Boyar
This article is about the noble title of Boyar. For the Russian cruiser, see Bojarin. For the Czech writer, see Pavel Bojar.
Boyars or Boljars (Bulgarian Боляри, Russian Бояре, Romanian Boier, Serbian Бољари Boljari) were nobles below the rank of prince (knjas) or tsar.
The title was widespread in Bulgaria, Kievan Rus, ancient Russia, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (today Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Lithuania), the principalities of Wallachia (today Romania) and Moldavia (today the Republic of Moldavia and Romania), and Serbia. The boyars formed the ruling class of large landowners in these countries partly since the 8th century and in Romania partly until 1945.
Russian boyars in the 16th-17th centuries
Etymology
The etymology of the word is unclear, but it is probably of Turkish origin, especially since it most likely came to Rus from the Bulgarians on the Danube. There the members of the highest social class were called Boljarin (plural Boljari). With the spread of the Bulgarian state and its associated influence (see First South Slavic Influence), the word entered Old Russian as a learned term. The historical root of boyarism was feudal allegiance everywhere.
Max Vasmer considers a derivation from Old Turk. bai 'rich, noble' + är 'man, man' under influence of Slav. bol- 'better, more' to be the most probable among all dubious theories.
Boljars with the Bulgarians
The oldest Slavic form of the term boyar, boljarin (болярин), was dated in the early 10th century and associated with the First Bulgarian Empire. It is believed to have been transformed from the Urbulgarian noble title Boil, as the aristocracy in the Empire called themselves, to Boilar or Biljar. In support of this theory, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII's work De Administrando Imperio is consulted, in which Bulgarian nobles are mentioned with the title Boliades. From Bulgaria, the term Boliades spread to Serbia, Moldavia, Rus and Bosnia.
In the First Bulgarian Empire, members of the highest social class were called boil until Christianization in the 9th century, and boljar or boljarin thereafter and during the Second Bulgarian Empire. Boljar as well as Boil were hereditary titles.
During the First Bulgarian Empire, the boils (later boljars) divided into veliki (major) and mali (minor). Often, in addition to the title of boila, the position that the noble held in the empire was added. For example, the Itschirgu Boil was the administrator of the capital and commander of the capital garrison, Kawkhan Boil - supreme commander of the armed forces and first diplomat, or Logothetes Boil - similar to today's Secretary of State. The work De Administrando Imperio mentions that during the reign of Tsar Simeon I there were six Great Boilas in the Bulgarian Empire, who were members of the Council of Great Boils. The Council made important decisions, advised the ruler, or ran the country when the rulers were still minors. In the latter case, a Supreme Boil was mentioned, who ruled the country on behalf of the young ruler and often waged wars, as did Vice-Khan Isbul during his reigns of Khan Malamir and Khan Presian I.
The Supreme Council of the Boljars was also an important body during the Second Bulgarian Empire. In the empire, which was recognized by Byzantium after a revolt of the Boljar brothers Assen, Theodor Petar and Kalojan in 1187, political and military power was concentrated in a few Boljar families. The most powerful of these acted as pretenders to the throne, carried on intrigues against the tsars or allied among themselves, had tsars assassinated (Ivan Assen I, Theoder Petar, Kaloyan, etc.) or overthrown in order to appoint themselves tsars (Boril, Ivanko, Mizo Assen, Constantine Tikh Assen, etc.). The most important Bolyar families were the House of Assen, the House of Shishman, House of Komitopuli, and the House of Terter. Often powerful Bolyars split off with a part of the land, such as Stres, Balica, Rostislav, Jacob Svetoslav, Smilez, Alexius Slaw etc.
The many small Bulgarian principalities that appeared in the 14th century in place of the Bulgarian Empire (see Despotate of Dobruja, Kingdom of Vidin) and largely fought among themselves, made it easier for the new power in the Balkans to conquer. With the fall of the Bulgarian Empire in 1396 under Ottoman-Turkish rule, the title and privileges of the Boljar system in Bulgaria also disappeared.
Questions and Answers
Q: What is the definition of a boyar?
A: A boyar was a member of the ruling nobility in medieval Russia and some other Slavic countries such as Bulgaria.
Q: What kind of jobs did the boyars hold in the army?
A: The boyars held the most important jobs in the army.
Q: What was the purpose of the duma?
A: The duma was a group in which the boyars met and gave advice to the ruling prince or, in later times, the tsar.
Q: Was it common for boyars to work for another prince if they wanted to?
A: In the 13th and 14th centuries, it was common for boyars to be rich landowners who could advise the prince, but they were free to go and work for another prince if they wanted to.
Q: How were boyar families in Moscow from the 15th to the 17th centuries?
A: Boyar families in Moscow from the 15th to the 17th centuries were a closely bonded aristocracy, with about 200 boyar families.
Q: Were boyars considered nobility in the European sense?
A: Boyars were not considered nobility in the European sense, as many of them had bad manners and not many of them could read. They did not travel, and they were suspicious of anything foreign.
Q: When was the title of boyar abolished?
A: In the early 18th century, Tsar Peter the Great abolished the title of boyar.
