Krum (Bulgaria)

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Krum gathers his people (Chronicle of Johannes Skylitzes )

Krum († April 13, 814 in Constantinople ) was from 803 to 814 Khan of the First Bulgarian Empire . He succeeded Khan Kardam on the throne.

Life

Bulgaria under Khan Krum

Nothing more is known about Krum's origin. He is mentioned in the Byzantine lexicon Suda , which was written 150 years after his death. It is believed that he belongs to the Dulo ruling family . The Dulo dynasty also included the founders of the Greater Bulgarian and Danubian Empires, the khans Kubrat and Asparuch .

Under Khan Krum, the Bulgarian empire stretched from the empire of Charlemagne in the west to almost the walls of Constantinople in the east. During his reign, the Franks destroyed the Avar Khanate from the northwest and the Bulgarians from the southeast . In 807 Khan Krum united the two Bulgarian empires in the Balkans , which until then had been separated by the area around the Via Militaris . Bulgaria thus became a powerful empire within Europe and expanded its territory in the north to the Tisza and in the east to the Dniester river (in today's Ukraine ).

In the late autumn of 808 he defeated a large Byzantine army, which was the beginning of protracted and bloody fighting. In 809 the Bulgarians took Serdica, today's Sofia . Soon afterwards the fortunes of war turned and Emperor Nikephorus I destroyed his seat of government. Krum took revenge in 811 by ambushing the imperial army and the emperor himself in a bottleneck on July 24, 811 and not only destroying the Byzantine army in the battle of the Warbiza Pass , but also killing Nikephorus and his son and successor Staurakios seriously wounded. He also cut off the emperor's head and had a drinking cup made from his skull. Staurakios was crowned emperor in Hadrianopel on July 28th and, after only one month's rule, deposed by the patriarch Nikephorus and banished to a monastery , where he died five months later in terrible pain. He was succeeded by Michael I. Rangabe , who survived the battle unharmed and was married to Prokopia, a daughter of Nikephoros I.

The Battle of the Warbiza Pass 811
The Battle of Versinikia 813

At the same time, Krum offered to renew the peace made by Khan Terwel in 716 with the Byzantines, recognizing the territorial gains of the Bulgarians. However, this was rejected by the new Emperor Michael I. The Bulgarian armed forces then crossed the Balkan Mountains and took Mesambria on the Black Sea coast . Among the loot were 36 devices for the Greek fire, which had been kept secret until that moment . After the capture of Mesambria, Krum turned his gaze to Constantinople . For this, however, he had to take Adrianople , a larger city whose garrison had been reinforced by remnants of the Byzantine army. In the vicinity of the city, near the Versinikia fortress , the battle of Adrianople took place on June 22nd, 813 , which ended with another Bulgarian victory. After the battle, the Byzantine theme of Macedonia with its capital Adrianople was added to the Bulgarian Empire. Emperor Michael I. Rangabe fled to Constantinople, but was deposed by Leo the Armenian along with his son and co-emperor Theophylactus .

The rule of Khan Krum had already meant either death or overthrow for three Byzantine emperors. While besieging Constantinople, the Khan suffered a hemorrhage on April 13, 814 and died. His rule and that of his immediate successors was a phase of growth in the Bulgarian Empire, which, in addition to its military successes, was based primarily on the integration of the defeated Avars and smaller Slavic peoples. He was succeeded on the throne by his son Khan Omurtag , who made a 30-year peace with the Byzantine emperor Leo the Armenian.

The Laws of Khan Krum

Khan Krum was also one of the earliest drafters of laws in the social field. He aimed at overcoming the borders between the large population groups of Bulgaria, the Slavs and proto- Bulgarians . The new laws were written and applied equally to all citizens. According to the Suda, a questioning of the defeated Avars was the trigger for the laws. After the captured Avars had known that slander, bribery and drunkenness were the causes of their demise, Krum passed laws to prevent a similar decline of the Bulgarians from the outset. In these laws he forbade z. B. the cultivation of wine and decreed that an informer could only be believed if he was questioned under torture, which certainly reduced the number of boasting. There were also other strict laws: thieves, for example. B. should the legs be broken and whoever sat down at a table with a thief, lost his property.

He continued to undertake administrative reforms following the Byzantine model, which strengthened the position of the ruler and eliminated the influence of the competing Bulgarian nobility. As a result, the Slavization and consolidation of the state progressed more and more.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Krum (Bulgaria)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Suda , keyword Krem ( Κρέμ ), Adler number: kappa 2369 , Suda-Online
  2. ^ Daniel Ziemann: From Wandering People to Great Power: The Emergence of Bulgaria in the Early Middle Ages (7th – 9th centuries), Böhlau Verlag, Cologne-Weimar 2007, p. 258ff.
  3. ↑ Suda , keyword Bulgaroi ( Βούλγαροι ), Adler number: beta 423 , Suda-Online
predecessor Office successor
Cardam Khan of Bulgaria
803-814 		Omurtag
personal data
SURNAME Krum
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bulgarian Khan
DATE OF BIRTH 8th century
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 814
Place of death Constantinople