Thocomerius,
also Tihomir,
was the father of
Basarab, who would become the first independent ''
voivode
Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...
'' of
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...
.
Many
Romanian historians, such as
Vlad Georgescu
Vlad Georgescu (October 20, 1937 – November 13, 1988) was a Romanian historian, academic, political dissident, and director of the Romanian-language department of Radio Free Europe between 1983 and 1988.
Biography
Born in Bucharest, Georgescu st ...
and Marcel Popa, believe that Thocomerius was a ''voivode'' in Wallachia who succeeded
Bărbat
Bărbat was the brother and successor of ''voivode'' Litovoi whose territory had comprised northern Oltenia (Romania).
War with Hungary
In 1277 (or between 1277 and 1280), Litovoi renounced fealty to king Ladislaus IV of Hungary (1272–1290) ...
, who ruled around 1278;
others, such as Tudor Sălăgean, refer to him as a local potentate whose status cannot be specified.
Name
Thocomerius' name is only known from a diploma issued by King
Charles I of Hungary
Charles I, also known as Charles Robert (; ; ; 128816 July 1342), was King of Hungary and Croatia in the union with Hungary, Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of Charles Martel of A ...
on 26 November 1332.
The diploma refers to "the
schism
A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
atic Basarab, son of Thocomerius, our disloyal Vlach." (''"Basarab, filium Thocomerii'', ''scismaticum, infidelis Olahus Nostris").''
The
Hungarian László Rásonyi
László () is a Hungarian male given name and surname after the King-Knight Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary (1077–1095). It derives from Ladislav, a variant of Vladislav. The name has a history of being frequently anglicized as Leslie. It is the ...
derives the name from a
Cuman
The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...
and
Tatar name, ''Toq-tämir'' ("hardened iron"),
and refers to a
Chingisid prince, ''Toktomer'', mentioned in the Russian annals in 1295 as abiding in the
Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
.
According to István Vásáry, even if Basarab’s father bore a
Turkic name, this person can by no means be identified with a Chingisid prince, because being descended from
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...
was a matter of such significance that no one could, or would have wanted, to conceal it.
See also
*
Èšara Litua
References
Sources
*Djuvara, Neagu: ''Thocomerius – Negru Vodă. Un voivod de origine cumană la începuturile Țării Românești'' / Thocomerius – Negru Vodă: A Voivode of Cuman Origin at the Beginnings of Wallachia, Humanitas, 2007
*Georgescu, Vlad ''(Author)'' – Călinescu, Matei ''(Editor)'' – Bley-Vroman, Alexandra ''(Translator)'': ''The Romanians – A History''; Ohio State University Press, 1991, Columbus;
*Sălăgean, Tudor: ''Romanian Society in the Early Middle Ages (9th-10th Centuries)''; ''in:'' Ioan-Aurel Pop – Ioan Bolovan ''(Editors)'': ''History of Romania: Compendium''; Romanian Cultural Institute (Center for Transylvanian Studies), 2006, Cluj-Napoca;
*Treptow, Kurt W. – Popa, Marcel: ''Historical Dictionary of Romania'' (table ''‘Rulers of Romania - Wallachia’''); The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1996, Lanham (Maryland, USA) & Folkestone (UK);
*Vásáry, István: ''Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185-1365''; Cambridge University Press, 2005, Cambridge;
{{authority control
Princes of Wallachia
People of medieval Wallachia
14th-century Hungarian people
Medieval Romanian nobility
13th-century Hungarian nobility