Battle of Berzitia
| date | October 774 |
|---|---|
| place | Berzitia |
| output | Victory of the Byzantines |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Troop strength | |
| 80,000 | 12,000 |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
heavy |
The Battle of Berzitia ( Bulgarian Битката при Берзития ) took place near the city of Berizitia in 774 and ended with a clear Byzantine victory.
prehistory
After unsuccessful battles between the Byzantines and the Bulgarians at the beginning of 774, the Bulgarian Khan Telerig decided to attack the fortified town of Berzitia with a small army of around 12,000 men.
The battle
The Byzantine Emperor Constantine V was informed by his spies in the Bulgarian capital Pliska of Telerig's intention to send an army in a south-easterly direction and awaited the unsuspecting Bulgarian Khan with around 80,000 men near the city. Despite the fact that the Bulgarians were now taken by surprise by the Byzantines, they defended themselves for a long time against the inevitable defeat, but ultimately had to surrender to the large number of opponents.
consequences
Constantine wanted to conquer more parts of their territory from the now weakened Bulgarians, but could not use his advantage and finally had to withdraw again. In 775, about a year after the Battle of Berzitia, he died on a campaign against the Bulgarians.
After the defeat at Berzitia, Telerig suspected that there were spies in his immediate vicinity. In order to expose this he let the Byzantine emperor know that he would abdicate and go into exile in Constantinople. Constantine believed Telerig's request and complied with his request to name the spies, allegedly to bring them to safety after Telerig's abdication. However, Telerig did not think of abdicating and going into exile, as some Bulgarian rulers had done before him. After receiving the list of spies, he immediately had it executed.
literature
- Златарски, В. История на българската държава през средните векове , Volume I, Part 1, Publishing House "Наука и изкуство", Sofia 1970
- Рънсиман, Ст. История на Първото българско царство , ИК "Иван Вазов", Sofia 1993