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Medieval Bulgarian state (1185–1396)
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The Second Bulgarian Empire (Middle Bulgarian: Ц(а)рьство бл(ъ)гарское; Modern Bulgarian: Второ българско царство, romanized: Vtoro Balgarsko Tsarstvo) was a medieval Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th century.
Until 1256, the Second Bulgarian Empire was the dominant power in the Balkans, defeating the Byzantine Empire in several major battles. In 1205, Emperor Kaloyan defeated the newly established Latin Empire in the Battle of Adrianople. His nephew Ivan Asen II defeated the Despotate of Epiros and made Bulgaria a regional power again. During his reign, Bulgaria spread from the Adriatic to the Black Sea and the economy flourished. In the late 13th century, however, the Empire declined under constant invasions by Mongols, Byzantines, Hungarians, and Serbs, as well as internal unrest and revolts. The 14th century saw a temporary recovery and stability, but also the peak of Balkan feudalism as central authorities gradually lost power in many regions. Bulgaria was divided into three parts on the eve of the Ottoman invasion.
Despite strong Byzantine influence, Bulgarian artists and architects created their own distinctive style. In the 14th century Bulgarian culture, literature, art, and architecture flourished. The capital city Tarnovo, which was considered a "New Constantinople", became the country's main cultural hub and the centre of the Eastern Orthodox world for contemporary Bulgarians. After the Ottoman conquest, many Bulgarian clerics and scholars emigrated to Serbia, Wallachia, Moldavia, and Russian principalities, where they introduced Bulgarian culture, books, and hesychastic ideas.
The name most frequently used for the empire by contemporaries was Bulgaria, as the state called itself. During Kaloyan's reign, the state was sometimes known as being of both Bulgarians and Vlachs. Pope Innocent III and other foreigners such as the Latin Emperor Henry mentioned the state as Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Empire in official letters.
In modern historiography, the state is called the Second Bulgarian Empire, Second Bulgarian Tsardom, or the Second Bulgarian Kingdom to distinguish it from the First Bulgarian Empire. An alternative name used in connection with the early 13th century period is the Empire of Vlachs and Bulgarians; variant names include the Vlach–Bulgarian Empire, the Bulgarian–Wallachian Empire, or the Romanian–Bulgarian Empire; the latter name was used exclusively in Romanian historiography.
However, Arabic chronicles from the 13th century had used only the name of Wallachia instead of Bulgaria and gave the Arabic coordinates of Wallachia and specified that Walachia was named "al-Awalak" and the dwellers "ulaqut" or "ulagh".
In 1018, when the Byzantine emperor Basil II (r. 976–1025) conquered the First Bulgarian Empire, he ruled it cautiously. The existing tax system, laws, and the power of low-ranking nobility remained unchanged until his death in 1025. The autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate was subordinated to the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople and downgraded to an archbishopric centred in Ohrid, while retaining its autonomy and dioceses. Basil appointed the Bulgarian John I Debranin as its first archbishop, but his successors were Byzantines. The Bulgarian aristocracy and tsar's relatives were given various Byzantine titles and transferred to the Asian parts of the Empire. Despite hardships, the Bulgarian language, literature, and culture survived; surviving period texts refer to and idealize the Bulgarian Empire. Most of the newly conquered territories were included in the themes Bulgaria, Sirmium, and Paristrion.
As the Byzantine Empire declined under Basil's successors, invasions of Pechenegs and rising taxes contributed to increasing discontent, which resulted in several major uprisings in 1040–41, the 1070s, and the 1080s. The initial centre of the resistance was the theme of Bulgaria, in what is now Macedonia, where the massive Uprising of Peter Delyan (1040–41) and the Uprising of Georgi Voiteh (1072) took place. Both were quelled with great difficulty by Byzantine authorities. These were followed by rebellions in Paristrion and Thrace. During the Komnenian Restoration and the temporary stabilisation of the Byzantine Empire in the first half of the 12th century, the Bulgarians were pacified and no major rebellions took place until later in the century.
The disastrous rule of the last Komnenian emperor Andronikos I (r. 1183–85) worsened the situation of the Bulgarian peasantry and nobility. The first act of his successor Isaac II Angelos was to impose an extra tax to finance his wedding. In 1185, two aristocrat brothers from Tarnovo, Theodore and Asen, asked the emperor to provide them a relatively poor pronoia in the Balkan Mountains, in exchange for military service. The emperor refused, resulting in a heated argument which saw Asen struck across the face. Upon their return to Tarnovo, the brothers commissioned the construction of a church dedicated to Saint Demetrius of Salonica. They showed the populace a celebrated icon of the saint, who they claimed had left Thessalonica to support the Bulgarian cause and called for a rebellion. That act had the desired effect on the religious population, who enthusiastically engaged in a rebellion against the Byzantines. Theodore, the elder brother, was crowned Emperor of Bulgaria under the name Peter IV, after the sainted Peter I (r.927–969). Almost all of Bulgaria to the north of the Balkan Mountains—the region known as Moesia—immediately joined the rebels, who also secured the assistance of the Cumans, a Turkic tribe inhabiting lands north of the Danube river. The Cumans soon became an important part of the Bulgarian army, playing a major role in the successes that followed. As soon as the rebellion broke out, Peter IV attempted to seize the old capital of Preslav but failed; he declared Tarnovo the capital of Bulgaria.
From Moesia, the Bulgarians launched attacks in northern Thrace while the Byzantine army was fighting with the Normans, who had attacked Byzantine possessions in the Western Balkans and sacked Thessalonica, the Empire's second largest city. The Byzantines reacted in mid-1186, when Isaac II organized a campaign to crush the rebellion before it spread further. The Bulgarians had secured the passes but the Byzantine army found its way across the mountains due to a solar eclipse. Once the Byzantines reached the plains, the rebels did not risk a confrontation with the larger, better-organized force. Peter IV pretended he was willing to submit, while Asen travelled to the north of the Danube to raise an army. Contented, the Byzantine emperor burned the Bulgarians' crops and returned to Constantinople. Soon after, Asen crossed back over the Danube with Cuman reinforcements, declaring he would continue the struggle until all Bulgarian lands were liberated. A new Byzantine army was assembled under the command of the emperor's uncle John Doukas Angelos, but as Isaac II feared he would be overthrown, Doukas was replaced by John Kantakouzenos, a blind man ineligible for the throne. The Bulgarians attacked Kantakouzenos' camp during the night, killing a large number of soldiers. In mid-1186, another army under the general Alexios Branas was sent in. However, instead of fighting the rebels, Branas turned to Constantinople to claim the throne for himself; he was murdered shortly afterwards. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Bulgarians raided northern Thrace, looting the countryside before Byzantine forces could counterattack. On one occasion, the two armies confronted each other near the fortress of Lardea in an indecisive battle; the Bulgarians kept their plunder and retreated untroubled to the north of the Balkan mountains.
In the late 1186, Isaac II launched his second campaign against Bulgaria. His army was forced to spend the winter in Sofia, giving the Bulgarians time to prepare for the invasion. Early the following year, the Byzantines besieged Lovech but could not seize it; they signed an armistice that de facto recognized Bulgarian independence. In 1189, when the leader of the Third Crusade, emperor Frederick I Barbarossa was at the brink of war with the Byzantines, Asen and Peter IV offered him an army of 40,000 in return for official recognition, but relations between the Crusaders and the Byzantines eventually improved. In 1190, Isaac II led another anti-Bulgarian campaign that ended in a catastrophic defeat at the Tryavna Pass. The emperor barely escaped with his life; the Imperial treasury, including the crown and the cross, were captured by the victorious Bulgarians. After their success, Asen was crowned emperor and became known as Ivan Asen I. Peter IV voluntarily stepped down to make way for his more energetic brother; Peter IV retained his title but Ivan Asen assumed authority.
In the next four years, the focus of the war shifted to the south of the Balkan mountains. Ivan Asen's strategy of swiftly striking in different locations paid off, and he soon took control of the important cities Sofia and Niš to the south-west, clearing the way to Macedonia. In 1194, the Byzantines gathered a huge force composed of the eastern and western armies, but were defeated at the Battle of Arcadiopolis. Unable to resist, Isaac II tried to ally with the Hungarian king Béla III and make a joint attack against Bulgaria, but was deposed and blinded by his brother Alexios III Angelos. The Byzantines tried to negotiate peace but Ivan Asen demanded the return of all Bulgarian lands and the war continued. In 1196, the Byzantine army was again defeated at Serres, far to the south. Upon his return to Tarnovo, Ivan Asen was murdered by his cousin Ivanko allegedly in a plot inspired by Constantinople. Peter IV besieged Tarnovo and Ivanko fled to the Byzantine Empire, where he was made governor of Philippopolis. Peter IV was murdered less than a year after his brother's death.
The throne was succeeded by Kaloyan, Asen's and Peter IV's youngest brother. An ambitious and ruthless ruler, he wanted to gain international recognition and to complete the liberation of Bulgaria. Kaloyan also wanted revenge against the Byzantines for blinding 14,000 of emperor Samuel's soldiers. Kaloyan called himself Romanoktonos (Roman-slayer) after Basil II, who was called Bulgaroktonos (Bulgar-slayer). He quickly allied himself with his brother's murderer, Ivanko. The Byzantines killed Ivanko, but the Bulgarians took the city of Constantia. In 1201, Kaloyan captured Varna, the last Byzantine stronghold in Moesia, which was defended by a large garrison. Despite capturing the city at Easter, Kaloyan ordered every Byzantine to be thrown in the moat. He then negotiated peace with Byzantines, securing Bulgarian gains in early 1202. While the Bulgarians were occupied in the south, the Hungarian king Andrew II and his Serbian vassal Vukan had annexed Belgrade, Braničevo, and Niš, but after negotiating peace, Kaloyan turned his attention to the north-west. In 1203, the Bulgarians pushed the Serbs out of Niš, defeated the Hungarian army in several battles along the valley of the Morava river, and recaptured their former territory.
Kaloyan knew the Byzantines would never recognize his imperial title; he began negotiations with Pope Innocent III. He based the claims on his predecessors in the First Bulgarian Empire; Simeon I, Peter I, and Samuel. The Pope was willing to recognize Kaloyan as king on the condition the Bulgarian Church would submit to Rome. After lengthy negotiations in which both acted diplomatically but without changing their positions, Kaloyan was crowned king in late 1204. Archbishop Basil was proclaimed Primate. Kaloyan had no intention of submitting to that decision; he sent the Pope a letter expressing his gratitude for the Imperial title he had received and the elevation of the Bulgarian Church to a Patriarchate. Eventually the Papacy tacitly accepted the Bulgarian position regarding the Imperial title. The union between Bulgaria and Rome remained strictly official; the Bulgarians did not change their Orthodox rites and traditions.
Several months before Kaloyan's coronation, the leaders of the Fourth Crusade turned on the Byzantine Empire and captured Constantinople, creating the Latin Empire. The Bulgarians tried to establish friendly relations with the Latins but were rebuffed and the Latins claimed their lands despite Papal recognition. Facing a common enemy, Kaloyan and the Byzantine aristocracy in Thrace made an alliance and the latter promised they would accept Kaloyan as their emperor. The decisive battle between the Bulgarian army and the Crusaders took place on 14 April 1205, at Adrianople, at which the Latins were defeated and their emperor Baldwin I was captured. The battle was a blow to the newly founded Latin Empire, which descended into chaos. After their victory, the Bulgarians retook most of Thrace, including the important city of Philippopolis. The unexpected Bulgarian successes caused the Byzantine nobility to plot against Kaloyan and ally themselves with the Latins. The plot in Tarnovo was quickly discovered; Kaloyan made brutal reprisals against the Byzantines in Thrace. The campaign against the Latins also continued; in 1206, the Bulgarians were victorious at the battle of Rusion and conquered a number of towns in Eastern Thrace. The following year, Boniface I, the King of Salonica, was killed in battle, but Kaloyan was murdered before he could begin the assault on the capital.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Second Bulgarian Empire”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.