Western Bulgarian Empire

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The Western Bulgarian Empire in 996

The western part of the Bulgarian empire after 969 is sometimes referred to as the western Bulgarian empire in historiography , the eastern half of which was conquered by the Russians and then by the Byzantines between 969 and 971 . The western part remained unoccupied, and under the Kometopouloi brothers it became the core of a revived Bulgarian Empire, whose geographical and political center was no longer in Lower Moesia (in what is now northern Bulgaria ), but from now on around Ohrid (in Macedonia ) duration.

For this reason, some historians such as Georg Ostrogorsky or Gyula Moravcsik have differentiated this state as the Macedonian or Macedonian Empire from its (eastern) Bulgarian predecessor, a term that is mainly used today in Macedonian historiography.

Equally controversial is the use of both terms also for that of the Proto-Bulgarians Kuver founded around 680 Khaganate of Bitola , which at the beginning of the 8th century with the Bulgarian main kingdom of his brother's Asparuh united.

prehistory

The Bulgarian Empire of the Czar I. Peter was 968 from the Russian Grand Duke I. Svyatoslav invaded. To defend his state against the Pechenegs , Svyatoslav interrupted his campaign, but returned in the spring of the next year (969) and conquered several cities in the east of the Bulgarian empire and its capital Preslav . Preslav did not stay in Russian hands for long. In 971, the Byzantine Emperor John I managed to get this under control and to drive the Russians from the Balkan Peninsula . The Byzantine expansion plans were hindered by Samuil - the son of "one of the Bulgarians' powerful Comes". For several decades he was at the head of an intact Bulgarian state, the capital of which was in the area around Lake Prespa . The question of when this western Bulgarian empire came into being is unclear and controversial among historians .

House Komitopuli

The church of Agios Germanos in the village of the same name ( Florina regional district ), where the grave of Samuil's father was found

The Bulgarian historian Marin Drinow , who was the first to use the term Western Bulgarian Empire , hypothesized at the end of the 19th century that part of the Bulgarian Empire split off in 963 under the leadership of Comes Shishman (allegedly Samuil's father) should. After the discovery of Samuil's father's grave, it became clear that his name was not Shishman, but Nikola . In the first decades of the 20th century, a revision of the views that had prevailed up to then followed. There are three theories being discussed today:

  • After the first, the four sons of Nikola - the Kometopouloi (Komitopuli): David, Moses, Aron and Samuil founded the West Bulgarian Empire in opposition to the central power in Preslaw in 969.
  • After the second, this came about because the Byzantines did not conquer the western part of the Bulgarian Empire and the Komitopulians were able to assert themselves there.
  • The third theory is that the Byzantine Emperor could subdue the entire Bulgarian Empire and that the comitopulses were at the head of a revolt in 976.

Source criticism

One of the reasons for the uncertainty surrounding the emergence of the Western Bulgarian Empire is the lack of historical sources. Several chroniclers (such as the Armenian chronicler Stephanos von Tharon , the Arab chronicler Yahya Ibn Sa'id al-Antaki , the Byzantine chronicler Leon Diakonos and others) report on the armed conflicts between Byzantium and the Bulgarians after 976 . However, they were exclusively dedicated to the events from 976 onwards.

The chronicle of Skylitzes -Kedrenos is the only surviving historical document about the role of the Komitopuls up to 976 . In this chronicle the Komitopulians are mentioned for the first time in a sentence between events that are now dated 969 (and not 963), and the second time later in the text as the leader of a rebellion against Byzantine rule in 976.

Historians also have different opinions on the question of what role Roman , the younger son of Peter I, played and when Samuil was crowned tsar. Some believe that Romanos handed over the Skopie fortress, of which he was the city administrator, to the Byzantine emperor in 1004. According to another view, Romanos was recognized as the legitimate head of state, but in 991 he was captured by the Byzantines. It was not until the news of his death in 997 that Samuil had himself crowned tsar.

epilogue

The successor to John I, Emperor Basil II (976-1025), had to fight several opponents for a long time: against the usurpers Bardas Scleros and Bardas Phokas the Younger , as well as in Syria against the Fatimids .

Basil II and Nikolitza ( Madrid Illuminated Manuscript of the Skylitz )

It was not until 1001 that he opened a major offensive in the Balkans and conquered several Bulgarian fortresses ( Berrhoia , Serbia, Bodena , Widin , Dyrrhachion ). The decisive battle took place at Kleidion in 1014. The Bulgarians suffered a heavy defeat ( see main article: Battle of Kleidion ). Samuil died that same year. He was first succeeded on the throne by his son Gawril Radomir and later by his nephew Ivan Wladislaw , who fought against the Byzantine emperor for another four years. But when Ivan Wladislaw was killed in an attack on Dyrrhachion in 1018, the Bulgarian resistance collapsed. One of the most influential Bulgarian generals Nikolitsa surrendered in Skopie. Another - Krakra, whose fortress ( Pernik ) remained unconquered to the end despite several Byzantine attacks - faced the emperor Basil II in Serres , accompanied by 35 other Boljars . Ivan Wladislaw's wife, Maria, surrendered in Ohrid together with three of her sons, six daughters and one illegitimate son of Samuil, and five sons and two daughters of Gawril Radomir. The Bulgarian nobles received various titles in the Byzantine hierarchy and were resettled to Asia Minor. The daughter of Ivan Vladislav, Ekaterina, later became the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Isaac I .

List of Western Bulgarian rulers

Family relations of the Komitopuli brothers

  1. David
  2. Mojsej
  3. Samuil , Tsar of Bulgaria
    1. Gavril Radomir , Tsar of Bulgaria ⚭ 1. (daughter of the Hungarian Grand Duke Géza ), ⚭ 2. Irina;
      1. Peter II Deljan (from 1st marriage)
      2. + 8 more children
    2. Teodora Kosara ⚭ Jovan Vladimir , ruler of Zeta
      1. Daughter ⚭ Stefan Vojislav , Grand Župan of Zeta
    3. Miroslawa ⚭ Ashot Taronites
    4. + 3 more children
  4. Aaron ⚭ ??
    1. Ivan Wladislaw, Tsar of Bulgaria ⚭ Marija
      1. Presian II. , Knjaz of Bulgaria
      2. Alusian ⚭ ??
        1. Basil (Edessa) , Dux of Edessa
        2. Samuil Alusian
          1. David Alusian
          2. Elpidiofor Alusian
          3. Constantine Alusian
        3. Anna ⚭ Romanos IV , Byzantine emperor
          1. Constantine
      3. Aaron
        1. Teodor Aaron
        2. Radomir
      4. Trajan
        1. Marija ⚭ Andronikos Dukas
          1. Mikhail
          2. Johannes Dukas
          3. Irene Dukaina ⚭ Alexios I Komnenos , Byzantine emperor
            1. Anna Komnena ⚭ Nikephoros Bryennios
            2. John II Comnenus , Byzantine Emperor
            3. Theodora Komnene ⚭ Konstantin Angelos
            4. Isaac Comnenus
          4. Anna
          5. Teodora
      5. Radomir
      6. Kliment
      7. Katerina of Bulgaria ⚭ Isaac I , Byzantine Emperor
      8. + 5 more children

See also

literature

  • Franz Georg Maier (ed.): Byzanz (= Fischer Weltgeschichte . Volume 13). Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1973, pp. 152 and 225.
  • P. Strässle: War and Warfare in Byzantium. The wars of Emperor Basil II against the Bulgarians (976-1019) . Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 2006, ISBN 3-412-17405-X
  • Warren Treadgold: A History of the Byzantine State and Society . Stanford University Press, Stanford 1997, ISBN 0-8047-2630-2
  • Срђан Пириватрић: Самуилова држава. Обим и карактер . Institute for byzantine studies, Belgrade 1997, ISSN  0584-9888 ( online ).
  • Steven Runciman : A history of the First Bulgarian Empire . G. Bell & Sons, London 1930 ( online ).
  • C. Jireček : History of the Bulgarians . F. Tempsky, Prague 1876 ( online ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Skylitzes (quoted from D. Zakythinos : Byzantinische Geschichte 324-1071 . Böhlau, Wien et al. 1979, p. 224).
  2. ↑ Пириватрић 1997, pp. 56-57.
  3. ↑ ... Чтобы не смешиват этих двухъ Государствъ, мы въ дальнейшемъ разказе будемъ называтъ первое изъ нихъ Восточнымъ , а второго Западнымъ ... - ... In order not to confuse these two realms together, we will further the first of which Eastern and Calling the second Western ... ( Южные славяне и Византия въ X веке. In: Чтенiй въ Императорскомъ Обществъ Истиствъ Истиствъ Истиств, Истикорiи имейскисвимейскисвимейскисвимейскисвер ревност75 .
  4. ↑ Drinov bases his theory on Synopsis Historion by Georgios Kedrenos , on a Boljar document (from a certain Pincius ) and on an eulogy from the Zografou Monastery , where the Bulgarian rulers in the order “... Boris, Simeon, Peter, Boris, Romanos , Schischman, David, Samuil ... “ . This theory has also been included in his History of the Bulgarians by Konstantin Jireček .
  5. ↑ The name of Samuil's father is also confirmed by the additions in the Viennese copy of Johannes Skylitzes' chronicle . In modern science, it is clear about the Pincius Document that it was not (as can be read in it) written in the 10th century, but only in the 13th century and is therefore useless as a historical source.
  6. ↑ Strässle 2006, pp. 15-27.
  7. ↑ About this time the Chronicle of Kedrenos is an exact copy of the Chronicle of Skylitzes. Therefore this historical source is cited in the literature as either Kedrenos , Skylitzes or Skylitzes-Kedrenos .
  8. ↑ The Bulgarian Tsar Boris II and his brother Romanos, who were held captive in Constantinople, fled to the Komitopuls in 977 (or 978), but Boris perished on the border.
  9. ↑ a b Пириватрић 1997, pp. 100, 116-118.
  10. ↑ Runciman 1930, p. 238.
  11. ↑ Treadgold 1997, p. 514.
  12. ↑ Treadgold 1997, p. 520.
  13. ↑ a b Strässle, pp. 155–157, 161–162.
  14. ↑ Treadgold 1997, p. 522.
  15. ↑ Strässle 2006, pp. 63-67.
  16. ↑ a b c Пириватрић 1997, pp. 120-132.
  17. ↑ List of Bulgarian rulers (PDF; 96 kB)