Зборник радова Византолошког института LI, 2014 Zbornik radova Vizantološkog instituta LI, 2014 UDC: 811.14'04'373.2(495.02):94(495.02:497.2)“12“ DOI: 10.2298/ZRVI1451135T THOMAS TOMOV (New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria) WHO WAS THE EPONYM OF THE VILLAGE WITH THE ENIGMATIC NAME OF KONDOFREJ IN THE VALLEY OF THE STRYMON?1 This paper sheds light on the eponym of the village of Kondofrej in the Upper Stry- mon Valley. It mainly discussed the possibility that the village was named after Manuel Kon- tofré, commander of the Nicaean fleet. It is also very probable that he was a Nicaean gover- nor, who had his seat there. Keywords: Manuel Kontofré, village of Konodofrej, Strymon Valley, Nicaean campaign on the Balkans in 1254, John III Vatatzes, region of Velebužd, Nicaean garrisons, governor. It will be convenient to begin our enquiry with a short passage of one romantic story entitled “The Knight”. It reads as follows: “Count of Fré – read Peter the Devil [on the ring of the dying knight] – Rest in peace, my friend! I promise you that such a village will be founded in Bulgaria.”2 Curiously enough, one can find a village with a similar name to the south and within 50 km of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.3 It is located in the southern part of the Valley of Radomir (not far from the provincial town of Radomir), at the foot of the Kološ mountain.4 It should be stated here that many legends have attached to its name and 1 Parts of this paper correspond to an earlier draft entitled “Кondofrej – еdin interesen toponim v dolinata na Sredna Struma”, Godišnik na Tsentŭr za Slavjano-vizantijski proučvanija “Iv. Dujčev” 92 (2002) 251-258 and to a chapter II in my book “Regionŭt na Struma. Istoriko-geografski proučvanija, кraj na 12 – kraj na 14 vek” (in press). 2 V. Mutavčieva , Ritsarjat, Sofia 1970, 268. 3 The name of the village till the end of the nineteenth century was Kondofre. 4 On the village, see D. Мitova-Dzonova, Archeologičeski pametnitsi v Perniški okrŭg, Sofia 1983, № 289, 99 where in the country called “Manastrište” (at about 4 km south of the village) is attested a 136 ЗРВИ LI (2014) 135–150 it is difficult to disentangle the truth from them. So, the discussion on this topic has been marred by the wildest fantasies. Most people, when they think of Konodofrej, think of certain crusader. Therefore, the key question to the present paper is to ask who was the eponym of this village. It is my aim to give an answer to this question. We know of the existence of four persons who might be taken to serve as an eponym of this village: Godfrey, Count of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lorraine; the Knight of the Fourth Crusade; Baldwin, Count of Flanders or Manuel Kontofré, commander of the Nicaean fleet. If the choice lies between these persons, the preference must be given to the last one. The reason for my choice, I shall explain more fully below. Let us look at the first person. It was K. Jireček who has suggested that the name in question “reminds to the proper Byzantine name Êïíäï5ñÝ remodeled from Gotofredus, Godefroid”.5 The arguments in support of Jireček’s idea had appar- ently come from Anna Komnene’s Alexiad. The reader will easily find that the name she bestowed to Godfrey was Гпнфп5сЭ6. In other words, though he did not say it directly, he had been inclined to assume that the eponym of the village was Godfrey, Count of Bouillon, duke of Lower Lorraine and the most famous of all the leaders of the First Crusade. Being a direct descendant of Charlemagne, Godfrey was a fairly important figure in northern France with a proud heritage.7 It is tempting to assert, therefore, that the village was named after this famous personality. Moreover, on the way to Constantinople the Crusader leader and his army were neither more nor less than 50 km to the north of our village. This all could be true, but there are some objec- tions and it is hardly necessary to point them out. First and foremost, due to the lack of time Godfrey was not able to do something that would be sufficient for the local medieval monastery. According to the author in the so-called Charter of Mraka, which was issued in 1347, the village of Konodofrej is described in one passage as “Manastrišt e”. 5 K. Irečек, Knjažestvo Bŭlgarija. čаst II. Pŭtuvani ja po Bŭlgari j, Plovdiv 1899, 675. 6 Anne Comnenae, Alexiadis, ed. L. Shopenus, Bonn 1878, II, 32, 6-9 and 46, 19. We find another transliteration of the Latin name Geffroi as Кпнфп5сЭ, for example, in Ephraim the Monk (Ephraemii Monachi Imperatorum et patriarcharum recensus, ed. I. Bekker, Bonn 1840, v. 8427, 338 (= Ephraem)) and John Kantakuzenos (Ioannis Cantacuzeni eximperatoris Historiarum, ed. L. Shopenus, Bonn 1828, I, 341 and II, 589). It seems also important to mention that Geoffroi de Villehardouin is called <Йп5сЭ in the History of Niketas Choniates (Nicetae Choniatae Historia, ed. J. L. van Dieten, Berlin-New York 1975, 620 (= Nicetae Choniatae). In the same way is also called Geffroi de Bruéres, one of the participants at the Bat- tle of Pelagonia in 1259, both by George Akropolites (G. Acropolitae, Historia, ed. A. Heisenberg, Leipzig 1903, I, 170, 16 (= G. Acropolitae): } ф\т ÊбñйфЬíбт <Йï5сЭ) and Theodore Skoutariotes (Theodoros Scutariota, Уэíïшйт чñïíйкЮ, in: Меубйщíйк[ вйвлйïиЮкз, ed. C. N. Sathas, Venetia-Paris 1894, VII, 545 (=Theodoros Scutariota): } ф\т ÊбñйфЬíбт <Йï5сЭ). Of course, it is true that Akropolites also knows <Йï5сЭ фï‡ <БñмеíЯïх (G. Acropolitae, 59, 12). 7 Details about him can be found in Le chronique de Godefroid de Bouillon et du Royaume de Jérusalem, premiére et deuxiéme Croisades (1080-1187) avec l’Histoire de Charles-le-Bon récit contem- porain (1169-1154), ed. J. Collin de Plancy, Paris 1848, 9-10. See also C. M. Brand, Godfrey of Bouillon, ed. A. Kazhdan and A.-M. Talbot, The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, New York, Oxford 1991, II, 857 (= ODB); J. Heers, Libérer Jérusalem. La premiére croisade (1095-1107), Paris 1995, 115; St. Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. I: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Cambridge 1951, 145-146 (= Runciman, The First Crusade); M. W. Baldwin, The First Hundred years, ed. K. Setton, A History of the Crusades, Madison, Milwaukee, and London 1969, I, 267. THOMAS TOMOV: Who was the eponymous of the village 137 population to name a village after him8. Secondly, the misdeeds of the crusaders on the journey through the Balkans led to an increasingly fierce opposition by the local population9. It is unbelievable that the memory of this person was alive long after his passing via the Balkans. All this goes to show that this view cannot be taken seriously. According to the local researcher M. Nikolov, the eponym of the village Kont d’Ofré must be sought among the participants in the Fourth Crusade.10 Moreover, he states that after the Battle of Klokotnitsa (1230) the crusader was appointed by John Asen II (1218-1241) as a governor of the Valley of Radomir and Pernik.11 In this way the Bulgarian tsar managed to establish his control over the region, which lived its iso- lated life. Kont d’Ofré and his followers established themselves in the fortress named “Gradi šte” (Fortress) and, in a very short distance from it, founded a village “Selišteto” (Village).12 A fter the Crusader’s death the village was named Kont d’Ofré or Kondofré, (Konodofrej).13 Such, in outline, is the story of Kont d’Ofré as it is in the eyes of M. Nikolov. But, this highly speculative view finds no confirmation in the sources. A similar point of view is expressed by A. Čoleva, who simply assumes (without giving details) in her dictionary on the local names that the village was named after “Kont de Frej”, a Knight of the Fourth Crusade14. To the best of my knowledge, there is not a shred of evidence in the literary sources to show that an individual named Kontofré had been among the Crusaders. Had he been among them, his name would certainly have been mentioned by the chroniclers. Perhaps one can go a little further by won- dering whether it is possible to link Guignez IV, Count of Forez and John of Friaize with the personality in question. But rather than exploring such hypotheses, one must signal two caveats. Firstly, it is useful to remember that Guignez IV left Marseille and come to Saint Jean d’Akr, but he died shortly afterwards.15 Secondly, we know that 8 See the chronology of the First Crusade journey across the Balkans in H. Hagenmeyer, Chrono- logie de la Premiére croisade (1094-1100), Paris 1902, 49-51. Cf. also Sv. Georgiev, Pŭ rvijat кrŭstonosen pochod I bŭlgarskite zemi, Bŭlgarska istoričeska biblioteka I, 2 (1928) 95-96. 9 The army left around the middle of August 1096, taking the Rhine-Danube route and arrived at Constantinople, just before Christmas 1096. On the route of the First Crusade, see St. Runciman, The First Crusader’s journey across the Balkan peninsula, Byzantion 19 (1949) 214; St. Runciman, The First Crusade, 148; J. Heers, op. cit., 115-119; F. Duncalf, The First Crusade: Clermont to Constantinople, ed. K. Setton, A History of the Crusades, Madison, Milwaukee, and London 1969, I, 296; K. Gаgova, Pŭrvi jat кrŭstonosen pochod po Via Militaris, Minalo 3 (1996) 58-59. 10 M. Nikolov, Stranstvaštijat ritsar.