Knyaz


A knyaz, also knez, knjaz or kniaz, is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times. It is usually translated into English as 'prince', 'king' or 'duke', depending on specific historical context and the potentially known Latin equivalents at the time; the word was originally derived from the common Germanic wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kuningaz.
Feminine forms of the word may be divided into two groups:
The title is pronounced and written similarly in different European languages. In Serbo-Croatian and some West Slavic languages, the word has later come to denote "lord", and in Czech, Polish and Slovak also came to mean "priest" as well as "prince/duke". In Sorbian it means simply "Mister", and the Catholic title "monsignor" for a priest. Today the term knez is still used as the most common translation of "prince" in Slovenian, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian literature. Knez is also found as a surname in former Yugoslavia.

Etymology

The word is ultimately a cognate of the English King, the German König, and the Swedish Konung. The proto-Slavic form was *kъnędzь, kŭnędzĭ;, kŭnędzĭ;, knyaz;, knyazĭ; ; / ; ; ; etc. It is generally considered to be an early borrowing from Proto-Germanic kuningaz, a form also borrowed by Finnish and Estonian.
The rulers of the Duchy of Poland bore the title of wikt:książę, which was rendered as dux or princeps in Latin, and later adopted krol and its equivalent rex following Bolesław I's coronation in 1025. Similarly, the ruler of the Duchy of Lithuania, called kunigaikštis in Polish, was called magnus dux instead of the Polish word for "king", wikt:karalius. Medieval German records, however, translated knyaz as koning until at least the 15th century.

Middle Ages

The meaning of the term changed over the course of history. Initially the term was used to denote the chieftain of a Slavic tribe. Later, with the development of feudal statehood, it became the title of a ruler of a state, and among East Slavs traditionally translated as duchy or principality, for example, of Kievan Rus'.

In Medieval Bulgaria

In First Bulgarian Empire, Boris I of Bulgaria changed his title to knyaz after his conversion to Christianity in 864, abandoning the pagan title 'khan' of his predecessors. The new titles were applied to his sons Vladimir Rasate and Simeon I, however knyaz Simeon took the higher title of tsar soon in 913.
According to Florin Curta, the primary sources have a variety of names for the rulers of the Bulgars before christianisation - such as including ‘rex’, ‘basileus’ and ‘khagan’. Omurtag and his son Malamir are mentioned in inscriptions as 'kanasubigi'. However, secondary sources are almost always 'khan'.

In Kievan Rus'

In Kievan Rus', as the degree of centralization grew, the ruler acquired the title Velikii Knyaz . He ruled a or , while a ruler of its vassal constituent was called udelny knyaz or simply knyaz.
When Kievan Rus' became fragmented in the 13th century, the title Knyaz continued to be used in East Slavic states, including Kiev's Principality, Chernigov's Principality, Novgorod Republic and its princes, Pereiaslavl Principality, Vladimir-Suzdal, Muscovy, Tver's Principality, Kingdom of Ruthenia, and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Russia

As the Tsardom of Russia gained dominion over much of former Kievan Rus', velikii kniaz Ivan IV of Russia in 1547 was crowned as Tsar. From the mid-18th century onwards, the title Velikii Kniaz was revived to refer to sons and grandsons of Russian Emperors. See titles for Tsar's family for details.
Kniaz continued as a hereditary title of Russian nobility patrilineally descended from Rurik or Gediminas. Members of Rurikid or Gedyminid families were called princes when they ruled tiny quasi-sovereign medieval principalities. After their demesnes were absorbed by Muscovy, they settled at the Moscow court and were authorised to continue with their princely titles.
From the 18th century onwards, the title was occasionally granted by the Tsar, for the first time by Peter the Great to his associate Alexander Menshikov, and then by Catherine the Great to her lover Grigory Potemkin. After 1801, with the incorporation of Georgia into the Russian Empire, various titles of numerous local nobles were controversially rendered in Russian as "kniazes".
Finally, within the Russian Empire of 1809–1917, Finland was officially called Grand Principality of Finland.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

As noted above, the title knyaz or kniaz became a hereditary noble title in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Following the union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, kniaź became a recognised title in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. By the 1630s – apart from the title pan, which indicated membership of the large szlachta noble class – kniaź was the only hereditary title that was officially recognised and officially used in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Notable holders of the title kniaź include Jeremi Wiśniowiecki.

South Slavic countries

In the 19th century, the Serbian term knez and the Bulgarian term knyaz were revived to denote semi-independent rulers of those countries, such as Alexander Karađorđević and Alexander of Battenberg. In parts of Serbia and western Bulgaria, knez was the informal title of the elder or mayor of a village or zadruga until around the 19th century. Those are officially called gradonačelnik and gradonachalnik or kmet .

Bulgaria

  • Prior to Battenberg, the title knyaz was born by Simeon I during the First Bulgarian Empire. At the height of his power, Simeon adopted the title of tsar, as did the Bulgarian rulers after the country became officially independent in 1908.
  • As of Bulgaria's independence in 1908, Knyaz Ferdinand became Tsar Ferdinand, and the words knyaz and knyaginya began to be used instead for the tsar's children – the heir to the throne, for example, held the title Knyaz Tarnovski.

    Bosnia

In early medieval Bosnia knez was a title used, along župan and duke titles, for Bosnian rulers. One of the first such ruler, recorded in historic documents and later historiography, was Stephen, Duke of Bosnia.
Later it was held by several of most powerful magnates of the era, sometime along with an office title given to a person through service to the monarch, such as Grand Duke of Bosnia, which was office of the supreme military commander of the realm. Other noble titles included the knez, the duke and the župan. The title knez is equivalent to that of prince. Among most influential of Bosnian nobleman with the title knez was Pavle Radinović of Radinović-Pavlović noble family, while other include several noblemen from Radojević-Mirković family, such as Batić Mirković. Further families that bear this title are for example Šantić noble family and most members of Hrvatinić.

Croatia

  • knez was the monarchial title used by the medieval rulers of the Duchy of Lower Pannonia and the Duchy of Croatia from the 7th to the 10th century, who were mostly titled as dux and rarely as princeps in Latin sources and translated as Dukes in English ones.
  • knez was, in the Late Middle Ages, a hereditary feudal title borne by Croatian vassal noble families who were great territorial magnates of high social class, knezovi Krčki and knezovi Zrinski ) and went by the title of comes in Latin and Count in English.

    North Macedonia

The title used in Macedonian historiography for Medieval local leaders.

Montenegro