Maps of Power

Kraište

Краище

Properties

ID	119473
System Class	Place
Place	Region
Case Study	Historical Region of Macedonia TIB 16 , Byzantino-Serbian Border Zones in Transition (1282–1355)
Evidence	Historiography , Ottoman Defter , History , Toponymy
Administrative unit	Bulgaria , Serbia , Northeastern Region / Североисточен регион , North Macedonia
Historical place	Second Bulgarian Empire , Serbian Empire , Kingdom of Serbia

Description

Based on the medieval written sources and the toponymy, we are able to identify the border zone between the Serbian and Bulgarian realms in the first half of the 14th century. According to the Serbian Archbishop Danilo II (ca. 1270-1337) the Bulgarian Tsar Michael III Šišman (reigned 1323-1330) invaded Serbian territory before the Battle of Velbužd on 28 July 1330, i.e. the area of the Upper Valley of the River Struma and the town of Zemen, which both belonged to the Serbian realm. In the Defter for the Sanjak Köstendil from the years 1570 to 1572 the region of Kraište is named "Gorno Kraište". Based on the toponymy, we are able to discern the respective area as a border zone between the two aforesaid realms. The renowned historian Konstantin Jireček (1854-1918) maps a toponym called "Kraište" to the North-West of Velbužd (today Kjustendil in Bulgaria), which as a term in itself denotes a border zone.

literature

Daničić 1866 — 181-182, 190 , Hafner 1976 — 225 , Ireček 1974 — 610 , Mladjov 2010 — 148-149 , Turski Dokumenti V — V/1, 641 , Ćirković/Mihaljčić 1999 — 320-321

Relations

Sources (1)

Name	Class	Description
Životi kraljeva i arhiepiskopa srpskih	Source	The archbishop Danilo II. (ca. 1270/1275 - 19.12. 1337) wrote the hagiographies of the Serbian king Dragutin and Stefan Uroš II Milutin, their mother Jelena and of the first three successors of the St. Sava and created thereby the core of the collection which bears the title “The Lives of the Serbian Kings and Archbishops” (Danilov zbornik). The already existing hagiographies of the founders of the dynasty and the autocephalous church (Nemanja and Sava) were considered as a model. Later, other biographies, including those of Danilo, the king Stefan Uroš III. Dečanski and the king Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, were added by continuators.