Imaginea vlahilor la cronicarii Cruciadei a IV-a. Până unde răzbate ecoul discuţiilor intelectuale de la Constantinopol?

Abstract

The Image of the Vlachs from the Chroniclers of the Fourth Crusade. How Far Does the Echo of Constantinopolitan Intellectual Debates Reach?

The chroniclers of the Fourth Crusade (Geoffroi de Villehardouin, Henri de Valenciennes, and Robert de Clari) have much to say about the Vlachs. Much of that information results from direct contact with the Vlachs, particularly in the case of Villehardouin and Henri de Valenciennes. However, several issues characterizing the Vlachs, especially in Robert de Clari's chronicle, are remarkably similar to stories that may be found in Niketas Choniates. Thepaper analyzes the role attributed to the Vlachs in the French chronicles, and attempts to explain the similarity to the coverage of things Vlach in Niketas Choniates. As such, the paper offers an examination of all Byzantine sources mentioning the Vlachs before Choniates and of non-Byzantine sources such as Benjamin of Tudela, the chronicle attributed to Ansbertus, and the correspondence between Pope Innocent III and Johannitsa Kaloyan. The conclusion is that the image of the Vlachs in the French chronicles derives from stories about them circulating in 12th-century Constantinople.

Keywords: Geoffroi de Villehardouin, Henri de Valenciennes, Robert de Clari, Niketas Choniates, Benjamin of Tudela, Vlachs, Bulgaria, Johannitsa Kaloyannes, Trojan legend.