Древнеславянский титул князь: история и варианты перевода

Historical Slavic title

Knyaz or knez, also knjaz, kniaz (, kŭnędzĭ) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince (rarely duke), depending on specific historical context and the potentially known Latin equivalents of the title for each bearer of the name. These translations probably derive from the fact that the title tsar was often treated as equivalent to "king" by European monarchs. In Latin sources the title is usually translated as princeps, but the word was originally derived from the common Germanic [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto Germanic/kuningaz (king). The female form transliterated from Bulgarian and Russian is knyaginya (княгиня), kneginja in Slovene and Serbo Croatian (Serbian Cyrillic: кнегиња), kniahinia (княгіня) in Belarusian and kniazioŭna (князёўна) is the daughter of the prince, kniahynia (княгиня) in Ukrainian and kniazivna (князівна) is the daughter of the prince. In Russian, the daughter of a knyaz is knyazhna (княжна). In Russian, the son of a knyaz is knyazhich (княжич in its old form). 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" (kněz, ksiądz, kňaz) as well as "prince/duke" (knez, kníže, książę, knieža). In Sorbian it means simply "Mister" (from "Master". Compare French monsieur from mon sieur "my lord"), 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 (surname) is also found as a surname in former Yugoslavia.

The word is ultimately a cognate of the English king, the German König, and the Swedish konung. The proto Slavic form was кънѧѕь, kŭnędzĭ; , kŭnędzĭ; , knyaz; , knyazĭ; książę; / ; ; ; etc. It is generally considered to be an early borrowing from Proto Germanic kuningaz, a form also borrowed by Finnish and Estonian (kuningas).

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 (княжество (knyazhestvo), князівство) traditionally translated as duchy or principality), for example, of Kievan Rus'. In medieval Latin sources the title was rendered as either rex or dux. In Bulgaria, Boris I of Bulgaria changed his title to knyaz after his conversion to Christianity, but his son 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 such as including ‘rex’, ‘basileus’ and ‘khagan’. However, secondary sources are almost always 'khan'. In Kievan Rus', as the degree of centralization grew, the ruler acquired the title Velikii Knyaz (Великий Князь) (translated as Grand Prince or Grand Duke, see Russian Grand Dukes). He ruled a Великое Княжеcтво or Велике Князiвcтво (Grand Duchy), while a ruler of its vassal constituent (udel, udelnoe knyazivstvo or volost) was called udelny knyaz or simply knyaz. When Kievan Rus' became fragmented in the 13th century, the title Kniaz continued to be used in East Slavic states, including Kiev, Chernihiv, Novgorod, Pereiaslav, Vladimir Suzdal, Muscovy, Tver, Kingdom of Ruthenia, and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

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.

In the 19th century, the Serbian term knez (кнез) and the Bulgarian term knyaz (княз) 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 (градоначелник) (Serbia) and gradonachalnik (градоначалник) or kmet (кмет) (Bulgaria).

Prior to Battenberg, the title knyaz was born by Simeon I during the First Bulgarian Empire (9th–10th century). At the height of his power, Simeon adopted the title of tsar ("emperor"), 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 (Prince of Tarnovo").

In early medieval Bosnia knez (knjaz, књаз) was a title used, along župan and duke (vojvoda) titles, for Bosnian rulers. 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 (such as knezovi Bribirski (Counts of Bribir), knezovi Krčki (Counts of Krk) and knezovi Zrinski (Counts of Zrin)) and went by the title of comes in Latin and Count in English.

The royal title used in Macedonian historiography for rulers within the region of Macedonia is " Kral " as for dukes or counts it is voivod or vojvoda. Also the term vojvodata can also be used. During the Antiquity or Dark age period or era one well known duke was Prebond who eventually become a royal subject and become a constituent ruler back in the 7th Century.

knjaz (књаз) was the ruler title used by the Petrović Njegoš dynasty in Principality of Montenegro from 1852 until the establishment of Kingdom of Montenegro in 1905, translated as "Prince".

knez (кнез) or knjaz (књаз) is a common term used in Serbian historiography for Serbian rulers in the Early Middle Ages, who were titled archon in Greek. knez (кнез) or knjaz (књаз) was a noble title used by medieval rulers of the Principality of Serbia, Duklja, and Moravian Serbia. knez (кнез) was a title borne by local Serbian chiefs under the Ottoman Empire. It was another name for the Ottoman Turkish rank of kodjabashi, held by local Christian chiefs. obor knez (обор кнез) was a title borne by elected local native Serbian chiefs of the nahiyah (district of a group of villages) in the Ottoman Sanjak of Smederevo (also known as the Belgrade Pashaluk). The obor knez was senior chief and responsible for his district's people and was their spokesman (intermediary) in direct relations with the Pasha, though usually through the sipahi, and was in charge of the transfer of taxes levied on the villages. knez (кнез) or knjaz (књаз) was the monarchial title used by Miloš Obrenović in Principality of Serbia, translated as "Prince". Serbia known as Kneževina Srbija (Кнежевина Србија) was de facto independent since 1817, becoming de jure independent with the 1869 constitution. The successors of Miloš used the title until 1882 when Serbia was elevated into a kingdom.