Tartar bailiffs, markets and justice under occupation
Editorial contextAfter the massacres the Tartars lured people back from the woods and set up a working occupation. Each village chose a Tartar 'king'; the invaders appointed about a hundred 'canesii' (Roger glosses them as bailiffs) who kept justice and collected horses, animals, arms and gifts. Roger's own master was one of them and ruled almost a thousand villages. 'We had peace and markets,' he writes. A few lines later the same officials summon villagers with gifts and massacre them.
and each village chose for itself a king from among the Tartars, whomever it wished. … They appointed Canesii, that is bailiffs, to do justice and to procure for them horses, animals, weapons, gifts and useful clothing. My master was one of these lords, and ruled almost a thousand villages. And there were about a hundred Canesii. We had peace and markets, and justice was kept for each person.
Working translation
Original wording
et quaelibet villa elegit sibi regem de Tartaris quem optauit. … Constituerunt Canesios id est Baliuos, qui iustitiam facerent, et eis equos animalia arma exenia et vestimenta utilia procurarent. Et sic procurator meus de istis dominis erat unus, et pene mille villas regebat. Et erant Canesii fere centum. Pacem habebamus et fora, iustaque unicuique iusticia seruabatur.
About Mongol occupiers and their appointed officials
Keep in mind
'Canesii' probably reflects a local title (compare Slavic knez, 'prince, headman'); the peace was brief and ended in treachery, as Roger goes on to tell.
Bait on the ice: how they crossed the frozen Danube
Editorial contextIn a hard winter the Danube froze over, which had not happened for many years, but the Tartars did not dare ride onto the ice. They drove horses and cattle onto the bank and left them unguarded for three days. The Hungarians, thinking the enemy gone, crossed and led the animals over the ice, which showed the Tartars that it would bear horses; they then crossed in one rush (as the next page tells).
And then in winter a great deal of snow and ice came, so that the Danube froze, which had not happened for many years past. … They brought many horses and animals onto the bank of the Danube and left no one to guard them for three days, so that the beasts seemed to be wandering without keepers, and none of the Tartars appeared in those parts.
Working translation
Original wording
Et ecce in hieme niuis et glaciei abundantia superuenit, ita quod Danubius, quod non acciderat a multis retroactis temporibus, gelabatur. … Multos equos et animalia super ripam Danubii adduxerunt, et neminem per tres dies ad eorum custodiam dimiserunt; ita quod bestiae sine custodibus pergere videbantur, nec aliquis eorum in illis partibus apparebat.
About Mongol army
Continue in this sourceMaster Roger's lament for Hungary, destroyed by the Tartars (1241 to 1242)1241 to 1242 · 12 passagesMagyars: 'a race of the Turks' living in tents
Editorial contextBefore they moved to Hungary, the Magyars lived on the steppe north of the Black Sea. Ibn Rusta calls them a race of the Turks, says their chief rides out with twenty thousand horsemen, and that they have tents (qibab) and move with the grass and pasture. In winter they camped by the rivers and fished.
The Majghariyya are a race of the Turks; their chief rides out with about twenty thousand horsemen … They have domed tents and travel with the grass and the pasture, and their country is wide.
Working translation
Original wording
والمجغرية جنس من الترك ويركب رئيسهم فى مقدار عشرين الف فارس … ولهم قباب يسيرون مع الكلأ والخصب وبلادهم واسعة
About Magyars (Hungarians), called Turks
Keep in mind
'Turks' here is a broad label for steppe horsemen; the Magyars spoke a Finno-Ugric language.
Transcribed from the page image (corpus OCR of the Arabic is garbled); vowel marks omitted.