Bulgarian uprising against the Byzantine Empire (1040-1041)

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The Uprising of Petar Delyan (Bulgarian: Въстанието на Петър Делян) (1040-1041) was a major Bulgarian rebellion against the Byzantine Empire. It was the largest and best organised attempt to be restored the Bulgarian Empire till the rebellion of Ivan Asen I and Petar IV in 1185.

1 Prerequisites for the uprising
2 Initial process
3 Arrival of Alusian
4 The treason of Alusian
5 Crush of the uprising
6 See also
7 References
8 Footnotes

[edit] Prerequisites for the uprising

After the Byzantine troops conquered Bulgaria in 1018, Basil II wisely decided not to change the Bulgarian taxation system in order to calm down the people. Although the Bulgarian Patriarchate was downgraded to Archbishopric, its head remained an ethnic Bulgarian till Basil II's death in 1025. After that he had been inevitably a Byzantine. Under the rule of Emperor Romanos III the population was forced to pay its taxes with money instead of goods which caused poverty and wide-spread unrest.

The Byzantine historians wrote that the Bulgarians did not tolerate defeat for long and soon they had begun to return to their previous haughtiness. The lack of an initiator postponed a rebellion for some time.

[edit] Initial process

Petar Delyan is proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria

In 1040 in Thema of Bulgaria^[1]Peter Delyan, who claimed to be a descendant of the heroic Emperor, Samuil escaped from Constantinople and began roaming throughout the Bulgarian lands eventually reaching Morava and Belgrad. The rebellion broke out in Belgrad where Delyan was proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria^[2] assuming the name of the sainted Emperor Petar I. The Bulgarians moved southwards towards the last political centres of their Empire, Ohrid and Skopie. On their way the local population joined them, accepted Peter Delyan for its Emperor and killed every Byzantine they met.^[3] In the same time local Bulgarians from the Drach area gathered around the soldier Tihomir^[4] and headed westwards to reach the old capitals. The existence of two separate rebel camps^[5] became an actual threat for the success of the rebellion. Petar Delyan wrote a letter to Tihomir to negotiate for joint actions and made a speech in which in figurative language he told the assmbled people that as it is not possible for two parrots to the share a bush without discord, so can't two Emperors share one country^[6] and that they should chose only one leader either him or Tihomir. He deliberately used parrots because the two parrots used to be the coat-of-arms of the Comitopuli House. As he had greater influence than his rival, Delyan was unanimously chosen a leader and Tihomir was killed.^[7]

With his enlarged army Petar II advnced to the south, surprised and defeated the Byzantine Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian at Solun^[8] taking his treasury. One of Michael's commanders the Bulgarian Manuel Ivats, probably a son of Samuil's boyar Ivats^[9] joined Peter II.^[10] After the victory the Bulgarian troops under the voivoda Kavkan captured Drach on the Adriatic Sea and some forces penetrated deep into Thessaly eventually reaching Corinth. Albania, Epirus and most of Macedonia were liberated. Another Bulgarian army led by Antim marched deep to the south and defeated the Byzantine commander Alakaseues in the battle of Thebes in Beotia. Upon the news of the Bulgarian success the Byzantine population of Athens and Piraeus who were uneasy due to the heavy taxes also revolted. However, they were quickly crushed by Norman mercenaries.^[11] The decisive actions of the rebels rose serious anxiety in Constantinople where plans for its crushing were hastily discussed.

[edit] Arrival of Alusian

Bulgaria under Petar II Delyan

Soon the news for the Bulgarian uprising reached Armenia, where the descendents of the last Bulgarian Emperors were deported. The most respected of them was the son of the last Emperor Ivan Vladislav, Alusian. Disguised as a mercenary he reached Constantinople and despite the strict security measures managed to go to Bulgaria in September 1040. The appearance of a new pretendent for the throne meant new tensions among the rebels. In the beginning Alusian did not dare to reveal his origin but tried to find devoted supporter of his kin. He proved his claims with a black spot on his right elbow and soon gathered many adherents.

Petar II Delyan warmly welcomed his cousin although he knew that Alusian might be a potential candidate for the crown. He gave him a 40,000 strong army to seize Solun but he was not a good general and attacked the enemy with a tired army. The defeat cost 15,000 dead and Alusian fled from the battle field leaving his arms and armour.

[edit] The treason of Alusian

The heavy defeat sharply worsened the relations between the two leaders: Alusian was ashamed from the defeat and Petar Delyan suspected a treason. Alusian decided to act first and made a plot against his cousin. He invited Delyan to a feast, where his followers served the Emperor many cups of wine. When Petar II got drunk on the wine the conspirators came down on him and pulled out his eyes with a knife. Thus Alusian became the single leader. In the beginning he undertook active operations but was defeated again and had to flee for his life. Then he decided to betray his people and set secret negotiation with the Byzantines. After they reached an agreement in the summer of 1041 Alusian pretended to give a decisive battle but when the two armis met he abandoned his troops and changed sides.

[edit] Crush of the uprising

The Varagian Guard played a major role for the Bulgarian defeat

The Byzantine Emperor Mihail IV prepared a major campaign to finally defeat the Bulgarians. He gathered an elite army of 40,000 men with capable generals and moved constantly in a battle formation.^[12] There were a lot of mercenaries in the Byzantine army including the Norwegian Prince and later King Harald Hardråde with 500 Vikings. From Solun the Byzantines penetrated in Bulgaria and defeated the Bulgarians at Ostrovo in the late summer of 1041. It seems that the Norwegians had a decisive role in the defeat as their chief is hailed in the Norse sagas as the "devastator of Bulgaria". Though blind Petar Delyan was in command of the army. His fate is unknown; he either perished in the battle or was captured and taken to Constantinople.

Soon the Buzantines eliminated the resistance of Delyan's voivods Botko around Sofia and Manuil Ivats in Prilep.