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Portal:Bulgarian Empire/Selected article/1
Simeon I (also Symeon) I the Great (Bulgarian: Симеон I Велики, transliterated Simeon I Veliki; IPA: /si.mɛ.ˈɔn ˈpɤr.vi vɛ.ˈli.ki/) ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927, during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever, making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern Europe. His reign was also a period of unmatched cultural prosperity and enlightenment later deemed the Golden Age of Bulgarian culture. Tsar Simeon I has remained among the most highly valued Bulgarian historical figures, as indicated by popular vote in the Velikite Bǎlgari (a spin-off of 100 Greatest Britons) television programme, which in February 2007 placed him fourth among the greatest Bulgarians ever. The last Bulgarian monarch, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was named after Simeon I.
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Ivan Asen II (Bulgarian: Иван Асен II, and also Йоан Асен II, Ioan Asen II, in English sometimes John Asen II) was emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1218 to 1241.
He was a son of Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria and Elena (religious name Evgenija). Elena, who survived until after 1235, is sometimes alleged to be a daughter of Stefan Nemanja of Serbia, but this relationship is questionable and would have caused various canonical impediments to marriages between various descendants. Ivan Asen II's father was one of the two founders of the Asen dynasty and the Second Bulgarian Empire. Under Ivan Asen II's rule, the empire would become the dominant force in the Balkans for about a decade, 1230-1241.
Ivan Asen II is considered, with good reason, one of the most important and successful rulers of Bulgaria. His work included the restoration of the autocephalous Bulgarian patriarchate in 1235 (after a long hiatus since 1018), the minting of the first Bulgarian non-imitation coinage in both gold and copper, the suppression of the centrifugal forces that had plagued his predecessor's reign, and the expansion of Bulgaria's frontiers in all directions.
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Bogomilism (Bulgarian: Богомилство) is the Gnostic dualistic sect, the synthesis of Armenian Paulicianism and the Bulgarian Slavonic Church reform movement, which emerged in Bulgaria between 927 and 970 and spread into Byzantine Empire, Serbia, Bosnia, Italy and France.
The now defunct Gnostic social-religious movement and doctrine originated in the time of Peter I of Bulgaria (927 – 969) as a reaction against state and clerical oppression. In spite of all measures of repression, it remained strong and popular until the fall of Bulgaria in the end of the 14th century.
Bogomilism is the first significant Bulgarian "heresy" that came about in the first quarter of the 10th century in the area of today’s Plovdiv (Philippopolis). It was a natural outcome of many factors that had arisen till the beginning of 10th century. The forced Christianization of the Slavs and proto-Bulgarians by khan Boris I in 863 and the fact that the religion was practiced in Greek, which only the ‘elite’ knew, resulted in a very superficial level of understanding of the religion, if any understanding at all. Another very important factor was the social discontent of the peasantry.
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The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Byzantines and Bulgarians that began when the Bulgars migrated to the Balkan peninsula in the 8th century, and were successful enough to create their own kingdom. The Byzantines and Bulgarians continued to clash over the next century but often lost, until under the Khan Krum the Bulgarians managed to recover. After Krum died his son Omurtag negotiated a 20 year peace treaty with the Byzantines. The fighting was renewed under the Byzantine emperor Theophilos, but quickly another peace treaty was created. Then, in 893 another war was fought in which the Simeon the I, the Bulgarian emperor, defeated the Byzantines, which ended under his son Peter I, although a few brief battles occurred later in his life.
Under Peter I’s son Boris II, much of the Bulgarian Empire was subjugated, defeated by John I Tzimiskes and the Byzantine empire, and further brought under Byzantine control by his successor, Basil II. Finally in 1018 the entire nation of Bulgaria was ruled by the Byzantines. There were rebellions against Byzantine rule in 1040-41, the 1070s and the 1080s, but these failed, but in 1185 Peter and Asen started a revolt, and the weakening Byzantine empire was unable to stop them, and it stopped the fighting after little more than a year.
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Saint John of Rila (Bulgarian: свети Иван Рилски, sveti Ivan Rilski) (876 – circa 946) was the first Bulgarian hermit and the founder of the Rila Monastery. He is today honoured as the patron of Bulgarian people and one of the most important saints of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
Originally a herd, Saint John of Rila became a priest at the age 25 and later dedicated himself entirely to a life of isolation in various locations in the Rila Mountains, where he prayed to God and deprived himself of an everyday life, settling in dark and cold caves in appaling conditions.
Saint John of Rila is also legendarily known to have performed a multitude of miracles in order to help people. This brought him fame throughout the country, which he did not desire and often tried to avoid contact with other people. With his growing number of followers, many young believers and supporters set up camps around his cave, seeking a blessing from him. This led the way to the creation of the Rila Monastery, which is considered to be the foremost monastery in Bulgaria.
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The Bulgarian-Ottoman Wars (c. 1340 – 1422) were fought between the Bulgarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The wars ended with a crushing Ottoman victory. Bulgaria was destroyed and was to be reborn almost five centuries later in 1878. During the struggle the Bulgarian lands were devastated and looted by the invaders and many towns were wiped out forever.
In the second half of the 14th century the once powerful Bulgarian Empire was only a shadow of its former self. During the reign of Tsar Ivan Alexander the country became to desintegrate and after his death in 1371 it was divided between his sons Ivan Shishman and Ivan Sratsimir and despot Dobrotitsa who were constantly in conflict between one another. On the other hand the young Ottoman state quickly rising Islamic power. A strongly centralized and with a huge army the Ottomans managed to make use of the situation in the Balkans and to expand the territory of their Empire.
In 1352 the Turks seized their first fortress in the Balkans, Tsimpe. By the death of Ivan Alexander they conquered almost the whole of Thrace and defeated the Bulgarians in the battle of Ihtiman. In 1371 the Ottomans scored a major victory over a large Bulgarian-Serb army at Chernomen. Two year later they seized northern Thrace and the Rhodopes and Ivan Shishman had to become their vassal in order to stop the devastation of his country. However it only postponed the end of Bulgaria. In 1393 the Ottoman Turks seized Tarnovo and after the disaster of the crusade of Sigismund of Hungary at Nikopol fell Vidin, the capital of Ivan Sratsimir. Fighting continued to 1422 when the last resistance deminished.
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The Medieval Bulgarian Navy was the Navy of the Bulgarian Empire. During most of the Middle Ages the Bulgarians did not maintain naval forces. The first records of Bulgarians ships come from the reign of Khan Omurtag: during his war against the Franks (827-829) he came with ships from the Danube and landed troops in the rear of the Franks.
The first organised Bulgarian navy was built under Emperor Ivan Asen II (1218–1241). It was rather small and included galleys to guard the coast. The Navy's importance increased during the reign of Dobrotitsa and Ivanko in the Principality of Karvuna in the late 14th century. The Bulgarian fleet took part in successful actions against the Genoese and the Turks with its range reaching Crimea and Trebizond.
During the Second Bulgarian Empire the Bulgarians used a unique ship design combining features both from Mediterranean and North Sea ships. The main Bulgarian shipyard was situated in the mouth of the Kamchia river due to the abundance of wood and was burned down when the Turks overran the country.
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The Medieval Bulgarian Coins are the coins minted by the Bulgarian Emperors during the Middle Ages. In fact they all date from the Second Bulgarian Empire because there are no proofs that coins have been minted during the First Bulgarian Empire and after the fall of the Empire under Ottoman domination in 1396 (or 1422) it ceased. According to the material they were golden (perperi), silver (aspri), billon (coinage of silver and copper) and copper coins. According to their shape they were flat and hollow. The inscriptions were usually in Bulgarian language and rarely in Greek. Due to the limited space they were shortened, often written with a few letters and a special signs. In artistic point of view they continue the Byzantine tradition but they were ofter more schematic. The main means of expression were lines and dots. In the Bulgarian coins there were images which had no analogy with the Byzantine and Slav coinage which makes them unique and they could form a separate group. The coins are very important as a source for the history of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
Tsar Ivan Asen II (1218-1241) is the first Bulgarian ruler from whom there are preserved coins. It is known that his predecessors Kaloyan (1197-1207) and Boril (1207-1218) minted imitations of Byzantine coins. Although Kaloyan was given the right to mint coins by Pope Innocent III (and Boril inherited it from him) there are no preserved coins of their own and the historians assume that Ivan Asen II was the first ruler to mint coins.
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The Architecture of the Tarnovo Artistic School is a definition for the development of architecture during the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185-1396). In the 13th and 14th centuries the capital Tarnovo determined the progress of the Bulgarian Architecture with many edifices preserved or reconstructed which show the skills of the Medieval Bulgarian architects and the construction and decorative techniques they used. With its diverse architecture, the Tarnovo School may be separated to several branched according to the function of the buildings.
The churches were usually small. Typical of the Tarnovo School of Architecture were relatively small cruciform dome churches or basilicas. At the expense of their small length and width, the churches rose to height. The churches were richly painted with colourful frescoes and from the outside they had beautiful decorative ornaments.
During the Second Empire the fortresses were usually built on locations which were difficult to access (hills or plateaus) and thus they sharply differed from the monumental construction in the north-east of the country from the period of the First Bulgarian Empire. The walls of the fortresses were built from stones welded together with plaster; they had two faces and the space between them was filled with a mixture of gravel and plaster (blockage). A wooden scaffolding was built from the inside which protected the walls from collapse until the blockage dried up. The height and thickness of the walls varied depending on the terrain and in the different parts of one castle complex they could vary. The top of the walls and the towers had pinnacles. Counterforts were used as additional protection from landslip
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The Battle of Pliska or Battle of Vărbitsa Pass (Bulgarian: битката при Върбишкия проход) was a series of battles between troops, gathered from all parts of the Byzantine Empire, led by the Emperor Nicephorus I Genik, and Bulgaria, governed by Khan Krum. The Byzantines plundered and burned the Bulgarian capital Pliska which gave time for the Bulgarians to block passes in the Balkan Mountains that served as exits out of Bulgaria. The final battle took place on July 26, 811, in some of the passes in the eastern part of the Balkans, most probably the Vărbitsa Pass. There, the Bulgarians used the tactics of ambush and surprise night attack to effectively trap and immobilize the Byzantine Army, thus annihilating almost the whole army, including the Emperor. After the battle, Krum encased the Nicephorus's skull in silver, and used it as a cup for wine-drinking. This is probably the best documented instance of the custom of skull cup.
The battle of Pliska is one of the worst defeats in Byzantine history. It deterred Byzantine rulers to sent their troops north of the Balkans for more than 150 years afterwards which increased the influence and spread of the Bulgarians to the west and south of the Balkan Peninsula, resulting in a great territorial enlargement of the First Bulgarian Empire.
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The Battle of Anchialus (Bulgarian: битка при Ахелой) took place on August 20, 917, on the Black Sea coast near the Bulgarian fortress Tuthom, which is now the town of Pomorie, between Bulgarian and Byzantine Empire forces.
The result of the battle was a decisive Bulgarian victory which not only secured the previous successes of Simeon I but made him de facto a ruler of the whole Balkan Peninsula excluding the well-protected Byzantine capital Constantinople and Pelopones. The battle of Anchialus in considered to be one of the largest battles in the Middle Ages and one of the greatest military successes of Bulgaria. Among the most significant consequences was the official recognition of the Imperial title of the Bulgarian monarchs, a humiliation the Byzantines never experienced to any other country.
The battle of Anchialus was one of the most important battles for Bulgaria. It secured the Imperial title of the Bulgarian rulers of centuries which was an enormous humiliation for the Byzantine Empire whose rulers claimed to have been God's only representatives on Earth. The battle also secured the survival of the Bulgarian nation as the main objective of the 110,000 enemy army was to thoroughly eliminate its dangerous northern neighbour.
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The Painting of the Tarnovo Artistic School was the mainstream of the Bulgarian fine arts between 13th and 14th centuries named after the capital and the main cultural center of the Second Bulgarian Empire, Tarnovo. Although it was influenced by some tendencies of the Palaeogan Renaissance in the Byzantine Empire, the Tarnovo painting had its own unique features which makes it a separate Artistic School. Depending on whether it was mural decoration of the churches or easel painting it could be divided into two types: Mural painting and Iconography. Little remains of mosaics were found during archaeological excavation which shows that this technique was rarely used in the Bulgarian Empire. The works of that school have some extent of realism, portrait individualism and psychology.
For the first time in Eastern Europe the Tempera method became wide-spread in the murals of the Tarnovo School of Art. That technique allowed the work to procede slower than the fresco method as well brighter and more saturated colouring and had potential for more additional colours. The fresco technique continued to be used, for instance in the beautiful frescoes of the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo and the chapel of the Hrelyo Tower in the Rila Monastery. The splendid frescoes in the Boyana Church are considered as forerunners of the Renaissance.
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Khan Krum (803 - 814) was among the greatest and most significant rulers of Bulgaria. During his reign the territory of the Bulgarian Empire expanded twice reaching the Pannonian plain to the north-west, the Dnieper river to the east and Odrin to the south. Krum scored major victories on the battlefield against the Avars and the Byzantines. He also instituted the first known Bulgarian law code.
Between 804 and 806 the Bulgarians defeated the Avars and completely destroyed their Khanate which was divided between Bulgaria and the Frankish Empire. The Bulgarians took control of Transylvania and its rich salt mines. After that Krum turned his attention to the Byzantine Empire and in 809 he captured the important city Sofia. As a response the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus I launched a major campaign against Bulgaria in 811. Initially Nicephorus achieved success and seized the Bulgarian capital Pliska. However, on their way back the Byzantines were decisively defeated in the battle of the Varbitsa Pass and their Emperor perished along with most of his troops. Two years later the Byzantines were routed at Versinikia and Krum prepared to take their capital Constantinople but he died on 13 April 814 at the height of the preparations.
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Samuil (Bulgarian: Самуил; pronounced [samuˈil]) was the Emperor (Tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 976 to 997, he was a general for Roman, the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria, and at least de facto co-ruled with him, as Roman bestowed him command of the army and the real authority. An energetic ruler, Samuil struggled to preserve his country's independence from Byzantium. His rule was characterized by constant war against the Byzantine Empire and its similarly ambitious ruler Basil II.
During his reign, Bulgaria gained control of most of the Balkans except Thrace and southern Greece. He moved the capital from Skopje to Ohrid, which had been the cultural and military centre of southwestern Bulgaria since Boris I's rule, and also made the city the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. Although Samuil's reign brought the end of the First Bulgarian Empire, he is regarded as a heroic ruler.
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The Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) were a seminomadic people, originally from Central Asia, who from the 2nd century AD inhabited the steppe north of the Caucasus and the banks of river Itil (now Volga). There are different theories about their origin, the most widely accepted theory being that they were a Turkic people. The second most spread theory is that they were an Iranian people.
In the 4th and 5th centuries the Bulgars took part in the raids of the Huns in Europe. In 630s Khan Kubrat united most of the Bulgars in Old Great Bulgaria which encompassed a vast area between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. However, after his death in 668 the Bulgars desintegrated. His eldest son Batbayan fought against the Khazars who soon overran the country. His second son Kotrag headed to the north-east and founded the powerful Volga Bulgaria and his third son Asparukh marched westward and after his victory against the Byzantines in the battle of Ongal in 680 he laid the beginning of contemporary Bulgaria.
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The Christianization of Bulgaria is the process of converting 9th-century medieval Bulgaria to Christianity. Prior to the Christianization, the First Bulgarian Empire was one of the last remaining pagan states of Europe.
Following the conquests of Khan Krum of Bulgaria from the beginning of the 9th century, Bulgaria raised as an important regional power in Southeastern Europe. Its future development was connected with the Byzantine and East Francia. Since both of these states were Christian, pagan Bulgaria remained more or less in isolation, unable to interact on even grounds, neither culturally nor religiously.
In 864 Khan Boris I was secretly converted into Christianity in his palace in Pliska by Byzantine clergymen. Upon the news of the conversion all 10 komitats (provinces) in Bulgaria revolted. Boris I managed to handle the revolt and the Christianization continued smoothly. However, he knew that the Byzantine influence could become dangerous and exploited the conflict between the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Papacy in Rome to gain an autonomous Bulgarian Church.
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Ivan Alexander (in Bulgarian Иван Александър, transliterated as Ivan Aleksandăr; in English also John Alexander) ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria 1331-1371. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371.
The reign of Ivan Alexander had begun promisingly enough with Bulgaria swiftly recovering from a major defeat (the battle of Velbazhd) and an acute succession crisis involving civil war and a foreign invasion. Ivan Alexander had energetically met opposition on two fronts and overcome it, although the elated praise of his triumph by the court writers was premature in retrospect. The period was a golden age for medieval Bulgarian literary, architectural, and artistic production, and a significant amount of the output has survived the ravages of time. In spite of the Black Death and foreign invasions, a large portion of Ivan Alexander's realm enjoyed peace and relative prosperity for four decades, and churches and monasteries were endowed on an unprecedented scale.
However, even at the height of his power in the mid-1340s, Ivan Alexander exhibited signs of weakness and vacillation, and his policy was characterized by alternating attempts at assertion and forced compromise. In his old age, Ivan Alexander was no longer able to fight off enemies on two fronts, or to exert effective control over some of his nobles (without major concessions in their favour).
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