Ionita Caloian, Lord of Wallachians

Blachorum domino

The reconstructed head of Tsar Kaloyan

In the fall of 1972 a medieval burial of an aristocrat was discovered during excavations in Veliko Tarnovo.

One could not but be impressed by the enormous height of the man – nearly two metres – something quite unusual for that age.

There was a heavy gold ring inscribed Ring of Kaloyan on his hand.

The deceased was dressed in robes of purple, the color of royalty in the middle ages, embroidered with pearls.

The head was covered with a cap also decorated with gold, and there were red boots on his feet. The age of the deceased was presumed to be between 35 and 40.

Tests revealed the presence of many chrysalides and flies. This indicated that the deceased was not buried immediately’ as was customary for the age, but that the body had been exposed to the air.

Plenty of chloride materials were also discovered around the body. These facts are veritably indicative that the burial was that of Tsar Kaloyan.

According to his contemporaries he was an enormous man. He was murdered at 37. After his murder near Salonika, his body was salted (hence the chloride) and transported to Tarnovo within a week. There are traces of a healed wound on the skull made by an unknown weapon. The scar probably caused a pain so terrible it could have brought its bearer to the point of madness on occasion. And that was probably precisely the cause of the bouts of fury during which Kaloyan was capable of terrible cruelty, bouts that the annals have recorded.

 Early rulers from the Asen dynasty (particularly Kaloyan) referred to themselves as "Emperors of Bulgarians and Vlachs". Later rulers, especially the successful Ivan Asen II, styled themselves "Tsars (Emperors) of Bulgarians and Greeks".

Some members of the Asen family entered Byzantine service in the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries, and the late descendants of these Byzantine Asenids may well have been the Wallacian boyars of the clan Asan. The name also occurs as a family name in modern Greek, and could go back to the same name.

The origins of the dynasty, especially the ethnic background of the three Asen brothers (Teodor I Peter IV, Ivan Asen I and Kaloyan) are still a source of much controversy, debated between Romanian and Bulgarian historians. There are three main hypothesis regarding their origins:

1. Vlach origin (Romanian or Aromanian), a view supported by many Romanian historians, who say that there's no reason to question the ethnicity, mentioned in some chronicles.
2. Bulgarian origin, a view that is common among the Bulgarian historians who reckon that all native sources use predominantly the terms Bulgaria, Bulgarians and Bulgarian, that tsar Kaloyan claimed provenance from the rulers of the First Bulgarian Empire and that it's just a matter of terminology and for certain period by "Vlach" the medieval sources meant "Bulgarian".
3. Cuman origin, as some of the names in the dynasty, including Asen and Belgun (nickname of Ivan Asen I) are derived from Cuman language.

In their own administrative documents and correspondence, the three rulers viewed themselves as descendants and successors of the Bulgarian Tsars Samuil, Peter I and Simeon I, and the state they founded as a continuation of the First Bulgarian Empire. However, this could be just a way to proclaim their legitimacy for the throne of the Empire.

A detail in the chronicles of Nicetas Choniates tell us that Asen spoke Vlach language: a Greek priest was kidnapped by Vlachs of the Haimos Mountains and implored Asen to let him go speaking in the language of the Vlachs.

In a correspondence, of 1199, the Pope talks about the "Roman descent" of Kaloyan, thing which is also reminded in Kaloyan's response. The meaning of this also has been debated: it is unclear whether the Pope referred to the Romanic origins of the Vlachs or to the Eastern Roman Empire.

 Name

The name of the dynasty comes from one of the brothers, namely Asen I. The etymology is most likely of Cuman Turkic origin, derived from "esen" which meant "safe, sound, healthy" and the Belgun nickname seems to be derived from Turkic "bilgün", which meant "wise". This could be explained by the fact that in other places, early Romanians used names of Cuman origin, for example a diploma of 1383 in Sibiu had a list of names of Romanians, which included among names of Romanian and Slavic origin, a few names of Cuman origin. Also, the most important dynasty of Wallachia had a Cuman name (Basarab dynasty)

Alternately, the name could also be of Pecheneg origin, since that language was rather similar to Cuman, however this hypothesis is less likely.

There is possible link between the Bulgarian name Assen and the Arabic name Hassan. There is evidence that the name Assen has a Turkic origin coming from the Proto-Bulgarian's or Cuman's Turkic origin. Therefore both the Arabic name Hassan that is very popular in the Turkic speaking nations, sometimes written as Assan and the Bulgarian name Assen can be of similar or even the same origin. See Hassan (given name)

See also

• History of Bulgaria
• List of Bulgarian monarchs
• History of Vlachs

 References

• Božilov, Ivan (1985) (in Bulgarian). Familijata na Asenevci (1186–1460). Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. OCLC 14378091. 
• Bănescu, Nicolae, "O problemă de istorie medievală: crearea şi caracterul celui de al Doilea Imperiu Bulgar (1185)", Analele Academiei Române. Memoriile Secţiunii Istorice, 3rd series, 25 (1943): 543-590
• Vasary, Istvan (2005) "Cumans and Tatars", Cambridge University Press: pp. 34–42 
• Stephenson, Paul (2000) "Byzantium's Balkan Frontier — A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900–1204" pp. 289–300
• ambushed, suffering heavy losses, after unwisely pursuing the enemy into the At this first stage all the sources, Byzantine and Western, agree in calling these protesters and their leaders "Vlachs".

 Sources

Categories: 12th-century conflicts | 12th century in Bulgaria | 12th century in the Byzantine Empire | Bulgarian rebellions | Rebellions against empires | Wars involving the Byzantine Empire | History of Eastern Romance people

Joannitio, Blachorum Domini-Kaloyan of Bulgaria and the Blahs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaloyan_of_Bulgaria

Kaloyan the Romanslayer (Bulgarian: Калоян Ромеоубиец), Ivan I (Иван I, also Йоан I, Ioan I, in English John I), ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria 1197-1207. He was born in about 1168/1169. The name Kaloyan (in Latin Caloiohannes), signifies the "Good John" or the "Handsome John", and is derived from Greek Kaloiōannēs, a standard augmentation of the names of Byzantine emperors named "John" (Iōannēs) in the Komnenian and later periods. (Byzantine enemies secretly called him Skyloïōannēs, or the "Dog Ioan".) Another of his nicknames was Ioannitsa (Йоаница, Ioannica in Romanian), variously rendered Ioannitza, Ivanitsa (Иваница, Ivanica), a diminutive form of Ivan or Ioan (John in Еnglish).

Life

Kaloyan (The hansome one) was a younger brother and heir of Peter IV (Petăr IV) of Bulgaria and Ivan Asen I. In 1187 he was sent as a hostage to Constantinople, from where he escaped and returned to Bulgaria about 1189. After the successive assassinations of both of his brothers, Kaloyan became the Bulgarian Tsar. Kaloyan pursued his predecessors' aggressive policy against the Byzantine Empire to the point of making an alliance with Ivanko, the murderer of Ivan Asen I, who had entered Byzantine service in 1196 and had become governor of Philippopolis (Plovdiv). Another ally of Kaloyan was Dobromir Hriz (Chrysos), who governed the area of Strumica. The coalition was quickly dissolved, as the Byzantines overcame both Ivanko and Dobromir Hriz. Nevertheless, Kaloyan conquered Konstanteia (Simeonovgrad) in Thrace and Varna from the Byzantine Empire in 1201, and most of Slavic Macedonia in 1202.

 

 

 

Bulgaria under Kaloyan (1197-1207)

In 1202 King Imre of Hungary invaded Bulgaria and conquered the areas of Belgrade, Braničevo (Kostolac), and Niš (which he turned over to his protege on the throne of Serbia, Vukan Nemanjić). Kaloyan retaliated in 1203, restoring Vukan's brother Stefan Prvovenčani (Stefan the First-Crowned) in Serbia and recovering his lands after defeating the Hungarians. Ill feeling between Bulgaria and the Hungarians continued until the intercession of Pope Innocent III.

Innocent III had written to Kaloyan, inviting him to unite his Church with the Roman Catholic Church, as early as 1199. Wanting to bear the title of Emperor and to restore the prestige, wealth and size of the First Bulgarian Empire, Kaloyan responded in 1202. In this political maneuver, he requesed that Pope Innocent III bestow on him the imperial crown and sceptre that had been held by Simeon I, Peter I, and Samuel and in exchange he might consider communication with Rome. Kaloyan also wanted the Papacy to recognize the head of the Bulgarian Church as a Patriarch.^[1] The pope was not willing to make concessions on that scale, and when his envoy, Cardinal Leo, arrived in Bulgaria, he anointed the Archbishop Vasilij of Tărnovo as Primate of Bulgarians and Vlachs. Kaloyan only received crown as rex Bulgarorum et Blachorum ("King of Bulgarians and Wallachians") or rex Bulgarie et Blachie ("King of Bulgaria and Wallachia"), not emperor. Blithely Kaloyan wrote to the pope, thanking him for an imperial coronation and for the anointing of his patriarch. He also assured him that he too will follow the Catholic Church rites, as part of the agreement. Meanwhile, in an attempt to foster an alliance with Kaloyan, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos recognized his imperial title and promised him patriarchal recognition.

Forty Martyrs Church, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria.

Immediately afterwards, in 1204, the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople and created the Latin Empire, electing as emperor Baldwin I of Flanders. Although Kaloyan had offered the crusaders an alliance against the Byzantine Empire, his offer had been declined, and the Latin Empire expressed the intention of conquering all the lands of the former Byzantine Empire and its neighbours. The impending conflict was precipitated by the Byzantine aristocracy in Thrace, which rebelled against Latin rule in 1205 and called on Kaloyan for help, offering him its submission.

As the Latin Emperor Baldwin I began to subdue rebel cities and besieged Adrianople, in the words of the Crusader chronicler Villehardouin, "Johannizza, King of Wallachia, was coming to succour Adrianople with a very great host; for he brought with him Wallachians and Bulgarians, and full fourteen thousand Comans who had never been baptised" (Villehardouin, 92). On April 14, 1205, Kaloyan's Cumans managed to draw the pursuing heavy cavalry of the Latin Empire into an ambush in the marshes north of Adrianople, and Kaloyan inflicted a crushing defeat on the Crusader army. Emperor Baldwin I was captured, Count Louis I of Blois was killed, and the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo

led the surviving portions of the Crusader army into a hasty retreat back to Constantinople, during the course of which he died of exhaustion. (Baldwin was imprisoned in the Bulgarian capital Tărnovo until he died or was executed later in 1205.) During the course of 1205, Kaloyan defeated the Latins at Serres and captured Philippopolis (Plovdiv), overrunning much of the territory of the Latin Empire in Thrace and Macedonia.

In spite of the initially welcome successes of Kaloyan against the Latins, the Byzantine aristocracy eventually began to conspire against his rule. Kaloyan also changed course, and turned mercilessly on his former allies, adopting the sobriquet Rōmaioktonos ("Romanslayer"), as a counter-derivative from Basil II's Boulgaroktonos ("Bulgarslayer").

On January 31, 1206 Kaloyan defeated the Latins again in the battle of Rusion, and later proceeded to capture Dimotika. The Bulgarians repeatedly ravaged Thrace, including the important cities of Herakleia and Caenophrurion (Çorlu), and prompting the evacuation of other cities, such as Rodosto (Tekirdağ). Whereas in the past Kaloyan had limited his ferocity to outsmarting his enemies, his later campaigns included wholesale transfer of populations from the captured cities to distant regions in Bulgaria.

Death

 

Grave of Kaloyan of Bulgaria in Veliko Tarnovo.

 http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-st-dimitar-solunski-church-in-veliko-tarnovo-image9951864

 

Kaloyan besieged Adrianople twice, but failed to take the city because of the withdrawal of his Cuman cavalry, and the determined advance of the new Latin emperor, Baldwin I's brother Henry of Flanders. In 1207 Kaloyan concluded an anti-Latin alliance with Theodore I Laskaris of the Empire of Nicaea. In the same year, Kaloyan's troops killed Boniface of Montferrat (September 4, 1207), the Latin ruler of the Kingdom of Thessalonica. Seeking to take advantage of that situation, Kaloyan advanced on the city and besieged it with a large force, but was murdered by his own Cuman commander Manastăr at the beginning of October 1207.

The sources on Kaloyan's reign are for the most part foreign (Byzantine and Latin) and hostile, stressing his brutality and cruelty. Some of this ruthlessness has been ascribed specifically to his Cuman envoy, while others have pointed out that Kaloyan's most repressive policies were aimed at the destruction of the enemy elite, while commoners were often treated with mercy. One of the stories about the demise of the Latin Emperor Baldwin describes his cruel dismemberment by an enraged Kaloyan, whose wife had falsely alleged that Baldwin had propositioned her, when he had in fact spurned her advances. The story is reminiscent of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, but fit well with the hostility of contemporary sources, which also suggest occasional outbursts of rage. Kaloyan's corpse (together with his personal signet ring^[2]) was discovered buried in the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Tărnovo. Forensic examination of the skull has revealed damage to the head incurred in youth, which may have pressed against the brain and occasionally caused considerable pain and outbursts of rage.

Ultimately Kaloyan's reign was a period of growth and political ascension of the Bulgarian-Vlach  Empire, which expanded the political and economic gains of his brothers Assen and Peter. He is considered to be one of the great Bulgarian emperors.

Family

Kaloyan's consort was a member of the Cuman aristocracy, known by the name Tselguba (Christian name Maria). After Kaloyan's death, she married his successor Boril of Bulgaria.

He had a daughter, Maria of Bulgaria, by an early marriage. She married the Latin Emperor of Constantinople Henry of Flanders to strengthen the new alliance between Tsar Boril of Bulgaria and Henry. Maria is suspected to have taken part in the assassination of Henry, who died of poison on June 11, 1216.

Alternate titles

When referring to Kaloyan's realm and subjects, contemporary Crusader sources (including the works of Geoffroy de Villehardouin, Henri de Valenciennes, Robert de Clari) other comtemporary sources (like that of William de Rubruquis and Roger Bacon's "Opus Maius"), as well as the letters of the Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders) represent Kaloyan as King of Wallachia, ruler of Wallachians and leader of Wallachian armies, and sometimes as ruler of Wallachians and Bulgarians. Such sources talk mostly of Wallachians and call Ioanitsa a Wallachian and "lord of Wallachians" (Blachorum domino).^[3]

Contemporary papal and native sources name Kaloyan ruler of (omnium) Bulgarorum atque Blachorum ("(all) Bulgarians and Wallachians"), of (totius) Bulgarie ac Blachie ("(all) Bulgaria and Wallachia"), or simply of Bulgaria/Bulgarians in the diplomatic exchange. Similarly, the head of the church (Archbishop Vasilij of Tărnovo) is described as presiding over Bulgarorum et Blacorum Ecclesiam ("the Bulgarian and Wallachian Church").

The contemporary Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates alternates interchangeably between the terms Mysoi, Boulgaroi, and Blachoi for the people, preferring Mysia for the country, and Blachos for describing persons and language. It is inferred that geographically the medieval Wallachia in question (distinct from both Great Wallachia in Thessaly and the later Wallachia north of the Danube), overlaps with the former Roman province of Moesia Inferior (Greek Mysia, Choniates, 481), as distinct from the Byzantine theme of Bulgaria further west (Choniates, 488). This distinction is corroborated by a slightly earlier contemporary, the chronicler of the Third Crusade, who describes Kaloyan's predecessors as rulers "of the Wallachians and the greater part of the Bulgarians" (Blacorum et maxime partis Bulgarorum) in 1189 (Ansbert, 58).

Seal (plumbum) of Tsar Kaloyan. Inscription in Bulgarian: +Kaloyan, Tsar of the Bulgarians

The Byzantine historian from XIII century Theodor Scutariota named Kaloyan "the Bulgarian Ioan" or "Bulgarian basileus" and wrote about "Bulgarians", "Bulgarian land", "Bulgarian matters"; also he defined Ivan Asen I as "tsar of the Bulgarians".^[4] The same "probulgarian" point of view about the same persons and events was shared by several other Byzantine authors from XIII and XIV centuries like George Acropolites, George Pachymeres and Nicephorus Gregoras.^[5]

The native sources, written in Old Bulgarian language and used domestically, including the lead seals of the Bulgarian rulers from Ivan Asen I to Boril use the term "Emperor of the Bulgarians", as do the literary sources (for example the Synodik of Boril) together with the terms "Bulgarian land", and "Bulgarian tongue".

Roughly from the reign of Tsar Boril and already in the time of Tsar Ivan Asen II the names Wallachia, Wallachians and Wallachian totally disappeared from all historical sources, connected with the Second Bulgarian Empire. The subsequent native sources, all written in Old Bulgarian language, without exceptions treat the state as Bulgarian in the line of tsar's title of Ivan Asen II from his Turnovo's inscription from 1230 "In Christ the Lord good and faithful Tsar and autocrat of the Bulgarians, son of the old Asen", an inscription from Boyana Church from 1259 "This was written in the Bulgarian Empire under the pious and devout Tsar Constantine Asen" and one marginal note from 1269/70 "In the days of the faithful tsar Constantine, who ruled the Bulgarian throne".^[6] (Still more, the names Wallachia, Wallachians and Wallachian weren't mentioned by the earlier Byzantine authors like Michael Psellos, Anna Komnene and Michael Attaliata in similar context about the lands and population between the Danube and the Rhodope mountains.^[5] This historiographical situation narrows the usage of the "Vlach's terminology" in corresponding meanings for period of only two decades - between 1186 and 1207.^[7])

The evidence of much later works involves various levels of contradictory inference. For example, the Venetian chronicle of Paolo Ramusio, finished in 1573 and printed in Italian and Latin from 1604 to 1634, states that Mysia (Moesia Inferior) was composed of the provinces of Wallachia and Bulgaria.^[8] The contemporary work of Mauro Orbini, Il Regno degli Slavi, published in Pesaro in 1601, cites similar sources but virtually ignores "Wallachians" and uses "Bulgarians" throughout, but his interpretation is a matter of controversy.^[9] The "Vlach interpretation" was totally ignored also by the Franciscan monk Blasius Kleiner in his History of Bulgaria, written in 1761,^[10] and the Serbian historian Jovan Rajić in his History of Various Slav peoples and Especially of Bulgarians, Croats and Serbs, published in 1795.^[11] The same treatment was accepted also by the Bulgarian enlightener Paisiy Hilendarski in his Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya, written in 1762.^[12]

The modern implications of these names are ethnic and cultural rather than geographical, and they are fiercely disputed. Much can be conjectured from them concerning the Romance-speaking and Slavic-speaking populations over which Kaloyan ruled, the precise extent of his empire, and his own ethnic connections. These formulae and descriptions emphasise that his power drew on more than one source. He desired to link himself to the former Bulgarian Empire, stressing the Papal origins of his crown by claiming (perhaps with some accuracy), that the Papacy had granted an imperial crown to the rulers of the First Bulgarian Empire, as noted above. In his correspondence with him, Pope Innocent III suggested that Kaloyan was descended both from the emperors of the First Bulgarian Empire, and from the nobility of the city of Rome.

The academic tradition of interpretation of the wide use of the name "Vlachs" in this particular case was treated by some of the some modern ethnic historians as nothing more than a transient substitution and confusion of several medieval authors was affirmed in the second half of the 19th century by the Czech historian Konstantin Josef Jireček in his "History of the Bulgarians", first published in 1876, in which he ignored the idea of significant ethnic Vlach participation in these processes,^[13] and is supported by the contemporary Bulgarian medievalist and researcher of the Asens Ivan Bozhilov.^[14]

Footnotes

1. ^ C-tin C. Giurescu, Dinu C. Giurescu, Istoria românilor din cele mai vechi timpuri până astăzi, Bucharest, 1975, p.184
2. ^ http://www.rightnotprivilege.org/layout/home/tsar.jpg
3. ^ LITTERAE HENRICI, FRATRIS IMPERATORIS AD PAPAM INNOCENTIUM III: Porro, audito a Joannitio, Blachorum domino, quod Latini in tanta virorum paucitate civitatem praedictam obsedissent, quem etiam Graeci in auxilium suum, occulte tamen, ut magis laederent, evocarant, irruit subito Blachus ille Joannitius in nostros cum multitudine Barbarorum innumera, Blachis videlicet, Commannis et aliis, quibus etiam nimis improvise obviam exeuntibus nostris.
4. Theodor Scutariota, "Anonimou Synopsis Hroniki", Sathas, MB, VII, pages 459, 461, 468 and 472.
5. Иван Божилов, "Фамилията на Асеневци (1186-1460). Генеалогия и просопография", Издателство на Българската академия на науките "Марин Дринов", София, 1994, стр. 12 (in Bulgarian; in English: Ivan Bozhilov, "The family of the Asens (1186-1460). Genealogy and prosopography", Publishing house of the Bulgarian Academy of sciences "Marin Drinov", Sofia, 1994, p. 12).
6. П. Динеков, К. Куев, Д. Петканова, "Христоматия по старобългарска литература", Издателство "Наука и изкуство", София, 1967, стр. 305-306 (in Bulgarian; in English: P. Dinekov, K. Kuev, D. Petkanova, "Chrestomathy of the Old Bulgarian Literature", Publishing house "Narodna kultura", Sofia, 1967, pp. 305-306).
7. Иван Божилов, "Фамилията на Асеневци (1186-1460). Генеалогия и просопография", Издателство на Българската академия на науките "Марин Дринов", София, 1994, стр. 13 (in Bulgarian; in English: Ivan Bozhilov, "The family of the Asens (1186-1460). Genealogy and prosopography", Publishing house of the Bulgarian Academy of sciences "Marin Drinov", Sofia, 1994, p. 13).
8. Paolo Ramusio (Paulus Rhamnusius), DE BELLO CONSTANTINOPOLITANO: "Unus Ioannissa Rex Mysorum (is inferiorem Mysiam tenabat, quae Valachiae et Bulgariae provincias complectitur)" Ramusio’s work is largely a derivative of Villehardouin, supplemented by some Byzantine and Vatican sources as well as general antiquarian knowledge.
9. The book of Mauro Orbini, "Il Regno degli Slavi, hoggi corrottamente detti Schiavoni", is considered an example of "pro-Slavic" stance. Banned by the Vatican when it appeared, it claimed direct descent of the Slavs from the Illyrians.
10. "История на България от Блазиус Клайнер, съставена в 1761 г.", Издателство на Българската академия на науките, София, 1977, стр. 110-117 (in Bulgarian; in English: "History of Bulgaria, composed by Blasius Kleiner in 1761", Publishing house of the Bulgarian Academy of sciences, Sofia, 1977, pp. 110-117.
11.  Йован Раич, "История на всички славянски народи и най-паче на болгари, хорвати и серби. Откъси", Издателство "Наука и изкуство", София, 1983, стр. 131-139 (in Bulgarian; in English: Jovan Raich, "History of various Slav peoples and especially of Bulgarians, Croats and Serbs. Excerpts", Publishing house "Nauka i izkustvo", Sofia, 1983, pp. 131-139.
12. Паисий Хилендарски, "История славянобългарска. 1762. Белова", Университетско издателство "Св. Климент Охридски", София, 2003, стр. 349-359 (in Bulgarian; in English: Paisii Hilendarski, "Slav-Bulgarian history. 1762. Fair copy", Publishing house of the Sofia's University "St. Clement of Ohrid", Sofia, 2003, pp. 349-359.
13.  Акад. Константин Иречек, "История на българите", Издателство "Наука и изкуство", София, 1978, стр. 259-291 (in Bulgarian; in English: Academician Konstantin Jireček, "History of the Bulgarians", Publishing house "Nauka i izkustvo", Sofia, 1978, pp. 259-291).
14. Иван Божилов, "Фамилията на Асеневци (1186-1460). Генеалогия и просопография", Издателство на Българската академия на науките "Марин Дринов", София, 1994, стр. 17-18 (in Bulgarian; in English: Ivan Bozhilov, "The family of the Asens (1186-1460). Genealogy and prosopography", Publishing house of the Bulgarian Academy of sciences "Marin Drinov", Sofia, 1994, pp. 17-18).
15. Bulgarian National Bank. Notes and Coins in Circulation: 2 levs (1999 issue) & 2 levs (2005 issue). – Retrieved on 26 March 2009.

References

• John V.A. Fine, Jr., The Late Medieval Balkans, Ann Arbor, 1987.
• (primary source) Niketas Choniates, Nicetae Choniatae Historia, Bonn, 1835.
• (primary source) Magoulias, Harry J. (transl.). O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, 1984, ISBN 0-8143-1764-2
• (primary source) Ansbert, Historia de expeditione Friderici imperatoris, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores, n.s. 5, 15-70.
• Mauro Orbini, Il Regno di Slavi, Pesaro, 1601.

External links

• Detailed list of Bulgarian rulers
• Part of correspondence between Kaloyan and Pope Innocent III
• Villehardouin's account of the Fourth Crusade

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaloyan_of_Bulgaria"

 

Read more about this subject on line:

Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250

 By Florin Curta :

 

UNELE URMĂRI ÎN PLAN CONFESIONAL ALE CRUCIADEI A IV-A (1204)

ÎN CENTRUL ŞI SUD-ESTUL EUROPEI by Ioan-Aurel POP http://ebooks.unibuc.ro/istorie/ideologie/7.htm

 

 

The 'Second Bulgarian Empire.' Its Origin and History to 1204  by R. Wolff

http://groznijat.tripod.com/bulgar/wolff_2.html

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Byzantine_Macedonia_1045CE.svg

Instead of aiming their efforts at Palestine, as it was their Christian duty, the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade conquered Constantinople in 1204 and founded their own Latin Empire in the place of Byzantium. Kaloyan was quick to establish good relations with his new neighbors. He offered friendship and assistance but both were haughtily rejected. What was more, the crusaders declared the Bulgarians insurgents as they had split from Byzantium – whose very heirs they claimed to be. Full of contempt, the knights marched against the Bulgarians, with the decisive battle taking place by Adrianople in the spring of 1205. The Bulgarians succeeded in luring their enemy into a trap

. Count Louis of Blois was the first to give in to his temper and to lead the proud crusaders towards defeat. The knights who had recently triumphed over Byzantium suffered a complete fiasco. Their emperor, Baldwin I, count of Flanders, was captured and taken to Tarnovo.

From that point on there is no sure information about his fate. Romantic legend has it that, as a good Frenchman, he seduced the wife of the sovereign and the jealous husband ordered him thrown from the castle walls on the rocks below.

It is more probable that he died of a natural death in the prison, which was hardly a holiday villa, or was executed by order of the ruler.The defeat at Adrianople shook the Latin Empire.

Kaloyan began to tear territories away from it piece by piece and soon the Bulgarian state became nearly as large as it had been before it fell under Byzantine rule.

The boyars, however, also continued with their plotting. One of the plots was successful and the Bulgarian tsar was speared in his battle tent in a summer evening of 1207, while he was besieging the second largest city in the empire, Salonika. The Latins could heave a sigh of relief. The new tsar, who ascended to the throne as a relative of Kaloyan, was incompetent and soon squandered most of his predecessors’ acquisitions.

http://astraromana.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/imperiul-romano-bulgar-al-asanestilor/ 

Scurtă istorie a imperiului clădit de trei frati vlahi (aromâni) la sud de Dunăre

ÎN JURUL anului 1000, alături de bulgarii slavofoni, izvoarele bizantine, cele narative de la cancelaria imperială si de la cancelaria patriarhală îi mentionează la sud de Dunare pe aromâni, populatie romanică din regiune.

În anul 1185, în Bizant domneste tânărul împărat Isaac II Anghelos. Dorind să-si pregătească cu mare fast nunta cu fiica regelui maghiar Bela II, el pune o dare nouă asupra supusilor săi. Darea îi afectează în primul rând pe cei ce au turme de oi si vite. Este tocmai cazul valahilor, a căror îndeletnicire principală este păstoritul. Aceste dări si felul abuziv în care sunt strânse produc o mare nemultumire printre valahii care locuiesc în muntele Hemus. Acestia trimit la împărat, care se afla la Kypsella în Tracia, o delegatie condusă de fratii Petru si Asan, fruntasi ai lor, pentru a-si prezenta plângerile. Cererile lor nu sunt luate în seamă, ba, mai mult, Asan este pălmuit de un demnitar bizantin, „pentru neobrăzare”. În aceste conditii, ei se întorc la Târnovo, în biserica Sf. Dumitru unde, „în limba lor părintească”, după cum spune cronicarul Nicetas Choniates, cheamă poporul la răscoală împotriva bizantinilor. Răscoala porneste în momentul în care normanzii din Sicilia ocupă orasele Durazzo, Seres, Amphipolis si Salonic.

Răsculatii atacă rând pe rând orasele din zonă, stârnind o îngrijorare tot mai mare la curtea imperială. Împăratul se decide să conducă el însusi operatiunile militare si reuseste să înfrângă pe cei doi frati vlahi, care se refugiază peste Dunăre. Urmare a promisiunilor de supunere făcute de cei doi, Isaac renuntă a mai ocupa si satele din munti si îsi întoarce armata din drum. Petru si Asan se întorc de peste Dunăre cu forte proaspete de la vlahii si cumanii de pe celălalt mal, si încep să prade Tracia.

Împăratul Isaac trimite o nouă armată, de data aceasta sub conducerea sebastocratorului Ioan, cel care îl pălmuise pe Asan. Acesta nu rămâne mult timp la comandă, fiind bănuit de complot, si este înlocuit cu Ioan Cantacuzino, cumnatul împăratului. Acesta nu are nici o experientă militară si, în urma unui atac pe timp de noapte, suferă o grea înfrângere din partea vlahilor.

În 1187, împăratul Isaac revine în regiune în fruntea unei noi armate si, desi îi urmăreste pe răsculati de la Adrianopole la Filipolis si Triadita (actuala Sofia), nu reuseste să obtină nici o victorie majoră. El revine la Constantinopol pentru a petrece iarna, iar campania militară este reluată în primăvara lui 1188. Operatiunile se opresc temporar în momentul în care Isaac o prinde pe nevasta lui Asan si primeste ca ostatic pe cel de-al treilea frate, Ionită.

Trei ani mai târziu, împăratul Isaac trece muntii Balcani, cu gândul să ocupe Târnovo, capitala Asănestilor, dar întimpinând o rezistentă îndârjită, se retrage. Pe drumul de întoarcere, armata sa cade într-o ambuscadă într-o trecătoare din munti si suferă pierderi grele. Împăratul însusi scapă cu fuga, pierzându-si coiful. Victoria întăreste si mai mult pozitia Asănestilor, care rămân stăpâni pe teritoriul dintre Dunăre si Balcani.

În 1194, Isaac îl numeste pe Alexios Gidos în fruntea ostilor din răsărit si pe Vasile Vatatzes comandant peste armata din apus. Acesta din urmă poartă o bătălie cu vlahii lângă Arcadiopole si este înfrânt, murind omorât în luptă. Împăratul se decide să preia încă o dată conducerea. Insă, în primăvara lui 1195, desi beneficiind de o oaste mare si sprijin trimis de socrul său, regele Bela al Ungariei, pierde din nou luptele.
Isaac este detronat de un grup de nobili nemultumiti si este înlocuit de fratele său, Alexios III Anghelos, care le propune pacea răsculatilor vlahi. Petru si Asan pun conditii inacceptabile si, în timp ce Alexios se află în răsărit pentru a înăbusi răscoala pornită de un rebel din Cilicia, vlahii risipesc o altă armată bizantină în apropiere de orasul Seres. În 1196, Asan este ucis în urma intrigilor bizantinilor, recunoscuti pentru asemenea manevre. Aceeasi soartă o are si Petru, un an mai târziu (1197). După Petru, tronul este preluat de cel de-al treilea frate, Ionită cel Frumos (Caloian, 1197-1207), ce dovedeste remarcabile însusiri de militar si om politic. În urma mai multor victorii împotriva bizantinilor, întelegând că Bizantul nu-l va recunoaste niciodată ca „împărat”, Ionită apelează la Papa Inocentiu III, căruia îi cere recunoasterea ca Impărat al bulgarilor si vlahilor, precum si titlul de Patriarh pentru întâi-stătătorul bisericii sale.

Profitând de conjunctură, Inocentiu III urmăreste să impună autoritatea bisericii romano-catolice asupra statului Asănestilor. În prima sa scrisoare, formulată în decembrie 1199, Inocentiu afirmă că victoriile “nobilului Ionită” au fost posibile cu ajutorul lui Dumnezeu. De asemenea, Papa îi invocă pe strămosii lor comuni – romanii – dovadă a faptului că Ionită, împreună cu fratii săi Petru si Asan, erau vlahi, iar nu bulgari, asa cum încearcă să dovedească azi unii istorici bulgari. Mai mult, cronica grecească a lui Nicetas mentionează în mai multe rânduri că Petru si Asan erau „vlahi” si că ei apartineau acelui neam de oameni „care locuiesc în muntele Hemus” si care „înainte se numeau Mysi, iar acum vlahi se cheamă”. Originea valahă a fratilor Asănesti este confirmată de numeroase izvoare contemporane.

Se pune întrebarea cum au reusit acesti vlahi, care nu constituiau o majoritate în acea regiune, să repurteze asemenea succese? Răspunsul constă în faptul că vlahii erau elita conducătoare peste mozaicul de neamuri din regiune. În plus, ei aveau deja o traditie în opozitia fată de autoritătile bizantine. De exemplu, în jurul anului 1000, ei sprijiniseră activ rezistenta împotriva împăratului Vasile al II-lea Macedoneanul. De asemenea, ei fusesera principalii animatori ai unei răscoale cu caracter etnic si social din zona specific românească, Larissa (Thesalia) în preajma anului 1066.

Ionită îi răspunde Papei abia în 1202 si vorbeste despre sine folosind cuvintele Caloiohannes Imperator Bulgarorum et Blachorum (Caloian, împăratul bulgarilor si al vlahilor). Ii multumeste Papei pentru scrisoare si îi dezvăluie că si fratii lui, Petru si Asan, încercaseră să ia legătura cu el, nereusind însă din cauza vicisitudinilor vremii.

Papa se dovedeste un abil negociator si astfel, pe 8 noiembrie 1204, Ionită este încoronat ca „rege al bulgarilor si valahilor”, primind coroana, sceptrul si bula de recunoastere trimise de Papă, împreună cu un steag cu chipul apostolului Petru. Ionită primeste si dreptul de a bate monedă. Întâi-stătătorul bisericii româno-bulgare, Vasile, devine arhiepiscop primat. În schimb, Ionită îi dă cardinalului un act prin care el, boierii si întregul cler se obligau a se supune bisericii romano-catolice si a urma legile si ritualul acesteia. Se specifică, de asemenea, că teritoriile noi ce s-ar adăuga statului lui Ionită vor urma acelasi regim. Cardinalul se întoarce la Roma, luând cu el si doi copii, unul fiind chiar fiul lui Ionită, pentru a studia limba latină la Roma.

Spre dezamăgirea Papei, împărătia Asănestilor nu devine un pilon al Romei în sud-estul Europei si nici nu se apropie de Imperiul Latin de Răsărit, fondat de Balduin de Flandra, care cucerise Bizantul în cea de-a patra Cruciadă (1204) proclamându-se Impărat al Imperiului Latin de Răsărit.

Ionită, dorind să stabilească legături cu noii stăpâni ai Bizantului, trimite o delegatie, cerând să fie recunoscut si de acestia. Latinii fac însă o greseală fatală, cerându-i regelui să nu li se mai adreseze ca unor egali, ci ca un vasal stăpânilor săi.

Lui Ionită, ofensat, care porneste război, i se alătură o serie de nobili greci, fosti ofiteri în armata lui Alexios III, izgoniti de latini. Ionită preia conducerea noii aliante, iar latinii ajung repede să înteleagă ce greseală au făcut. Vrând să înăbuse revolta lui Ionită, ei se decid să lovească punctul principal si asediază Adrianopolele. Bătălia care are loc în ziua de 5 aprilie 1205 se încheie însă cu un dezastru pentru latini, iar Balduin este prins si dus la Târnovo, unde moare în chinuri grozave, după cum povesteste cronicarul Nicetas.

Ionită socoteste că e momentul potrivit să-si rotunjească hotarele împărătiei. Intentia avea să îi fie fatală. In timpul asediului asupra Salonicului, rămas fără rege după moartea nobilului Bonifaciu de Montferrat, este este asasinat de Manaster, unul din comandantii cumani aliati, pe 8 octombrie 1207. Papii încearcă mentinerea statului Asănestilor în sfera lor de influentă, prin abile actiuni diplomatice si politico-militare, cu implicarea regatului Ungariei, a Ordinului Teutonilor si a Imperiului Latin. Totul se dovedeste zadarnic. Urmasul lui Ionită, Borilă (un nepot de frate, 1207-1218), convoacă un sinod la Târnovo, după legea ortodoxă, iar urmasul său, Ioan Asan II (fiul lui Asan), care domneste între 1218 si 1241, repudiază oficial legăturile cu biserica Romei. În 1235, patriarhul ecumenic de la Niceea recunoaste oficial patriarhia autonomă a Bulgariei. În timpul lui Ioan Asan II, împărătia Asănestilor cuprinde Moesia (teritoriile dintre Dunăre si Balcani), o parte din Serbia cu orasele Belgrad, Nis si Skopie, Macedonia cu orasele Seres, Ohrida, Bitolia, Prosak si Sturmita, Tracia cu Adrianopole si Dimotica si Albania, fără orasul Durazzo.

In anul 1258, dinastia regilor valahi se stinge, iar statul devine în scurta vreme exclusiv bulgar. Valahii sunt redusi la rangul de minoritate, supusă intens deznationalizării. Statul Asănestilor, devenit acum cel de-al doilea tarat bulgar, este lichidat ulterior de expansiunea otomană din prima jumătate a secolului al XIV-lea.

Bogdan Mateciuc

Regnum Blachorum et Bulgaroum

Complex issue of ethnic composition of population in the 2nd Vlach Bulgarian Empire's attracted a lot of  dispute!
Nikitas Choniates in his investigation did not speak about the Bulgarians, but just about Vlahs,of them also speak primarily contemporary Western historians:
Ansbert,Robert Clari,Villehardouin......
Nikitas Choniates says explicitly that: "People of the Balkan mountains, which were previously called Meziens, now Vlahs"..later Teodoros Skytariotis adds: "in Teme Paristrion at that time people were called Vlahs"

The 'Second Bulgarian Empire.' Its Origin and History to 1204 by R. Wolff II

With the defeat of the Bulgarians and the annihilation of their state there begins in 1018 a period of one hundred and sixty seven years which is badly documented. The Byzantine historians deal very little with Bulgaria, now a portion of the Empire, and such information as they give is often contained in sub-clauses and phrases of sentences and paragraphs dealing primarily with other matters. The details of Basil II's own administrative reform of the Bulgarian Church (1020), including the list of bishoprics, is preserved in a later chrysobull of Michael Palaeologus, from which we known in general that the jurisdiction of the new archbishopric of Achrida was left as great in extent as that claimed by the former Bulgarian patriarchate, now abolished. [19] Seals of local Byzantine officials also provide valuable information as to the nature of local Byzantine administration in Bulgaria. [20]

One of the developments which may certainly be ascribed to this dark period is the growth in importance of the Vlach population. Essentially a pastoral and usually a nomad people, the Vlachs of the Balkans have throughout their history regularly been at least nominally subject to some other national group. Speaking a Latin dialect closely allied to modern Rumanian (the language of the Vlachs north of the Danube), the Vlachs disappear from our sources during the Middle Ages for as much as several hundred years at a time; but the probability is high that they were always resident in the Balkans, watching their flocks, and practicing transhumance and brigandage. Just before the outbreak of Basil's wars with the Bulgarians the Vlachs reappear — after over four hundred years — in the Byzantine sources. From then on, throughout the eleventh century, references to them multiply, and their traces become more frequent, until, by the third quarter of the eleventh century, we find them in large numbers wintering on the eastern slopes of the Pindus mountains and in the Thessalian plain, and summering in the high mountains to the north, living in close communion with the Bulgarians, and revolting against the high taxes imposed upon their herds by Constantine X Dukas (1059-1067). [21]
Because the sources are on the whole so scanty, and because they sometimes lend themselves to conflicting interpretation, this period (1018-1185) and the one which follows (1185-1204), with which we are most concerned, have become the subject of much controversy between chauvinist Bulgarian and Rumanian scholars.

In general, it is the Bulgarians' purpose to proclaim, so far as they can make the testimony of the sources conform to their preconceptions, that Bulgaria remained a single administrative unit until late in the period; that the Bulgarians were always restive under and rebellious against Byzantine rule; and, above all, that the Vlachs played no part in the developments at the end of the period of Byzantine occupation which led to the formation of the second 'Bulgarian' Empire. Of this school the most famous representative is Vasil Zlatarski, although Peter Mutafciev, Peter Nikov, and Ivan Duicev have not been far behind. The Rumanians, for their part, are eager to show that the Byzantine government divided Bulgaria into at least two military 'Duchies'; that the Bulgarians of this period were a primitive people with no culture of their own, willing to submit to Byzantium; and, above all, that it was the Vlach portion of the population who led the revolt of 1186 and brought new glory and independence under a Vlach dynasty to the submerged and apathetic Bulgarians. Of this school the most famous representative is, of course, the incredibly prolific Nicolae Iorga; but the most effective scholarly research has been performed and the most notable contributions to
knowledge made by Nicolae Banescu. Iorga and Banescu have sometimes been challenged by Constantin Giurescu.
I feel no sympathy for either party to the polemic, behind which, during the nineteen-twenties and thirties, there lay ill-concealed the wish to impugn or to justify, as the case might be, Rumanian possession of the southern Dobrudja. This is a matter which western scholars would not ordinarily study with reference to mediaeval conditions. But in the Balkans mediaeval data accumulated by scholars are often regarded as providing strong arguments for the settlement of present-day controversies. For this reason the contributions of the Bulgarian and Rumanian historians must be used with great care, and the sources themselves examined afresh.
It should be said at once that such a new study of the sources produces convincing evidence that in this controversy the Rumanians on the whole have much the best of it. Between 1018 and 1185 the administration of Bulgaria, contrary to the views of the modern Bulgarian scholars, was almost surely divided by the Byzantines into two 'duchies.' One of these, Paristrion, sometimes called Paradounavis, included, as its name indicates, that part of Bulgaria between the Danube and the Balkan mountains, and its  had his seat at Dristra (Silistria) on the river. The other 'duchy' was called Bulgaria; its commander had his seat at Skoplye in Macedonia. With regard to the Bulgarian attitude toward Byzantine domination, which became increasingly oppressive after Basil II, it may fairly be said that, despite several revolts in the eleventh century, there were no uprisings under the Comnenoi; the revolt of 1186 was the first for more than a century. Moreover, the testimony of the sources is overwhelming that the brothers Peter (Kalopeter) and Asen (Assen, Asan), who led the revolt of 1186, were Vlachs. A brief review of the controversy over these points will serve to guide the student through the confusing polemic of both sides and to provide him with an understanding of the origins of the 'second Bulgarian Empire.'
In 1920, Iorga published an article in which he tried to demonstrate that during the reign of Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118) certain local chieftains mentioned by Anna Comnena as living along the right bank of the Danube in Paristrion were Vlachs. Iorga relates their names — Tatos, Chalis, Sethslav and Satzas — to similar Vlach proper names. An examination of the passage in Anna Comnena indicates that there were only three of these chieftains, and not four, as Iorga mistakenly thought. [22] Anna says that one of them ruled in Dristra (Silistria) and the others in Vitzina and elsewhere; and that the 'Scyths' (Pechenegs) who were invading the Empire from the north came to an agreement with these rulers before crossing the Danube, and moving on to harass Byzantine territory, where, between 1086 and 1091, they were to cause Alexius grave concern. Anna does not give a name to the people to whom the chieftains belonged. Iorga argues that since the 'Scyths' had to consult with them, the chieftains themselves could not have been 'Scyths'; there is nothing to show that they were Bulgarians; their lands are said to have been planted with wheat and millet, which were common Vlach crops. Iorga therefore concludes that they were Vlachs, and that the chieftains dominated miniature imitations of Byzantine frontier duchies under a loose Pecheneg control, and out of Byzantine jurisdiction. He adds — without any evidence whatever — that their sway extended across the Danube into those portions of modern Rumania long known as 'Vlasca.' [23]
These conclusions were accepted by Banescu, who accumulated evidence to show the nature of Byzantine administration in Bulgaria between Basil's conquest in 1018 and the revolt of Peter and Asen in 1186. From passages in Cedrenus and Attaliotes and from seals, he began in 1922 to construct the lists of Byzantine 'dukes' of Bulgaria and Paristrion. Dukes of Bulgaria are attested to under Basil, who sent Constantine Diogenes and John Triacontopoulos,  and  with residence perhaps at Nish or Sofia (Triaditza, Serdica). Dukes of Paristrion, Banescu then thought, did not appear until the reign of Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-1055), when Katakalon Kekaumenos held the post. His immediate successors, Michael, son of Anastasius, Basil Apokapes, Nicephorus Botaneiates, the Vestarch Nestor, and George, son of Dekanos, are also known. Their title was  or sometimes  after the site of their headquarters; sometimes the word  is used as the equivalent of . After the accession of the Comnenoi in 1081, no mention of the individual dukes' names had previously been noted; but Banescu concluded that their office was maintained until the death of Manuel. To the evidence, such as it is, provided by Anna Comnena's mention of the three 'Vlach' chieftains Banescu adds that which Cedrenus and Attaliotes indirectly supply, and maintains that the Vlach element emerged under the Comnenoi as effective local rulers. Pushing aside Zonaras' clear statement that Tatos was a Pecheneg, and clinging to Attaliotes' vague mention of the polyglot population of the Danube river cities, Banescu, like Iorga, concludes that Tatos and his colleagues were 'Rumanians.' [24]
Returning to the subject, Banescu later added new and reliable evidence from Cedrenus and Cinnamus to show that, by the time of Basil's conquest, 'Bulgaria' meant to the Byzantines only that western portion of the country which had so long held out against them. He shows that Skoplye was its capital, and that there the 'Duke of all Bulgaria' (once called , once ) exercised supervisory authority over the local military commanders at Strumitza, Prilep, Prizren, Achrida, Castoria, and Stip.

In the east the Dukes of Paristrion — the term which had replaced 'Bulgaria' as applying to the territory along the river — were subject directly to the Emperor. Newly discovered seals, and a close study of Skylitzes enabled Banescu to draw up a fuller list of the Byzantine dukes of Bulgaria, and to add to the list of dukes of Paristrion a new founder of the line, Simeon Vestes (1030). [25] Although further data were added in later articles, [26] the basic Rumanian position in the controversy has not been altered: it emphasizes the division of former Bulgarian territory into two duchies and the importance of the Vlach element. In 1925 the Bulgarian response to the articles began. Mutafciev referred Iorga and Banescu to articles by Vassilievskii and Kulakovskii, and to Skabalanovich's book on the Byzantine church and state in the eleventh century, maintaining that these authorities had long since disproved the Rumanian theories. [27] But, as Banescu was quick to point out, Mutafciev had only clouded the issue: these authorities' views turned out to be not germane, out of date, or in substantial agreement with the Rumanian position. Indeed, Banescu proceeded to demonstrate that the duchy of Paristrion dated as far back as the victory of John Tsimisces over the Russian Svyatoslav in 972. [28]

During the next ten years Mutafciev wrote in Bulgarian and then translated into French and expanded an attack on the Rumanians. Here for the first time he argued that the word 'Vlach' does not mean Vlach, that is to say a Latin-speaking person, but is a device used by the Byzantine sources to avoid saying 'Bulgarian.' [29] In this way he turned the Rumanian arguments against their authors: if 'Bulgaria' meant to the Byzantines only the southern and eastern portion of the country (which the Bulgarian historians are prepared to admit only for the period of the Comnenoi) then the word 'Bulgarian' means only an inhabitant of that part of the country; and the word 'Vlach' is simply a way of designating Bulgarians from the northern and western parts of Bulgaria. 'Vlach' is only a façon de parler; it means a Bulgarian from that part of Bulgaria no longer called Bulgaria. These views were developed and expanded by Zlatarski, who disagrees with Mutafciev on details, but whose basic position is the same. [30] All the detailed arguments of the Bulgarians were once again, and I think conclusively, answered by Banescu. [31]
This is not to say that the Rumanian position on the period 1018-1081 is to be adopted in toto. I am convinced by their demonstration that from the time of Basil II on, the Byzantines had a divided military administration for Bulgaria. I believe that the reappearance of the Vlachs in the sources betokens perhaps an increase in their numbers, and surely an increase in their participation in the national life. But I cannot accept Iorga's thesis that the right bank of the Danube was held by Vlach local chieftains as early as the time of Alexius Comnenus. Indeed, Iorga's view, accepted by Banescu, has not won universal acceptance even by Rumanians, but was combatted by Giurescu, who correctly refers to it
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as a mere conjecture. [32] So much then for the problem of administration after the conquest.
During the years between 1018 and the accession of Alexius Comnenus in 1081 there were three Bulgarian revolts. The first (1040-1041) arose because of the intolerable exactions of Michael IV's minister, John the Orphanotrophos, who for the first time demanded that taxes be paid in Bulgaria in money rather than in kind. The rebellion was led by Peter Deljan, probably a son of Gabriel Radomir, himself the son of the great Tsar Samuel. Gabriel Radomir had been murdered by his rival John Vladislav, son of Aaron, who, it is now believed, was the representative of the legitimate Bulgarian royal family against the Armenian 'Comitopouloi.' The hostility between the rival families continued into the third generation: Alusian, son of John Vladislav, first left Byzantine service in Asia Minor to join Deljan's revolt, then betrayed and blinded Deljan, and finally betrayed the rebels to the Byzantines, [33] who had in any case defeated them outside Thessalonica. Whatever conclusions may be drawn from the sources as to the legitimacy of Deljan, there can be little doubt that this was a genuinely Bulgarian revolt, inspired by popular discontent, and made possible by popular loyalty to the old dynasty.
Thereafter, the influx of Pechenegs and Cumans turned Bulgaria into a battle ground between Byzantium and these Turkish tribes; and we hear of no expressions of Bulgarian national self-consciousness or of rebellion until 1073. Then a new revolt broke out during a lull in the Pecheneg war. This was engineered by Bulgarian nobles under George Voitech, () with the assistance of the Serbs.
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who supplied a new 'Tsar' in the person of their prince Constantine Bodinus, who took the name of Peter. The revolt was put down by Byzantine troops. [34] Shortly thereafter, a third revolt (ca 1078-1080) broke out, headed by a Greek Bogomile named Lika and by a Slavic Bogomile named Dobromir or Dragomir. The country was being overrun by the Pechenegs, who seem to have supported the revolt; and the Bogomile religious views of its two leaders indicate that there was more behind this movement than mere political discontent with Byzantine rule. It is virtually impossible to decide what role was played by the Bulgarian population during this uprising. [35]
But, to judge from the decreasing effectiveness of the three successive revolts, and from the cessation of all rebellion for a period of more than a century under the Comnenoi, it seems reasonable to suppose that, after the mid-eleventh century, the ability of the Bulgarians to revolt successfully against Byzantium was diminished. The first revolt seems to have been purely Bulgarian; the second was partly Serbian in inspiration; the third was probably religious rather than national. This diminishing effectiveness may be attributed partly to the exhaustion and depopulation suffered during the wars with Basil II; but it is surely to be explained in large measure by the fact that Bulgaria had become the scene of the war between Byzantium and the Pechenegs and Cumans, as well as the staging ground for military operations against the Normans on the Adriatic coast, and the thoroughfare for the armies of the first three Crusades. Even Zlatarski refers to this period before 1185 as the 'period of Grecization.' [36] Here too, then, the views of the Rumanian scholars are substantially borne out.
19. F. Dölger, Regesten der Kaiserurkunden des Ostromischen Reiches, Abtheilung I, Reihe A. Corpus der griechischen Urkunden des Mittelalters mid der neueren Zeit (Munich and Berlin, 1932), pp. 103 f., no. 806. See also L. de Thalloczy, C. Jirecek, and E. de Sufflay, Ada et Diplomata res Albaniae mediae aetatis illustrantia (Vienna, 1913), I, 15-16, numbers 58 and 59. The basic discussion is H. Gelzer, 'Ungedruckte und wenig bekannte Bistümerverzeichnisse der orientalischen Kirche / Byzantinische Zeitschrift, n (1893), 41 ff.
20. Seals recently discovered at Silistria (Dristra) were first published by their discoverer, P. Papahagi, 'Sceaux de plomb byzantins inédits trouves à Silistrie / Revue Historique du Sud-Est Europeen, VIII (1931), 299-311, with rough sketches, and, as it turns out, many misreadings. They were republished with photographs and discussed by N. Banescu, ‘Les sceaux byzantins trouves a Silistrie / Byzantion, VII (1931), 321-331. See also Banescu's even more recent and conclusive discoveries, 'Sceau inédit de Katakalon, Katepano de Paradounavon / Échos d'Orient, XXXV (1936), 405-408; and 'Sceau de Demetrios Katakalon, Katepano de Paradounavon / Ibid., XXXIV (1940), 157-160. See also the splendid historical article of M. Lascaris, 'Sceau de Radomir Aaron / Byzantinoslavica III (1931), 404-413, who gathers all the available evidence about one of the last of Samuel's descendants to rule in Bulgaria, who entered the Byzantine service. For others see G. Schlumberger, Sigillographie de l'Empire Byzantin (Paris, 1884), pp. 316-317; M. Lascaris, in a review of K. M.  (Alousian) Byzantinoslavica, II (1930), 424; V. Zlatarski 'Molivdovul na Samuela Alusiyan,' Izvestiya na Bulgarskiya Archeologischeski Institut, I (1921) 86-101; 'Molivdovulut na Alusiyana / Izvestiya na Istoricheskoto Druzhestvo v Sofiya, X (1930), 49-63. B. A. Panchenko, 'Katalog Molivdovulov kollektsii russkago archeologicheskago Instituta v Konstantinopolye,' Izvestiya russkago archeologischeskago Instituta v Konstantinopolye, VIII (1903), 225, no. 66, is a seal of a 'strategos of Distra.' This was republished, Ibid, x (1905), 296. Banescu does not refer to its first appearance.
21. See below, Appendix A.
22. ' ' (Alexias, ed. Reifferscheid, I, 222; ed. Leib [Paris, 1943], II, 81.) Tatos is also called Chales; the two are the same person. See below, note 32.
23. N. Iorga, 'Les premières cristallisations d'état des Roumains,' Acadèmie Roumaine, Bulletin de la Section Historique, V-VIII (1920), 33-46. The chief source is Anna Comnena, Alexias, ed. Reifferscheid, I, 222 ff; ed. Leib, II, 81 f.
24. N. Banescu, 'Les premièrs témoignages byzantins sur les Roumains du Bas-Danube,' Byzantinisch-Neugriechische Jahrbücher, III (1922), 287-311. Chief sources are Cedrenos, II, 476, 483, 487, 497, 583, 584, 585, 587, 602, 607, 610; Attaliotes, p. 204; Zonaras II, 713, which Banescu prefers to ignore. For the seals, see Schlumberger, Sigillographie, pp. 240, 103, 241, 710-711. See also Banescu's shorter article, 'La "Roma nuova" alle foci del Danubio,' L'Europa Orientate, III (1923), 580-585, in which chauvinism is more apparent than in some of the others.
25. N. Banescu, 'Changements politiques dans les Balkans après la conquête de l'Empire Bulgare de Samuel (1018). Nouveaux Duchés Byzantins: Bulgarie et Paristrion,' Académie Roumaine, Bulletin de la Section Historique, X (1923), 1-24 (separate pagination). Almost all the new evidence is supplied by seals published by J. Mordtmann, '' , XVII (1886), supplementary volume, 144 ff. Some additional data from Georgian sources (Vita beati patris nostri Ioannis atque Euthymii, ed. P. Peeters, Analecta Bollandiana, XXXVI-XXXVII [1917-1919], 50).
26. N. Banescu, 'Ein neuer ,' Byzantinische Zeitschrift XXV (1925) pp. 331-332. The new addition is mentioned by Kekaumenos (ed. Vassilievsky and Jernstedt), p. 181. This brings the total for 'Bulgaria' to thirteen. See also N. Banescu, 'Unbekannte Statthalter der Themen Paristrion und Bulgarien: Romanos Diogenes und Nicephorus Botaneiates,' Ibid., XXX (1930), 439-444, containing new data provided by a seal, cited above note 20, as published by Panchenko, and by another passage in Attaliotes (p. 97). Here Banescu specifically equates .
27. First in BZ, XXV (1925), 211; then in a note in BZ, XXVI (1926), 250-251. V. G. Vassilievskii, 'Vizantiya i Pechenegi,' Trudy (St Petersburg, 1908), I, 1-175; Yu. Kulakovskii, 'Gde nachodilas' vidrinskaya eparchia konstantinopolskago Patriarchata?' Vizantiiski Vremennik, IV (1897), 315-336. Kulakovskii tries to show (pp. 327 ff.) that Tatos and his three (really two) fellow local rulers were Russians. His line of argument, up to the conclusion, is the same as that followed by Iorga to show that they were 'Rumanians.' Exactly the same passages from Anna, Cedrenus, and Attaliotes are cited; but the proof that Tatos = Tatush (Russian) is no more (and no less) convincing to me than Iorga's that Tatos = Tatul (Rumanian). Iorga's work was all done for him by Kulakovskii; he should at least have cited the article; and, to that extent, Mutafciev's indignation is justified. N. Skabalanovich, Vizantiiskoe gosudarstvo i tserkov v XI veke (St Petersburg, 1884), pp. 225-227, gives a very short account, now out of date. V. N. Zlatarski, 'Kakuv narod se razbira u Anna, Komnina pod izraza ,' Izvestiya na Istoricheskoto Druzhestvo v Sofiya, XI-XII (1931-1932), 71-83, concludes that the local rulers were Uzes, not Pechenegs, Cumans, Russians, or Vlachs. See the most recent work of Gyoni, cited note 32 below.
28. N. Banescu, 'À propos des duchés byzantins de Paristrion et de Bulgarie,' Revue Historique du Sud-Est Européen, III (1926), 321-325; 'La domination byzantine sur les régions du bas-Danube,' Académie Roumaine, Bulletin de la Section Historique, XIII (1927), 10-22; 'Ein ethnographisches Problem am Unterlauf der Donau aus dem XI. Jahrhundert,' Byzantion, VI (1931), 297-307.
29. P. Mutafciev, 'Bulgari i Rumuni v istoriyata na Dunavskite zemli,' Godishnik na Sofiiskiya Universitet, Ist-fil fak. XXIII (1926-1927), 1-24; Bulgares et Roumains dans l'histoire des pays danubiens (Sofia, 1932). See Iorga's review in Revue Historique du Sud-Est Europeen, X (1933), 67-72. I have not seen the response to Mutafciev by P. Panaitescu, 'Les relations bulgaro-roumains au moyen âge,' Revista Aromaneasca I (1929), 9-31. BZ, XLI (1941), 262, reports an article by I. Duicev on the 'theme' of Bulgaria, reference to which he has found in MS Vat. gr. 299 of the fourteenth century, containing a text of the eleventh or twelfth. The article, which I have not seen, and whose Bulgarian title is not recorded in BZ, appeared in the Godishnik of the National Library and National Museum of Plovdiv, 1937-1939 (Sofia, 1940), p. 797.
30. V. Zlatarski, 'Ustroistvo Bolgarii i polozhenie bolgarskago naroda v pervoe vremya poslye pokoreniya ich Vasiliem II Bolgaroboitseyu,' Seminarium Kondakovianum, IV (1931), 49-68. F. Dölger, in a brief notice of this article BZ, XXXI (1931), 443-444, points out the ineffectiveness of Zlatarski's argument that Basil's maintenance of unity in the ecclesiastical administration of Bulgaria necessarily implies maintenance of a unified civil and military administration. See also 'Politicheskoto polozhenie na severna Bulgariya prez XI. i XII. vekove,' Izvestiya na Istoricheskoto Druzhestvo v Sofiya IX (1929), pp. 50, separate pagination. Zlatarski has also written an article on the subject in the Festschrift for the Yugoslav scholar, Sisic (Zagreb, 1929), pp. 143-148, inaccessible to me. 'Edna datirana pripiska na Grutski ot sredata na XI vek,' Byzantinoslavica, I (1929), 23-24, maintains that , far from being the equivalent of Paristrion, is a family name. This point was met by S. V. Kougeas, ,' , III (1930), 458-462, and K. Amantos, ,' ibid., IV. (1931), 80, who show clearly that Zlatarski is wrong.
31. N. Banescu, 'La Question du Paristrion,' Byzantion, VIII (1933), 277-308, where he lists Zlatarski's seven chief points, and answers them one by one. See also the still more recent sigillographic evidence published by Banescu, and cited above, note 20.
32. C. Giurescu, 'O noua sinteza a trecutului nostru,' Revista Istorica Romana, II (1932), 2, calls Iorga's conclusions on the Rumanian origin of the three chieftains 'nedovedita' (unproved), and corrects Iorga's misreading of the passage in Anna, rightly reducing the number of the chieftains from four to three. See also V. Bogrea's note published, Universitatea din Cluj, Anuarul Institutului de Istoria Nationala, I (1921-1922), 380-381. For Giurescu's views on the Vlachs of the Balkans see his Istoria Romanilor (Bucharest, 1938), I, 310 ff. The subject has most recently been thoroughly reviewed by M. Gyoni, Zur Frage der Rumänischen Staatsbildungen im XI. Jahrhundert in Paristrion (Archaisierende Volksnamen und ethnische Wirklichkeit in der 'Alexias' von Anna Komnene) [Ost-mitteleuropdische Bibliothek, ed. E. Lukinich, no. 48 (Budapest, 1944)] pp. 106. Like the other works of Gyoni, here cited, this became available only after the completion of this study. It examines all the polemic on the subject of the national origin of the three chieftains, makes a searching study of the vocabulary of Anna Comnena, and concludes that they were probably Pechenegs.
33. Zlatarski, Istoriya, II, 41 ff.; and 'Wer war Peter Deljan,' Suomalaisen Tiedeakaiemian Toimitaksia, Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae, Series B 27 (Helsinki, 1932), 354-363. Psellus, who, Zlatarski is sure, got his information from Alusian, a friend of his, says that Deljan was illegitimate; and Zonaras copies Psellus. From Skylitzes-Cedrenos Zlatarski derives a tradition that he prefers: Deljan was legitimate. He could not have been accepted by the Bulgarians, Zlatarski argues, had he not been so. See also Schlumberger, Épopée, in, 286 ff.; Vassilievsky, Trudy, I, 258 ff; and N. P. Blagoev, 'Delyan i negovoto vustanie v Moravsko i Makedoniya protiv Vizantiitsite,’ Makedonski Pregled, IV (1928), 1-2, 175-176. Harold, son of the king of Norway, took part in the Byzantine campaign against the rebels. Other sources are Kekaumenos and the Armenian Matthew of Edessa. See Adontz, loc. cit. (note 16 above), pp. 40 ff. for the proof that these murders were not, as had previously been believed, all committed within the family of the Comitopouloi. Samuel and Aaron were not brothers, as has been thought; Samuel had only one brother, David.
34. Zlatarski, Istoriya, II, 138 ff. (Source Skylitzes.) See also the Presbyter of Dioclea, ed. F. Sisic, Letopis Popa Duklyanina, Srpska Kralyevska Akademiya, Posebna Izdanya XVIII (Belgrade-Zagreb, 1928), 357-358. (Latin text.)
35. Zlatarski, Istoriya, II, 162 ff., and especially Appendix 5, pp. 495-496, where Attaliotes and Skylitzes' accounts are compared and discussed.
36. Ibid., p. 167, 'Epocha na Romeizatsiyata.' See also Zlatarski's article, 'Namestniki-upraviteli na Bulgariya prez tsaruvaneto na Aleksiya I Komnin,' Byzantinoslavica, IV (1932), 139-158 and 371-398, based almost entirely upon the letters of Archbishop Theophylact of Achrida.