsevolod III of Vladimir. Read online
• History of Niketas Choniates, Niketas Choniates (about 1185 to 1217, in stages, with a final revision in exile at Nicaea after 1204). The central narrative for the Byzantine Empire under Alexios III Angelos: the Bulgarian and Vlach war under Kaloyan, the breakaway of Ivanko in the Rhodopes and his capture by treachery in 1200, Dobromir Chrysos at Prosek and Strumica and the emperor's campaign and settlement with him, the Cuman raids into Thrace, John Komnenos the Fat's one-day revolt at Constantinople on 31 July 1200, the loosening of imperial control in the provinces and the rise of Leo Sgouros, and the court's fiscal abuses. Read online
• The Deeds of the Hungarians, by the Anonymous Notary of King Béla, Anonymus (P. magister) (about 1200 to 1210, the date disputed). Not a record of events but a picture of the kingdom's nobility and geography as a courtier of about 1200 wished to see it: the clans and their lands, the castles and counties, the Vlachs, Cumans and other peoples of the Carpathian basin, all projected back onto the conquest. Read online
• The Georgian Chronicles: the Histories and Eulogies of the Sovereigns, and the Life of Queen Tamar, Anonymous, attributed to the chancellor Theodore of Chqondidi and to Basili, master of the court (about 1210 to 1225). Two court histories of Queen Tamar written within a generation. Read online
• The Tale of Igor's Campaign (about 1187 to 1200 (disputed)). A poem on Igor Sviatoslavich's defeat by the Polovtsians in 1185 that addresses the princes of the day by name: Vsevolod of Vladimir, Rurik and David Rostislavich, Yaroslav of Galich, Roman of Volhynia and the Olgovichi of Chernigov, of whom Igor himself was prince from 1198. Read online