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197-687: Around 600 BC, the Greeks colonized the Black Sea shore and founded numerous fortresses: Tomis (today's Constanța), Callatis, Histria, Argamum, Heracleea, Aegysus. The Greeks engaged in trade with the Dacians who lived on the main land. Dobruja became a Roman province after the conquest of the Dacian Tribes. One of the best preserved remnants of this period is the Capidava citadel. Between the 7th and 14th century, Dobruja

394-644: A 30-year peace treaty with the Byzantines establishing the border along the Erkesia trench between Debeltos on the Black Sea and the valley of the Maritsa River at Kalugerovo , thus allowing both countries to restore their economies and finance after the bloody conflicts in the first decade of the century. To the west the Bulgarians were in control of Belgrade (whose modern name was first known as Alba Bulgarica ) by

591-466: A bitter war after resolving to discontinue paying an annual tribute to Bulgaria. However, the military and ideological initiative was held by Simeon   I, who was seeking casus belli to fulfil his ambition to be recognized as Emperor (in Bulgarian, Tsar ) and to conquer Constantinople, creating a joint Bulgarian–Roman state. In 917, the Bulgarian army dealt a crushing defeat to the Byzantines at

788-539: A new treaty with Emperor Theodosius III in 716 (confirming the annual tribute paid by the Byzantines to Bulgaria and the territorial concessions in Thrace, as well as regulating commercial relations and the treatment of political refugees), and he was also the Bulgarian ruler who helped relieve the second Arab siege of Constantinople in 717–718 by land. According to Theophanes, the Bulgars slaughtered some 22,000 Arabs in

985-417: A brief reign (he died from his wound in 812) and was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Michael I Rangabe . In 812 Krum invaded Byzantine Thrace , taking Develt and scaring the population of nearby fortresses to flee towards Constantinople. From this position of strength, Krum offered a return to the peace treaty of 716. Unwilling to compromise his regime by weakness, the new Emperor Michael I refused to accept

1182-523: A force of 30,000 into Thrace, capturing Arkadioupolis ( Lüleburgaz ) and carrying off some 50,000 captives. The loot from Thrace was used to enrich Krum and his nobility and included architectural elements utilized in the reconstruction of Pliska, perhaps largely by captured Byzantine artisans. Krum spent the winter preparing for a major attack on Constantinople, where rumor reported the assemblage of an extensive siege park to be transported on 5,000 carts. He died before he set out, however, on April 13, 814, and

1379-542: A heart attack at the grisly sight and died two days later, on 6 October. Resistance continued for four more years under Gavril Radomir (r.   1014–1015) and Ivan Vladislav (r.   1015–1018), but after the demise of the latter during the siege of Dyrrhachium the nobility surrendered to Basil   II and Bulgaria was annexed by the Byzantine Empire. The Bulgarian aristocracy kept its privileges, although many noblemen were transferred to Asia Minor , thus depriving

1576-566: A liberator, but Boris   II was promptly forced to ritually abdicate in Constantinople. Although at the time the Byzantines controlled only the eastern regions of the country, Bulgaria was proclaimed a Byzantine province. The lands to the west of the Iskar River remained free and the Bulgarians were able to regroup headed by the four Cometopuli brothers. By 976, the youngest of them, Samuel , concentrated all power in his hands following

1773-522: A marriage between his son and heir Gavril Radomir and Stephen's daughter, but eventually Gavril Radomir expelled his wife, and in 1004 Hungary participated with the Byzantine forces against Bulgaria. After 1000 the tides of the war turned in favor of the Byzantines under the personal leadership of Basil   II, who launched annual campaigns of methodical conquest of the Bulgarian cities and strongholds that were sometimes carried out in all twelve months of

1970-465: A massive expedition against Bulgaria, advancing to Marcellae (near Karnobat ). Here Krum attempted to negotiate on July 11, 811, but Nikephoros was determined to continue his advance. His army managed to avoid Bulgar ambushes in the Balkan Mountains and defeated an army of 12,000 that tried to block their advance into Moesia. Another hastily assembled army of 50,000 was defeated before the walls of

2167-514: A number of fortresses, but after his death the empire was unable to face the threat of the Slavs due to the significant reduction of revenue and manpower. The Slavs , of Indo-European origin, were first mentioned in written sources to inhabit the territories to the north of the Danube in the 5th century AD, but most historians agree that they had arrived earlier. The group of Slavs that came to be known as

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2364-467: A particularly strong Byzantine army led by Leo Phokas, son of Nikephoros Phokas, invaded Bulgaria accompanied by the Byzantine navy under the command of Romanos Lekapenos , which sailed to the Bulgarian Black Sea ports. En route to Mesembria ( Nesebǎr ), where they were supposed to be reinforced by troops transported by the navy, Phokas' forces stopped to rest near the river of Acheloos, not far from

2561-420: A period of 40 years of peaceful relations between the two powers. During the first years of his reign, Peter I faced revolts by two of his three brothers, John in 928 and Michael in 930, but both were quelled. During most of his subsequent rule until 965, Peter   I presided over a Golden Age of the Bulgarian state in a period of political consolidation, economic expansion and cultural activity. Despite

2758-511: A process of centralisation. As Bulgaria's territory steadily expanded, measures against tribal autonomy were deemed necessary in order to achieve more effective control and to prevent separatism. When in the 820s some Slavic tribes in western Bulgaria, the Timochani, Branichevtsi and Abodriti sought overlordship from the Franks, Khan Omurtag replaced their chieftains with his own governors. The country

2955-549: A result of the victory Simeon drew into his orbit the Pecheneg leaders and started a major offensive against the European dominions of Byzantium. The Bulgarians sent to pursue the remnants of the Byzantine army approached Constantinople and encountered Byzantine forces under Leo Phokas, who had returned to the capital, at the village of Katasyrtai in the immediate proximity of Constantinople. Simeon pursued an aggressive policy regarding

3152-404: A result of the victory, the crisis was finally overcome, and Bulgaria entered the new century stable, stronger, and consolidated. During the reign of Krum (r.   803–814) Bulgaria doubled in size and expanded to the south, west and north, occupying the vast lands along the middle Danube and Transylvania , becoming European medieval great power during the 9th and 10th century along with

3349-631: A result of their defeat, the Bulgars took serious precautions to get rid of the Byzantine spies in Pliska . Khan Telerig sent a secret emissary to Constantine V indicating his intention to flee Bulgaria and seek refuge with the emperor, and seeking assurances of hospitality. Telerig succeeded in having the emperor betray his own agents in Bulgaria, who were duly rounded up and executed. In response, Constantine V invaded Bulgaria once again, in 775, but became ill and died on his return journey to Constantinople. In 791,

3546-541: A revolt, and the weakening Byzantine Empire, facing internal dynastic troubles of its own, was unable to quash the revolt. After the army of the Fourth Crusade conquered Constantinople in 1204, Kaloyan , the Bulgarian emperor, tried to establish friendly relations with the crusaders. However, the newly created Latin Empire spurned any offer of alliance with the Bulgarians. Because of his cold reception, Kaloyan allied with

3743-556: A separate class. The original Bulgar titles and many of the institutions from the pagan era were preserved after the Christianisation of Bulgaria until the very fall of the First Empire. The beginning of the 9th century was marked with a process of incorporation of both Slavs and Byzantine Greeks in the ranks of the Bulgarian nobility and privileged classes, which increased the power of the monarch that had been previously curtailed by

3940-572: A series of conflicts fought between the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria which began after the Bulgars conquered parts of the Balkan peninsula after 680 AD. The Byzantine and First Bulgarian Empire continued to clash over the next century with variable success, until the Bulgarians, led by Krum , inflicted a series of crushing defeats on the Byzantines. After Krum died in 814, his son Omurtag negotiated

4137-410: A sort of regency for the captive Boris II. As they began to raid neighboring territories under Byzantine rule, the Byzantine government resorted to a stratagem intended to compromise the leadership of this "revolt". This involved allowing Boris II and his brother Roman to escape from their honorary captivity at the Byzantine court, in the hope that their arrival in Bulgaria would cause a division between

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4334-540: A symbolic termination of the Bulgarian empire, the Byzantines were unable to assert their control over the western provinces of Bulgaria. These remained under the rule of their own governors, especially a noble family led by four brothers called the Cometopuli (i.e., "the sons of the Count"), named David , Moses , Aron , and Samuel . The movement was regarded as a "revolt" by the Byzantine emperor, but it apparently saw itself as

4531-412: A thirty-year peace treaty. Simeon I had multiple successful campaigns against the Byzantines during his rule from 893 to 927. His son Peter I negotiated another long-lasting peace treaty. His rule was followed by a period of decline of the Bulgarian state. In 971 John I Tzimiskes , the Byzantine emperor, subjugated much of the weakening Bulgarian Empire by defeating Boris II and capturing Preslav ,

4728-560: A variety of internal factors, Boris   I converted to Christianity in 864, assuming the title Knyaz (Prince). Taking advantage of the struggle between the Papacy in Rome and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , Boris   I brilliantly manoeuvred to assert the independence of the newly established Bulgarian Church . To check the possibility of Byzantine interference in

4925-542: A village that allowed performance of pagan rituals should be transferred in its entirety to the Church, and, should a rich landowner perform them, his lands were to be sold, and the revenue shared among the poor. After the formation of the Bulgarian state the ruling elite harboured deep distrust towards the Byzantines, against whose perfidy and sudden attacks they had to maintain constant vigilance in all directions. The Byzantine Empire never relinquished its claim over all lands to

5122-561: A war with the Franks under Louis the German and the Croatians. In 863 Boris made a decision to embrace Christianity, and he sought a mission from the Franks. The Byzantines could not countenance so close a neighbor as Bulgaria falling under Frankish religious control. Byzantium had recently gained a major victory over the Arabs and was free to field a considerable military force against Bulgaria. A fleet

5319-413: Is a later invention, which gave rise to the nickname by which Basil II was known from the 12th century onwards: the 'Bulgar-slayer'. The Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Vladislav restored the fortifications of Bitola in 1015 and survived an assassination plot undertaken by Byzantine agents. Although the Byzantines sacked Ohrid, they failed to take Pernik and received troubling intelligence that Ivan Vladislav

5516-422: Is difficult to estimate. Vasil Zlatarski and John Van Antwerp Fine Jr. suggest that they were not particularly numerous, numbering some 10,000, while Steven Runciman considers that the tribe must have been of considerable dimensions. The Bulgars settled mainly in the north-east, establishing the capital at Pliska , which was initially a colossal encampment of 23 km protected with earthen ramparts. To

5713-569: Is further confirmed in the Responsa Nicolai ad consulta Bulgarorum (Responses of Pope Nicholas I to the Questions of the Bulgarians), where Boris   I wrote about primates and mediocres seu minores . Another privileged group were the tarkhans , although from the surviving inscriptions it is impossible to determine whether they belonged to the boilas or to the bagains , or were

5910-642: The Battle of Southern Buh . The war ended in 896 with a great Bulgarian victory near Bulgarophygon in Eastern Thrace. The market was returned to Constantinople, and the Byzantine Emperor had to pay annual tribute to Bulgaria. More importantly, with help from the Pechenegs Simeon successfully fended off a Magyar invasion, which was coordinated with the Byzantines. After the death of Leo VI on 11 May 912 and

6107-552: The Chatalar Inscription : The Kanasubigi Omurtag is a divine ruler in the land where he was born. ... May God [ Tangra ] grant that the divine ruler may press down the [Byzantine] emperor with his foot so long as the Ticha flows... The second most important post in Bulgaria after the monarch was the kavhan , monopolised by the members of the tentatively known "Kavhan family". The kavhan had broad powers and commanded

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6304-511: The Council of Preslav where it was decided that the capital of Bulgaria was to be moved from Pliska to Preslav , the Byzantine clergy was to be banished from the country and replaced with Bulgarian clerics, and Old Bulgarian language was to replace the Greek in liturgy. Bulgaria was to become the principal threat to the stability and security of the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century. The decisions of

6501-773: The Danube Bend to the Black Sea and from the Dnieper River to the Adriatic Sea and became an important power in the region competing with the Byzantine Empire. As the state solidified its position in the Balkans, it entered into a centuries-long interaction, sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile, with the Byzantine Empire. Bulgaria emerged as Byzantium's chief antagonist to its north, resulting in several wars . The two powers also enjoyed periods of peace and alliance, most notably during

6698-468: The Franks , Croats , Serbs, and Byzantines. Soon after coming to power Boris launched a brief campaign against the Byzantines in 852. No details of the outcome of this war are extant, though it is possible he may have gained some territory in inland Macedonia. Another conflict between the Byzantines and Bulgarians started in 855–856. The Empire wanted to regain its control over some areas of inland Thrace and

6895-527: The Gates of Trajan , and the emperor (barely surviving the heavy defeat) soon turned to the east for new conquests. The victory by Samuel prompted Pope Gregory V to recognize him as Tsar, and he was crowned in Rome in 997. In 1002, a full-scale war broke out. By this time, Basil's army was stronger, and the emperor was determined to conquer Bulgaria once and for all. He deployed much of the imperial army, battle-seasoned from

7092-468: The Khazars in the east but after his demise Old Great Bulgaria disintegrated under strong Khazar pressure in 668 and his five sons parted with their followers. The eldest Batbayan remained in his homeland as Kubrat's successor and eventually became a Khazar vassal. The second brother Kotrag migrated to the middle Volga region and founded Volga Bulgaria . The third brother Asparuh led his people west to

7289-526: The Medieval Serbian principalities that tended to support Byzantium. Bulgarian troops led by Theodore Sigritsa and Marmais invaded the country, deposing local rulers like Petar Gojniković and Pavle Branović . Meanwhile, the admiral Romanos Lekapenos replaced Zoe as regent of the young Constantine VII in 919 and advanced himself to the rank of co-emperor in December 920, effectively assuming control of

7486-675: The Nicaeans , which reduced the crusaders' power in the area. Even though his nephew Boril allied with the Latin Empire, Boril's successors sided with the Nicaeans, despite a few continuing attacks from them. After the Latin Empire collapsed, the Byzantines, took advantage of the Bulgarian civil war and captured portions of Thrace, but the Bulgarian emperor Theodore Svetoslav retook these lands. The Byzantine-Bulgarian relations continued to fluctuate until

7683-616: The Ottoman Turks captured the Bulgarian capital in 1393 and the Byzantine capital in 1453. The Byzantines first clashed with the founders of Bulgaria (the Bulgars) when Khan Kubrat's youngest son Asparuh moved westward, occupying today's southern Bessarabia . Asparuh defeated the Byzantines, who were under Constantine IV , with a combined land and sea operation and successfully besieged their fortified camp in Ongala . Suffering from bad health,

7880-620: The Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomadic equestrians in the Volga-Ural region, but some researchers say that their ethnic roots can be traced to Central Asia . They spoke a form of Turkic as their main language. The Bulgars included the tribes of Onogurs , Utigurs and Kutrigurs , among others. The first clear mention of the Bulgars in written sources dates from 480, when they served as

8077-523: The Roman Empire by the 1st century AD. The decline of the Roman Empire after the 3rd century AD and the continuous invasions of Goths and Huns left much of the region devastated, depopulated and in economic decline by the 5th century. The surviving eastern half of the Roman Empire, called by later historians the Byzantine Empire , could not exercise effective control in these territories other than in

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8274-640: The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople , where the Bulgarian army broke the siege and destroyed the Arab army , thus preventing an Arab invasion of Southeastern Europe. Byzantium had a strong cultural influence on Bulgaria, which also led to the eventual adoption of Christianity in 864. After the disintegration of the Avar Khaganate , the country expanded its territory northwest to the Pannonian Plain . Later

8471-468: The Second Bulgarian Empire . The First Bulgarian Empire was a hereditary monarchy. The monarch was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces , a judge, and a high priest during the pagan period. He guided the external policy of the country and could conclude treaties personally or through authorised emissaries. In the pagan period the title of the ruler was Khan . After 864 Boris I adopted

8668-752: The Soviet Union and the United States . It included a population exchange which removed the Bulgarian minority from Northern Dobruja, which was evacuated to the southern part. At the same time, the Romanians (including Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians ) from Southern Dobruja were brought north of the border. There also is a Csángó Hungarian village in Northern Dobruja, in the Constanța County, known as Oituz . The territory of Northern Dobruja now forms

8865-504: The battle of Achelous , resulting in Bulgaria's total military supremacy in the Balkans. In the words of Theophanes Continuatus "a bloodshed occurred, that had not happened in centuries", and Leo the Deacon witnessed piles of bones of perished soldiers on the battlefield 50 years later. The Bulgarians built on their success with further victories at Katasyrtai in 917, Pegae in 921 and Constantinople in 922. The Bulgarians also captured

9062-463: The counties of Constanța and Tulcea , with a total area of 15,570 km and a current population of slightly under 900,000. The Danube Delta consists of numerous lakes. The most important ones are: Ethnic composition The table below shows Romanian statistics throughout the years: Northern Dobruja is represented by two dolphins in the coat of arms of Romania . Starting with 2015, Romania observes Dobruja Day on November 14 , marking

9259-464: The demonym Bulgarian gained prevalence and became permanent designations for the local population, both in literature and in common parlance. The development of Old Church Slavonic literacy had the effect of preventing the assimilation of the South Slavs into neighbouring cultures, while stimulating the formation of a distinct Bulgarian identity. After the adoption of Christianity, Bulgaria became

9456-508: The 10 comitati . They were further divided into župi , that in turn consisted of zadrugi . The comita was appointed by the monarch, and was assisted by a tarkhan . The former had many civil and administrative functions, while the latter was responsible for military affairs. One of the few comitati known by name was Kutmichevitsa in south-western Bulgaria, corresponding to modern western Macedonia, southern Albania and north-western Greece. The first known written Bulgarian law code

9653-568: The 1878 incorporation of Northern Dobruja into the Kingdom of Romania after the Treaty of Berlin . First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire ( Church Slavonic : блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ , romanized:  blŭgarĭsko tsěsarǐstvije ; Bulgarian : Първо българско царство) was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It

9850-483: The 560s subjugating various Bulgar and Slavic tribes in the process. Consumed in bitter wars with the Persian Sasanian Empire in the east, the Byzantines had few resources with which to confront the Slavs. The Slavs came in large numbers and the lack of political organisation made it very difficult to stop them because there was no political leader to defeat in battle and thereby force their retreat. As

10047-539: The 670s they crossed the Danube into Scythia Minor , nominally a Byzantine province, whose steppe grasslands and pastures were important for the large herd stocks of the Bulgars in addition to the grazing grounds to the west of the Dniester River already under their control. In 680 the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV (r.   668–685), having recently defeated the Arabs , led an expedition at

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10244-583: The 820s, and the northwestern boundaries with the Frankish Empire were firmly settled along the middle Danube by 827. To the north-east Omurtag fought the Khazars along the Dnieper River, which was the easternmost limit of Bulgaria. Extensive building was undertaken in the capital Pliska, including the construction of a magnificent palace, pagan temples, ruler's residence, fortress, citadel, water-main, and bath, mainly from stone and brick. In 814 Omurtag began

10441-507: The Armenian , offered to negotiate and arranged for a meeting with Krum. As Krum arrived, he was ambushed by Byzantine archers and was wounded as he made his escape. Furious, Krum ravaged the environs of Constantinople and headed home, capturing Adrianople en route and transplanting its inhabitants (including the parents of the future Emperor Basil I ) across the Danube. In spite of the approach of winter, Krum took advantage of good weather to send

10638-431: The Bulgarian capital, Pliska , which fell to the emperor on July 20. Here Nikephoros, who had been a financial minister before becoming emperor, helped himself to the treasures of Krum, while setting the city ablaze and turning his army on the population. A new diplomatic tentative from Krum was rebuffed. Nikephorus showed great cruelty, ordering his army to kill the population of the capital. Increasingly concerned about

10835-453: The Bulgarian capital. Samuel managed to stabilize the Bulgarian state with a center around the town of Prespa . Near the end of his rule, the Byzantines got the upper hand again, and under Basil II they won the Battle of Kleidion and completely conquered Bulgaria in 1018. There were rebellions against Byzantine rule from 1040 to 1041, and in the 1070s and the 1080s, but these failed. In 1185, however, Theodore Peter and Ivan Asen started

11032-495: The Bulgarian court in Pliska and had them all executed. The next year Constantine   V died during a retaliatory campaign against Bulgaria. Despite being able to defeat the Bulgarians several times the Byzantines were able neither to conquer Bulgaria, nor to impose their suzerainty and a lasting peace, which is a testimony to the resilience, fighting skills and ideological coherence of the Bulgarian state. The devastation brought to

11229-489: The Bulgarian domination of the Balkans, restored the status of Bulgaria as a most favoured nation, abolished the commercial restrictions and obliged the Byzantine Empire to pay annual tribute. The peace treaty remained in force until 912 although Simeon   I did violate it following the sack of Thessaloniki in 904, extracting further territorial concessions in Macedonia . In 913 the Byzantine emperor Alexander provoked

11426-441: The Bulgarian elite. It is likely that the relationship between the politically dominant Bulgars and the more numerous Slavs was the main issue behind the struggle but there is no evidence about the aims of the rival factions. Zlatarski speculates that the old Bulgar military aristocracy was leaning towards war while other Bulgars supported by the majority of the Slavs were inclined for peace with Byzantium. The internal instability

11623-565: The Bulgarians confronted the advance of the Pechenegs and Cumans , and achieved a decisive victory over the Magyars , forcing them to establish themselves permanently in Pannonia . The ruling Bulgars and other non-Slavic tribes in the empire gradually mixed and adopted the prevailing Slavic language , thus gradually forming the Bulgarian nation from the 7th to the 10th century. Since the 10th century,

11820-414: The Bulgarians of their natural leaders. Although the Bulgarian Patriarchate was demoted to the Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima and all Bulgaria (Archbishopric of Ohrid) , it retained its sees and enjoyed a privileged autonomy. Despite several major attempts at restoring its independence, Bulgaria remained under Byzantine rule until the brothers Asen and Peter liberated the country in 1185, establishing

12017-438: The Bulgarians to arrange the alliance. However, the envoys were captured by the Byzantines at Calabria . Romanos offered peace to Egypt under the Fatimids , supplementing this offer with generous gifts, and ruined the Fatimids newly formed alliance with Bulgaria . In 924 Simeon sent an army led by Časlav Klonimirović to depose a former ally of his, Zaharije Pribisavljević . He was successful, as Zaharije fled to Croatia. In

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12214-402: The Bulgarians took most of Macedonia , and the borders of the country reached the Adriatic Sea near Valona and Aegean Sea . Byzantine historians do not mention any resistance against the Bulgarian expansion in Macedonia, leading to the conclusion that the expansion was largely peaceful. With this, Bulgaria had become the dominant power in the Balkans. The advance further west was blocked by

12411-403: The Bulgarians were decisively defeated at Kleidion . Some 14,000 Bulgarians were captured; it is said that 99 out of every 100 men were blinded, with the remaining hundredth man left with one eye so as to lead his compatriots home, earning Basil   II the moniker "Bulgaroktonos", the Bulgar Killer. When the returning men arrived in Samuel's residence in Prespa , the Bulgarian Emperor suffered

12608-469: The Bulgarians, the prospect of the Byzantines losing all their Balkan themes was quite real. Threatened by an alliance between the Byzantines and the Serbian state of Duklja , in 997 Samuel defeated and captured its Prince Jovan Vladimir and took control of the Serb lands. In 997, following the death of Roman, the last heir of the Krum's dynasty , Samuel was proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria. He established friendly relations with Stephen I of Hungary through

12805-405: The Bulgars and the local Slavs is a matter of debate depending on the interpretation of the Byzantine sources. Vasil Zlatarski asserts that they concluded a treaty, but most historians agree that they were subjugated. The Bulgars were superior organisationally and militarily and came to politically dominate the new state, but there was cooperation between them and the Slavs for the protection of

13002-400: The Bulgars occasionally raided the Byzantine Empire, but in the second half of the century the Kutrigurs were subjugated by the Avar Khaganate and the Utigurs came under the rule of the Western Turkic Khaganate . As the power of the Western Turks faded in the 600s the Avars reasserted their domination over the Bulgars. Between 630 and 635 Khan Kubrat of the Dulo clan managed to unite

13199-400: The Bulgars were forced to retreat. The Bulgarians suffered a brutal invasion by Sviatoslav I Igorevich, the Grand-Prince of the Kievan Rus between 967 and 969, that saw the empire vassalised to the Rus. Sviatoslav was killed in 972 however, seeing the empire able to briefly recover, but was unable to reclaim lost territories north of the Danube, in Thrace and Southern Macedonia. Their old rivals,

13396-437: The Bulgars, but neither side initiated an attack for two weeks. Finally, on June 22, 813, the Byzantines attacked but were immediately turned to flight. With Krum's cavalry in pursuit, the rout of Michael I was complete, and Krum advanced on Constantinople, which he besieged by land. Discredited, Michael was forced to abdicate and become a monk—the third Byzantine emperor undone by Krum in as many years. The new emperor, Leo V

13593-514: The Byzantine Emperor Michael IV was staying. Michael fled, leaving his treasury to a certain Michael Ivac, probably a son of Ivac, a general under Samuel of Bulgaria , who promptly turned over the bulk of the treasury to Peter outside the city. Thessalonica remained in Byzantine hands, but Macedonia, Durazzo, and parts of northern Greece were taken by Peter II's forces. This inspired further Slavic revolts against Byzantine rule in Epirus and Albania . Peter II Delyan's successes ended, however, with

13790-436: The Byzantine Emperor was bound to enforce the imperial sovereignty over them. This led to more than 40 years of increasingly bitter warfare. A capable general and good politician, at first Samuel managed to turn the fortunes to the Bulgarians. The new Byzantine Emperor Basil II was decisively defeated in the Battle of the Gates of Trajan in 986 and barely escaped with his life. The Byzantine poet John Geometres wrote of

13987-406: The Byzantine Empire in 837. Emperor Theophilos sought Bulgar support in putting down the rebellion, but he simultaneously arranged for his fleet to sail through the Danube delta and undertake a clandestine evacuation of some of the Byzantine captives settled in trans-Danubian Bulgaria by Krum and Omurtag. In retaliation Isbul campaigned along the Aegean coasts of Thrace and Macedonia and captured

14184-585: The Byzantine and Frankish Empires . Between 804 and 806 the Bulgarian armies thoroughly eliminated the Avar Khaganate, which had suffered a crippling blow by the Franks in 796, and a border with the Frankish Empire was established along the middle Danube or Tisza. Prompted by the Byzantine moves to consolidate their hold on the Slavs in Macedonia and northern Greece and in response to a Byzantine raid against

14381-456: The Byzantine and the Frankish empires, the need to consolidate Bulgar authority in the newly conquered lands, and the new stirring of the tribes in the steppes gave reason for Omurtag to conclude a 30-year peace treaty with the Byzantines in 815, which was partly inscribed on a surviving column found near the village of Seltsi , Shumen Province . According to that inscription the treaty specified

14578-590: The Byzantine emperor Constantine VI embarked on an expedition against Bulgaria, in retaliation for Bulgarian incursions in the Struma valley since 789. Kardam pre-empted the Byzantine invasion and met the enemy near Adrianople in Thrace . The Byzantine army was defeated and turned to flight. In 792, Constantine VI led another army against the Bulgars and encamped at Marcellae , near Karnobat , which he proceeded to fortify. Kardam arrived with his army on July 20 and occupied

14775-476: The Byzantine emperor had pitted against the Bulgarians. In 969 a new Kievan invasion defeated the Bulgarians again, and Peter I abdicated to become a monk. In circumstances that are not entirely clear, Boris II was allowed to return to Bulgaria and sit on his father's throne. Boris II was unable to stem the Kievan advance and found himself forced to accept Sviatoslav of Kiev as his ally and puppet-master, turning against

14972-435: The Byzantine point of view of the ensuing political turmoil in Bulgaria. They describe two factions struggling for power – one that sought peaceful relations with the Empire, which was dominant until 755, and one that favoured war. These sources present the relations with the Byzantine Empire as the main issue in this internal struggle and do not mention the other reasons, which could have been more important for

15169-403: The Byzantine throne in exchange for friendship, gifts and his daughter in marriage. With an army of 15,000 horsemen provided by Tervel, Justinian suddenly advanced on Constantinople and managed to gain entrance into the city in 705. The restored emperor executed his supplanters, the emperors Leontios and Tiberios III , alongside many of their supporters. Justinian rewarded Tervel with many gifts,

15366-463: The Byzantines eventually recovered, and in 1014, under Basil II "the Bulgar Slayer", a crushing defeat was inflicted on the Bulgarians at the Battle of Kleidion . Basil famously ordered that every 100 of the captured 15,000 Bulgarian prisoners be blinded, with the 100th soldier spared one eye to guide the rest back home, forcing their communities to care for them for the rest of their lives. By 1018,

15563-461: The Byzantines had castrated him so that he could not have any heirs, he was unable to assume the throne. Instead, the youngest of the Cometopuli brothers, Samuel, resisted the Byzantines. Although the Byzantines eventually managed to capture all of Bulgaria, Samuel resisted Basil II for decades and is the only man to ever defeat him in battle, when in 986 Samuel drove Basil II's army from the field at

15760-503: The Byzantines near the Calabrian coast. The Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos managed to avert a Bulgarian–Arab alliance by showering the Arabs with generous gifts. The war dragged on until Simeon I's death in May 927. By then Bulgaria controlled almost all Byzantine possessions in the Balkans, but without a fleet it did not attempt to storm Constantinople. Both countries were exhausted by

15957-471: The Byzantines. A Kievan campaign into Byzantine Thrace was defeated at Arcadiopolis in 970, and the new Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes advanced northwards. Failing to secure the defense of the Balkan passes, Sviatoslav allowed the Byzantines to penetrate into Moesia and lay siege to the Bulgarian capital Preslav. Although Bulgarians and Russians joined in defending the city, the Byzantines managed to set afire

16154-543: The Byzantine–Bulgarian victory with stopping the Arab offensives against Europe . With the demise of Khan Sevar (r.   738–753) the ruling Dulo clan died out and the Khanate fell into a long political crisis during which the young country was on the verge of destruction. In just fifteen years seven Khans reigned, and all of them were murdered. The only surviving sources of this period are Byzantine and present only

16351-399: The Cometopuli and other Bulgarian leaders. As the brothers entered the region under Bulgarian control in 977, Boris II dismounted and went ahead of his brother. Mistaken for a Byzantine noble due to his attire, Boris was shot in the chest by a deaf and mute border patrol. Roman managed to identify himself to the other guards and was duly accepted as emperor. However, since he was a eunuch , as

16548-648: The Confessor wrote of the treaty: ... the Emperor [Constantine   IV] signed peace with them [the Bulgars], and agreed to pay them tribute for shame of the Romans and for our many sins. For it was wondrous for faraway and close peoples to hear that he, who made everyone pay him tribute – to the east and to the west, to the north and to the south, had been defeated by these unclean and newly emerged people. The relations between

16745-528: The Council of Preslav brought an end to the Byzantine hopes to exert influence over the newly Christianized country. In 894 the Byzantines moved the Bulgarian market from Constantinople to Thessaloniki , affecting the commercial interests of Bulgaria and the principle of Byzantine–Bulgarian trade, regulated under the Treaty of 716 and later agreements on the most favoured nation basis. The new Prince, Simeon I (r.   893–927), who came to be known as Simeon

16942-513: The Eastern campaigns against the Arabs, and Samuel was forced to retreat into his country's heartland. Still, by harassing the powerful Byzantine army, Samuel hoped to force Basil to the peace table. For a dozen years, his tactics maintained Bulgarian independence and even kept Basil away from the main Bulgarian cities, including the capital of Ohrid . On July 29, 1014, however, at Kleidion (or Belasitsa ) (present day Blagoevgrad Province ), Basil II

17139-580: The Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious . Due to the sudden death of Krum on 14 April 814, however, the campaign was never launched. Khan Krum implemented legal reforms and issued the first known written law code of Bulgaria that established equal rules for all peoples living within the country's boundaries, intending to reduce poverty and to strengthen the social ties in his vastly enlarged state. Krum's successor Khan Omurtag (r.   814–831) concluded

17336-504: The Great, declared war and defeated the Byzantine army in Thrace. The Byzantines turned for aid to the Magyars , who at the time inhabited the steppes to the north-east of Bulgaria. The Magyars scored two victories over the Bulgarians and pillaged Dobrudzha , but Simeon   I allied with the Pechenegs further east, and in 895 the Bulgarian army inflicted a crushing defeat on the Magyars in

17533-559: The Rishki Pass in 759 in addition to hundreds of ships lost to storms in the Black Sea. The Byzantine military successes further exacerbated the crisis in Bulgaria, but also rallied together many different factions to resist the Byzantines, as shown at the council of 766 when the nobility and the "armed people" denounced Khan Sabin with the words "Thanks to you, the Romans will enslave Bulgaria!". In 774 Khan Telerig (r.   768–777) tricked Constantine   V into revealing his spies at

17730-553: The Slavic Knyaz (Prince), and since 913 the Bulgarian monarchs were recognised as Tsars (Emperors). The authority of the Khan was limited by the leading noble families and the People's Council. The People's Council, which included the nobility and the "armed people", was gathered to discuss issues of crucial importance for the state. A People's Council in 766 dethroned Khan Sabin because he

17927-524: The South Slavs was divided into Antes and Sclaveni who spoke the same language. The Slavic incursions in the Balkans increased during the second half of Justinian I's reign and while these were initially pillaging raids, large-scale settlement began in the 570s and 580s. This migration is associated with the arrival of the Avars who settled in the plains of Pannonia between the rivers Danube and Tisza in

18124-408: The accession of his infant son Constantine VII , under the guidance of Leo's brother Alexander , who expelled Leo's last wife and Constantine's mother, Zoe Karbonopsina , from the palace, Simeon claimed the imperial title and tried to replace Byzantium as the biggest power in the region, perhaps building a new Bulgarian–Byzantine empire. Alexander died on 6 June 913, leaving the capital in anarchy and

18321-466: The adoption of Christianity regulated their relations. The number of personally dependent peasants bound to nobility or ecclesiastical estates increased since the 10th century. Due to the limited remaining sources it is very difficult to reconstruct the administrative evolution and division of the country. Initially the Slavic tribes retained their autonomy but since the beginning of the 9th century commenced

18518-444: The advancing Basil II in exchange for guarantees of the preservation of their lives, status, and property. The newly proclaimed Bulgarian emperor Peter II later led a large revolt against the Byzantines. Peter II Delyan took Niš and Skopje , first co-opting and then eliminating another potential leader in the person of one Tihomir , who had led a rebellion in the region of Durazzo. After this Peter II marched on Thessalonica, where

18715-675: The allies of the Byzantine Emperor Zeno (r. 474–491) against the Ostrogoths , although an obscure reference to Ziezi ex quo Vulgares , with Ziezi being an offspring of Biblical Shem , son of Noah , is in the Chronography of 354 . In the 490s the Kutrigurs had moved west of the Black Sea while the Utigurs inhabited the steppes to the east of them. In the first half of the 6th century,

18912-466: The army of King Tomislav in the Battle of the Bosnian Highlands . A peace was mediated by the papal legate Madalbert between Simeon and Tomislav. Though the army he sent to Croatia was destroyed, Simeon retained sufficient military forces to contemplate renewed aggression against the Byzantines. After 14 years of war Simeon was ultimately too frustrated in his designs on the Byzantine throne. In

19109-642: The assumption of the imperial title by its rulers in 913, the country is also referred to as the Principality of Bulgaria . In English-language sources, the country is often known as the Bulgarian Empire . Parts of the eastern Balkan Peninsula were in antiquity inhabited by the Thracians who were a group of Indo-European tribes. The whole region as far north as the Danube River was gradually incorporated into

19306-493: The autumn of 894 Simeon invaded the Byzantine Empire from the north, meeting little opposition due to the concentration of most Byzantine forces in eastern Anatolia to counter Arab invasions. Informed of the Bulgarian offensive, the surprised Leo sent an army consisting of guardsmen and other military units from the capital to halt Simeon, but his troops were routed somewhere in the theme of Macedonia .The Magyars managed to defeat Simeon's army twice, but in 896 they were routed in

19503-438: The battle formation to avoid surprise attacks from the rear. The Bulgarian army used ambushes and feigned retreats, during which the cavalrymen rode with their backs to the horse, firing clouds of arrows on the enemy. If the enemy pursued disorganized, they would turn back and fiercely attack them. In 918 the Bulgarians took the capital of the Byzantine theme Hellas Thebes without bloodshed after sending five men with axes into

19700-450: The battle. After the death of Sevar , Bulgaria descended into a long period of crisis and unrest, while the Byzantines consolidated their positions. Between 756 and 775, the new Byzantine Emperor Constantine V led nine campaigns against his northern neighbour to establish a Byzantine border on the Danube . Due to the frequent change of rulers (eight Khans held the throne in twenty years) and

19897-566: The border in Thrace, the issue with those Slavs who remained in Byzantium, and the exchange of the other prisoners of war . The treaty was honoured by both sides and was renewed after the accession of the new Byzantine Emperor Michael II to the throne in 820. In 821 Thomas the Slav rebelled against the Byzantine Emperor and laid siege to Constantinople, seeking to seize the imperial throne for himself. Khan Omurtag sent an army to help Michael II put down

20094-482: The borders and the Byzantine tribute, regulated trade relations and provided for the exchange of prisoners and fugitives. When the Arabs laid siege to Constantinople in 717–718 Tervel dispatched his army to help the besieged city. In the decisive battle before the Walls of Constantinople the Bulgarians slaughtered between 22,000 and 30,000 Arabs forcing them to abandon the undertaking. Most historians primarily attribute

20291-457: The breakdown of discipline in his army, Nikephoros finally began to retreat towards Thrace. In the meantime, Krum had mobilized as many of his subjects as he could (including the women) and had begun to set traps and ambushes for the retreating imperial army in the mountain passes. At dawn on July 26 the Byzantines found themselves trapped against a moat and wooden wall in the Vărbica pass. Nikephoros

20488-472: The ceded area. Tervel routed him at the Battle of Anchialus (or Ankhialo) in 708. In 711, faced by a serious revolt in Asia Minor , Justinian again sought the aid of Tervel but obtained only lukewarm support manifested in an army of 3,000. Outmaneuvered by the rebel emperor Philippicus , Justinian was captured and executed, while his Bulgar allies were allowed to retire to their country. Tervel took advantage of

20685-481: The city of Philippi , where Theophilos set up a surviving memorial inscription in a local church. Isbul's campaign may have resulted in the establishment of Bulgar suzerainty over the Slavic tribe of the Smoljani. Despite his able diplomacy, statesmanship, and his importance in the process of converting Bulgaria to Christianity , Boris I was not a particularly successful leader in war, being at various times defeated by

20882-423: The city, who eliminated the guards, broke the hinges of the gates, and opened them to the main forces. The Bulgarians were also able to fight at night – e.g., their victory over the Byzantines in the battle of Katasyrtai . The Bulgarian army was well equipped with siege engines . The Bulgarians employed the services of Byzantine and Arab captives and fugitives to produce siege equipment, such as

21079-420: The coastal areas and certain cities in the interior. Nonetheless, it never relinquished the claim to the whole region up to the Danube. A series of administrative, legislative, military and economic reforms somewhat improved the situation but despite these reforms disorder continued in much of the Balkans. The reign of Emperor Justinian I (r.   527–565) saw temporary recovery of control and reconstruction of

21276-512: The common people. The nobility were initially known as the boila but after the 10th century the word was transformed to bolyar , which was eventually adopted in many countries in Eastern Europe . Each boila clan had its own totem and was believed to have been divinely established, hence their staunch opposition to Christianity, which was seen as a threat to their privileges. Many of the clans had ancient origin that could be traced back to

21473-466: The constant political crisis, Bulgaria was on the verge of destruction. In his first campaign in 756, Constantine V was successful and managed to defeat the Bulgars twice, but in 759, Vinekh , the Bulgar Khan, defeated the Byzantine army comprehensively in the Battle of the Rishki Pass . Vinekh then sought to make peace with the Byzantines but was assassinated by Bulgar nobles. The new ruler, Telets ,

21670-407: The contents of the Bulgarian imperial treasury in 971. In a public ceremony in Constantinople, Boris II was ritually divested of his imperial insignia and was given the Byzantine court title of magistros as compensation. The Bulgarian lands in Thrace and lower Moesia now became part of the Byzantine Empire and were placed under Byzantine governors. Although the ceremony in 971 had been intended as

21867-448: The country by the nine campaigns of Constantine   V firmly rallied the Slavs behind the Bulgars and greatly increased the dislike of the Byzantines, turning Bulgaria into a hostile neighbour. The hostilities continued until 792 when Khan Kardam (r.   777–803) achieved an important victory in the battle of Marcellae , forcing the Byzantines once again to pay tribute to the Khans. As

22064-638: The country is also called by modern historians as the Bulgarian Khanate , or the Bulgar Khaganate , from the Turkic title of khan / khagan borne by its rulers. It is often further specified as the Danube Bulgarian Khanate , or Danube Bulgar Khanate in order to differentiate it from Volga Bulgaria , which emerged from another Bulgar group. From the country's Christianization in 864 and

22261-530: The country, the Bulgarians confronted the Byzantine Empire. In 808 they raided the valley of the Struma River, defeating a Byzantine army, and in 809 captured the important city of Serdica (modern Sofia ). In 811 the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus I launched a massive offensive against Bulgaria and seized, plundered and burned down the capital Pliska, but on the way back the Byzantine army

22458-472: The country. The Slavs were allowed to retain their chiefs, to abide to their customs and in return they were to pay tribute in kind and to provide foot soldiers for the army. The Seven Slavic tribes were relocated to the west to protect the frontier with the Avar Khaganate , while the Severi were resettled in the eastern Balkan Mountains to guard the passes to the Byzantine Empire. The number of Asparuh's Bulgars

22655-470: The country. To cap it all, there was an incursion of locusts. Yet, despite all the military setbacks and natural disasters, the skilful diplomacy of Boris   I prevented any territorial losses and kept the realm intact. In this complex international situation Christianity had become attractive as a religion by the mid 9th-century because it provided better opportunities for forging reliable alliances and diplomatic ties. Taking this into account, as well as

22852-528: The crown to his son Boris II (r.   969–971), who had little choice but to cooperate with Svyatoslav. The unexpected success of the Rus' campaigns led to a confrontation with the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes eventually defeated Svyatoslav's forces and compelled him to leave the Balkans in 971. In the course of their campaign the Byzantines seized Preslav and detained Boris   II. Initially John   I Tzimiskes presented himself as

23049-501: The death of his elder siblings. When in 976 the rightful heir to the throne, Boris   II's brother Roman (r.   971–997), escaped from captivity in Constantinople, he was recognized as Emperor by Samuel, who remained the chief commander of the Bulgarian army. Peace was impossible; as a result of the symbolic ending of the Bulgarian Empire following Boris   II's abdication, Roman, and later Samuel, were seen as rebels and

23246-587: The debatable region of Zagora as a reward for their change of religious orientation. With the ascendance of Simeon I to the throne in 893, the long-lasting peace with the Byzantine Empire established by his father was about to end. A conflict arose when Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise , acting under pressure from his wife Zoe Zaoutzaina and her father, Stylianos Zaoutzes , moved the marketplace for Bulgarian goods from Constantinople to Thessaloniki, where Bulgarian merchants were heavily taxed. Forced to take action, in

23443-613: The defeat: Even if the sun would have come down, I would have never thought that the Moesian [Bulgarian] arrows were stronger than the Ausonian [Roman, Byzantine] spears. ... And when you, Phaethon [Sun], descend to the earth with your gold-shining chariot, tell the great soul of the Caesar: The Istros [Bulgaria] took the crown of Rome. Take up arms, the arrows of the Moesians broke

23640-528: The deposition of Romanos and captured Adrianople; in 922 they were victorious at Pigae , burning much of the Golden Horn and seizing Bizye . Desperate to conquer Constantinople, Simeon planned a large campaign in 924 and sent envoys to the Shia Fatimid ruler Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah , who possessed a powerful navy, which Simeon needed. The Ubayd Allah agreed and sent his own representatives back with

23837-515: The development of a new Slavic state under Byzantine patronage, the Principality of Serbia . Between 839 and 842 the Bulgarians waged war on the Serbs but did not make any progress. Historian Mark Whittow asserts that the claim for a Serb victory in that war in De Administrando Imperio was wishful Byzantine thinking, but notes that any Serb submission to the Bulgarians went no further than

24034-589: The different elements under a single code of laws. However, since the text is not preserved its precise aims remain unknown. After the conversion to Christianity Boris   I was concerned with the legal matters and asked Pope Nicholas I to provide legal texts. Eventually, the Законъ соудный людьмъ ( Zakon sudnyi ljud'm , Court Law for the People), was compiled, based heavily on the Byzantine Ecloga and Nomocanon, but adapted to Bulgarian conditions and valid for

24231-546: The disorder in Byzantium to raid Thrace in 712, plundering as far as the vicinity of Constantinople. According to the chronological information of the Imennik , Tervel died in 715. However, the Byzantine Chronicler Theophanes the Confessor ascribes Tervel a role in an attempt to restore the deposed Emperor Anastasius II in 718 or 719. If Tervel did survive this long, he was the Bulgarian ruler who concluded

24428-475: The early Bulgarians and were often decorated with golden, silver, bronze or copper buckles that reflected the illustrious origin of the holder. The most important part of the army was the heavy cavalry . In the early 9th century the Bulgarian Khan could muster 30,000 riders "all covered in iron" who were armoured with iron helms and chainmail. The horses too were covered with armour. As the capital, Pliska,

24625-616: The emperor had to leave the army, which allowed itself to panic and be defeated by the Bulgars. In 681 Constantine was forced to acknowledge the Bulgarian state in Moesia and to pay protection money to avoid further inroads into Byzantine Thrace. Eight years later, Asparuh led a successful campaign against Byzantine Thrace. Tervel , first mentioned in the Byzantine texts in 704 when the deposed emperor Justinian II came to him and asked for his aid, supported Justinian in an attempted restoration to

24822-579: The empire. No longer able to climb to the Byzantine throne by diplomatic means, the infuriated Simeon once again had to wage war to impose his will. Between 920 and 922, Bulgaria increased its pressure on Byzantium, campaigning in the west through Thessaly , reaching the Isthmus of Corinth , and in the east in Thrace, reaching and crossing the Dardanelles to lay siege on the town of Lampsacus . Simeon's forces appeared before Constantinople in 921, when they demanded

25019-673: The end of that year. Further expansion in the Western Balkans was checked by King Tomislav of Croatia , who was a Byzantine ally and defeated a Bulgarian invasion in 926. Simeon   I was aware that he needed naval support to conquer Constantinople and in 922 sent envoys to the Fatimid caliph Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah in Mahdia to negotiate the assistance of the powerful Arab navy. The caliph sent representatives to Bulgaria to arrange an alliance, but his emissaries were captured en route by

25216-419: The engineer Eumathius, who sought refuge with Khan Krum after the capture of Serdica in 809. The 9th century anonymous Byzantine chronicler known as Scrptor incertus lists the contemporary machinery produced and used by the Bulgarians. These included catapults ; scorpions ; multi-storey siege towers with a battering ram on the bottom floor; testudos  – battering rams with metal plating on

25413-417: The existence of a chancellery to the Khan that was probably organised in the Byzantine manner. Part of the chancellery's staff might have been Greeks and even monks, despite the fact that the country was still pagan. According to an inscription dated from the reign of Khan Malamir (r.   831–836) there were three classes in pagan Bulgaria –  boilas , bagains and Bulgarians , i.e.

25610-584: The foremost cultural and spiritual centre of Slavic Europe . Its leading cultural position was further consolidated with the adoption of the Glagolitic alphabet , the invention of the Early Cyrillic alphabet shortly after in the capital Preslav , and the literature produced in Old Church Slavonic soon began spreading north. Old Church Slavonic became the lingua franca of much of Eastern Europe. In 927,

25807-461: The frontiers restored to those defined in treaties of 897 and 904. Simeon's conquests in Thrace were restored to the Byzantine Empire, which in return recognised Bulgarian control over inland Macedonia. Peter also gained a Byzantine bride, Maria Lecapena, granddaughter of Romanus I , an annual tribute, and recognition of his title of tsar and of the autocephalus status of the Bulgarian church. This peace lasted until 966. After Peter's empress died in

26004-490: The fully independent Bulgarian Patriarchate was officially recognized. During the late 9th and early 10th centuries, Simeon I achieved a string of victories over the Byzantines. Thereafter, he was recognized with the title of Tsar (Slavic for Caeser), and proceeded to expand the state to its greatest extent. After the annihilation of the Byzantine army in the Battle of Anchialus in 917, the Bulgarians laid siege to Constantinople in 923 and 924. The siege failed however, and

26201-501: The head of a huge army and fleet to drive off the Bulgars but suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Asparuh at Onglos , a swampy region in or around the Danube Delta where the Bulgars had set a fortified camp. The Bulgars advanced south, crossed the Balkan Mountains and invaded Thrace . In 681, the Byzantines were compelled to sign a humiliating peace treaty, forcing them to acknowledge Bulgaria as an independent state, to cede

26398-539: The huge military efforts that had taken a heavy toll on the population and economy. Simeon's successor Peter I (r.   927–969) negotiated a favourable peace treaty . The Byzantines agreed to recognize him as Emperor of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church as an independent Patriarchate, as well as to pay an annual tribute. The peace was reinforced with a marriage between Peter and Romanos's granddaughter Irene Lekapene . This agreement ushered in

26595-455: The imperial government was recalcitrant and Kardam found it necessary to demand the tribute while threatening to devastate Thrace if it were not paid. According to the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor , Constantine VI mocked the demand by having dung sent instead of gold as "fitting tribute" and promising to lead a new army against the elderly Kardam at Marcellae. Once again the emperor's army headed north, and once again it encountered Kardam in

26792-555: The important city of Adrianople in Thrace and seized the capital of the Theme of Hellas , Thebes , deep in southern Greece. Following the disaster at Achelous, Byzantine diplomacy incited the Principality of Serbia to attack Bulgaria from the west, but this assault was easily contained. In 924, the Serbs ambushed and defeated a small Bulgarian army, provoking a major retaliatory campaign that ended with Bulgaria's annexation of Serbia at

26989-498: The insistence of the young emperor and immediately proceeded to eliminate the regents. Through a plot, she managed to assume power in February 914, practically removing Patriarch Nicholas from the government, disowning and obscuring his recognition of Simeon's imperial title, and rejecting the planned marriage of her son to one of Simeon's daughters. In retaliation, Simeon invaded Thrace in the summer of 914 and captured Adrianople . In 917,

27186-531: The internal matters of Bulgaria, he sponsored the disciples of the brothers Cyril and Methodius to create literature in Old Bulgarian language . Boris   I dealt ruthlessly with the opposition to the Christianisation of Bulgaria , crushing a revolt of the nobility in 866 and overthrowing his own son Vladimir (r.   889–893) after he attempted to restore the traditional religion. In 893 he convened

27383-492: The landed nobility and the higher clergy at the expense of the personal privileges of the peasantry, led to the emergence of Bogomilism , a dualistic heretic sect that in the subsequent centuries spread to the Byzantine Empire, northern Italy and southern France (cf. Cathars ). To the south, the Byzantine Empire reversed the course of the Byzantine–Arab wars against the declining Abbasid Caliphate and in 965 discontinued

27580-505: The last Bulgarian strongholds had surrendered to the Byzantine Empire, and the First Bulgarian Empire had ceased to exist. It was succeeded by the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185. The First Bulgarian Empire became known simply as Bulgaria since its recognition by the Byzantine Empire in 681. Some historians use the terms Danube Bulgaria , First Bulgarian State , or First Bulgarian Tsardom (Empire) . Between 681 and 864

27777-484: The leadership of Isbul , the minister of Malamir , they reached Adrianople. At this time, if not earlier, the Bulgars captured Philippopolis ( Plovdiv ) and its environs. Several surviving monumental inscriptions from this reign make reference to the Bulgar victories and others to the continuation of construction activities in and near Pliska. The war ended, however, when Slavs in the vicinity of Thessalonica rebelled against

27974-429: The leading Bulgar aristocratic families. Since that time certain Slavic titles became more prominent, such as župan , and some of them mingled forming titles like župan tarkhan . The peasants lived in rural communities known as zadruga and had collective responsibility. The majority of the peasantry were personally free under the direct rule of the central administration and the legislation introduced following

28171-401: The left wing of the army, and at times the whole army. He could be a co-ruler or a regent during the minority of the monarch; the sources mention that Khan Malamir "ruled together with kavhan Isbul " (fl. 820s–830s) and kavhan Dometian is noted as an associate [in the government] of Gavril Radomir (r. 1014–1015). The third highest-ranking official was the ichirgu-boila , who commanded

28368-513: The lower Danube. The fourth one, Kuber , initially settled in Pannonia under Avar suzerainty but revolted and moved to the region of Macedonia , while the fifth brother Alcek settled in central Italy . The Bulgars of Asparuh moved westwards to what is now Bessarabia , subdued the territories to the north of the Danube in modern Romania , and established themselves in the Danube Delta . In

28565-732: The main Bulgar tribes and to declare independence from the Avars, creating a powerful confederation called Old Great Bulgaria , also known as Patria Onoguria , between the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Caucasus . Kubrat, who was baptised in Constantinople in 619, concluded an alliance with the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) and the two countries remained in good relations until Kubrat's death between 650 and 665. Kubrat fought with

28762-504: The meantime, Peter managed to secure the retreat of the Kievan forces by inciting Bulgaria's traditional allies, the Pechenegs, to attack Kiev itself. In 968 Boris II, future emperor of Bulgaria, went to Constantinople again to negotiate a peace settlement with Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, and apparently to serve as an honorary hostage. This arrangement was intended to put an end to the conflict between Bulgaria and Byzantium, which would now join forces against Prince Sviatoslav I of Kiev, whom

28959-404: The mid 960s, the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas refused to pay the annual tribute to Bulgaria in 966, complaining of the Bulgarian alliance with the Magyars, and undertook a show of force at the Bulgarian border. Dissuaded from a direct attack against Bulgaria, Nikephoros II dispatched a messenger to the Kievan prince Sviatoslav Igorevich to arrange a Kievan attack against Bulgaria from

29156-549: The most widely used being sabres , swords , battle axes , spears , pikes , daggers , arkans , and bows and arrows . The soldiers were often trained to use both spears and bows. The Bulgarians wore helms, mail armor and shields for defence. The helms were usually cone-shaped, while the shields were round and light. The armor was of two types –  wedge riveted mail consisting of small metal rings linked together, and scale armour consisting of small armour plates attached to each other. Belts were very important for

29353-400: The negotiations the Byzantines attempted to assassinate Krum. In response, the Bulgarians pillaged Eastern Thrace and seized the important city of Adrianople , resettling its 10,000 inhabitants in " Bulgaria across the Danube ". Krum made extensive preparations to capture Constantinople: 5,000 iron-plated wagons were built to carry the siege equipment; the Byzantines even pleaded for help from

29550-454: The neighboring heights. After some time passed with the two forces sizing up each other, Constantine VI ordered the attack, but in the resulting Battle of Marcellae the Byzantine forces lost formation and once again were defeated and turned to flight. Kardam captured the imperial tent and the emperor's servants. After his return to Constantinople , Constantine VI signed a peace treaty and undertook to pay an annual tribute to Bulgaria. By 796,

29747-412: The north-east the war with the Khazars persisted and in 700 Khan Asparuh perished in battle with them. Despite this setback the consolidation of the country continued under Asparuh's successor, Khan Tervel (r.   700–721). In 705 he assisted the deposed Byzantine Emperor Justinian II in regaining his throne in return for the Zagore region of Northern Thrace , the first expansion of Bulgaria to

29944-512: The north. Sviatoslav readily launched a campaign with a vast force and routed the Bulgarians on the Danube, seizing some 80 Bulgarian fortresses in 968. Stunned by the success of his ally and suspicious of his actual intentions, Emperor Nikephoros II now hastened to make peace with Bulgaria and arranged the marriage of his wards, the underage emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII , to two Bulgarian princesses. Two of Peter's sons were sent to Constantinople as both negotiators and honorary hostages. In

30141-414: The payment of the tribute, leading to sharp deterioration in their relations. In 968 the Byzantines incited Kievan Rus' to invade Bulgaria . In two years the Kievan Prince Svyatoslav I defeated the Bulgarian army, captured Preslav and established his capital at the important Bulgarian city of Preslavets (meaning "Little Preslav"). In this desperate situation the aging Peter   I abdicated, leaving

30338-409: The payment of tribute. The reign of Boris I (r.   852–889) began with numerous setbacks. For ten years the country fought against the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Francia , Great Moravia , the Croats and the Serbs, forming several unsuccessful alliances and changing sides. Around August 863 there was a period of 40 days of earthquakes and there was a lean harvest, which caused famine throughout

30535-451: The persecution of Christians, in particular against the Byzantine prisoners of war settled north of the Danube. The expansion to the south and south-west continued with Omurtag's successors under the guidance of the capable kavhan (First Minister) Isbul . During the short reign of Khan Malamir (r.   831–836), the important city of Philippopolis ( Plovdiv ) was incorporated into the country. Under Khan Presian (r.   836–852),

30732-426: The port of Anchialos ( Pomorie ). Once informed of the invasion, Simeon rushed to intercept the Byzantines, and he attacked them from the nearby hills while they were resting disorganized. In the Battle of Achelous (or Anchialus) on 20 August 917, one of the largest in medieval history, the Bulgarians completely routed the Byzantines and killed many of their commanders, although Phokas managed to escape to Mesembria. As

30929-423: The ports around the Gulf of Burgas on the Black Sea. The Byzantine forces, led by the emperor and the caesar Bardas , were successful in the conflict and reconquered a number of cities, Philippopolis, Develtus , Anchialus and Mesembria being among them, and also the frontier region between Sider and Develtus, known as Zagora , in northeastern Thrace. At the time of this campaign the Bulgarians were distracted by

31126-407: The promise that Constantine VII would marry one of Simeon's daughters, and, most importantly, Simeon's official recognition as Emperor ( tzar ) of the Bulgarians by Patriarch Nicholas in the Blachernai Palace . Until the end of his reign, Simeon used the style of "Emperor of the Bulgarians and the Romans". Shortly after Simeon visited Constantinople, Constantine's mother Zoe returned to the palace on

31323-510: The proposal, seemingly opposing the clause for exchange of deserters. To apply more pressure on the emperor, Krum besieged and captured Mesembria ( Nesebar ) in the fall of 812. In February 813, the Bulgars raided into Thrace but were repelled by the emperor's forces. Encouraged by this success, Michael I summoned troops from the entire empire and headed north, hoping for a decisive victory. Krum led his army south towards Adrianople and pitched camp near Versinikia. Michael I lined up his army against

31520-432: The rebellion, attacking the rebels at the Battle of Kedouktos (winter 822 or spring 823). Although Byzantine accounts report that Thomas's army was routed, modern scholars consider the battle a victory, albeit costly, for Thomas. After the expiration of the original 20-year peace treaty with the Byzantine Empire in 836, Emperor Theophilos ravaged the regions within the Bulgarian frontier. The Bulgars retaliated, and under

31717-455: The right wing of the army at war and might have had the role of a foreign minister. Under his direct command were 1,300 soldiers. Historian Veselin Beshevliev assumes that the post might have been created under the reign of Khan Krum (r. 803–814), or earlier, in order to limit the power of the kavhan . Although initially the Bulgarians did not have their own writing system, the presence of numerous stone inscriptions, mainly in Greek, indicate

31914-410: The rule of the empire in the hands of a regency council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos . This gave the Bulgarian ruler a great opportunity to attempt a campaign towards the Byzantine capital, so he attacked in full force in late July or August 913, reaching Constantinople without any serious resistance. The protracted negotiations resulted in the payment of the arrears in the Byzantine tribute,

32111-450: The south of the Balkan mountains. In addition Tervel obtained the title Caesar and, having been enthroned alongside the Emperor, received the obeisance of the citizenry of Constantinople and numerous gifts. However, three years later, Justinian tried to regain the ceded territory by force, but his army was defeated at Anchialus . Skirmishes continued until 716 when Khan Tervel signed an important agreement with Byzantium that defined

32308-407: The south of the Danube and made several attempts to enforce that claim. Throughout the existence of the First Empire Bulgaria could expect Byzantine onslaughts aimed at its destruction. The steppes to the north-east were home to numerous peoples whose unpredictable pillaging raids were also of concern. Therefore, military preparedness was a top priority. Guards always stood on the alert and if anyone

32505-427: The spears of the Ausonians. Immediately after the victory Samuel pushed east and recovered north-eastern Bulgaria, along with the old capitals, Pliska and Preslav. In the next ten years the Bulgarian armies expanded the country south annexing the whole of Thessaly and Epirus and plundering the Peloponnese Peninsula. With the major Bulgarian military successes and the defection of a number of Byzantine officials to

32702-445: The steppes along the Southern Bug River. At the same time, the Pechenegs advanced westwards and prevented the Magyars from returning to their homeland. The blow was so heavy that the Magyars were forced to migrate west, eventually settling in the Pannonian Basin , where they eventually established the Kingdom of Hungary . In 896 the Byzantines were routed in the decisive battle of Boulgarophygon and pleaded for peace that confirmed

32899-424: The summer of the same year, Simeon arrived at Constantinople and demanded to see the patriarch and the emperor. He conversed with Romanos on the Golden Horn on 9 September 924 and arranged a truce, according to which Byzantium would pay Bulgaria an annual tax, but would be ceded back some cities on the Black Sea coast. In 926, Simeon's troops invaded Croatia, at the time a Byzantine ally, but were severely defeated by

33096-410: The territories to the north of the Balkan Mountains and to pay an annual tribute. In his universal chronicle the Western European author Sigebert of Gembloux remarked that the Bulgarian state was established in 680. This was the first state that the empire recognised in the Balkans and the first time it legally surrendered claims to part of its Balkan dominions. The Byzantine chronicler Theophanes

33293-493: The time when the Bulgars inhabited the steppes to the north and east of the Black Sea. The Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans mentions monarchs of three clans that ruled Bulgaria until 766 – Dulo, Vokil and Ugain. The power of the principal noble families was greatly crippled in the aftermath of the anti-Christian rebellion of 866, when Boris   I executed 52 leading boilas along with their families. The boila were divided into inner and outer boilas and it

33490-459: The title of kaisar ( Caesar ), which made him second only to the emperor and the first foreign ruler in Byzantine history to receive such a title, and possibly a territorial concession in northeastern Thrace, a region called Zagore . Whether Justinian's daughter Anastasia was married to Tervel as had been arranged is unknown. A mere three years later Justinian II himself violated this arrangement and apparently commenced military operations to recover

33687-623: The top; τρίβόλοι  – iron tridents placed hidden amidst the battlefield to hinder the enemy cavalry; ladders, etc. Iron-plated wagons were used for transportation. It is known that Khan Krum prepared 5,000 such wagons for his intended siege of Constantinople in 814. Wooden pontoon bridges were also constructed for crossing rivers. Byzantine%E2%80%93Bulgarian Wars Krum 's campaigns Simeon I 's campaigns Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria Uprising of Peter Delyan Second Bulgarian Empire The Byzantine–Bulgarian wars were

33884-409: The treaties of San Stefano and Berlin , Romania received Northern Dobruja while the newly restored Principality of Bulgaria received the smaller southern part of the region. After the Second Balkan War in 1913, Romania also annexed the Bulgarian Southern Dobruja, which it ruled until the signing of the 1940 Treaty of Craiova . The treaty was approved by Britain , Vichy France , Germany , Italy ,

34081-464: The treaty and the largely peaceful era that followed, the strategic position of the Bulgarian Empire remained difficult. The country was surrounded by aggressive neighbours – the Magyars to the north-west, the Pechenegs and the growing power of Kievan Rus' to the north-east, and the Byzantine Empire to the south. Bulgaria suffered several devastating Magyar raids between 934 and 965. The growing insecurity, as well as expanding influence of

34278-444: The uprooting of all vineyards as a measure against drunkenness but this claim is refuted in the contemporary sources, which indicate that, after capturing Pliska in 811, the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus   I found large quantities of wine, and after the final Bulgarian victory Krum drank wine in the Emperor's skull. Krum's legal code is seen by many historians as an attempt to centralise the state and to homogenize society by putting

34475-446: The vicinity of Adrianople. The armies faced each other for 17 days without entering into battle, while the two monarchs probably engaged in negotiations. In the end, conflict was averted and the peace resumed on the same terms as in 792. Khan Krum engaged in an aggressive policy within the Balkans, raiding along the Struma valley in 807, where he defeated a Byzantine army and captured an enormous amount of gold intended as wages for

34672-463: The wars with Persia persisted, the 610s and 620s saw a new and even larger migration wave with the Slavs penetrating further south into the Balkans, reaching Thessaly , Thrace and Peloponnese and raiding some islands in the Aegean Sea . The Byzantines held out in Salonica and a number of coastal towns, but beyond these areas the imperial authority in the Balkans disappeared. The Bulgars were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in

34869-419: The whole Byzantine army. In 809, Krum besieged and forced the surrender of Serdica ( Sofia ), slaughtering the Byzantine garrison in spite of his promise of safe conduct. This provoked Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I to settle Anatolian populations along the frontier to protect it and to attempt to retake and refortify Serdica, although this enterprise ultimately failed. In early 811, Nikephoros I undertook

35066-406: The whole population of the country. It combined elements of civil, criminal, canon and military law, as well as public and private law, and included substantive norms and procedural guidelines. The Court Law for the People dealt with combating paganism, testimony of witnesses, sexual morality, marital relations, distribution of war booty, etc. To eradicate the residual paganism the law provided that

35263-536: The wooden structures and roofs with missiles, and they took the fortress. Boris II now became a captive of John I Tzimiskes, who continued to pursue the Russians, besieging Sviatoslav in Drăstăr ( Silistra ) while claiming to act as Boris' ally and protector and treating the Bulgarian monarch with due respect. After Sviatoslav had come to terms and set out for Kiev, the Byzantine emperor returned to Constantinople in triumph. Far from liberating Bulgaria as he had claimed, John brought along Boris II and his family, together with

35460-401: The year following the destruction of his army in Croatia, while planning another attack on the Byzantines, he died of a heart attack in his palace in Preslav on May 27, 927. Soon after his accession, Simeon's son Peter I renewed the war and raided Byzantine Thrace. Following this show of strength, Peter dispatched a diplomatic mission to Constantinople seeking peace. A peace was obtained with

35657-424: The year, instead of the usual short campaigning of the epoch with the troops returning home to winter. In 1001 they seized Pliska and Preslav in the east; in 1003 a major offensive along the Danube resulted in the fall of Vidin after an eight-month siege; and in 1004 Basil   II defeated Samuel in the battle of Skopje and took possession of the city. This war of attrition dragged on for a decade until 1014, when

35854-434: Was able to corner the main Bulgarian army and force a battle while Samuel was away. He won a crushing victory and, according to later legend, he blinded 14,000 prisoners, leaving one man in every hundred with sight in one eye to lead his comrades home. According to the legend, the sight of this atrocity was too much even for Samuel, who blamed himself for the defeat and died less than three months later, on October 6. This story

36051-408: Was among their ranks that the holders of the highest military and administrative posts were selected. Most likely the outer boilas resided outside the capital, while the inner ones were member of the court under the direct influence of the monarch. The bagains were the second-ranking aristocratic class and were divided into numerous sub-ranks. The presence of two separate classes of nobility

36248-478: Was attempting to induce the Pechenegs to come to his aid, following up the general practice of his predecessors. While Byzantine armies had penetrated deep into Bulgaria in 1016, Ivan Vladislav was able to rally his forces and commenced a siege of Dyrrachium ( Durazzo ) in the winter of 1018. During a battle in front of the city , Ivan Vladislav was killed. After his death much of the Bulgarian nobility and court, including his widow Maria and his sons, submitted to

36445-439: Was decisively defeated in the battle of the Varbitsa Pass . Nicephorus   I himself was slain along with most of his troops, and his skull was lined with silver and used as a drinking cup. Krum took the initiative and in 812 moved the war towards Thrace , capturing the key Black Sea port of Messembria and defeating the Byzantines once more at Versinikia in 813 before proposing a generous peace settlement. However, during

36642-416: Was defeated at the Battle of Anchialus in 763. During their next campaigns, both sides failed to gain significant success because the Byzantines could not pass through the Balkan Mountains, and their fleet was destroyed twice in heavy storms (2,600 ships sank in just one of the storms in 765 ). In 774, they defeated an inferior Bulgarian force at Berzitia , but this was the last success of Constantine V: as

36839-405: Was divided into comitati , governed by a comita , although this term was used by Western European chroniclers, who wrote in Latin. It is likely that the Bulgarians used the term земя ( zemya , meaning "land"), as mentioned in the Court Law for the People. Their number is unknown, but the Archbishop of Reims Hincmar mentioned that the 866 rebellion against Boris I was headed by the nobility of

37036-432: Was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars , led by Asparuh , moved south to the northeastern Balkans . There they secured Byzantine recognition of their right to settle south of the Danube by defeating  – possibly with the help of local South Slavic tribes  – the Byzantine army led by Constantine IV . During the 9th and 10th century, Bulgaria at the height of its power spread from

37233-410: Was issued by Khan Krum at a People's Council in the very beginning of the 9th century but the text has not survived in its entirety and only certain items have been preserved in the 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia Suda . It prescribed the death penalty for false oaths and accusations and severe penalties for thieves and those who gave them shelter. The Suda also mentioned that the laws foresaw

37430-419: Was killed in the ensuing battle along with many of his troops, while his son Staurakios was carried to safety by the imperial bodyguard after receiving a paralyzing wound to his neck. According to tradition, Krum had the Emperor's skull lined with silver and used it as a drinking cup. This enhanced his reputation for brutality and won him the nickname "New Sennacherib ". Staurakios was forced to abdicate after

37627-410: Was part of the First Bulgarian Empire and the Second Bulgarian Empire . For a long period in the 14–15th century, Dobruja became part of Wallachia . The territory fell under Ottoman rule from the mid-15th century until 1878, when it was awarded to Romania for its role in the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War , and as compensation for the transfer of a region partly overlapping Southern Bessarabia . Under

37824-413: Was seeking peace with the Byzantines. According to the old Bulgarian tradition the Khan was first among equals, which was among the reasons why Boris I decided to convert to Christianity, as Christian monarchs ruled by the grace of God. However, the divinity of the Bulgarian ruler, as well as his superiority over the Byzantine Emperor, were already asserted by Khan Omurtag (r.   814–831), as stated in

38021-461: Was sent into the Black Sea and an army dispatched to invade Bulgaria. As the bulk of Boris' army was campaigning against Moravia far to the northwest, he had little choice but to yield immediately. He broke off the Frankish alliance, allowed Greek clergy to enter Bulgaria, and was eventually baptized, with the Byzantine emperor Michael III as his sponsor; Boris took the additional name of Michael at his baptism. The Bulgarians were allowed to recover

38218-463: Was situated in an open plain, the cavalry was essential for its protection. The fortification system of the inner regions of the country was reinforced with several fortified trenches covering huge spaces and supporting the manoeuvrability of the cavalry. The army was well versed in the use of stratagems . A strong cavalry unit was often held in reserve and would attack the enemy at an opportune moment. Free horses would be sometimes concentrated behind

38415-500: Was succeeded by his son Omurtag . The reign of Khan Omurtag opened with an invasion of the Byzantine Empire after the rejection of Byzantine offers for peace. The Bulgars penetrated as far south as modern Babaeski (Bulgarophygon then), but there they were defeated by Emperor Leo V the Armenian , and Omurtag escaped the battlefield on his swift horse. The battle was not a decisive blow for the Bulgars, though it certainly had some effect. The possibility of an anti-Bulgar alliance between

38612-415: Was to flee during a watch, the responsible guards were to be killed without hesitation. Before battle, a "most faithful and prudent man" was sent to inspect all the arms, horses, and materiel, and being ill-prepared or readied in a useless fashion was punishable by death. Capital punishment was also prescribed for riding war horses in peacetime. The Bulgarian army was armed with various types of weapons,

38809-400: Was used by the "soldier Emperor" Constantine V (r.   741–775), who launched nine major campaigns aiming to eliminate Bulgaria. Having contained the Arab threat during the first part of his reign, Constantine   V was able to concentrate his forces on Bulgaria after 755. He defeated the Bulgarians at Marcellae in 756, Anchialus in 763 and Berzitia in 774, but lost the Battle of

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