# Slavs Rework: Should the Boyar become a regional Eastern Europe unit?

**URL:** <https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/slavs-rework-should-the-boyar-become-a-regional-eastern-europe-unit/244166>\
**Category:** II - Discussion\
**Created:** [November 22, 2023, 8:49am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/slavs-rework-should-the-boyar-become-a-regional-eastern-europe-unit/244166 "2023-11-22T08:49:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![Player870583437](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/player870583437/32/29229_2.png) [@Player870583437](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/Player870583437)\
**Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:49am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/slavs-rework-should-the-boyar-become-a-regional-eastern-europe-unit/244166/1 "2023-11-22T08:49:48Z")

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_Poll ([view on site](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/slavs-rework-should-the-boyar-become-a-regional-eastern-europe-unit/244166/1))_

What do you think about making the Boyar a Paladin replacement for Slavs (Ruthenians), Lithuanians, Romanians, Serbs and Bulgarians? Ruthenian unique unit could be a Cossack or something else.

From Wikipedia:

> A **boyar** or **bolyar** was a member of the highest rank of the [feudal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism) [nobility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobility) in many Eastern European states, including [Bulgaria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Bulgarian_Empire), [Kievan Rus’](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Rus%27) (and later [Russia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_nobility)), [Moldavia and Wallachia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyars_of_Moldavia_and_Wallachia) (and later [Romania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania)), [Lithuania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_nobility) and among [Baltic Germans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_German_nobility). Boyars were second only to the ruling [princes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knyaz), [grand princes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_prince) or [tsars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar) from the 10th to the 17th centuries.

> The oldest [Slavic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_languages) form of _boyar_ —_bolyarin_ , pl. _bolyari_ ([Bulgarian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_language): болярин, pl. боляри)—dates from the 10th century, and it is found in [Bulgaria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bulgarian_Empire), also popular as old [Bulgar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgars) title _[boila](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boila)_ , which denoted a high aristocratic status among the Bulgars.

> In medieval [Serbia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia), the rank of the boyars ######## _bojari_) was equivalent to the rank of the [baron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron); meaning “free warrior” (or “free man” in general), it was the first rank after the non-free [peasants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasant) or [serfs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serf). The etymology of the term comes from the word _battle_ (бој, _boj_). The boyars of Serbia were literally “men for the battle” or the warrior class, in contrast to the peasants.

For the Cossaks for Slavs (Kievan Rus), Cossackhood is most romanticized in the 16th century, but it appeared in 14th 15th centuries. Which is pretty late, but still within AoE2’s timeline.