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Bulgaria from the foundation of the Bulgarian state to the

C. The Albanians

3. Bulgaria from the foundation of the Bulgarian state to the

The first Bulgarian Empire

The Bulgarian state was founded in 679 AD, when the Bulgars, a Turk people, under the leadership of Isperich, conquered the area limited by the lower Danube, the Black Sea, the Haemus mountains and the river Isker. Seven Slavic tribes were living there, with whom the Bulgars entered into alliance.

The new state of Bulgaria soon emerged as a unifier of the Slavic tribes in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula.Thus in 688 it subjugated most Slavic tribes in Macedonia and at the beginning of the 8th century it annexed Sagorie. Khan Telerig (772–777) had plans to conquer Bersitia, in northern Macedonia, but the Byzantine Emperor Konstantin Kopronimos attacked and defeated him. In 789, Bulgaria extended as far as to the valley of the river Struma.

40

Ibid.,p. 101.

41

During the period of Khan Krum (802–814), Bulgaria started a still more offensive policy. Krum subjugated those Avars who some years earlier, after the defeat of the Avar empire at the end of the 8th century, sought refuge east of the river Tisza (German Theiss). He occupied what are today the Banat and southern Transylvania. The Slavic tribes living there recognized the sovereignty of Krum. After these successes, Bulgaria had common frontiers with the Frankish Empire. In 808, Krum attacked the region of Struma and in 809, he occupied Serdica (present day Sofia) which until then belonged to Byzantium. The way to Macedonia was open. The Byzantine emperor Nikiphoros attacked the Bulgars but was defeated and killed in a battle (811 AD). Krum led several attacks into Thracia and Macedonia and transferred many Greeks from the occupied regions. Thus, in 813, 10.000 Greeks were settled in what is today southern Moldavia or northeastern Muntenia, north of the lower Danube. The cause of these resettlements was that Krum wanted to weaken the Greek population of Macedonia, because he planned to occupy it. In 813, Krum led a large army of Slavs and Avars against Byzantium and besieged Constantinople without success. He died in the following year.

One of the consequences of the transfer of Greeks into Bulgaria was the spread of Christianity among the population already in the early 9th century.

The Slavic tribes who lived along the river Timok under Bulgarian rule (the Timocians), recognized in 818 the hegemony of the Franks. Their example was soon followed by other Slavic tribes living in what is now the Banat. The successor of Krum, Omurtag (814–831) attacked these territories and in 827 succeeded in disposing the Slavic princes (voivodes) in the Banat who were on the side of the Franks. This success of the Bulgarians was, however, shortlived; they were driven away by the Franks in 829 and could only keep Sirmium with the city of Singidunum, which from that time on was called Belgrade.

During the reign of Omurtag, the number of Christians in Bulgaria increased and there are, from that time on, reports of persecution of the Christians.

Khan Pressian (836 - 853) took advantage of the weakness of Byzantium, at war with the Arabs. THE BULGARIAN FRONTIERS WERE NOW EXTENDED TO THE REGION OF THE VARDAR, THE BLACK DRIN, PRILEP, OCHRIDA, AND PART OF THE STRUMZI REGION. This expansion brought the Bulgarians into contact with the Serbs, who in that period used to live in small principalities. In face of the increasing power of the Bulgarians they now united and defended their territories. Boris (853–888) also waged wars against the Serbs. It was during his reign that the Bulgarians adopted Christianity (the Greek Church of Byzantium). Boris was baptized in 865 and tok the name of Michael and the title of “Czar” instead of the heathen “Khan”. Bulgaria came for centuries under the cultural influence of Byzantium. The new Church, using the Slavic language, contributed effectively to the Slavization of the Bulgarian ruling class.

Czar Simon the Great (893–927) waged wars with the Hungarians and with Byzantium. As a consequence of these wars, Bulgaria was forced to leave the territories north of the lower Danube. Most of these were then occupied by the Patzinaks and the Hungarians. Simeon seems to have had little interest in these

territories, as his aim was to expand towards the southwest. During his reign, Bulgaria reached its largest territorial expansion, dominating the Serbs and including part of the Adriatic coast within its frontiers.

Simeon´s successor, Peter (927–969) was a weak ruler. During his reign, the

Byzantine influence increased, the representatives of the Church became increasingly corrupt and the population was discontented. Several uprisings are recorded from this period, for example that led by the prince of the Bersites in Macedonia in 963. In 968, the Russians invaded Bulgaria, the Byzantine emperor drove them away but Byzantium occupied somewhat later (during the reign of Boris II, 969–972) the eastern part of Bulgaria.

In the west, prince Nikola proclaimed himself the new emperor. This territory preserved its autonomy for another 50 years. It comprised Macedonia, southern Albania and western Moesia. Its capital was changed several times, among other towns it was Prespa, and, lastly, Ochrida. About 1020 AD, Ochrida became also the centre of the Church.

The successor of Nikola, his son David, ruled only for a short time; he was killed in 976 by some Vlach wayfarers between Prespa and Kastoria.

Another son of Nikola, Samuil, reigned between 980 and 1014. His aim was to unite all Slavs in the Balkan peninsula. He occupied Larisa, the capital of Thessaly, and reached as far as to the Peloponnesos, from which he removed a large number of people and settled them in Macedonia. At that time, Byzantium was weakened by civil wars, and Samuil succeeded to occupy Dyrrachium (Durrës, Durazzo) and extended his power to the Adriatic coast as far as to the estuary of the Drin. He devastated Dalmatia and subjugated the Serbs. In 996, he appeared in the Peloponnesos but was defeated by the Byzantine army. This started the decline of western Bulgaria. In 1014, Samuil was defeated again; in the following year, he was succeeded by his nephew, Johannes Wladislaff (1015–1018). The year 1019 marks the total subjugation of Bulgaria by Byzantium, celebrated in Constantinople by Emperor Basileos II with great triumph.

Basileos divided Bulgaria into four autonomous provinces. He removed all princes of some importance and settled them mostly in Asia Minor.The Byzantine army exercised a strong control over the population. However, Bulgaria was considered a separate country and retained its unity, its own laws and customs. The Church also preserved full autonomy. The chief of the Bulgarian Church was called the “autokephal archbishop of entire Bulgaria”. The emperor ordered in 1020 that “all [Christian] believers living in the territories recently subdued by Byzantium in the Balkan peninsula, including ´the Vlachs from entire Bulgaria´ be subordinated to the archbishop of Ochrida.42 The Annals of Bari recorded that

42

in 1027 Vlachs were fighting in the Byzantine army in Sicily against the Arabs.43 During the reign of Basileos´ successors the situation of the people of Bulgaria deteriorated and already in the time of Konstantin VIII (1025– 1028), revolts started. The Bulgarian population was exposed to the frequent incursions of the Patzinaks from the plains north of the Danube and the Vlachs conducted, from their dwelling places in the mountains, expeditions of ravage among them.44 In 1040, an uprising conducted by Peter Deljan started in Belgrade and soon spread over large parts of the peninsula. Finally, however, it was subdued by Byzantium.

A very important historical event is the schism of the Christian Church in 1054. Thereafter, Rome was the centre of the Roman Catholic confession and Constantinople that of the Greek Orthodox Church.

The Rumanians remain in the group of peoples who belong to the Orthodox confession, under the canonical authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople.45

In the subsequent years, Byzantium waged fierce battles against the Petchenegs, mostly on Bulgarian territory. Finally, the emperor settled the Petchenegs in northeastern Bulgaria, from where they conducted incursions into other parts of the country. In 1059, the Hungarians attacked Byzantium and reached Sredetz (Sofia). Later in the same century, the Uzes, another Turk population, ravaged Bulgaria. In 1066, the Vlachs living in the region of Larisa revolted against Byzantium. In 1072, a new revolt started in Bulgaria, led by George Woitech, a Bulgarian nobleman. In this revolt, the Petchenegs helped the Bulgarians against Byzantium. However, even this revolt was subdued.

Towards the end of the 11th century, Bulgaria successively lost its separate status and was no longer considered an autonomous country but a part of Byzantium. The social situation of the population deteriorated; taxes were high and many peasants lost their property to the owners of big farms. The Byzantine Empire collected soldiers from Bulgaria, who were needed in the wars against the Petchenegs and the Cumans in the north and against the Turk-Seldjuks in the southeast. Many people fled to the forests especially when soldiers were sought. The situation worsened further in the first half of the 12th century, with the incursions of the Cumans (1124 AD), and the ravages of the Crusaders. A large part of the population of Bulgaria was forced into serfdom on the estates of rich noblemen or moved into the towns, where the masses of poor people increased. In Byzantine documents from this period, Bulgaria is called “Moesia”or “Sagori” and the Bulgarians are referred to as “Moesians”or “Vlachs”. This indicates that there must have been a considerable number of Vlachs living among the Bulgarian population. Writing about the war between Byzantium and Hungary in

43

Ibid., p. 60.

44

Slatarski, W.N., Geschichte der Bulgaren, Leipzig, 1918, p. 82.

45

1161–1168, Kinnamos mentions Vlachs in the Byzantine army, “of whom it is said that they are former colonists from Italy.”46

46

Giurescu IRD 1971, p. 62.

During the reign of Emperor Andronikus I Komnenus (1184–1185), the power of Byzantium started to decline. In northern Bulgaria, where this power always was weakest, and where many people were accumulated as a result of the northward flight of the population in the preceding years, a revolt started led by two Vlach noblemen, Peter and Assan. It was probably provoked by new taxes imposed by the Byzantine emperor, which increased the burden of those who were making their living by the raising of animals, i.e., of the shepherds. This probably explains why the revolt started among the Vlachs, who were mainly shepherds.47 Peter and Assan made a declaration of independence in the church of St Demetrius (1185 AD). It began as follows (in German translation): “Gott habe geruht, die Freiheit der Bulgaren und Walachen zurückzuerstatten und beschlossen, das langjährige Joch ihnen abzunehmen...”48 Although Peter and Assan were defeated by the Byzantine army and forced to flee to the Cumans, north of the Danube, they came back already in the following year, helped this time by the Cumans. They succeeded in a short time in establishing the second Bulgarian empire, the Vlacho-Bulgarian Empire (1187 AD). At the beginning, it comprised only the territory in the northeast, between the Danube and the Haemus mountains. Its capital was Tîrnovo.

The brothers Assan and Peter were murdered by some noblemen (boljars), who considered that they were too despotic (1196 and 1197, respectively). Their younger brother, Ioani_a (also called Kaloian) became the Czar (1197–1207). He received the title KING OF THE BULGARIANS AND OF THE VLACHS (rex Bulgarorum

et Blachorum) from the Pope in 1204. During the first years of the 13th century, Constantinople was besieged by the crusaders. Kaloian succeeded in re- conquering the Bulgarian territories in western Macedonia, around the towns Prizren, Skopje, and Ochrida. In 1205, in alliance with the Cumans, Kaloian defeated the crusaders. He waged many wars against the Greeks and was killed in 1207 by the Cuman leader Manaster at the siege of Saloniki. The legal successor of Kaloian, Ivan Assan, was at that time in Cumania, the present day Valachian plain. He was sent there by Kaloian with the purpose of trying to seize power there together with his brother, Alexander.

Kaloian´s nephew, Boril, used the absence of the legal successor to seize power (1207–1218). During his reign, the country declined. In 1217, Ivan Assan II came back with an army strengthened by Russian soldiers and in the following year defeated Boril and became the Czar of Bulgaria (1218–1241). During his reign, the power of the Vlacho-Bulgarian Empire increased again. In the battle at Klokotnitza (1230 AD), Ivan Assan II defeated Theodor, the king of Saloniki. This success made the expansion of the Bulgarian state possible and soon, all

47

Giurescu, C.C., and Giurescu, D.C., Istoria românilor din cele mai vechi timpuri pîn_ ast_zi, 1975 (2nd edition), p. 183.

48

Bulgarians were united in the Vlacho-Bulgarian Empire.

To summarize: in the 11th and 12th centuries large numbers of Vlachs were living in the Bulgarian state. They are mentioned as equals to the Bulgarian population, they have played a leading role in the popular revolt against Byzantium. Since this period was after the separation of the two main dialects of Rumanian (which occurred around 1000 AD, cf. chapter II), the Vlachs we meet here must have been Northern Rumanians. Their number in Bulgaria started to decrease already at the beginning of the 13th century and the country became thereafter increasingly Bulgarian.49

The other main group of the Vlachs, the Arumanians, established themselves in the central and southern parts of the Balkan peninsula. They too succeeded in creating states of their own in the 11th and 12th centuries. In the mountainous parts of Thessaly, there was Great Valachia (Μεγαλη Βλαχια), in Doris, the western parts of Locris, in Etolia and Acarnania, Little Valachia (Μικρα Βλαχια) and in Dolopia, Upper Valachia (´Ανω−Βλαχια).

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