Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
Encyclopedia
The Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria lasted from 968 to 1018, and was a military conflict that marked the beginning of the second apogee of the Byzantine Empire
, which managed to incorporate most of the Balkan Peninsula, controlled by the First Bulgarian Empire
, ridding itself of one of its most menacing neighbours.
As the Byzantine-Bulgarian relations deteriorated by the end of the 960s, the Byzantines paid the Kievan prince Sviatoslav
to attack Bulgaria. The unexpected collapse of Bulgaria and Siatoslav's ambitions to seize Constantinople
caught the Byzantines off-guard but they managed to pull back the Kievan armies and occupied eastern Bulgaria including the capital Preslav
in 971. Emperor Boris II
was captured and taken to Constantinople where he abdicated and the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes
announced the annexation of Bulgaria.
The Byzantine control was only limited in the eastern part of the Bulgarian Empire while the lands to the west remained under Bulgarian control. The four brothers David
, Moses
, Aron
and Samuel of the Cometopuli dynasty ruled in the free territories and in 976 launched a major offensive against the Byzantines to regain the lost lands. Soon the youngest brother Samuel took the whole authority following the deaths of his three eldest brothers.
Samuel proved to be a successful general inflicting a major defeat on the Byzantine army commanded by Basil II
at the Gates of Trajan
and retaking north-eastern Bulgaria. His successful campaigns expanded the Bulgarian borders into Thessaly
and Epirus
and in 998 he conquered the principality of Duklja
. In 997 Samuel was proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria after the death of the legitimate ruler, Roman
.
By the end of the millennium the fortunes of war turned into Byzantine favour. The Byzantines under Basil II, a successful general and experienced soldier, slowly got the upper hand and from 1001 started to seize a number of important areas and towns. The Bulgarians were unable to stop the annual Byzantine campaigns which devastated the country. In 1014 the Byzantines won the decisive battle of Kleidion
and Samuel died a few weeks later. The resistance continued during the short reigns of his son Gavril Radomir
and his nephew Ivan Vladislav
but after the death of the latter in 1018 most of the Bulgarian nobility subdued to Basil II and surrendered. Bulgaria would remain under Byzantine rule until 1185 when the country regained its independence
.
(927-969), the Magyars who had been temporarily contained by his father Simeon I
started raiding the Bulgarian lands from 934 and Peter I's efforts to cope with them remained futile. On several occasions the Magyars reached Byzantine Thrace and looted it which was followed by Byzantine accusations that the Bulgarians were doing that on purpose and as a result the relations between the two countries quickly deteriorated. With no means to counter the Magyar threat, Peter I had to conclude an agreement with them in 965 according to which the Bulgarians had to give the Magyars free conduct through their lands to the Byzantine Empire and refuse any assistance to the Byzantine Emperor. The Byzantines responded in the spring of the following year and refused to pay the annual tribute to Bulgaria. Their emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (963-969) who had achieved decisive victories over the Arabs to the east insulted the Bulgarian ambassadors and launched a campaign but upon approaching the Bulgarian border he decided "not to lead his troops in those dangerous places and to give them to the Bulgarians to slaughter them as cattle." Soon after that military demonstration Phokas tried to restore the peace on condition that the Bulgarians would cancel their agreement with the Magyars which was refused by Peter I who reminded the Byzantine emperor that when Bulgaria needed help against the Magyars the Byzantines did not react and now that it had been forced to make peace with them it would be folly to break the treaty.
In that situation Nikephoros II Phokas turned to the usual means of Byzantine diplomacy and decided to pay the Kievan prince Sviatoslav
to attack Bulgaria. The noble Kalokyros
to whom the mission was entrusted was successful and the spring of 968 the Rus' armies invaded Dobruja
. Sviatoslav defeated
the Bulgarian army and seized more than 80 fortresses which caused concern among the Byzantines who once again offered peace to Peter I but in the meantime Sviatoslav had to stop his campaign and return to his capital Kiev
which was besieged by the Pechenegs. In 969 he returned to Bulgaria and soon after that Peter I suffered an epileptic stroke, abdicated and died on 30 January 970 as a monk. He was succeeded by his eldest son Boris II who had little choice but to cooperate with Sviatoslav, whose attention had by that time been diverted by Kalokyros to Constantinople
. The new Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes (969-976) scored a decisive victory over the Rus' and their Bulgarian allies in the battle of Arcadiopolis (970) and on 5 April 971 seized the Bulgarian capital Preslav
where Boris II was captured along with his whole family. He was treated well and John Tzimiskes pretended to have come to liberate the Bulgarians from the Rus'. However, when Sviatoslav was finally defeated, Boris II was taken to Constantinople where he had to abdicate. He had to surrender the imperial insignia - the golden crown and the red boots - which the placed in the cathedral Hagia Sophia
. In return he received the title magister
. His brother Roman
was castrated because the Byzantines needed to assure that the Krum dynasty would die away.
For John Tzimiskes that was a great triumph. The three-century old Byzantine dream to eliminate the Bulgarian state and restore the imperial borders along the Danube
seemed to have come true. The annexation of Bulgaria was officially proclaimed, the political heart of the country in north-eastern Bulgaria along with Preslav, the old capital Pliska
and the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate
Drastar (Silistra
) were occupied.
, Albania
and the lands to the south of the Danube
between the Kolubara river (including Srem
) to the west and the mountains around Etropole
and Ihtiman
to the west. These territories were ruled by the four brothers David, Moses, Aron and Samuel, sons of the governor (komita/comes) of Serdika (Sofia
) Nikola
. Information for the period between 971 and 976 in primary sources is very scarce.
gathered an army 30,000 strong army, marched on the Bulgarian city of Sofia
and laid siege to it. Basil began to worry about the wavering loyalty of his nobility and marched his army back towards Byzantine Thrace but was ambushed and defeated at the Battle of the Gates of Trajan
. Basil learned from his mistake and his next invasion of Bulgaria would be conducted in a very different manner.
By 1000, Basil had fought off his own nobility and defeated the Islamic threat from the east, and so led another invasion of Bulgaria. This time instead of marching into the middle of the country, he annexed it bit by bit. Eventually, after denying Bulgaria of about a third of its land, the Bulgarians risked everything in one battle in 1014. The Battle of Kleidion
was a disaster for the Bulgarians and the Byzantine army captured 15,000 prisoners; 99 out of every 100 was blinded and the 100th was spared one eye to guide the rest back to their homes. The Bulgarians resisted until 1018 when they finally submitted to Basil II's rule.
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, which managed to incorporate most of the Balkan Peninsula, controlled by the First Bulgarian Empire
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
, ridding itself of one of its most menacing neighbours.
As the Byzantine-Bulgarian relations deteriorated by the end of the 960s, the Byzantines paid the Kievan prince Sviatoslav
Sviatoslav I of Kiev
Sviatoslav I Igorevich ; , also spelled Svyatoslav, was a prince of Rus...
to attack Bulgaria. The unexpected collapse of Bulgaria and Siatoslav's ambitions to seize Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
caught the Byzantines off-guard but they managed to pull back the Kievan armies and occupied eastern Bulgaria including the capital Preslav
Preslav
Preslav was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire from 893 to 972 and one of the most important cities of medieval Southeastern Europe. The ruins of the city are situated in modern northeastern Bulgaria, some 20 kilometres southwest of the regional capital of Shumen, and are currently a...
in 971. Emperor Boris II
Boris II of Bulgaria
Boris II was emperor of Bulgaria from 969 to 977 .-Reign:Boris II was the eldest surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria and Maria Lakapena, a granddaughter of Emperor Romanos I Lakapenos of Byzantium...
was captured and taken to Constantinople where he abdicated and the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes
John I Tzimiskes
John I Tzimiskes or Tzimisces, was Byzantine Emperor from December 11, 969 to January 10, 976. A brilliant and intuitive general, John's short reign saw the expansion of the empire's borders and the strengthening of Byzantium itself.- Background :...
announced the annexation of Bulgaria.
The Byzantine control was only limited in the eastern part of the Bulgarian Empire while the lands to the west remained under Bulgarian control. The four brothers David
David of Bulgaria
David was a Bulgarian noble, brother of Emperor Samuil and eldest son of Comita Nikola. After the disastrous invasion of Rus' armies and the fall of North-eastern Bulgaria under Byzantine occupation in 971, he and his three younger brothers took the lead of the defence of the country. They...
, Moses
Moses of Bulgaria
Moses was a Bulgarian noble, brother of Emperor Samuil of Bulgaria and second son of Comita Nikola, Duke of Sofia. After the fall of the eastern parts of the Empire under Byzantine occupation in 971, he and his brothers David, Aron and Samuil continued the fight to the west. They ruled together...
, Aron
Aron of Bulgaria
Aron was a Bulgarian noble, brother of Emperor Samuil of Bulgaria and third son of Comita Nikola, Duke of Sofia. After the fall of the eastern parts of the country under Byzantine occupation in 971, he and his three brothers David, Moses and Samuil continued the resistance to the west...
and Samuel of the Cometopuli dynasty ruled in the free territories and in 976 launched a major offensive against the Byzantines to regain the lost lands. Soon the youngest brother Samuel took the whole authority following the deaths of his three eldest brothers.
Samuel proved to be a successful general inflicting a major defeat on the Byzantine army commanded by Basil II
Basil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
at the Gates of Trajan
Battle of the Gates of Trajan
The Battle of the Gates of Trajan was a battle between Byzantine and Bulgarian forces in the year 986. It took place in the pass of the same name, modern Trayanovi Vrata, in Sofia Province, Bulgaria. It was the largest defeat of the Byzantines under Emperor Basil II...
and retaking north-eastern Bulgaria. His successful campaigns expanded the Bulgarian borders into Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
and Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
and in 998 he conquered the principality of Duklja
Duklja
Doclea or Duklja was a medieval state with hereditary lands roughly encompassing the territories of present-day southeastern Montenegro, from Kotor on the west to the river Bojana on the east and to the sources of Zeta and Morača rivers on the north....
. In 997 Samuel was proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria after the death of the legitimate ruler, Roman
Roman of Bulgaria
Roman was emperor of Bulgaria from 977 to 997 .-Reign:Roman was the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria by his marriage with Maria Lakapene, the granddaughter of the Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lakapenos...
.
By the end of the millennium the fortunes of war turned into Byzantine favour. The Byzantines under Basil II, a successful general and experienced soldier, slowly got the upper hand and from 1001 started to seize a number of important areas and towns. The Bulgarians were unable to stop the annual Byzantine campaigns which devastated the country. In 1014 the Byzantines won the decisive battle of Kleidion
Battle of Kleidion
The Battle of Kleidion took place on July 29, 1014 between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire...
and Samuel died a few weeks later. The resistance continued during the short reigns of his son Gavril Radomir
Gavril Radomir of Bulgaria
Gavril Radomir , normally rendered as Gabriel Radomir in English and Gavriil Romanos in Greek, was the ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire from October 1014 to August or September 1015. He was the son of Samuel of Bulgaria. During his father's reign, his cousin Ivan Vladislav and Ivan's entire...
and his nephew Ivan Vladislav
Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria
Ivan Vladislav ruled as emperor of Bulgaria from August or September 1015 to February 1018. The year of his birth is unknown, but he was born at least a decade before 987, but probably not much earlier than that....
but after the death of the latter in 1018 most of the Bulgarian nobility subdued to Basil II and surrendered. Bulgaria would remain under Byzantine rule until 1185 when the country regained its independence
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
.
Background
During the reign of the Bulgarian emperor Peter IPeter I of Bulgaria
Peter I was emperor of Bulgaria from 27 May 927 to 969.-Early reign:Peter I was the son of Simeon I of Bulgaria by his second marriage to Maria Sursuvul, the sister of George Sursuvul. Peter had been born early in the 10th century, but it appears that his maternal uncle was very influential at...
(927-969), the Magyars who had been temporarily contained by his father Simeon I
Simeon I of Bulgaria
Simeon I the Great ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927, during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever, making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern Europe...
started raiding the Bulgarian lands from 934 and Peter I's efforts to cope with them remained futile. On several occasions the Magyars reached Byzantine Thrace and looted it which was followed by Byzantine accusations that the Bulgarians were doing that on purpose and as a result the relations between the two countries quickly deteriorated. With no means to counter the Magyar threat, Peter I had to conclude an agreement with them in 965 according to which the Bulgarians had to give the Magyars free conduct through their lands to the Byzantine Empire and refuse any assistance to the Byzantine Emperor. The Byzantines responded in the spring of the following year and refused to pay the annual tribute to Bulgaria. Their emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (963-969) who had achieved decisive victories over the Arabs to the east insulted the Bulgarian ambassadors and launched a campaign but upon approaching the Bulgarian border he decided "not to lead his troops in those dangerous places and to give them to the Bulgarians to slaughter them as cattle." Soon after that military demonstration Phokas tried to restore the peace on condition that the Bulgarians would cancel their agreement with the Magyars which was refused by Peter I who reminded the Byzantine emperor that when Bulgaria needed help against the Magyars the Byzantines did not react and now that it had been forced to make peace with them it would be folly to break the treaty.
In that situation Nikephoros II Phokas turned to the usual means of Byzantine diplomacy and decided to pay the Kievan prince Sviatoslav
Sviatoslav
Sviatoslav, Svatoslav, Svetoslav , or Świętosław is a Slavic origin given name composed of the roots for "holy" and "glory" . Its diminutive form is Svetik . Its feminine form is Sviatoslava/Świętosława...
to attack Bulgaria. The noble Kalokyros
Kalokyros
Kalokyros was a pretender to the Byzantine throne during the Russo-Byzantine Wars in the reigns of Nikephoros II and John I Tzimiskes....
to whom the mission was entrusted was successful and the spring of 968 the Rus' armies invaded Dobruja
Dobruja
Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...
. Sviatoslav defeated
Battle of Silistra
The Battle of Silistra occurred in the spring of 968 near the Bulgarian town of Silistra, but most probably on the modern territory of Romania. It was fought between the armies of Bulgaria and Kievan Rus' and resulted in a Rus' victory. Upon the news of the defeat the Bulgarian emperor Peter I...
the Bulgarian army and seized more than 80 fortresses which caused concern among the Byzantines who once again offered peace to Peter I but in the meantime Sviatoslav had to stop his campaign and return to his capital Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
which was besieged by the Pechenegs. In 969 he returned to Bulgaria and soon after that Peter I suffered an epileptic stroke, abdicated and died on 30 January 970 as a monk. He was succeeded by his eldest son Boris II who had little choice but to cooperate with Sviatoslav, whose attention had by that time been diverted by Kalokyros to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. The new Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes (969-976) scored a decisive victory over the Rus' and their Bulgarian allies in the battle of Arcadiopolis (970) and on 5 April 971 seized the Bulgarian capital Preslav
Preslav
Preslav was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire from 893 to 972 and one of the most important cities of medieval Southeastern Europe. The ruins of the city are situated in modern northeastern Bulgaria, some 20 kilometres southwest of the regional capital of Shumen, and are currently a...
where Boris II was captured along with his whole family. He was treated well and John Tzimiskes pretended to have come to liberate the Bulgarians from the Rus'. However, when Sviatoslav was finally defeated, Boris II was taken to Constantinople where he had to abdicate. He had to surrender the imperial insignia - the golden crown and the red boots - which the placed in the cathedral Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
. In return he received the title magister
Magister officiorum
The magister officiorum was one of the most senior administrative officials in the late Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire...
. His brother Roman
Roman of Bulgaria
Roman was emperor of Bulgaria from 977 to 997 .-Reign:Roman was the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria by his marriage with Maria Lakapene, the granddaughter of the Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lakapenos...
was castrated because the Byzantines needed to assure that the Krum dynasty would die away.
For John Tzimiskes that was a great triumph. The three-century old Byzantine dream to eliminate the Bulgarian state and restore the imperial borders along the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
seemed to have come true. The annexation of Bulgaria was officially proclaimed, the political heart of the country in north-eastern Bulgaria along with Preslav, the old capital Pliska
Pliska
Pliska is the name of both the first capital of Danubian Bulgaria and a small town which was renamed after the historical Pliska after its site was determined and excavations began....
and the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
Drastar (Silistra
Silistra
Silistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha...
) were occupied.
Rise of the Cometopuli brothers
While the eastern parts of the empire were conquered and turned into a Byzantine province the lands to the west of Iskar river remained under Bulgarian control and included most of MacedoniaMacedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
, Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
and the lands to the south of the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
between the Kolubara river (including Srem
Srem
Śrem is a town on the Warta river in central Poland. It has been situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999; from 1975 to 1998 it was part of the Poznań Voivodeship...
) to the west and the mountains around Etropole
Etropole
Etropole is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located close to the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains in the valley of the Malki Iskar from Sofia.-History:...
and Ihtiman
Ihtiman
Ihtiman is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the Ihtimanska Sredna Gora mountains and lies in a valley 48 km from Sofia and 95 km from Plovdiv, close to Trakiya motorway....
to the west. These territories were ruled by the four brothers David, Moses, Aron and Samuel, sons of the governor (komita/comes) of Serdika (Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
) Nikola
Comita Nikola
Nikola the Comes was a father of counts David and Samuel. His son Samuel ruled as emperor of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 1014.-Family tree:-Literature:...
. Information for the period between 971 and 976 in primary sources is very scarce.
Basil II
In 986, after securing his own position in Byzantium, emperor Basil IIBasil II
Basil II , known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian, was a Byzantine emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from 10 January 976 to 15 December 1025.The first part of his long reign was dominated...
gathered an army 30,000 strong army, marched on the Bulgarian city of Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
and laid siege to it. Basil began to worry about the wavering loyalty of his nobility and marched his army back towards Byzantine Thrace but was ambushed and defeated at the Battle of the Gates of Trajan
Battle of the Gates of Trajan
The Battle of the Gates of Trajan was a battle between Byzantine and Bulgarian forces in the year 986. It took place in the pass of the same name, modern Trayanovi Vrata, in Sofia Province, Bulgaria. It was the largest defeat of the Byzantines under Emperor Basil II...
. Basil learned from his mistake and his next invasion of Bulgaria would be conducted in a very different manner.
By 1000, Basil had fought off his own nobility and defeated the Islamic threat from the east, and so led another invasion of Bulgaria. This time instead of marching into the middle of the country, he annexed it bit by bit. Eventually, after denying Bulgaria of about a third of its land, the Bulgarians risked everything in one battle in 1014. The Battle of Kleidion
Battle of Kleidion
The Battle of Kleidion took place on July 29, 1014 between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire...
was a disaster for the Bulgarians and the Byzantine army captured 15,000 prisoners; 99 out of every 100 was blinded and the 100th was spared one eye to guide the rest back to their homes. The Bulgarians resisted until 1018 when they finally submitted to Basil II's rule.