Talk:Vladimir of Bulgaria
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You are absolutely right. Only one Bulgarian tzar had also the title "King", and that was Kaloyan.
Vladimir of Bulgaria was not a king. After the adoption of Christianity by his father, Khan Boris (later Prince Boris I Michael), the Bulgarian rulers adopted the title of princes, until Simeon I proclaimed himself a "tsar" (Caesar, German: Kaiser), that is, emperor. Byzantium, however, recognised the title of "tsar" to Simeon's son Peter I, along with the independence of the Bulgarian church with a patriarch, the first Orthodox patriarch among the countries which adopted Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium. The second independent church was the Serbian, which obtained an independent church with a patriarch, during the rule of the Serbian tsar (emperor) - Stefan Dusan. Bulgaria virtually had no rulers with the title "king". Its modern time rulers (after the Independence from Turkey in 1908) proclaimed themselves "tsars" to remind of the glorious past, although translated the title as "king, roi, König". So, to say that Vladimir was a "king" is all but correct
- I have no knowledge of this myself, but this criticism seems well-founded, so I've made some changes to the text accordingly. /Nicke L 13:26, 1 October 2005 (UTC)
I agree that, to say Vladimir was a "king" is all but correct, but the same goes wit “prince”! There never were “kings” neither “princes” of Bulgaria – there were “knyazes” and “tsars”. Knyaz actually corresponds to king; it became depreciated only after “tsars”. “Tsar” is higher then “knyaz” - "king". The etymology of „knyaz"is directly related to the English King, the German König, and the Scandinavian konung. It has always been a title of a monarch and it is wrong to depreciate it to prince. The title of Vladimir was knyaz, Boris I – his father was also “knyaz”, Simeon I was pronounced “tsar” and ever after all monarchs of Bulgaria was “tsars”, with exception of Alexander I Battenberg who was “knyaz” and Ferdinand I, who was “knyaz” until 22 September ( 5 October) 1908 - The Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, when Ferdinand I became “tsar”. All this is well known and beyond doubt! Therefore “prince” Vladimir, should be replaced with “knyaz” Vladimir!