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Samuel of Bulgaria

April 12, 2024

"Samuil" redirects here. For the village in Bulgaria, see Samuil (village). For the municipality in Bulgaria, see Samuil Municipality. For the Brythonic king ("Samuil of the Britons"), see Sawyl Penuchel. For the Hungarian king, see Samuel Aba.

Samuel or Samoil[2] (also Samuil; Bulgarian: Самуил, pronounced [sɐmuˈiɫ]; Macedonian: Самоил/Самуил,[3][4] pronounced [samɔˈiɫ/sɐmuˈiɫ]; Old Church Slavonic: Самоилъ; died October 6, 1014) was the Tsar (Emperor) of the Western Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014.[5] From 977 to 997, he was a general under Roman I of Bulgaria,[6] the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria, and co-ruled with him, as Roman bestowed upon him the command of the army and the effective royal authority.[7] As Samuel struggled to preserve his country's independence from the Byzantine Empire, his rule was characterized by constant warfare against the Byzantines and their equally ambitious ruler Basil II.

Samuel
Tsar of Bulgaria
Facial reconstruction based on his remains
Reign997 – 6 October 1014
PredecessorRoman
SuccessorGavril Radomir
Died6 October 1014
Prespa,[1] First Bulgarian Empire
SpousesAgatha
IssueGavril Radomir
Miroslava
DynastyCometopuli
FatherNicholas
MotherRipsimia of Armenia
ReligionBulgarian Orthodox

In his early years Samuel managed to inflict several major defeats on the Byzantines and to launch offensive campaigns into their territory.[8] In the late 10th century, the Bulgarian armies conquered the Serb principality of Duklja[9] and led campaigns against the Kingdoms of Croatia and Hungary. But from 1001, he was forced mainly to defend the Empire against the superior Byzantine armies. Samuel died of a heart attack on 6 October 1014, two months after the catastrophic battle of Kleidion. His successors failed to organize a resistance, and in 1018, four years after Samuel's death, the country capitulated, ending the five decades-long Byzantine–Bulgarian conflict.[10]

Samuel was considered "invincible in power and unsurpassable in strength".[11][12] Similar comments were made even in Constantinople, where John Kyriotes penned a poem offering a punning comparison between the Bulgarian Emperor and Halley's comet, which appeared in 989.[13][14] During Samuel's reign, Bulgaria gained control of most of the Balkans (with the notable exception of Thrace) as far as southern Greece. He moved the capital from Skopje to Ohrid,[8][15] which had been the cultural and military centre of southwestern Bulgaria since Boris I's rule,[16] and made the city the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. Because of this, his realm is sometimes called the Western Bulgarian Empire.[17][18] Samuel's energetic reign restored Bulgarian might on the Balkans, even though the Empire was disestablished after his death.

The rise of the Cometopuli edit

 
Bulgarian territory ca. 960.

The Cometopuli edit

See also: Cometopuli dynasty

Samuel was the fourth[19] and youngest son of count Nicholas, a Bulgarian noble, who might have been the count of Sredets district (modern-day Sofia),[20] although other sources suggest that he was a regional count of Prespa district in the region of Macedonia.[21] His mother was Rhipsime of Armenia.[22] The actual name of the dynasty is not known. Cometopuli is the nickname used by Byzantine historians which is translated as "sons of the count". The Cometopuli rose to power out of the disorder that occurred in the Bulgarian Empire from 966 to 971.

Rus' invasion and the deposition of Boris II edit

Main article: Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria
 
The Byzantines seize the capital Preslav.

During the reign of Emperor Peter I, Bulgaria prospered in a long-lasting peace with Byzantium. This was secured by the marriage of Peter with the Byzantine princess Maria Lakapina, granddaughter of Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos. However, after Maria's death in 963, the truce had been shaken and it was at this time or later that Peter I sent his sons Boris and Roman to Constantinople as honorary hostages, to honor the new terms of the peace treaty.[23] During these years the Byzantines and Bulgarians had entangled themselves in a war with Kievan Rus' Prince Sviatoslav, who invaded Bulgaria several times. After a defeat from Sviatoslav, Peter I suffered a stroke and abdicated his throne in 969 (he died the next year). Boris was allowed back to Bulgaria to take his father's throne, restore order and oppose Sviatoslav, but had little success. This was allegedly used by Nicholas and his sons, who were contemplating a revolt in 969.[24]

The Rus' invaded Byzantine Thrace in 970, but suffered a defeat in the Battle of Arcadiopolis. The new Byzantine Emperor John Tzimiskes used this to his advantage. He quickly invaded Bulgaria the following year, defeated the Rus, and conquered the Bulgarian capital Preslav. Boris II of Bulgaria was ritually divested of his imperial insignia in a public ceremony in Constantinople and he and his brother Roman of Bulgaria remained in captivity. Although the ceremony in 971 had been intended as a symbolic termination of the Bulgarian Empire, the Byzantines were unable to assert their control over the western provinces of Bulgaria. Count Nicholas, Samuel's father, who had close ties to the royal court in Preslav,[25] died in 970. In the same year[26] "the sons of the count" (the Cometopuli) David, Moses, Aaron and Samuel rebelled.[27] The series of events are not clear due to contradicting sources, but it is sure that after 971 Samuel and his brothers were the de facto rulers of the western Bulgarian lands.

In 973, the Cometopuli (described by Thietmar of Merseburg simply as the Bulgarians)[28] sent envoys to the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I in Quedlinburg in an attempt to secure the protection of their lands.[29] The brothers ruled together in a tetrarchy.[30] David ruled the southernmost regions and led the defense of one of the most dangerous border areas, around Thessaloniki and Thessaly.[30] The centres of his possessions were Prespa and Kastoria. Moses ruled from Strumitsa,[30] which would be an outpost for attacks on the Aegean coast and Serres. Aaron ruled from Sredets,[30] and was to defend the main road from Adrianople to Belgrade, and to attack Thrace. Samuel ruled northwestern Bulgaria from the strong fortress of Vidin. He was also to organize the liberation of the conquered areas to the east, including the old capital Preslav.[31] Some records suggest that David played a major role in this tumultuous period of Bulgarian history.[32]

War with Byzantium edit

 
The Byzantine Emperor John Tzimiskes returns in triumph in Constantinople with the captured Boris II and icons from Preslav.

After John I Tzimiskes died on 11 January 976, the Cometopuli launched an assault along the whole border. Within a few weeks, however, David was killed by Vlach vagrants and Moses was fatally injured by a stone during the siege of Serres.[33] The brothers' actions to the south detained many Byzantine troops and eased Samuel's liberation of northeastern Bulgaria. A local Bulgarian uprising broke there,[34] led by two boyars – Petar and Boyan, who became allies of the Cometopuli and submitted to their rule.[35] The Byzantine army was defeated and retreated to Crimea.[36][37] Any Bulgarian nobles and officials who had not opposed the Byzantine conquest of the region were executed, and the war continued north of the Danube until the enemy was scattered and Bulgarian rule was restored.[38]

After suffering these defeats in the Balkans, the Byzantine Empire descended into civil war. The commander of the Asian army, Bardas Scleros, rebelled in Asia Minor and sent troops under his son Romanus in Thrace to besiege Constantinople. The new Emperor Basil II did not have enough manpower to fight both the Bulgarians and the rebels and resorted to treason, conspiracy and complicated diplomatic plots.[39] Basil II made many promises to the Bulgarians and Scleros to divert them from allying against him.[40] Aaron, the eldest living Cometopulus, was tempted by an alliance with the Byzantines and the opportunity to seize power in Bulgaria for himself. He held land in Thrace, a region potentially subject to the Byzantine threat. Basil reached an agreement with Aaron, who asked to marry Basil's sister to seal it. Basil instead sent the wife of one of his officials with the bishop of Sebaste. However, the deceit was uncovered and the bishop was killed.[41] Nonetheless, negotiations proceeded and concluded in a peace agreement. The historian Scylitzes wrote that Aaron wanted sole power and "sympathized with the Romans".[42] Samuel learned of the conspiracy and the clash between the two brothers was inevitable. The quarrel broke out in the vicinity of Dupnitsa on 14 June 976 and ended with the annihilation of Aaron's family. Only his son, Ivan Vladislav, survived because Samuel's son Gavril Radomir pleaded on his behalf.[43] From that moment on, practically all power and authority in the state were held by Samuel and the danger of an internal conflict was eliminated.

However, another theory suggests that Aaron participated in the battle of the Gates of Trajan which took place ten years later. According to that theory Aaron was killed on 14 June 987 or 988.[44][45]

Co-rule with Roman edit

Main article: Battle of the Gates of Trajan

After the Byzantine plan to use Aaron to cause instability in Bulgaria failed, they tried to encourage the rightful heirs to the throne,[46] Boris II and Roman, to oppose Samuel. Basil II hoped that they would win the support of the nobles and isolate Samuel or perhaps even start a Bulgarian civil war.[47] Boris and Roman were sent back in 977[48] but while they were passing through a forest near the border, Boris was killed by Bulgarian guards who were misled by his Byzantine clothing. Roman, who was walking some distance behind, managed to identify himself to the guards.[49]

Roman was taken to Vidin, where he was proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria.[50] Samuel became his first lieutenant and general and together they gathered an army and fought the Byzantines.[51] During his captivity, Roman had been castrated on the orders of John I Tzimiskes so that he would not have heirs. Thus Samuel was certain to eventually succeed Roman. The new emperor entrusted Samuel with the state administration and became occupied with church and religious affairs.[52]

 
Bulgarians ambush and kill the governor of Thessalonica, duke Gregory Taronites.

As the main effort of Basil II was concentrated against the rebel Skleros, Samuel's armies attacked the European possessions of the Byzantine Empire. Samuel invaded not only Thrace and the area of Thessaloniki, but also Thessaly, Hellas and the Peloponnese. Many Byzantine fortresses fell to the Bulgarians.[53] Samuel wanted to seize the important fortress of Larissa, which controlled the key routes in Thessaly, and from 977 to 983 the town was blockaded. After starvation forced the Byzantines to surrender,[15] the population was deported to the interior of Bulgaria and the males were forced to enlist in the Bulgarian army.[54] Although Basil II sent forces to the region, they were defeated. With this victory, Bulgaria had gained influence over most of the southwestern Balkans, although it did not occupy some of these territories. From Larissa, Samuel took the relics of Saint Achilleios, which were laid in a specially built church of the same name on an island in Lake Prespa.[55][56][57]

The Bulgarian successes in the west raised fears in Constantinople, and after serious preparations, Basil II launched a campaign into the very centre of the Bulgarian Empire[58] to distract Samuel from southern Greece.[59][60] The Byzantine army passed through the mountains around Ihtiman and besieged Sredets in 986. The Byzantines assaulted the city for 20 days, but their attacks proved fruitless and costly: the Bulgarians came out of the city several times, killed many enemy soldiers and captured draught animals and horses. Eventually, the Bulgarian troops burned the siege equipment of the Byzantine army, forcing Basil II to withdraw to Thrace, but on 17 August 986,[61] while passing through the mountains, the Byzantine army was ambushed and routed at the Trajan's Gates Pass. This was a significant blow for Basil,[62][63] who was one of the few to return to Constantinople; his personal treasure was captured by the victors.[64][65]

"Even if the sun would have come down, I would have never thought that the Moesian [Bulgarian] arrows were stronger than the Avzonian [Roman, Byzantine] spears.
... And when you, Phaethon [Sun], descend to the earth with your gold-shining chariot, tell the great soul of the Caesar: The Danube [Bulgaria] took the crown of Rome. The arrows of the Moesians broke the spears of the Avzonians."

John Kyriotes Geometres on the battle of the Gates of Trajan.[66]

After the defeat, the rebellion of Bardas Phocas diverted the efforts of the Byzantine Empire into another civil war.[67][68][69] Samuel seized the opportunity and began to exert pressure on Thessaloniki.[70][71] Basil II sent a large army to the town and appointed a new governor, Gregorios Taronites,[72] but he was powerless to stop the Bulgarian advance. By 989, the Bulgarian troops had penetrated deep into Byzantine territory,[73] and seized many fortresses, including such important cities as Veria and Servia. In the south, the Bulgarians marched throughout Epirus and in the west they seized the area of modern Durrës (medieval Dyrrhachium or Drach) on the Adriatic Sea.[74][75][76]

In 989, Phocas was killed and his followers surrendered, and the following year Basil II reached an agreement with Skleros.[77] The Byzantines focused their attention on Bulgaria,[78] and counter-attacked in 991.[79][80] The Bulgarian army was defeated and Roman was captured while Samuel managed to escape.[81] The Byzantines conquered some areas; in 995, however, the Arabs invaded Asia Minor and Basil II was forced to move many of his troops to combat this new threat. Samuel quickly regained the lost lands and advanced south. In 996, he defeated the Byzantines in the battle of Thessaloniki. During the battle, Thessaloniki's governor, Gregorios, perished and his son Ashot was captured.[82] Elated by this success, the Bulgarians continued south. They marched through Thessaly, overcame the defensive wall at Thermopylae and entered the Peloponnese, devastating everything on their way.[83]

 
The Bulgarian defeat at Spercheios.

As a response, a Byzantine army under Nikephorus Uranos was sent after the Bulgarians, who returned north to meet it. The two armies met near the flooded river of Spercheios. The Byzantines found a place to ford, and on the night of 19 July 996 they surprised the unprepared Bulgarian army and routed it in the battle of Spercheios.[84] Samuel's arm was wounded and he barely escaped captivity; he and his son allegedly feigned death.[85] After nightfall they headed for Bulgaria and walked 400 kilometres (249 mi) home. Research of Samuel's grave suggests that the bone in his arm healed at an angle of 140° but remained crippled.[86]

Emperor edit

In 997, Roman died in captivity in Constantinople, ending the line of rulers started by Krum. Because of the war with Byzantium, it was dangerous to leave the throne vacant for long, and Samuel was chosen as the new Emperor of Bulgaria because he had the closest relations to the deceased emperor and was Roman's long-standing military commander.[87] The presbyter of Duklja also marked the event: "By that time among the Bulgarian people rose one Samuel, who proclaimed himself emperor. He led a long war against the Byzantines and expelled them from the whole territory of Bulgaria, so that the Byzantines did not dare to approach it".[88]

"Above the comet scorched the sky, below the Cometopoulos (Samuel) burns the West."

John Kyriotes Geometres[13]

Constantinople would not recognize the new emperor, as for the Byzantines Boris II's abdication symbolized the official end of Bulgaria and Samuel was considered a mere rebel. Instead Samuel sought recognition from the Pope, which would be a serious blow to the position of the Byzantines in the Balkans and would weaken the influence of the Patriarch of Constantinople, thereby benefiting both the See of Rome and Bulgaria. Samuel possibly received his imperial crown from Pope Gregory V.[89]

War against Serbs and Croats edit

In 998, Samuel launched a major campaign against the Duklja to prevent an alliance between Prince Jovan Vladimir and the Byzantines. When the Bulgarian troops reached Duklja, the Serbian prince and his people withdrew to the mountains. Samuel left part of the army at the foot of the mountains and led the remaining soldiers to besiege the coastal fortress of Ulcinj. In an effort to prevent bloodshed, he asked Jovan Vladimir to surrender. After the prince refused, some Serb nobles offered their services to the Bulgarians and, when it became clear that further resistance was fruitless, the Serbs surrendered. Jovan Vladimir was exiled to Samuel's palaces in Prespa.[90]

 
The wedding of Ashot and Samuel's daughter Miroslava.

The Bulgarian troops proceeded to pass through Dalmatia, taking control of Kotor and journeying to Dubrovnik. Although they failed to take Dubrovnik, they devastated the surrounding villages. The Bulgarian army then attacked Croatia in support of the rebel princes Krešimir III and Gojslav and advanced northwest as far as Split, Trogir and Zadar, then northeast through Bosnia and Raška and returned to Bulgaria.[90] This Croato-Bulgarian War allowed Samuel to install vassal monarchs in Croatia.[citation needed]

Samuel's relative Kosara fell in love with the captive Jovan Vladimir. The couple married after gaining Samuel's approval, and Jovan returned to his lands as a Bulgarian official along with his uncle Dragomir, whom Samuel trusted.[91] Meanwhile, Princess Miroslava fell in love with the Byzantine noble captive Ashot, son of Gregorios Taronites, the dead governor of Thessaloniki, and threatened to commit suicide if she was not allowed to marry him. Samuel conceded and appointed Ashot governor of Dyrrhachium.[92] Samuel also sealed an alliance with the Magyars when his eldest son and heir, Gavril Radomir, married the daughter of the Hungarian Grand Prince Géza.[93]

Advance of the Byzantines edit

The beginning of the new millennium saw a turn in the course of Byzantine-Bulgarian warfare.[94] Basil II had amassed an army larger and stronger than that of the Bulgarians: determined to definitively conquer Bulgaria, he moved much of the battle-seasoned military forces from the eastern campaigns against the Arabs to the Balkans[95][96] and Samuel was forced to defend rather than attack.[97]

In 1001, Basil II sent a large army under the patrician Theodorokanos and Nikephoros Xiphias to the north of the Balkan Mountains to seize the main Bulgarian fortresses in the area. The Byzantine troops recaptured Preslav and Pliska,[98] putting north-eastern Bulgaria once again under Byzantine rule. The following year, they struck in the opposite direction, marching through Thessaloniki to tear off Thessaly and the southernmost parts of the Bulgarian Empire. Although the Bulgarian commander of the fortress of Veroia, Dobromir, was married to one of Samuel's nieces, he voluntarily surrendered the fort and joined the Byzantines.[99] The Byzantines also captured the fortress of Kolidron without a fight, but its commander Dimitar Tihon managed to retreat with his soldiers and join Samuel.[100] The next town, Servia, did not fall so easily; its governor Nikulitsa organized the defenders well. They fought until the Byzantines penetrated the walls and forced them to surrender.[101] Nikulitsa was taken to Constantinople and given the high court title of patrician, but he soon escaped and rejoined the Bulgarians. He attempted to retake Servia, but the siege was unsuccessful and he was captured again and imprisoned.[102]

Meanwhile, Basil II's campaign reconquered many towns in Thessaly. He forced the Bulgarian population of the conquered areas to resettle in the Voleron area between the Mesta and Maritsa rivers. Edessa resisted for weeks but was conquered following a long siege. The population was moved to Voleron and its governor Dragshan was taken to Thessaloniki, where he was betrothed to the daughter of a local noble. Unwilling to be married to an enemy, Dragshan three times tried to flee to Bulgaria and was eventually executed.[103]

War with Hungary edit

Main article: Bulgarian–Hungarian wars
 
Map of Bulgaria in its largest extension during Samuel's reign circa 1000.[29]

The Byzantine–Bulgarian conflict reached its apex in 1003, when Hungary became involved. Since the beginning of the 9th century, the Bulgarian territory had stretched beyond the Carpathian Mountains as far as the Tisza River and the middle Danube. During the reign of Samuel, the governor of these northwestern parts was duke Ahtum, the grandson of duke Glad, who had been defeated by the Hungarians in the 930s. Ahtum commanded a strong army and firmly defended the northwestern borders of the Empire. He also built many churches and monasteries through which he spread Christianity in Transylvania.[104][105]

Although Gavril Radomir's marriage to the daughter of the Hungarian ruler had established friendly relations between the two strongest states of the Danube area, the relationship deteriorated after Géza's death. The Bulgarians supported Gyula and Koppány as rulers instead of Géza's son Stephen I. As a result of this conflict, the marriage between Gavril Radomir and the Hungarian princess was dissolved. The Hungarians then attacked Ahtum, who had directly backed the pretenders for the Hungarian crown. Stephen I convinced Hanadin, Ahtum's right-hand man, to help in the attack. When the conspiracy was uncovered Hanadin fled and joined the Hungarian forces.[106] At the same time, a strong Byzantine army besieged Vidin, Ahtum's seat. Although many soldiers were required to participate in the defense of the town, Ahtum was occupied with the war to the north. After several months he died in battle when his troops were defeated by the Hungarians.[107] As a result of the war, Bulgarian influence to the northwest of the Danube diminished.

Further Byzantine successes edit

 
Victory of the Byzantines over the Bulgarians.

The Byzantines took advantage of the Bulgarian troubles in the north. In 1003, Basil II led a large army to Vidin, northwestern Bulgaria's most important town. After an eight-month siege, the Byzantines ultimately captured the fortress,[108] allegedly due to betrayal by the local bishop.[109] The commanders of the town had repulsed all previous attempts to break their defence, including the use of Greek fire.[100] While Basil's forces were engaged there, Samuel struck in the opposite direction: on 15 August he attacked Adrianople and plundered the area.[110]

Basil II decided to return to Constantinople afterwards, but, fearing an encounter with the Bulgarian army on the main road to his capital, he used an alternate route.[citation needed] The Byzantines marched south through the Morava valley and reached a key Bulgarian city, Skopje, in 1004. The Bulgarian army was camping on the opposite side of the Vardar River. After finding a ford and crossing the river, Basil II attacked and defeated Samuel's unsuspecting army, using the same tactics employed at Spercheios.[111] The Byzantines continued east and besieged the fortress of Pernik. Its governor, Krakra, was not seduced by Basil's promises of a noble title and wealth, and successfully defended the fortress. The Byzantines withdrew to Thrace after suffering heavy losses.[108][112]

In the same year, Samuel undertook a march against Thessaloniki. His men ambushed and captured its governor, Ioannes Chaldus,[100][113] but this success could not compensate for the losses the Bulgarians had suffered in the past four years. The setbacks in the war demoralized some of Samuel's military commanders, especially the captured Byzantine nobles. Samuel's son-in-law Ashot, the governor of Dyrrhachium, made contact with the local Byzantines and the influential John Chryselios, Samuel's father-in-law. Ashot and his wife boarded one of the Byzantine ships that were beleaguering the town and fled to Constantinople. Meanwhile, Chryselios surrendered the city to the Byzantine commander Eustathios Daphnomeles in 1005, securing the title of patrician for his sons.[92][114]

In 1006–1007, Basil II penetrated deep into the Bulgarian-ruled lands[115] and in 1009 Samuel's forces were defeated at Kreta, east of Thessaloniki.[116] During the next years, Basil launched annual campaigns into Bulgarian territory, devastating everything on his way.[117] Although there was still no decisive battle, it was clear that the end of the Bulgarian resistance was drawing nearer; the evidence was the fierceness of the military engagements and the constant campaigns of both sides which devastated the Bulgarian and Byzantine realms.[116][118][clarification needed]

Disaster at Kleidion edit

Main article: Battle of Kleidion
 
The battle of Kleidion.
 
The death of Emperor Samuel. Miniature from the Manasses Chronicle

In 1014, Samuel resolved to stop Basil before he could invade Bulgarian territory. Since the Byzantines usually used the valley of the Strumitsa River for their invasions into Bulgaria, Samuel built a thick wooden wall in the gorges around the village of Klyuch (also Kleidion, "key") to bar the enemy's way.

When Basil II launched his next campaign in the summer of 1014, his army suffered heavy casualties during the assaults on the wall. Meanwhile, Samuel sent forces under his general Nestoritsa to attack Thessaloniki so as to distract Basil's forces away from this campaign. Nestoritsa was defeated near the city[119] by its governor Botaniates, who later joined the main Byzantine army near Klyuch.[120] After several days of continuous attempts to break through the wall, one Byzantine commander, the governor of Plovdiv Nicephorus Xiphias, found a by-pass and, on 29 July, attacked the Bulgarians from the rear.[117] Despite the desperate resistance the Byzantines overwhelmed the Bulgarian army and captured around 14,000 soldiers,[121] according to some sources even 15,000.[122] Basil II immediately sent forces under his favourite commander Theophylactus Botaniates to pursue the surviving Bulgarians, but the Byzantines were defeated in an ambush by Gavril Radomir, who personally killed Botaniates. After the Battle of Kleidion, on the order of Basil II the captured Bulgarian soldiers were blinded; one of every 100 men was left one-eyed so as to lead the rest home.[123][124] The blinded soldiers were sent back to Samuel who reportedly had a heart attack upon seeing them. He died two days later, on 6 October 1014.[117] This savagery gave the Byzantine Emperor his byname Boulgaroktonos ("Bulgar-slayer" in Greek: Βουλγαροκτόνος). Some historians theorize it was the death of his favourite commander that infuriated Basil II to blind the captured soldiers.[125]

 
The themata of the Byzantine Empire, at the death of Basil II in 1025.

The battle of Kleidion had major political consequences. Although Samuel's son and successor, Gavril Radomir, was a talented military leader, he was murdered by his cousin Ivan Vladislav, who, ironically, owed his life to him. Unable to restore the Bulgarian Empire's previous power, Ivan Vladislav himself was killed while attacking Dyrrhachium. After that, the widowed empress Maria and many Bulgarian governors, including Krakra, surrendered to the Byzantines. Presian, Ivan Vladislav's eldest son, fled with two of his brothers to Mount Tomorr, before they too surrendered. Thus the First Bulgarian Empire came to an end in 1018, only four years after Samuel's death.[126] Most of its territory was incorporated within the new Theme of Bulgaria, with Skopje as its capital.[127]

In the extreme northwest, the duke of Syrmia, Sermon, was the last remnant of the once mighty Empire. He was deceived and killed by the Byzantines in 1019.[128]

Family, grave and legacy edit

 
The remains of the Basilica of Agios Achillios in Lake Prespa, where Samuel's grave was found.
 
Prespa Fortess

Samuel's wife was called Agatha, and was the daughter of the magnate of Dyrrhachium John Chryselios.[129] Only two of Samuel's and Agatha's children are definitely known by name: Samuel's heir Gavril Radomir and Miroslava. Two further, unnamed daughters, are mentioned after the Bulgarian surrender in 1018, while Samuel is also recorded as having had a bastard son.[129] Another woman, Kosara, who was wedded to Jovan Vladimir of Duklja and was considered by earlier scholarship as Samuel's daughter, is now regarded to have been simply a relative, perhaps a niece of Agatha.[130] Gavril Radomir married twice, to Ilona of Hungary and Irene from Larissa. Miroslava married the captured Byzantine noble Ashot Taronites.

After the fall of Bulgaria, Samuel's descendants assumed important positions in the Byzantine court after they were resettled and given lands in Asia Minor and Armenia. One of his granddaughters, Catherine, became empress of Byzantium. Another (supposed) grandchild, Peter II Delyan, led an attempt to restore the Bulgarian Empire after a major uprising in 1040 – 1041. Two other women of the dynasty became Byzantine empresses,[131] while many nobles served in the army as strategos or became governors of various provinces.

Count
Nicholas		Ripsimia
of Armenia
DavidMosesAronSamuel of BulgariaAgatha
Gavril
Radomir		MiroslavaUnknown daughterUnknown daughter
 
The sarkophaguses of Bulgarian Tsars Samuil, Gavril Radomir and Ivan Vladislav in Agios Achilios, Greece.
 
Samuel's Fortress overlooking the city of Ohrid, North Macedonia
 
The Bitola inscription written in Old Church Slavonic during the reign of Samuel's nephew Ivan Vladislav. He is titled "autocrat of the Bulgarians" and "Bulgarian by birth".

There is another version of Samuel's origin: the 11th-century historian Stepanos Asoghik wrote that Samuel had only one brother, stating they were both Armenians from the district of Derjan, an Armenian land incorporated into the Byzantine Empire. They were sent to fight the Bulgarians in Macedonia but ended up joining them.[132] This version is supported by the historian Nicholas Adontz, who analyzed the events and facts of the century and concluded that Samuel had only one brother, David.[133] Asoghik's version is also supported by the historian Jordan Ivanov;[134] furthermore, only one brother is mentioned on Samuel's Inscription.

The Arab historian Yahya of Antioch claims that the son of Samuel, Gavril, was assassinated by the leader of the Bulgarians, son of Aaron, because Aaron belonged to the race that reigned over Bulgaria. Asoghik and Yahya clearly distinguish the race of Samuel from the one of Aaron or the race of the Cometopuli from the royal race. According to them, Moses and Aaron are not from the family of the Cometopuli. David and Samuel were of Armenian origin and Moses and Aaron were Armenian on their mother's side.[135]

Samuel's grave was found in 1965 by Greek professor Nikolaos Moutsopoulos in the Church of St Achillios on the eponymous island in Lake Prespa. Samuel had built the church for the relics of the saint of the same name.[136] What is thought to have been the coat of arms of the House of Cometopuli,[137] two perched parrots, was embroidered on his funeral garment.

His remains are kept in the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki,[138] but according to a recent agreement, they may be returned to Bulgaria and buried in the SS. Forty Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo, to rest with the remains of Emperors Kaloyan and Michael Shishman.[139]

Samuel's face was reconstructed to restore the appearance of the 70-year-old Bulgarian ruler. According to the reconstruction, he was a sharp-faced man, bald-headed, with a white beard and moustache.[140]

Samuel is among the most renowned Bulgarian rulers. His military struggle with the Byzantine Empire is marked as an epic period of Bulgarian history. The great number of monuments and memorials in Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia, such as the ones in Petrich and Ohrid, signify the trail this historical figure has left in the memory of the people. Four Bulgarian villages bear his name, as well as Samuel Point[141] on Livingston Island, Antarctica. Samuel is the main figure in at least three major Bulgarian novels by authors Dimitar Talev,[142] Anton Donchev and Stefan Tsanev and also stars in the Greek novel "At the Times of the Bulgarian-Slayer" by Penelope Delta, who closely follows the narrative flow of events as presented by St. Runciman.[143] He is mentioned in the verse of Ivan Vazov,[144] Pencho Slaveykov,[145] and Atanas Dalchev as well.[146]

Nomenclature edit

See also: Historiography in North Macedonia and Bulgaria–North Macedonia relations

Overview edit

 
Monument of Samuil in Skopje.

Samuel's empire had its heartlands in the modern region of Macedonia, west and southwest of the city of Ohrid, this earlier cultural center of the First Bulgarian Empire. After the area was taken in 1913 after five centuries Ottoman rule by the Kingdom of Serbia, (later Yugoslavia),[147][148] that has led to assertions by the nationalist-driven historiography there. Its main agenda was that Samuel's empire was a "Serbian"/"Macedonian Slavic" state, distinct from the Bulgarian Empire.[149] In more recent times the same agenda has been maintained in the Republic of Macedonia, (now North Macedonia).[150]

Practically Serbia did not exist at that time. It became independent under Časlav ca. 930, only to fall ca. 960 under Byzantine and later under Bulgarian rule.[151] In fact that area was taken for the first time by Serbia centuries later, during the 1280s. Moreover, in Samuel's time Macedonia as a geographical term referred to part of the region of modern Thrace.[152] The "Macedonian" emperors of that period were Basil II, called "Bulgar-Slayer", and his Byzantine relatives from the Macedonian dynasty, originating from the territory of today's European Turkey.[153] Most of the modern region of Macedonia was then a Bulgarian province known as Kutmichevitsa.[154] The area was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire in 1018 as a new province called Bulgaria.[155]

The very name of "Macedonia" for the modern region was revived only in the 19th century, after it had nearly disappeared during the five centuries of Ottoman rule.[156][157][158][159][160] Until the early 20th century and beyond the majority of the Macedonian Slavs who had clear ethnic consciousness believed they were Bulgarians.[161][162][163][164][165][166] The Balkan Wars (1912–1913) and World War I (1914–1918) left the area divided mainly between Greece and Serbia (later Yugoslavia), which resulted in significant changes in its ethnic composition. The formerly leading Bulgarian community was reduced either by population exchanges or by change of communities' ethnic identity.[167] The Macedonian Slavs were faced with the policy of forced Serbianisation.[168]

Yugoslav agenda edit

20th-century Serbian and afterwards the Yugoslav historiography used the location of Samuel's state mainly on the territory of then Yugoslavia, to reject Bulgarian claims on the region.[169] Thus, the Russian-born Yugoslavian historian George Ostrogorsky distinguished Samuel's Empire from the Bulgarian Empire, referring to it as a "Macedonian Empire", although he recognised that Samuel's state was politically and ecclesiastically a direct descendant of the empire of Simeon I of Bulgaria and Peter I of Bulgaria, and it was regarded by Samuel and the Byzantines as being the Bulgarian Empire itself.[148]

Some historians of the same school, such as the Serbian scholar Dragutin Anastasijević, even claimed that Samuel ruled a separate South Slavic, i.e. Serbian Empire in Macedonia, founded as result of an anti-Bulgarian rebellion.[147] The Serbs tried to popularize the Serbian past of that distinct state and its Serbian rulers.[170] The story continued in Communist Yugoslavia, where a separate Macedonian identity was formed and Samuel was depicted as a Macedonian Tsar.[171] After the breakup of Yugoslavia, these outdated theories have been rejected by authoritative Serbian historians from SANU as Srđan Pirivatrić and Tibor Živković.[172][173][174] Pirivatrić has stated, that incipient Bulgarian identity was available in Samuel's state, and it will rеmain in the area in the next centuries.[175]

North Macedonia's view edit

These fringe theories are still held mainly in North Macedonia, where the official state doctrine refers to an "Ethnic Macedonian" Empire, with Samuel being the first Tsar of the Macedonian Slavs.[150] However, this controversy is ahistorical, as it projects modern ethnic distinctions onto the past.[176] There is no historical support for that assertion.[177] Samuel and his successors were never called by their contemporaries "Macedonians",[178] but simply Bulgarians and rarely Misians. The last designation arose because then Bulgaria occupied traditionally the lands of the former Roman province of Moesia.[179]

Macedonian historians insist also that the emperor Basil II designated the enemies coming from the Samuel’s Empire as “Scythians” in his epitaph and that the designation “Bulgaria” was used for ideological propaganda. This was newly introduced administrative term, by which the emperor ideologically framed the newly acquired territories of the former Bulgarian empire and the former Samuel’s State. In this way the term "Bulgarian" became a projected name for the Samuel’s State itself.[180][181] However, the term “Scythians” normally referred to the "Bulgarians",[182][183] moreover, Samuel and his successors considered their state Bulgarian.[184][185]

Nevertheless, on a meeting in Sofia in June 2017, Prime Ministers Boyko Borisov and Zoran Zaev laid flowers at the monument of Tsar Samuil together, articulating optimism that the two countries can finally resolve their open issues by signing a long-delayed agreement on good-neighborly relations.[186] The governments of Bulgaria and North Macedonia signed the friendship treaty in the same year, which was ratified by the two Parliaments in 2018. On its ground, a bilateral expert committee on historical issues was formed. In February 2019, at a meeting of the committee, involving Bulgarian and Macedonian scientists, the two sides agreed to propose to their governments that Tsar Samuel may be celebrated jointly. The Macedonian side also conceded, that he was Tsar of Bulgaria.[187][188][189][190] Nevertheless in December 2020 North Macedonia's part from the joint committee withdrew from this decision.[191] According to its view, Tsar Samuel had to be portrayed in one way in North Macedonia's textbooks, and in another during joint commemorations.[192]

In August 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia published official recommendations of the Joint Historical Commission operating between the two countries. There, the governments in Sofia and Skopje are offered a joint commemoration of Samuel, who, according to the commission, was the ruler of a large medieval state, which the majority of modern historical scholarship considers to be the Bulgarian empire itself, centered in the territory of today's North Macedonia.[193] In this way the Macedonian members of the Commission not only agreed to identify Samuel's state as Bulgarian, but they also recognized the existence of the Bulgarian ethnicity during the Middle Ages.[194] Despite these facts multiple examples of animosity between Bulgaria and North Macedonia have been registered, due to disputes over Samuil's ethnic affiliation and this issue is still highly sensitive.[195][196]

See also edit

Footnotes edit

1. Bulgarian ъ can be transliterated a, u, or sometimes â, as in български, balgarski (as below) or bulgarski.
2. The work of Vasil Zlatarski, History of the Bulgarian state in the Middle Ages has three editions. The first edition is from 1927 published in Sofia; the second edition is from 1971 and can be found here [3] in Bulgarian; the third edition is from 1994 published in Sofia, ISBN 954-430-299-9

References edit

  1. ^ Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250, Florin Curta, Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 0521815398, p. 242.
  2. ^ Spelled thus in Fine, The Early Medieval Balkans; also Ostrogorsky, Treadgold, opp. cit., Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. In French, compare Adontz, Nicholas. "Samuel l'Armenien, Roi des Bulgares", in Études Arméno-Byzantines. Lisbonne: Livraria Bertrand, 1965, pp. 347–407.
  3. ^ Македонска енциклопедија, том II. Скопје, Македонска академија на науките и уметностите, 2009. ISBN 978-608-203-024-1. стр. 1296
  4. ^ Stojkov, Stojko (2014) Крунисувањето на Самуил за цар и митот за царот евнух. Гласник на институтот за национална историја, 58 (1–2). pp. 73–92. ISSN 0583-4961.
  5. ^ A History of the Byzantine state and society, Warren Treadgold, Stanford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0804726302, p. 871.
  6. ^ Anthony Kaldellis, Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood: The Rise and Fall of Byzantium, 955 A.D. to the First Crusade, Oxford University Press, 2017, ISBN 0190253223, p. 82.
  7. ^ One theory is that from 972/976 to 997 Samuel co-ruled with Roman I of Bulgaria, who was the official tsar until 997, when he died in Byzantine captivity. Roman is mentioned as tsar in several historical sources; for example the Annals by Yahya of Antioch call Roman "Tsar" and Samuel "Roman's loyal military chief". However, other historians dispute this theory, as Roman was castrated and so technically could not have claimed the crown. There was also a governor of Skopje called Roman who surrendered the city to the Byzantines in 1004, receiving the title of patrician from Basil II and becoming a Byzantine strategos in Abydus (Skylitzes-Cedr. II, 455, 13), but this could be a mere coincidence of names.
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  23. ^ According to Zlatarski (History of the Bulgarian state, I, 2, pp. 544, 562.) the sons of Peter I were sent in the Byzantine capital in 963 as one of the term to resettle the peace treaty of 927. According to other historians such as Andreev (Who is who in Medieval Bulgaria, p. 41.) the heirs to the Bulgarian throne became hostages per a Bulgarian-Byzantine agreement against the Kievan Rus' in 968.
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  46. ^ Boris II and Roman were sons of Peter I whose dynasty had ruled Bulgaria since the reign of Khan Krum (803–814)
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  49. ^ Skylitzes, pp. 434–435.
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  147. ^ a b Anastasiević, D. N. Hypothesis on Western Bulgaria (Hipoteza o Zapadnoj Bugarskoj, Хипотеза о Западноj Бугарскоj), Glasnik Skopskog nauchnog drushtva, b. III, Skopie, 1928.
  148. ^ a b History of the Byzantine State (Rutgers, 1969), p. 301-302.
  149. ^ David Ricks, Michael Trapp as ed., Dialogos: Hellenic Studies Review, Routledge, 2014; ISBN 1317791789, p. 36.
  150. ^ a b An outline of Macedonian history from ancient times to 1991. Macedonian Embassy London. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
  151. ^ Jim Bradbury, The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare, Routledge Companions to History, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 1134598475, p. 172.
  152. ^ The migrations during the early Byzantine centuries also changed the meaning of the geographical term Macedonia, which seems to have moved to the east together with some of the non-Slavic population of the old Roman province. In the early 9th century an administrative unit (theme) of Makedonikon was established in what is now Thrace (split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey) with Adrianople as its capital. It was the birthplace of Emperor Basil I (867–886), the founder of the so-called Macedonian dynasty in Byzantinum. Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN 0810862956, p. iii
  153. ^ By the beginning of the 9th century the theme of Macedonia, with its capital at Adrianople consisted not of Macedonian but of Thracian territories. During the Byzantine period the Macedonia proper corresponded to the themes of Thessalonica and Strymon. Brill's Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC – 300 AD, Robin J. Fox, Robin Lane Fox, Brill, 2011, ISBN 9004206507, p. 35.
  154. ^ The entry of the Slavs into Christendom: an introduction to the medieval history of the Slavs, A. P. Vlasto, CUP Archive, 1970, ISBN 0-521-07459-2, p. 169.
  155. ^ When the barbarian invasions started in the fourth through seventh centuries AD in the Balkans, the remnants of the Hellenes who lived in Macedonia were pushed to eastern Thrace, the area between Adrianople (presently the Turkish city of Edirne) and Constantinople. This area would be called theme of Macedonia by the Byzantines... whereas the modern territory of Rep. of North Macedonia was included in the theme of Bulgaria after the destruction of Samuels Bulgarian Empire in 1018. Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900–1996, Chris Kostov, Peter Lang, 2010, ISBN 3034301960, p. 48.
  156. ^ The ancient name 'Macedonia' disappeared during the period of Ottoman rule and was only restored in the nineteenth century originally as geographical term. The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism, John Breuilly, Oxford University Press, 2013, ISBN 0199209197, p. 192.
  157. ^ The region was not called "Macedonia" by the Ottomans, and the name "Macedonia" gained currency together with the ascendance of rival nationalism. Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian Question, Victor Roudometof, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0275976483, p. 89.
  158. ^ The Greeks were amongst the first to define these lands since the beginning of the 19th century. For educated Greeks, Macedonia was the historical Greek land of kings Philip and Alexander the Great. John S. Koliopoulos, Thanos M. Veremis, Modern Greece: A History since 1821. A New History of Modern Europe, John Wiley & Sons, 2009, ISBN 1444314831, p. 48.
  159. ^ Jelavich, Barbara (1983). History of the Balkans, Vol. 2: Twentieth Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 91. ISBN 0521274591. However, in the nineteenth century the term Macedonian was used almost exclusively to refer to the geographic region
  160. ^ By the Middle Ages Macedonia's location had been forgotten and designated in areas mostly outside the original Macedonian kingdom... Under Turkish rule Macedonia vanished completely from administrative terminology and survived only as a legend in the oral Greek traditions… Rediscovered by travelers, cartographers and diplomats after centuries of being ignored or forgotten, misplaced or misunderstood, Macedonia and its inhabitants, have never since the beginning of the 20th century, ceased being imagined and invented. John S. Koliopoulos, Plundered Loyalties: World War II and Civil War in Greek West Macedonia, NYU Press, 1999, ISBN 0814747302, p. 1.
  161. ^ "Until the late 19th century both outside observers and those Bulgaro-Macedonians who had an ethnic consciousness believed that their group, which is now two separate nationalities, comprised a single people, the Bulgarians. Thus the reader should ignore references to ethnic Macedonians in the Middle ages which appear in some modern works. In the Middle ages and into the 19th century, the term ‘Macedonian’ was used entirely in reference to a geographical region. Anyone who lived within its confines, regardless of nationality could be called a Macedonian...Nevertheless, the absence of a national consciousness in the past is no grounds to reject the Macedonians as a nationality today." "The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century," John Van Antwerp Fine, University of Michigan Press, 1991, ISBN 0472081497, pp. 36–37.
  162. ^ "At the end of the World War I there were very few historians or ethnographers, who claimed that a separate Macedonian nation existed... Of those Macedonian Slavs who had developed then some sense of national identity, the majority probably considered themselves to be Bulgarians, although they were aware of differences between themselves and the inhabitants of Bulgaria... The question as of whether a Macedonian nation actually existed in the 1940s when a Communist Yugoslavia decided to recognize one is difficult to answer. Some observers argue that even at this time it was doubtful whether the Slavs from Macedonia considered themselves to be a nationality separate from the Bulgarians." The Macedonian conflict: ethnic nationalism in a transnational world, Loring M. Danforth, Princeton University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-691-04356-6, pp. 65–66.
  163. ^ "Most of the Slavophone inhabitants in all parts of divided Macedonia, perhaps a million and a half in all – had a Bulgarian national consciousness at the beginning of the Occupation; and most Bulgarians, whether they supported the Communists, VMRO, or the collaborating government, assumed that all Macedonia would fall to Bulgaria after the WWII. Tito was determined that this should not happen. The first Congress of AVNOJ in November 1942 had parented equal rights to all the 'peoples of Yugoslavia', and specified the Macedonians among them."The struggle for Greece, 1941–1949, Christopher Montague Woodhouse, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2002, ISBN 1-85065-492-1, p. 67.
  164. ^ "Yugoslav Communists recognized the existence of a Macedonian nationality during WWII to quiet fears of the Macedonian population that a communist Yugoslavia would continue to follow the former Yugoslav policy of forced Serbianization. Hence, for them to recognize the inhabitants of Macedonia as Bulgarians would be tantamount to admitting that they should be part of the Bulgarian state. For that the Yugoslav Communists were most anxious to mold Macedonian history to fit their conception of Macedonian consciousness. The treatment of Macedonian history in Communist Yugoslavia had the same primary goal as the creation of the Macedonian language: to de-Bulgarize the Macedonian Slavs and to create a separate national consciousness that would inspire identification with Yugoslavia." For more see: Stephen E. Palmer, Robert R. King, Yugoslav communism and the Macedonian question, Archon Books, 1971, ISBN 0208008217, Chapter 9: The encouragement of Macedonian culture.
  165. ^ "No doubt, the vast majority of the Macedonian peasants, being neither communists nor members of IMRO (United), had not been previously affected by Macedonian national ideology. The British officials who attempted to tackle this issue in the (late) 1940s noted the pro-Bulgarian sentiment of many peasants and pointed out that Macedonian nationhood rested ‘on rather shaky historical and philological foundations’ and, therefore, had to be constructed by the Macedonian leadership." Livanios, D. (2008), The Macedonian Question: Britain and the Southern Balkans 1939–1949.: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0191528722, p. 206.
  166. ^ As David Fromkin (1993, p. 71) confirms: “even as late as 1945, Slavic Macedonia had no national identity of its own." Nikolaos Zahariadis (2005) Essence of Political Manipulation: Emotion, Institutions, & Greek Foreign Policy, Peter Lang, p. 85, ISBN 0820479039.
  167. ^ Ivo Banac, The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics, Cornell University Press, 1988, ISBN 0801494931, p. 33
  168. ^ Dejan Djokić, Yugoslavism: histories of a failed idea, 1918–1992, p. 123, at Google Books
  169. ^ Pieter Troch, Nationalism and Yugoslavia: Education, Yugoslavism and the Balkans before World War II, I.B.Tauris, 2015, ISBN 0857737686,Chapter 5: Merging Tribal Histories.
  170. ^ Nada Boskovska, Yugoslavia and Macedonia Before Tito: Between Repression and Integration, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017, ISBN 1786730731, p. 50–51.
  171. ^ Svetozar Rajak, Konstantina E. Botsiou, Eirini Karamouzi, Evanthis Hatzivassiliou ed. The Balkans in the Cold War. Security, Conflict and Cooperation in the Contemporary World, Springer, 2017, ISBN 1137439033, p. 313.
  172. ^ Istorijski časopis 2002, br. 49, str. 9–25, izvorni naučni članak, Pohod bugarskog cara Samuila na Dalmaciju. Živković Tibor D. SANU – Istorijski institut, Beograd.
  173. ^ Pirivatrić, Samuilova država: obim i karakter, Самуилова држава: обим и карактер.
  174. ^ Vizantološki institut (Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti), Naučno delo, 1997, st. 253–256.
  175. ^ Michael Palairet, Macedonia: A Voyage through History (Vol. 1, From Ancient Times to the Ottoman Invasions), Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016, ISBN 1443888435, p. 345.
  176. ^ Kazhdan, Alexander; Brand, Charles M. (1991). "Samuel of Bulgaria". In Kazhdan, Alexander (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 1838. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
  177. ^ D. Hupchick, The Balkans: From Constantinople to Communism, Springer, 2002, ISBN 0312299133, p. 53.
  178. ^ Ioannis Tarnanidis, The Macedonians of the Byzantine period, (Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece) in John Burke and Roger Scott as edidors, Byzantine Macedonia: Identity, Image and History: Papers from the Melbourne Conference July 1995, BRILL, 2000, ISBN 900434473X, pp. 29–50; 48.
  179. ^ Paul Stephenson, Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900–1204, American Council of Learned Societies, Cambridge University Press, 2000, ISBN 0521770173, p. 78.
  180. ^ B. Panov 2019, p. 88.
  181. ^ B. Panov, Mitko (2022). "Ideology behind the Naming: On the Origin of Basil II's Appellation 'Scythicus'". Studia Ceranea. 12: 739–750.
  182. ^ Amelia Robertson Brown, Bronwen Neil (ed.), Byzantine Culture in Translation. Brill, 2017, ISBN 9789004349070, p. 109.
  183. ^ Grzegorz Bartusik, Jakub Morawiec, Radosław Biskup (ed.), Adam of Bremen’s Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum. Origins, Reception and Significance, 2022. Taylor & Francis, ISBN 9781000610383, p. 236.
  184. ^ Dennis P. Hupchick, The Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony: Silver-Lined Skulls and Blinded Armies, Springer, 2017, ISBN 3319562061, p. 314.
  185. ^ Crampton, R. J. A Concise History of Bulgaria (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-521-61637-9, p. 15.
  186. ^ . Archived from the original on 2017-12-17. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
  187. ^ България и Северна Македония да честват заедно цар Самуил, предложи съвместната комисия в-к Дневник, 23 фев 2019.
  188. ^ Проф. Иван Илчев: Македонците в двустранната комисия признаха, че цар Самуил е български владетел. Труд онлайн; 10.12.2018
  189. ^ Драги Георгиев: Цар Самуил својот легитимитет го црпи од Бугарската царска круна. 05 јануари 2019, Канал 5 ТВ.
  190. ^ "Цар Самуил легитимен претставник на Бугарското царство". Фактор Портал. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  191. ^ Вместо напредък Скопие се върна при цар Самуил (Oбзор, видео) 24chasa.bg, 04.12.2020.
  192. ^ Naoum Kaychev, On Unifying Around Our Common History - Tsar Samuil Erga Omnes ResPublica, 07 April, 2021.
  193. ^ Пробив в историческата комисия: Цар Самуил е владетел на българско царство, Dir.bg. 15.08.2022 2022-08-15 at the Wayback Machine.
  194. ^ Mitko B. Panov et al., 2021. "Macedonian Nation Between Self-Identity and Euro-Atlantic Integration: Implications of the Agreements with Bulgaria and Greece," Societies and Political Orders in Transition, in: Branislav Radeljić & Carlos González-Villa (ed.), Researching Yugoslavia and its Aftermath, pp. 223–252, (228) Springer.
  195. ^ Macedonian Medieval Epic Annoys Bulgaria 17.02.2014, Balkan Insight (BIRN)
  196. ^ Катерина Блажевска, Бугарски историчари ликуваат: Ова е прва победа! 16.08.2022, Deutsche Welle.

Sources edit

  • Adontz, Nicholas (1965). "Samuel l'Armenien, Roi des Bulgares". Études Arméno-Byzantines (in French). Lisbonne: Livraria Bertrand.
  • Andreev, Jordan; Milcho Lalkov (1996). The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars (in Bulgarian). Abagar. ISBN 954-427-216-X.
  • Cheynet, Jean-Claude (1990). Pouvoir et contestations a Byzance (963–1210) (in French). Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Delev, Petar; Valeri Katsunov; Plamen Mitev; Evgeniya Kalyanova; Iskra Baeva; Boyan Dobrev (2006). "12. The decline of the First Bulgarian Empire". History and civilization for 11. grade (in Bulgarian). Trud, Sirma. ISBN 954-9926-72-9.
  • Dimitrov, Bozhidar (1994). "Bulgarian epic endeavours for independence 968–1018". Bulgaria: illustrated history. Sofia: Borina. ISBN 954-500-044-9.
  • Fine, John V. A. Jr. (1991) [1983]. "Bulgaria after Symeon, 927–1018". The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp. 188–200. ISBN 0-472-08149-7.
  • Lalkov, Milcho (1997). "Tsar Samuil (997–1014)". Rulers of Bulgaria. Kibea. ISBN 954-474-098-8.
  • Lang, David Marshal, The Bulgarians: from pagan times to the Ottoman conquest. Boulder, Colo. : Westview Press, 1976. ISBN 0-89158-530-3
  • Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Ludwig, Claudia; Pratsch, Thomas; Zielke, Beate (2013). Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nach Vorarbeiten F. Winkelmanns erstellt (in German). Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter.
  • Ostrogorsky, George, History of the Byzantine State. tr. (from the German) by Joan Hussey, rev. ed., Rutgers Univ. Press, 1969.
  • Pavlov P., , Sofia—Veliko Tarnovo, 2002
  • Pirivatrić, Srđan; Božidar Ferјančić (1997). Samuil's state: appearance and character (in Serbian). Belgrade: Institute of Byzantine Studies SANU. OCLC 41476117. Excerpt from the Bulgarian translation.
  • Runciman, Steven (1930). "The end of an empire". A history of the First Bulgarian Empire. London: George Bell & Sons. OCLC 832687.
  • Schlumberger, G. (1900). "t. 2 Basile II-eme – le Tueur des Bulgares". L'epopee byzantine a la fin du X-me siecle (in French). Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
  • Tsanev, Stefan (2006). "Chapter XIII. (972–1014). Heroic agony. Tsar Roman, Tsar Samuil.". Bulgarian Chronicles (in Bulgarian). Sofia, Plovdiv: Тrud, Zhanet 45. ISBN 954-528-610-5.
  • Zlatarski, Vasil (1971) [1927]. История на българската държава през средните векове. Том I. История на Първото българско царство, Част II. От славянизацията на държавата до падането на Първото царство (852–1018) [History of Bulgaria in the Middle Ages. Vol. 1. History of the First Bulgarian Empire, Part 2. From the Slavicization of the state to the fall of the First Empire (852–1018)]. Sofia: Nauka i izkustvo. OCLC 67080314.
  • . The Bulgarians and Bulgaria (in Bulgarian). Ministry of Internal Affairs, Тrud, Sirma. 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-11-10.
  • Wortley, John, ed. (2010). John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811–1057. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-76705-7.
  • Шишић, Фердо, ed. (1928). Летопис Попа Дукљанина (Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja). Београд–Загреб: Српска краљевска академија.
  • Кунчер, Драгана (2009). Gesta Regum Sclavorum. Vol. 1. Београд-Никшић: Историјски институт, Манастир Острог.
  • Живковић, Тибор (2009). Gesta Regum Sclavorum. Vol. 2. Београд–Никшић: Историјски институт, Манастир Острог.
  • B. Panov, Mitko (2019). The Blinded State: Historiographic Debates about Samuel Cometopoulos and His State (10th-11th Century); Volume 55 of East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450. Leiden/Boston: BRILL. ISBN 900439429X.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samuil of Bulgaria.
  • (in Russian) Летопис попа Дуклянина
  • (in Russian) Яхъя Антиохийский, Летопись 1–6, 7–17
  • (in Russian) Отрывок из Иоанна Скилицы о битве у горы Беласица
  • Detailed list of Bulgarian rulers (PDF)
  • John Skylitzes, Synopsis Historion: The Battle of Kleidion 2001-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
  • Catherine Holmes, Basil II (A.D. 976–1025) 2015-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
  • Map of Europe in 1000.
  • Naum Kaychev: On Unifying Around Our Common History – Tsar Samuil Erga Omnes, respublica.edu.mk, 7. april 2021
Preceded by Emperor of Bulgaria
997–1014
(de facto since 976) 		Succeeded by

April 12, 2024
samuel, bulgaria, samuil, redirects, here, village, bulgaria, samuil, village, municipality, bulgaria, samuil, municipality, brythonic, king, samuil, britons, sawyl, penuchel, hungarian, king, samuel, samuel, samoil, also, samuil, bulgarian, Самуил, pronounced. Samuil redirects here For the village in Bulgaria see Samuil village For the municipality in Bulgaria see Samuil Municipality For the Brythonic king Samuil of the Britons see Sawyl Penuchel For the Hungarian king see Samuel Aba Samuel or Samoil 2 also Samuil Bulgarian Samuil pronounced sɐmuˈiɫ Macedonian Samoil Samuil 3 4 pronounced samɔˈiɫ sɐmuˈiɫ Old Church Slavonic Samoil died October 6 1014 was the Tsar Emperor of the Western Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014 5 From 977 to 997 he was a general under Roman I of Bulgaria 6 the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria and co ruled with him as Roman bestowed upon him the command of the army and the effective royal authority 7 As Samuel struggled to preserve his country s independence from the Byzantine Empire his rule was characterized by constant warfare against the Byzantines and their equally ambitious ruler Basil II SamuelTsar of BulgariaFacial reconstruction based on his remainsReign997 6 October 1014PredecessorRomanSuccessorGavril RadomirDied6 October 1014Prespa 1 First Bulgarian EmpireSpousesAgathaIssueGavril RadomirMiroslavaDynastyCometopuliFatherNicholasMotherRipsimia of ArmeniaReligionBulgarian OrthodoxIn his early years Samuel managed to inflict several major defeats on the Byzantines and to launch offensive campaigns into their territory 8 In the late 10th century the Bulgarian armies conquered the Serb principality of Duklja 9 and led campaigns against the Kingdoms of Croatia and Hungary But from 1001 he was forced mainly to defend the Empire against the superior Byzantine armies Samuel died of a heart attack on 6 October 1014 two months after the catastrophic battle of Kleidion His successors failed to organize a resistance and in 1018 four years after Samuel s death the country capitulated ending the five decades long Byzantine Bulgarian conflict 10 Samuel was considered invincible in power and unsurpassable in strength 11 12 Similar comments were made even in Constantinople where John Kyriotes penned a poem offering a punning comparison between the Bulgarian Emperor and Halley s comet which appeared in 989 13 14 During Samuel s reign Bulgaria gained control of most of the Balkans with the notable exception of Thrace as far as southern Greece He moved the capital from Skopje to Ohrid 8 15 which had been the cultural and military centre of southwestern Bulgaria since Boris I s rule 16 and made the city the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate Because of this his realm is sometimes called the Western Bulgarian Empire 17 18 Samuel s energetic reign restored Bulgarian might on the Balkans even though the Empire was disestablished after his death Contents 1 The rise of the Cometopuli 1 1 The Cometopuli 1 2 Rus invasion and the deposition of Boris II 1 3 War with Byzantium 2 Co rule with Roman 3 Emperor 3 1 War against Serbs and Croats 3 2 Advance of the Byzantines 3 3 War with Hungary 3 4 Further Byzantine successes 3 5 Disaster at Kleidion 4 Family grave and legacy 5 Nomenclature 5 1 Overview 5 2 Yugoslav agenda 5 3 North Macedonia s view 6 See also 7 Footnotes 8 References 9 Sources 10 External linksThe rise of the Cometopuli edit nbsp Bulgarian territory ca 960 The Cometopuli edit See also Cometopuli dynasty Samuel was the fourth 19 and youngest son of count Nicholas a Bulgarian noble who might have been the count of Sredets district modern day Sofia 20 although other sources suggest that he was a regional count of Prespa district in the region of Macedonia 21 His mother was Rhipsime of Armenia 22 The actual name of the dynasty is not known Cometopuli is the nickname used by Byzantine historians which is translated as sons of the count The Cometopuli rose to power out of the disorder that occurred in the Bulgarian Empire from 966 to 971 Rus invasion and the deposition of Boris II edit Main article Sviatoslav s invasion of Bulgaria nbsp The Byzantines seize the capital Preslav During the reign of Emperor Peter I Bulgaria prospered in a long lasting peace with Byzantium This was secured by the marriage of Peter with the Byzantine princess Maria Lakapina granddaughter of Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos However after Maria s death in 963 the truce had been shaken and it was at this time or later that Peter I sent his sons Boris and Roman to Constantinople as honorary hostages to honor the new terms of the peace treaty 23 During these years the Byzantines and Bulgarians had entangled themselves in a war with Kievan Rus Prince Sviatoslav who invaded Bulgaria several times After a defeat from Sviatoslav Peter I suffered a stroke and abdicated his throne in 969 he died the next year Boris was allowed back to Bulgaria to take his father s throne restore order and oppose Sviatoslav but had little success This was allegedly used by Nicholas and his sons who were contemplating a revolt in 969 24 The Rus invaded Byzantine Thrace in 970 but suffered a defeat in the Battle of Arcadiopolis The new Byzantine Emperor John Tzimiskes used this to his advantage He quickly invaded Bulgaria the following year defeated the Rus and conquered the Bulgarian capital Preslav Boris II of Bulgaria was ritually divested of his imperial insignia in a public ceremony in Constantinople and he and his brother Roman of Bulgaria remained in captivity Although the ceremony in 971 had been intended as a symbolic termination of the Bulgarian Empire the Byzantines were unable to assert their control over the western provinces of Bulgaria Count Nicholas Samuel s father who had close ties to the royal court in Preslav 25 died in 970 In the same year 26 the sons of the count the Cometopuli David Moses Aaron and Samuel rebelled 27 The series of events are not clear due to contradicting sources but it is sure that after 971 Samuel and his brothers were the de facto rulers of the western Bulgarian lands In 973 the Cometopuli described by Thietmar of Merseburg simply as the Bulgarians 28 sent envoys to the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I in Quedlinburg in an attempt to secure the protection of their lands 29 The brothers ruled together in a tetrarchy 30 David ruled the southernmost regions and led the defense of one of the most dangerous border areas around Thessaloniki and Thessaly 30 The centres of his possessions were Prespa and Kastoria Moses ruled from Strumitsa 30 which would be an outpost for attacks on the Aegean coast and Serres Aaron ruled from Sredets 30 and was to defend the main road from Adrianople to Belgrade and to attack Thrace Samuel ruled northwestern Bulgaria from the strong fortress of Vidin He was also to organize the liberation of the conquered areas to the east including the old capital Preslav 31 Some records suggest that David played a major role in this tumultuous period of Bulgarian history 32 War with Byzantium edit nbsp The Byzantine Emperor John Tzimiskes returns in triumph in Constantinople with the captured Boris II and icons from Preslav After John I Tzimiskes died on 11 January 976 the Cometopuli launched an assault along the whole border Within a few weeks however David was killed by Vlach vagrants and Moses was fatally injured by a stone during the siege of Serres 33 The brothers actions to the south detained many Byzantine troops and eased Samuel s liberation of northeastern Bulgaria A local Bulgarian uprising broke there 34 led by two boyars Petar and Boyan who became allies of the Cometopuli and submitted to their rule 35 The Byzantine army was defeated and retreated to Crimea 36 37 Any Bulgarian nobles and officials who had not opposed the Byzantine conquest of the region were executed and the war continued north of the Danube until the enemy was scattered and Bulgarian rule was restored 38 After suffering these defeats in the Balkans the Byzantine Empire descended into civil war The commander of the Asian army Bardas Scleros rebelled in Asia Minor and sent troops under his son Romanus in Thrace to besiege Constantinople The new Emperor Basil II did not have enough manpower to fight both the Bulgarians and the rebels and resorted to treason conspiracy and complicated diplomatic plots 39 Basil II made many promises to the Bulgarians and Scleros to divert them from allying against him 40 Aaron the eldest living Cometopulus was tempted by an alliance with the Byzantines and the opportunity to seize power in Bulgaria for himself He held land in Thrace a region potentially subject to the Byzantine threat Basil reached an agreement with Aaron who asked to marry Basil s sister to seal it Basil instead sent the wife of one of his officials with the bishop of Sebaste However the deceit was uncovered and the bishop was killed 41 Nonetheless negotiations proceeded and concluded in a peace agreement The historian Scylitzes wrote that Aaron wanted sole power and sympathized with the Romans 42 Samuel learned of the conspiracy and the clash between the two brothers was inevitable The quarrel broke out in the vicinity of Dupnitsa on 14 June 976 and ended with the annihilation of Aaron s family Only his son Ivan Vladislav survived because Samuel s son Gavril Radomir pleaded on his behalf 43 From that moment on practically all power and authority in the state were held by Samuel and the danger of an internal conflict was eliminated However another theory suggests that Aaron participated in the battle of the Gates of Trajan which took place ten years later According to that theory Aaron was killed on 14 June 987 or 988 44 45 Co rule with Roman editMain article Battle of the Gates of Trajan After the Byzantine plan to use Aaron to cause instability in Bulgaria failed they tried to encourage the rightful heirs to the throne 46 Boris II and Roman to oppose Samuel Basil II hoped that they would win the support of the nobles and isolate Samuel or perhaps even start a Bulgarian civil war 47 Boris and Roman were sent back in 977 48 but while they were passing through a forest near the border Boris was killed by Bulgarian guards who were misled by his Byzantine clothing Roman who was walking some distance behind managed to identify himself to the guards 49 Roman was taken to Vidin where he was proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria 50 Samuel became his first lieutenant and general and together they gathered an army and fought the Byzantines 51 During his captivity Roman had been castrated on the orders of John I Tzimiskes so that he would not have heirs Thus Samuel was certain to eventually succeed Roman The new emperor entrusted Samuel with the state administration and became occupied with church and religious affairs 52 nbsp Bulgarians ambush and kill the governor of Thessalonica duke Gregory Taronites As the main effort of Basil II was concentrated against the rebel Skleros Samuel s armies attacked the European possessions of the Byzantine Empire Samuel invaded not only Thrace and the area of Thessaloniki but also Thessaly Hellas and the Peloponnese Many Byzantine fortresses fell to the Bulgarians 53 Samuel wanted to seize the important fortress of Larissa which controlled the key routes in Thessaly and from 977 to 983 the town was blockaded After starvation forced the Byzantines to surrender 15 the population was deported to the interior of Bulgaria and the males were forced to enlist in the Bulgarian army 54 Although Basil II sent forces to the region they were defeated With this victory Bulgaria had gained influence over most of the southwestern Balkans although it did not occupy some of these territories From Larissa Samuel took the relics of Saint Achilleios which were laid in a specially built church of the same name on an island in Lake Prespa 55 56 57 The Bulgarian successes in the west raised fears in Constantinople and after serious preparations Basil II launched a campaign into the very centre of the Bulgarian Empire 58 to distract Samuel from southern Greece 59 60 The Byzantine army passed through the mountains around Ihtiman and besieged Sredets in 986 The Byzantines assaulted the city for 20 days but their attacks proved fruitless and costly the Bulgarians came out of the city several times killed many enemy soldiers and captured draught animals and horses Eventually the Bulgarian troops burned the siege equipment of the Byzantine army forcing Basil II to withdraw to Thrace but on 17 August 986 61 while passing through the mountains the Byzantine army was ambushed and routed at the Trajan s Gates Pass This was a significant blow for Basil 62 63 who was one of the few to return to Constantinople his personal treasure was captured by the victors 64 65 Even if the sun would have come down I would have never thought that the Moesian Bulgarian arrows were stronger than the Avzonian Roman Byzantine spears And when you Phaethon Sun descend to the earth with your gold shining chariot tell the great soul of the Caesar The Danube Bulgaria took the crown of Rome The arrows of the Moesians broke the spears of the Avzonians John Kyriotes Geometres on the battle of the Gates of Trajan 66 After the defeat the rebellion of Bardas Phocas diverted the efforts of the Byzantine Empire into another civil war 67 68 69 Samuel seized the opportunity and began to exert pressure on Thessaloniki 70 71 Basil II sent a large army to the town and appointed a new governor Gregorios Taronites 72 but he was powerless to stop the Bulgarian advance By 989 the Bulgarian troops had penetrated deep into Byzantine territory 73 and seized many fortresses including such important cities as Veria and Servia In the south the Bulgarians marched throughout Epirus and in the west they seized the area of modern Durres medieval Dyrrhachium or Drach on the Adriatic Sea 74 75 76 In 989 Phocas was killed and his followers surrendered and the following year Basil II reached an agreement with Skleros 77 The Byzantines focused their attention on Bulgaria 78 and counter attacked in 991 79 80 The Bulgarian army was defeated and Roman was captured while Samuel managed to escape 81 The Byzantines conquered some areas in 995 however the Arabs invaded Asia Minor and Basil II was forced to move many of his troops to combat this new threat Samuel quickly regained the lost lands and advanced south In 996 he defeated the Byzantines in the battle of Thessaloniki During the battle Thessaloniki s governor Gregorios perished and his son Ashot was captured 82 Elated by this success the Bulgarians continued south They marched through Thessaly overcame the defensive wall at Thermopylae and entered the Peloponnese devastating everything on their way 83 nbsp The Bulgarian defeat at Spercheios As a response a Byzantine army under Nikephorus Uranos was sent after the Bulgarians who returned north to meet it The two armies met near the flooded river of Spercheios The Byzantines found a place to ford and on the night of 19 July 996 they surprised the unprepared Bulgarian army and routed it in the battle of Spercheios 84 Samuel s arm was wounded and he barely escaped captivity he and his son allegedly feigned death 85 After nightfall they headed for Bulgaria and walked 400 kilometres 249 mi home Research of Samuel s grave suggests that the bone in his arm healed at an angle of 140 but remained crippled 86 Emperor editIn 997 Roman died in captivity in Constantinople ending the line of rulers started by Krum Because of the war with Byzantium it was dangerous to leave the throne vacant for long and Samuel was chosen as the new Emperor of Bulgaria because he had the closest relations to the deceased emperor and was Roman s long standing military commander 87 The presbyter of Duklja also marked the event By that time among the Bulgarian people rose one Samuel who proclaimed himself emperor He led a long war against the Byzantines and expelled them from the whole territory of Bulgaria so that the Byzantines did not dare to approach it 88 Above the comet scorched the sky below the Cometopoulos Samuel burns the West John Kyriotes Geometres 13 Constantinople would not recognize the new emperor as for the Byzantines Boris II s abdication symbolized the official end of Bulgaria and Samuel was considered a mere rebel Instead Samuel sought recognition from the Pope which would be a serious blow to the position of the Byzantines in the Balkans and would weaken the influence of the Patriarch of Constantinople thereby benefiting both the See of Rome and Bulgaria Samuel possibly received his imperial crown from Pope Gregory V 89 War against Serbs and Croats edit In 998 Samuel launched a major campaign against the Duklja to prevent an alliance between Prince Jovan Vladimir and the Byzantines When the Bulgarian troops reached Duklja the Serbian prince and his people withdrew to the mountains Samuel left part of the army at the foot of the mountains and led the remaining soldiers to besiege the coastal fortress of Ulcinj In an effort to prevent bloodshed he asked Jovan Vladimir to surrender After the prince refused some Serb nobles offered their services to the Bulgarians and when it became clear that further resistance was fruitless the Serbs surrendered Jovan Vladimir was exiled to Samuel s palaces in Prespa 90 nbsp The wedding of Ashot and Samuel s daughter Miroslava The Bulgarian troops proceeded to pass through Dalmatia taking control of Kotor and journeying to Dubrovnik Although they failed to take Dubrovnik they devastated the surrounding villages The Bulgarian army then attacked Croatia in support of the rebel princes Kresimir III and Gojslav and advanced northwest as far as Split Trogir and Zadar then northeast through Bosnia and Raska and returned to Bulgaria 90 This Croato Bulgarian War allowed Samuel to install vassal monarchs in Croatia citation needed Samuel s relative Kosara fell in love with the captive Jovan Vladimir The couple married after gaining Samuel s approval and Jovan returned to his lands as a Bulgarian official along with his uncle Dragomir whom Samuel trusted 91 Meanwhile Princess Miroslava fell in love with the Byzantine noble captive Ashot son of Gregorios Taronites the dead governor of Thessaloniki and threatened to commit suicide if she was not allowed to marry him Samuel conceded and appointed Ashot governor of Dyrrhachium 92 Samuel also sealed an alliance with the Magyars when his eldest son and heir Gavril Radomir married the daughter of the Hungarian Grand Prince Geza 93 Advance of the Byzantines edit The beginning of the new millennium saw a turn in the course of Byzantine Bulgarian warfare 94 Basil II had amassed an army larger and stronger than that of the Bulgarians determined to definitively conquer Bulgaria he moved much of the battle seasoned military forces from the eastern campaigns against the Arabs to the Balkans 95 96 and Samuel was forced to defend rather than attack 97 In 1001 Basil II sent a large army under the patrician Theodorokanos and Nikephoros Xiphias to the north of the Balkan Mountains to seize the main Bulgarian fortresses in the area The Byzantine troops recaptured Preslav and Pliska 98 putting north eastern Bulgaria once again under Byzantine rule The following year they struck in the opposite direction marching through Thessaloniki to tear off Thessaly and the southernmost parts of the Bulgarian Empire Although the Bulgarian commander of the fortress of Veroia Dobromir was married to one of Samuel s nieces he voluntarily surrendered the fort and joined the Byzantines 99 The Byzantines also captured the fortress of Kolidron without a fight but its commander Dimitar Tihon managed to retreat with his soldiers and join Samuel 100 The next town Servia did not fall so easily its governor Nikulitsa organized the defenders well They fought until the Byzantines penetrated the walls and forced them to surrender 101 Nikulitsa was taken to Constantinople and given the high court title of patrician but he soon escaped and rejoined the Bulgarians He attempted to retake Servia but the siege was unsuccessful and he was captured again and imprisoned 102 Meanwhile Basil II s campaign reconquered many towns in Thessaly He forced the Bulgarian population of the conquered areas to resettle in the Voleron area between the Mesta and Maritsa rivers Edessa resisted for weeks but was conquered following a long siege The population was moved to Voleron and its governor Dragshan was taken to Thessaloniki where he was betrothed to the daughter of a local noble Unwilling to be married to an enemy Dragshan three times tried to flee to Bulgaria and was eventually executed 103 War with Hungary edit Main article Bulgarian Hungarian wars nbsp Map of Bulgaria in its largest extension during Samuel s reign circa 1000 29 The Byzantine Bulgarian conflict reached its apex in 1003 when Hungary became involved Since the beginning of the 9th century the Bulgarian territory had stretched beyond the Carpathian Mountains as far as the Tisza River and the middle Danube During the reign of Samuel the governor of these northwestern parts was duke Ahtum the grandson of duke Glad who had been defeated by the Hungarians in the 930s Ahtum commanded a strong army and firmly defended the northwestern borders of the Empire He also built many churches and monasteries through which he spread Christianity in Transylvania 104 105 Although Gavril Radomir s marriage to the daughter of the Hungarian ruler had established friendly relations between the two strongest states of the Danube area the relationship deteriorated after Geza s death The Bulgarians supported Gyula and Koppany as rulers instead of Geza s son Stephen I As a result of this conflict the marriage between Gavril Radomir and the Hungarian princess was dissolved The Hungarians then attacked Ahtum who had directly backed the pretenders for the Hungarian crown Stephen I convinced Hanadin Ahtum s right hand man to help in the attack When the conspiracy was uncovered Hanadin fled and joined the Hungarian forces 106 At the same time a strong Byzantine army besieged Vidin Ahtum s seat Although many soldiers were required to participate in the defense of the town Ahtum was occupied with the war to the north After several months he died in battle when his troops were defeated by the Hungarians 107 As a result of the war Bulgarian influence to the northwest of the Danube diminished Further Byzantine successes edit nbsp Victory of the Byzantines over the Bulgarians The Byzantines took advantage of the Bulgarian troubles in the north In 1003 Basil II led a large army to Vidin northwestern Bulgaria s most important town After an eight month siege the Byzantines ultimately captured the fortress 108 allegedly due to betrayal by the local bishop 109 The commanders of the town had repulsed all previous attempts to break their defence including the use of Greek fire 100 While Basil s forces were engaged there Samuel struck in the opposite direction on 15 August he attacked Adrianople and plundered the area 110 Basil II decided to return to Constantinople afterwards but fearing an encounter with the Bulgarian army on the main road to his capital he used an alternate route citation needed The Byzantines marched south through the Morava valley and reached a key Bulgarian city Skopje in 1004 The Bulgarian army was camping on the opposite side of the Vardar River After finding a ford and crossing the river Basil II attacked and defeated Samuel s unsuspecting army using the same tactics employed at Spercheios 111 The Byzantines continued east and besieged the fortress of Pernik Its governor Krakra was not seduced by Basil s promises of a noble title and wealth and successfully defended the fortress The Byzantines withdrew to Thrace after suffering heavy losses 108 112 In the same year Samuel undertook a march against Thessaloniki His men ambushed and captured its governor Ioannes Chaldus 100 113 but this success could not compensate for the losses the Bulgarians had suffered in the past four years The setbacks in the war demoralized some of Samuel s military commanders especially the captured Byzantine nobles Samuel s son in law Ashot the governor of Dyrrhachium made contact with the local Byzantines and the influential John Chryselios Samuel s father in law Ashot and his wife boarded one of the Byzantine ships that were beleaguering the town and fled to Constantinople Meanwhile Chryselios surrendered the city to the Byzantine commander Eustathios Daphnomeles in 1005 securing the title of patrician for his sons 92 114 In 1006 1007 Basil II penetrated deep into the Bulgarian ruled lands 115 and in 1009 Samuel s forces were defeated at Kreta east of Thessaloniki 116 During the next years Basil launched annual campaigns into Bulgarian territory devastating everything on his way 117 Although there was still no decisive battle it was clear that the end of the Bulgarian resistance was drawing nearer the evidence was the fierceness of the military engagements and the constant campaigns of both sides which devastated the Bulgarian and Byzantine realms 116 118 clarification needed Disaster at Kleidion edit Main article Battle of Kleidion nbsp The battle of Kleidion nbsp The death of Emperor Samuel Miniature from the Manasses ChronicleIn 1014 Samuel resolved to stop Basil before he could invade Bulgarian territory Since the Byzantines usually used the valley of the Strumitsa River for their invasions into Bulgaria Samuel built a thick wooden wall in the gorges around the village of Klyuch also Kleidion key to bar the enemy s way When Basil II launched his next campaign in the summer of 1014 his army suffered heavy casualties during the assaults on the wall Meanwhile Samuel sent forces under his general Nestoritsa to attack Thessaloniki so as to distract Basil s forces away from this campaign Nestoritsa was defeated near the city 119 by its governor Botaniates who later joined the main Byzantine army near Klyuch 120 After several days of continuous attempts to break through the wall one Byzantine commander the governor of Plovdiv Nicephorus Xiphias found a by pass and on 29 July attacked the Bulgarians from the rear 117 Despite the desperate resistance the Byzantines overwhelmed the Bulgarian army and captured around 14 000 soldiers 121 according to some sources even 15 000 122 Basil II immediately sent forces under his favourite commander Theophylactus Botaniates to pursue the surviving Bulgarians but the Byzantines were defeated in an ambush by Gavril Radomir who personally killed Botaniates After the Battle of Kleidion on the order of Basil II the captured Bulgarian soldiers were blinded one of every 100 men was left one eyed so as to lead the rest home 123 124 The blinded soldiers were sent back to Samuel who reportedly had a heart attack upon seeing them He died two days later on 6 October 1014 117 This savagery gave the Byzantine Emperor his byname Boulgaroktonos Bulgar slayer in Greek Boylgaroktonos Some historians theorize it was the death of his favourite commander that infuriated Basil II to blind the captured soldiers 125 nbsp The themata of the Byzantine Empire at the death of Basil II in 1025 The battle of Kleidion had major political consequences Although Samuel s son and successor Gavril Radomir was a talented military leader he was murdered by his cousin Ivan Vladislav who ironically owed his life to him Unable to restore the Bulgarian Empire s previous power Ivan Vladislav himself was killed while attacking Dyrrhachium After that the widowed empress Maria and many Bulgarian governors including Krakra surrendered to the Byzantines Presian Ivan Vladislav s eldest son fled with two of his brothers to Mount Tomorr before they too surrendered Thus the First Bulgarian Empire came to an end in 1018 only four years after Samuel s death 126 Most of its territory was incorporated within the new Theme of Bulgaria with Skopje as its capital 127 In the extreme northwest the duke of Syrmia Sermon was the last remnant of the once mighty Empire He was deceived and killed by the Byzantines in 1019 128 Family grave and legacy edit nbsp The remains of the Basilica of Agios Achillios in Lake Prespa where Samuel s grave was found nbsp Prespa FortessSamuel s wife was called Agatha and was the daughter of the magnate of Dyrrhachium John Chryselios 129 Only two of Samuel s and Agatha s children are definitely known by name Samuel s heir Gavril Radomir and Miroslava Two further unnamed daughters are mentioned after the Bulgarian surrender in 1018 while Samuel is also recorded as having had a bastard son 129 Another woman Kosara who was wedded to Jovan Vladimir of Duklja and was considered by earlier scholarship as Samuel s daughter is now regarded to have been simply a relative perhaps a niece of Agatha 130 Gavril Radomir married twice to Ilona of Hungary and Irene from Larissa Miroslava married the captured Byzantine noble Ashot Taronites After the fall of Bulgaria Samuel s descendants assumed important positions in the Byzantine court after they were resettled and given lands in Asia Minor and Armenia One of his granddaughters Catherine became empress of Byzantium Another supposed grandchild Peter II Delyan led an attempt to restore the Bulgarian Empire after a major uprising in 1040 1041 Two other women of the dynasty became Byzantine empresses 131 while many nobles served in the army as strategos or became governors of various provinces CountNicholasRipsimiaof ArmeniaDavidMosesAronSamuel of BulgariaAgathaGavrilRadomirMiroslavaUnknown daughterUnknown daughter nbsp The sarkophaguses of Bulgarian Tsars Samuil Gavril Radomir and Ivan Vladislav in Agios Achilios Greece nbsp Samuel s Fortress overlooking the city of Ohrid North Macedonia nbsp The Bitola inscription written in Old Church Slavonic during the reign of Samuel s nephew Ivan Vladislav He is titled autocrat of the Bulgarians and Bulgarian by birth There is another version of Samuel s origin the 11th century historian Stepanos Asoghik wrote that Samuel had only one brother stating they were both Armenians from the district of Derjan an Armenian land incorporated into the Byzantine Empire They were sent to fight the Bulgarians in Macedonia but ended up joining them 132 This version is supported by the historian Nicholas Adontz who analyzed the events and facts of the century and concluded that Samuel had only one brother David 133 Asoghik s version is also supported by the historian Jordan Ivanov 134 furthermore only one brother is mentioned on Samuel s Inscription The Arab historian Yahya of Antioch claims that the son of Samuel Gavril was assassinated by the leader of the Bulgarians son of Aaron because Aaron belonged to the race that reigned over Bulgaria Asoghik and Yahya clearly distinguish the race of Samuel from the one of Aaron or the race of the Cometopuli from the royal race According to them Moses and Aaron are not from the family of the Cometopuli David and Samuel were of Armenian origin and Moses and Aaron were Armenian on their mother s side 135 Samuel s grave was found in 1965 by Greek professor Nikolaos Moutsopoulos in the Church of St Achillios on the eponymous island in Lake Prespa Samuel had built the church for the relics of the saint of the same name 136 What is thought to have been the coat of arms of the House of Cometopuli 137 two perched parrots was embroidered on his funeral garment His remains are kept in the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki 138 but according to a recent agreement they may be returned to Bulgaria and buried in the SS Forty Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo to rest with the remains of Emperors Kaloyan and Michael Shishman 139 Samuel s face was reconstructed to restore the appearance of the 70 year old Bulgarian ruler According to the reconstruction he was a sharp faced man bald headed with a white beard and moustache 140 Samuel is among the most renowned Bulgarian rulers His military struggle with the Byzantine Empire is marked as an epic period of Bulgarian history The great number of monuments and memorials in Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia such as the ones in Petrich and Ohrid signify the trail this historical figure has left in the memory of the people Four Bulgarian villages bear his name as well as Samuel Point 141 on Livingston Island Antarctica Samuel is the main figure in at least three major Bulgarian novels by authors Dimitar Talev 142 Anton Donchev and Stefan Tsanev and also stars in the Greek novel At the Times of the Bulgarian Slayer by Penelope Delta who closely follows the narrative flow of events as presented by St Runciman 143 He is mentioned in the verse of Ivan Vazov 144 Pencho Slaveykov 145 and Atanas Dalchev as well 146 Nomenclature editSee also Historiography in North Macedonia and Bulgaria North Macedonia relations Overview edit nbsp Monument of Samuil in Skopje Samuel s empire had its heartlands in the modern region of Macedonia west and southwest of the city of Ohrid this earlier cultural center of the First Bulgarian Empire After the area was taken in 1913 after five centuries Ottoman rule by the Kingdom of Serbia later Yugoslavia 147 148 that has led to assertions by the nationalist driven historiography there Its main agenda was that Samuel s empire was a Serbian Macedonian Slavic state distinct from the Bulgarian Empire 149 In more recent times the same agenda has been maintained in the Republic of Macedonia now North Macedonia 150 Practically Serbia did not exist at that time It became independent under Caslav ca 930 only to fall ca 960 under Byzantine and later under Bulgarian rule 151 In fact that area was taken for the first time by Serbia centuries later during the 1280s Moreover in Samuel s time Macedonia as a geographical term referred to part of the region of modern Thrace 152 The Macedonian emperors of that period were Basil II called Bulgar Slayer and his Byzantine relatives from the Macedonian dynasty originating from the territory of today s European Turkey 153 Most of the modern region of Macedonia was then a Bulgarian province known as Kutmichevitsa 154 The area was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire in 1018 as a new province called Bulgaria 155 The very name of Macedonia for the modern region was revived only in the 19th century after it had nearly disappeared during the five centuries of Ottoman rule 156 157 158 159 160 Until the early 20th century and beyond the majority of the Macedonian Slavs who had clear ethnic consciousness believed they were Bulgarians 161 162 163 164 165 166 The Balkan Wars 1912 1913 and World War I 1914 1918 left the area divided mainly between Greece and Serbia later Yugoslavia which resulted in significant changes in its ethnic composition The formerly leading Bulgarian community was reduced either by population exchanges or by change of communities ethnic identity 167 The Macedonian Slavs were faced with the policy of forced Serbianisation 168 Yugoslav agenda edit 20th century Serbian and afterwards the Yugoslav historiography used the location of Samuel s state mainly on the territory of then Yugoslavia to reject Bulgarian claims on the region 169 Thus the Russian born Yugoslavian historian George Ostrogorsky distinguished Samuel s Empire from the Bulgarian Empire referring to it as a Macedonian Empire although he recognised that Samuel s state was politically and ecclesiastically a direct descendant of the empire of Simeon I of Bulgaria and Peter I of Bulgaria and it was regarded by Samuel and the Byzantines as being the Bulgarian Empire itself 148 Some historians of the same school such as the Serbian scholar Dragutin Anastasijevic even claimed that Samuel ruled a separate South Slavic i e Serbian Empire in Macedonia founded as result of an anti Bulgarian rebellion 147 The Serbs tried to popularize the Serbian past of that distinct state and its Serbian rulers 170 The story continued in Communist Yugoslavia where a separate Macedonian identity was formed and Samuel was depicted as a Macedonian Tsar 171 After the breakup of Yugoslavia these outdated theories have been rejected by authoritative Serbian historians from SANU as Srđan Pirivatric and Tibor Zivkovic 172 173 174 Pirivatric has stated that incipient Bulgarian identity was available in Samuel s state and it will remain in the area in the next centuries 175 North Macedonia s view edit These fringe theories are still held mainly in North Macedonia where the official state doctrine refers to an Ethnic Macedonian Empire with Samuel being the first Tsar of the Macedonian Slavs 150 However this controversy is ahistorical as it projects modern ethnic distinctions onto the past 176 There is no historical support for that assertion 177 Samuel and his successors were never called by their contemporaries Macedonians 178 but simply Bulgarians and rarely Misians The last designation arose because then Bulgaria occupied traditionally the lands of the former Roman province of Moesia 179 Macedonian historians insist also that the emperor Basil II designated the enemies coming from the Samuel s Empire as Scythians in his epitaph and that the designation Bulgaria was used for ideological propaganda This was newly introduced administrative term by which the emperor ideologically framed the newly acquired territories of the former Bulgarian empire and the former Samuel s State In this way the term Bulgarian became a projected name for the Samuel s State itself 180 181 However the term Scythians normally referred to the Bulgarians 182 183 moreover Samuel and his successors considered their state Bulgarian 184 185 Nevertheless on a meeting in Sofia in June 2017 Prime Ministers Boyko Borisov and Zoran Zaev laid flowers at the monument of Tsar Samuil together articulating optimism that the two countries can finally resolve their open issues by signing a long delayed agreement on good neighborly relations 186 The governments of Bulgaria and North Macedonia signed the friendship treaty in the same year which was ratified by the two Parliaments in 2018 On its ground a bilateral expert committee on historical issues was formed In February 2019 at a meeting of the committee involving Bulgarian and Macedonian scientists the two sides agreed to propose to their governments that Tsar Samuel may be celebrated jointly The Macedonian side also conceded that he was Tsar of Bulgaria 187 188 189 190 Nevertheless in December 2020 North Macedonia s part from the joint committee withdrew from this decision 191 According to its view Tsar Samuel had to be portrayed in one way in North Macedonia s textbooks and in another during joint commemorations 192 In August 2022 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia published official recommendations of the Joint Historical Commission operating between the two countries There the governments in Sofia and Skopje are offered a joint commemoration of Samuel who according to the commission was the ruler of a large medieval state which the majority of modern historical scholarship considers to be the Bulgarian empire itself centered in the territory of today s North Macedonia 193 In this way the Macedonian members of the Commission not only agreed to identify Samuel s state as Bulgarian but they also recognized the existence of the Bulgarian ethnicity during the Middle Ages 194 Despite these facts multiple examples of animosity between Bulgaria and North Macedonia have been registered due to disputes over Samuil s ethnic affiliation and this issue is still highly sensitive 195 196 See also editByzantine Bulgarian Wars Bulgarian Hungarian Wars Croatian Bulgarian Wars Medieval Bulgarian Army Cometopuli dynasty Bitola inscription Armenians in BulgariaFootnotes edit1 Bulgarian can be transliterated a u or sometimes a as in blgarski balgarski as below or bulgarski 2 The work of Vasil Zlatarski History of the Bulgarian state in the Middle Ages has three editions The first edition is from 1927 published in Sofia the second edition is from 1971 and can be found here 3 in Bulgarian the third edition is from 1994 published in Sofia ISBN 954 430 299 9References edit Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages 500 1250 Florin Curta Cambridge University Press 2006 ISBN 0521815398 p 242 Spelled thus in Fine The Early Medieval Balkans also Ostrogorsky Treadgold opp cit Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium In French compare Adontz Nicholas Samuel l Armenien Roi des Bulgares in Etudes Armeno Byzantines Lisbonne Livraria Bertrand 1965 pp 347 407 Makedonska enciklopediјa tom II Skopјe Makedonska akademiјa na naukite i umetnostite 2009 ISBN 978 608 203 024 1 str 1296 Stojkov Stojko 2014 Krunisuvaњeto na Samuil za car i mitot za carot evnuh Glasnik na institutot za nacionalna istoriјa 58 1 2 pp 73 92 ISSN 0583 4961 A History of the Byzantine state and society Warren Treadgold Stanford University Press 1997 ISBN 0804726302 p 871 Anthony Kaldellis Streams of Gold Rivers of Blood The Rise and Fall of Byzantium 955 A D to the First Crusade Oxford University Press 2017 ISBN 0190253223 p 82 One theory is that from 972 976 to 997 Samuel co ruled with Roman I of Bulgaria who was the official tsar until 997 when he died in Byzantine captivity Roman is mentioned as tsar in several historical sources for example the Annals by Yahya of Antioch call Roman Tsar and Samuel Roman s loyal military chief However other historians dispute this theory as Roman was castrated and so technically could not have claimed the crown There was also a governor of Skopje called Roman who surrendered the city to the Byzantines in 1004 receiving the title of patrician from Basil II and becoming a Byzantine strategos in Abydus Skylitzes Cedr II 455 13 but this could be a mere coincidence of names a b Samuil of Bulgaria Archived from the original on 2007 02 21 Retrieved 2008 05 23 Britannica Online Samuel of Bulgaria Retrieved 2008 05 23 Whittow Making of Orthodox Byzantium pp 387 388 Stephenson P The legend of Basil the Bulgar slayer p 16 ISBN 0 521 81530 4 Sullivan D F ed and tr The life of St Nikon Brookline 1987 pp 140 142 a b Argoe K John Kyriotes Geometres a tenth century Byzantine writer Madison 1938 pp 140 141 Schlumberger G L epopee byzantine a la fin de dixieme siecle 1 Jean Tzimises les jeunes annees de Basile II le tueur de Bulgares 969 989 Paris 1896 pp 643 644 a b The Encyclopedia of World History 2001 First Bulgarian Empire Samuil Archived from the original on April 17 2008 Retrieved 2008 05 23 About Ohrid Retrieved 2008 05 23 dead link The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Edward Gibbon J B Bury Wildside Press LLC 2004 ISBN 0 8095 9240 1 p 142 A short history of Yugoslavia from early times to 1966 Stephen Clissold Henry Clifford Darby CUP Archive 1968 ISBN 0 521 09531 X p 140 Stephen Runciman A History of the First Bulgarian Empire pp 217 218 Prokic Bozidar 1906 Die Zusatze in der Handschrift des Johannes Scylitzes Codex Vindobonensis hist graec LXXIV in German Munchen p 28 OCLC 11193528 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Southeastern Europe in the early Middle Ages Florin Curta p 241 Adontz Nicholas 1938 Samuel l Armenien roi des Bulgares Mar BCLSMP in French 39 37 According to Zlatarski History of the Bulgarian state I 2 pp 544 562 the sons of Peter I were sent in the Byzantine capital in 963 as one of the term to resettle the peace treaty of 927 According to other historians such as Andreev Who is who in Medieval Bulgaria p 41 the heirs to the Bulgarian throne became hostages per a Bulgarian Byzantine agreement against the Kievan Rus in 968 Skylitzes records He Peter himself died shortly afterwards whereupon the sons were sent to Bulgaria to secure the ancestral throne and to restrain the children of the counts from further t David Moses Aaron and Samuel children of one of the powerful counts in Bulgaria were contemplating an uprising and were unsettling the Bulgars Blagoeva B For the origins of Emperor Samuel Za proizhoda na tsar Samuil Za proizhoda na car Samuil Istoricheski pregled 2 1966 str 91 94 They the Cometopuli make their first appearance under the government of Kekaumenos the strategos of Larissa 980 983 Adontz Samuel l Armenien 358 Ioannes Scylitzes Historia 2 pp 346 347 Vasilka Tăpkova Zaimova Bulgarians by Birth The Comitopuls Emperor Samuel and their Successors According to Historical Sources and the Historiographic Tradition East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages 450 1450 Brill 2018 ISBN 9004352996 p 156 a b Delev 12 The decline of the First Bulgarian Empire 12 Zalezat na Parvoto Balgarsko Tsarstvo 12 Zalezt na Prvoto blgarsko carstvo a b c d Bozhilov Gyuzelev 1999 pp 314 315 Petrov P 1962 Rebellion of Peter and Boyan in 976 and struggle of the Cometopuli with Byzantium Vosstanie Petra i Boyana v 976 i borba Komitopulov s Vizantiei Vosstanie Petra i Boyana v 976 g i borba Komitopulov s Vizantiej Byzantinobulgarica in Russian 1 130 132 Zlatarski p 615 Skylitzes pp 334 335 P Hr Petrov Vosstanie Petra i Boyana v 976 g i borba komitopulov s Vizantiej Byzantinobulgarica I Sofia 1962 str 121 144 J Ivanov Blgarski starini iz Makedoniya Sofiya 1970 str 550 Levchenko M V 1951 Precious sources on the Russo Byzantine relations in the 9th century Tsenniy istochnih po vaprosu pussko vizantiyskih otnosheniy v X veke Cennyj istochnih po voprosu russko vizantijskih otnoshenij v X veke in Russian pp 66 68 Nikolov G Centralism and regionalism in Bulgaria during the early Middle ages end of the 7th beginning of the 11th century Tsentralizam i regionalizam v rannosrednovekovna Balgariya kraya na VII nachaloto na XI v Centralizm i regionalizm v rannosrednovekovna Blgariya kraya na VII nachaloto na HI v Sofiya 2005 p 195 Westberg F 1951 1901 Die Fragmente des Toparcha Goticus Anonymus Tauricus aus dem 10 Jahrhundert in German Leipzig Zentralantiquariat der Dt Demokrat Republik p 502 OCLC 74302950 Petrov p 133 Petrov pp 133 134 General history of Stephan from Taron Vseobshaya istoriya Stepanosa Taronskogo Vseobshaya istoriya Stepanosa Taronskogo in Russian pp 175 176 Scylitzes pp 434 435 In this context by Romans Skylitzes understands Byzantines Petrov P 1959 Formation and consolidation of the Western Bulgarian state Obrazuvane i ukrepvane na Zapadnata Balgarska darzhava Obrazuvane i ukrepvane na Zapadnata Blgarska drzhava Gsuiff in Bulgarian 53 2 169 170 Seibt Untersuchungen p 90 Rozen V R 1972 Emperor Basil the Bulgar slayer extractions from Yuhia of Antioch s chronicles Imperator Vasiliy Bolgaroboytsa izvecheniya iz letopisi Yahi Antiohijskago Imperator Vasilij Bolgarobojca izvlecheniya iz letopisi Yahi Antiohijskago in Russian London Variorum Reprints p 21 ISBN 978 0 902089 39 6 Boris II and Roman were sons of Peter I whose dynasty had ruled Bulgaria since the reign of Khan Krum 803 814 Petrov p 134 Adontz Samuel l Armenien p 353 Skylitzes pp 434 435 Prokic p 28 Rozen V R 1972 Emperor Basil the Bulgar slayer extractions from Yuhia of Antioch s chronicles Imperator Vasiliy Bolgaroboytsa izvecheniya iz letopisi Yahi Antiohijskago Imperator Vasilij Bolgarobojca izvlecheniya iz letopisi Yahi Antiohijskago in Russian London Variorum Reprints pp 20 21 ISBN 978 0 902089 39 6 Petrov P 1958 On the question concerning the authenticity of the Virgin charter and the data it contains Po vaprosa za awtentichnostta na Virginskata gramota i sadarzhastite se v neya danni Po vprosa za avtentichnostta na Virginskata gramota i sdrzhashite se v neya danni Gsuiff in Bulgarian 2 54 219 225 Skylitzes pp 435 436 Kekaumenos Strategikon pp 65 66 Skylitzes p 436 Kekaumenos Strategikon eds B Wassilewsky and P Jernstedt St Petersburg 1896 pp 65 66 Litavrin G Soveti i rasskazy Kekavmena Sochinenie vizantiiskogo polkovodtsa XI veka Moscow 1972 pp 250 252 Ostrogorsky G History of the Byzantine state Istorija Vizantije Istorija Vizantije pp 391 393 Leo Diaconus Historia p 171 W Seibt Untersuchungen zur Vor und Fruhgeschichte der bulgarischen Kometopulen Handes Amsorya 89 1975 pp 65 98 Rozen p 21 Stephen of Taron pp 185 186 clarification needed Dennis Three Treatises pp 242 243 Skylitzes pp 436 438 Gilferding A 1868 Letters from the history of Serbians and Bulgarians Pisma ob istorii serbov i bolgar Pisma ob istorii serbov i bolgar in Russian Moskva p 209 OCLC 79291155 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Ioannis Geometrae Carmina varia Migne Patrol gr t 106 col 934 Roman Emperors Basil II Archived from the original on 2015 03 13 Retrieved 2008 03 23 Al Rudrawari pp 28 35 Ostrogorsky G History of the Byzantine state Istorija Vizantije Istorija Vizantije pp 397 398 E Codd Manuscriptis Bibliothecae Regiae Parisiensis J A Cramer ed 4 Vols Oxford 1839 1841 Vol 4 pp 271 282 Rozen p 27 Skylitzes p 446 John Geometres Anecdota Graeca E Codd Manuscriptis Bibliothecae Regiae Parisiensis J A Cramer ed 4 Vols Oxford 1839 1841 Vol 4 pp 271 273 282 283 Zlatarski pp 645 647 Vasilyevskiy V G History of the years 976 986 K istorii 976 986 godov K istorii 976 986 godov in Russian p 83 Ioannes Geometer Carmina col 920A Ostrogorsky Byzantine State pp 303 308 Zlatarski pp 651 652 Yahya PO 23 1932 pp 430 431 Stephen of Taron p 198 clarification needed Rozen p 34 Skylitzes p 449 Skylitzes pp 449 450 Skylitzes p 450 Stephenson P The legend of Basil the Bulgar slayer p 17 ISBN 0 521 81530 4 Andreev 1999 pp 331 334 Rozen p 43 Shishiћ 1928 p 330 Duichev Iv 1942 Correspondence of Pope Innocent III with the Bulgarians Prepiska na papa Inokentii III s balgarite Prepiska na papa Inokentij III s blgarite Gsuiff in Bulgarian 38 22 23 There is no direct evidence for this recognition but in his correspondence with Pope Innocent III two centuries later the Bulgarian Emperor Kaloyan pointed out that his predecessors Peter and Samuel had received imperial recognition by Rome a b Shishiћ 1928 p 331 Shishiћ 1928 p 334 a b Skylitzes p 451 Venedikov Iv 1973 The first wedlock of Gavril Radomir Parviyat brak na Gavril Radomir Prviyat brak na Gavril Radomir Collection in memory of Al Burmov in Bulgarian pp 144 149 OCLC 23538214 Holmes Basil II and the government of the empire vii pp 264 265 Antoljak Samuel and his estate pp 78 80 R V Rozen Emperor Basil the Bulgar slayer Imperator Vasiliy Bolgaroboytsa Imperator Vasilij Bolgarobojca p 34 Andreev J The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars Balgarskite hanove i tsare Blgarskite hanove i care Veliko Tarnovo 1996 p 125 ISBN 954 427 216 X Skylitzes p 452 Ibidem II r 452 a b c Prokic p 30 Zonaras ibid IV pp 118 119 Skyl Cedr ibid II pp 452 453 Skylitzes pp 452 454 Legenda Saneti Gerhardi episcopi p 489 Venedikov p 150 Legenda Saneti Gerhardi episcopi pp 492 493 Venedikov pp 151 152 a b Skylitzes p 454 Ivanov Jordan 1970 1931 Bulgarian historical monuments in Macedonia Balgarski starini iz Makedoniya Blgarski starini iz Makedoniya in Bulgarian Sofia Nauka i izkustvo p 557 OCLC 3736478 Skylitzes pp 454 455 Skylitzes p 455 Zlatarski pp 685 687 Actes d Iviron I Des origines au milieu du XIe siecle Archives de l Athos XIV eds J Lefort N Oikonomides D Papachryssanthou H Metreveli Paris 1985 doc 8 Ostrogorsky G History of the Byzantine state Istorija Vizantije Istorija Vizantije pp 404 405 Gilferding p 250 a b Zlatarski pp 689 690 a b c Skylitzes p 457 Daulaurier p 37 Selected sources for the Bulgarian history Volume II The Bulgarian states and the Bulgarians in the Middle Ages Podbrani izvori za balgarskata istoriya Tom II Balgarskite darzhavi i balgarite prez srednovekovieto Podbrani izvori za blgarskata istoriya Tom II Blgarskite drzhavi i blgarite prez srednovekovieto p 66 Pirivatrich Samuilovata drzhava p 136 Fol Al et al 1983 Short history of Bulgaria Kratka istoriya na Balgariya Kratka istoriya na Blgariya in Bulgarian Sofia Nauka i izkustvo p 71 OCLC 8553856 Conquest of Bulgaria by Byzantium end of the 10th beginning of the 11th century in the Russian chronography HV XVI c Zavoevenie Bolgarii Vizantiei konets X nachalo XI v v russkom hronografe HV XVI vv ZAVOEVANIE BOLGARII VIZANTIEJ KONEC H NAChALO XI v V RUSSKOM HRONOGRAFE XV XVI vv L V Gorina Moscow State University in Russian 1 Duichev Ivan 1943 1946 In the old Bulgaria literature Iz starata balgarska knijnina Iz starata blgarska knizhnina in Bulgarian Vol 2 Sofia Hemus p 102 OCLC 80070403 Cecaumenes Strategion pp 65 66 Zlatarski p 699 Pavlov Plamen 2002 Emperor Samuil and the Bulgarian epopee in Bulgarian Sofia Veliko Tarnovo VMRO Rusa Archived from the original on May 25 2009 Themes in the Byzantine Empire under Basil II Themes under Basil II Archived 2013 10 19 at the Wayback Machine Zlatarski pp 742 744 a b PmbZ Samuel Kometopulos 26983 PmbZ Kosara 24095 V Zlatarski Istorija 1 B Priturka 15 Retrieved 2008 09 10 Asoghik Stepanos de Taron L histoire universelle Paris 1859 Translation in German Leipzig 1907 Adontz Samuel l Armenien pp 347 407 Ivanov Jordan Jordan Ivanov Proizhod na car Samuiloviya rod The origin of the family of the king Samuel In Sbornik v chest na V N Zlatarski Sofiya 1925 Adontz Samuel l Armenien pp 387 390 Prof Kazimir Popkonstantinov The offer for exchange of Samuel s remains is a provocation from Greece in Bulgarian Focus Agency 2007 02 15 Archived from the original on 2007 10 11 Retrieved 2007 04 28 Edouard Selian The Coat of Arms of Emperor Samuel In American Chronicle March 21 2009 The Coat of Arms of Emperor Samuel and Macedonian Digest Edition 40 April 2009 2 in Greek Stayros Tzimas 7 October 2014 Ta osta toy Samoyhl h antallagh kai to paraskhnio Ka8hmerinh Retrieved 7 October 2014 Dobrev Petar 2007 04 18 The remains of Tsar Samuel will after all go to Tarnovo to the grave of Kaloyan in Bulgarian e vestnik bg Retrieved 2007 04 28 The appearance of Tsar Samuel is resurrected in Moscow in Bulgarian Radio Bulgaria 2007 03 05 Archived from the original on 2007 08 08 Retrieved 2007 04 28 Republic of Bulgaria Ministry of Foreign Affairs Antarctic Place names Commission Bulgarian Antarctic Gazetteer Samuel Point Archived from the original on 2009 08 06 Retrieved 2008 09 10 Talev Dimitar 1998 Samuil Bulgarian Tsar Samuil tsar balgarski Samuil car blgarski Abagar ISBN 954 584 238 5 S Runciman A history of the First Bulgarian empire Preface Ivan Vazov The Volunteers at Shipka in Bulgarian Retrieved 2008 09 10 Pencho Slaveikov Tsar Samuil in Bulgarian Retrieved 2008 09 10 Towards the Motherland in Bulgarian Archived from the original on July 5 2008 Retrieved 2008 09 10 a b Anastasievic D N Hypothesis on Western Bulgaria Hipoteza o Zapadnoj Bugarskoj Hipoteza o Zapadnoj Bugarskoj Glasnik Skopskog nauchnog drushtva b III Skopie 1928 a b History of the Byzantine State Rutgers 1969 p 301 302 David Ricks Michael Trapp as ed Dialogos Hellenic Studies Review Routledge 2014 ISBN 1317791789 p 36 a b An outline of Macedonian history from ancient times to 1991 Macedonian Embassy London Retrieved on 2007 04 28 Jim Bradbury The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare Routledge Companions to History Routledge 2004 ISBN 1134598475 p 172 The migrations during the early Byzantine centuries also changed the meaning of the geographical term Macedonia which seems to have moved to the east together with some of the non Slavic population of the old Roman province In the early 9th century an administrative unit theme of Makedonikon was established in what is now Thrace split among Bulgaria Greece and Turkey with Adrianople as its capital It was the birthplace of Emperor Basil I 867 886 the founder of the so called Macedonian dynasty in Byzantinum Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia Dimitar Bechev Scarecrow Press 2009 ISBN 0810862956 p iii By the beginning of the 9th century the theme of Macedonia with its capital at Adrianople consisted not of Macedonian but of Thracian territories During the Byzantine period the Macedonia proper corresponded to the themes of Thessalonica and Strymon Brill s Companion to Ancient Macedon Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon 650 BC 300 AD Robin J Fox Robin Lane Fox Brill 2011 ISBN 9004206507 p 35 The entry of the Slavs into Christendom an introduction to the medieval history of the Slavs A P Vlasto CUP Archive 1970 ISBN 0 521 07459 2 p 169 When the barbarian invasions started in the fourth through seventh centuries AD in the Balkans the remnants of the Hellenes who lived in Macedonia were pushed to eastern Thrace the area between Adrianople presently the Turkish city of Edirne and Constantinople This area would be called theme of Macedonia by the Byzantines whereas the modern territory of Rep of North Macedonia was included in the theme of Bulgaria after the destruction of Samuels Bulgarian Empire in 1018 Contested Ethnic Identity The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto 1900 1996 Chris Kostov Peter Lang 2010 ISBN 3034301960 p 48 The ancient name Macedonia disappeared during the period of Ottoman rule and was only restored in the nineteenth century originally as geographical term The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism John Breuilly Oxford University Press 2013 ISBN 0199209197 p 192 The region was not called Macedonia by the Ottomans and the name Macedonia gained currency together with the ascendance of rival nationalism Collective Memory National Identity and Ethnic Conflict Greece Bulgaria and the Macedonian Question Victor Roudometof Greenwood Publishing Group 2002 ISBN 0275976483 p 89 The Greeks were amongst the first to define these lands since the beginning of the 19th century For educated Greeks Macedonia was the historical Greek land of kings Philip and Alexander the Great John S Koliopoulos Thanos M Veremis Modern Greece A History since 1821 A New History of Modern Europe John Wiley amp Sons 2009 ISBN 1444314831 p 48 Jelavich Barbara 1983 History of the Balkans Vol 2 Twentieth Century Cambridge University Press p 91 ISBN 0521274591 However in the nineteenth century the term Macedonian was used almost exclusively to refer to the geographic region By the Middle Ages Macedonia s location had been forgotten and designated in areas mostly outside the original Macedonian kingdom Under Turkish rule Macedonia vanished completely from administrative terminology and survived only as a legend in the oral Greek traditions Rediscovered by travelers cartographers and diplomats after centuries of being ignored or forgotten misplaced or misunderstood Macedonia and its inhabitants have never since the beginning of the 20th century ceased being imagined and invented John S Koliopoulos Plundered Loyalties World War II and Civil War in Greek West Macedonia NYU Press 1999 ISBN 0814747302 p 1 Until the late 19th century both outside observers and those Bulgaro Macedonians who had an ethnic consciousness believed that their group which is now two separate nationalities comprised a single people the Bulgarians Thus the reader should ignore references to ethnic Macedonians in the Middle ages which appear in some modern works In the Middle ages and into the 19th century the term Macedonian was used entirely in reference to a geographical region Anyone who lived within its confines regardless of nationality could be called a Macedonian Nevertheless the absence of a national consciousness in the past is no grounds to reject the Macedonians as a nationality today The Early Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century John Van Antwerp Fine University of Michigan Press 1991 ISBN 0472081497 pp 36 37 At the end of the World War I there were very few historians or ethnographers who claimed that a separate Macedonian nation existed Of those Macedonian Slavs who had developed then some sense of national identity the majority probably considered themselves to be Bulgarians although they were aware of differences between themselves and the inhabitants of Bulgaria The question as of whether a Macedonian nation actually existed in the 1940s when a Communist Yugoslavia decided to recognize one is difficult to answer Some observers argue that even at this time it was doubtful whether the Slavs from Macedonia considered themselves to be a nationality separate from the Bulgarians The Macedonian conflict ethnic nationalism in a transnational world Loring M Danforth Princeton University Press 1997 ISBN 0 691 04356 6 pp 65 66 Most of the Slavophone inhabitants in all parts of divided Macedonia perhaps a million and a half in all had a Bulgarian national consciousness at the beginning of the Occupation and most Bulgarians whether they supported the Communists VMRO or the collaborating government assumed that all Macedonia would fall to Bulgaria after the WWII Tito was determined that this should not happen The first Congress of AVNOJ in November 1942 had parented equal rights to all the peoples of Yugoslavia and specified the Macedonians among them The struggle for Greece 1941 1949 Christopher Montague Woodhouse C Hurst amp Co Publishers 2002 ISBN 1 85065 492 1 p 67 Yugoslav Communists recognized the existence of a Macedonian nationality during WWII to quiet fears of the Macedonian population that a communist Yugoslavia would continue to follow the former Yugoslav policy of forced Serbianization Hence for them to recognize the inhabitants of Macedonia as Bulgarians would be tantamount to admitting that they should be part of the Bulgarian state For that the Yugoslav Communists were most anxious to mold Macedonian history to fit their conception of Macedonian consciousness The treatment of Macedonian history in Communist Yugoslavia had the same primary goal as the creation of the Macedonian language to de Bulgarize the Macedonian Slavs and to create a separate national consciousness that would inspire identification with Yugoslavia For more see Stephen E Palmer Robert R King Yugoslav communism and the Macedonian question Archon Books 1971 ISBN 0208008217 Chapter 9 The encouragement of Macedonian culture No doubt the vast majority of the Macedonian peasants being neither communists nor members of IMRO United had not been previously affected by Macedonian national ideology The British officials who attempted to tackle this issue in the late 1940s noted the pro Bulgarian sentiment of many peasants and pointed out that Macedonian nationhood rested on rather shaky historical and philological foundations and therefore had to be constructed by the Macedonian leadership Livanios D 2008 The Macedonian Question Britain and the Southern Balkans 1939 1949 Oxford University Press ISBN 0191528722 p 206 As David Fromkin 1993 p 71 confirms even as late as 1945 Slavic Macedonia had no national identity of its own Nikolaos Zahariadis 2005 Essence of Political Manipulation Emotion Institutions amp Greek Foreign Policy Peter Lang p 85 ISBN 0820479039 Ivo Banac The National Question in Yugoslavia Origins History Politics Cornell University Press 1988 ISBN 0801494931 p 33 Dejan Djokic Yugoslavism histories of a failed idea 1918 1992 p 123 at Google Books Pieter Troch Nationalism and Yugoslavia Education Yugoslavism and the Balkans before World War II I B Tauris 2015 ISBN 0857737686 Chapter 5 Merging Tribal Histories Nada Boskovska Yugoslavia and Macedonia Before Tito Between Repression and Integration Bloomsbury Publishing 2017 ISBN 1786730731 p 50 51 Svetozar Rajak Konstantina E Botsiou Eirini Karamouzi Evanthis Hatzivassiliou ed The Balkans in the Cold War Security Conflict and Cooperation in the Contemporary World Springer 2017 ISBN 1137439033 p 313 Istorijski casopis 2002 br 49 str 9 25 izvorni naucni clanak Pohod bugarskog cara Samuila na Dalmaciju Zivkovic Tibor D SANU Istorijski institut Beograd Pirivatric Samuilova drzava obim i karakter Samuilova drzhava obim i karakter Vizantoloski institut Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti Naucno delo 1997 st 253 256 Michael Palairet Macedonia A Voyage through History Vol 1 From Ancient Times to the Ottoman Invasions Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2016 ISBN 1443888435 p 345 Kazhdan Alexander Brand Charles M 1991 Samuel of Bulgaria In Kazhdan Alexander ed The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium Oxford and New York Oxford University Press p 1838 ISBN 0 19 504652 8 D Hupchick The Balkans From Constantinople to Communism Springer 2002 ISBN 0312299133 p 53 Ioannis Tarnanidis The Macedonians of the Byzantine period Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki Greece in John Burke and Roger Scott as edidors Byzantine Macedonia Identity Image and History Papers from the Melbourne Conference July 1995 BRILL 2000 ISBN 900434473X pp 29 50 48 Paul Stephenson Byzantium s Balkan Frontier A Political Study of the Northern Balkans 900 1204 American Council of Learned Societies Cambridge University Press 2000 ISBN 0521770173 p 78 B Panov 2019 p 88 B Panov Mitko 2022 Ideology behind the Naming On the Origin of Basil II s Appellation Scythicus Studia Ceranea 12 739 750 Amelia Robertson Brown Bronwen Neil ed Byzantine Culture in Translation Brill 2017 ISBN 9789004349070 p 109 Grzegorz Bartusik Jakub Morawiec Radoslaw Biskup ed Adam of Bremen s Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum Origins Reception and Significance 2022 Taylor amp Francis ISBN 9781000610383 p 236 Dennis P Hupchick The Bulgarian Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony Silver Lined Skulls and Blinded Armies Springer 2017 ISBN 3319562061 p 314 Crampton R J A Concise History of Bulgaria 2nd ed Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2005 ISBN 978 0 521 61637 9 p 15 Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria Government Information Service 20 June 2017 Archived from the original on 2017 12 17 Retrieved 2017 10 19 Blgariya i Severna Makedoniya da chestvat zaedno car Samuil predlozhi svmestnata komisiya v k Dnevnik 23 fev 2019 Prof Ivan Ilchev Makedoncite v dvustrannata komisiya priznaha che car Samuil e blgarski vladetel Trud onlajn 10 12 2018 Dragi Georgiev Car Samuil svoјot legitimitet go crpi od Bugarskata carska kruna 05 јanuari 2019 Kanal 5 TV Car Samuil legitimen pretstavnik na Bugarskoto carstvo Faktor Portal Retrieved 2020 09 23 Vmesto napredk Skopie se vrna pri car Samuil Obzor video 24chasa bg 04 12 2020 Naoum Kaychev On Unifying Around Our Common History Tsar Samuil Erga Omnes ResPublica 07 April 2021 Probiv v istoricheskata komisiya Car Samuil e vladetel na blgarsko carstvo Dir bg 15 08 2022 Archived 2022 08 15 at the Wayback Machine Mitko B Panov et al 2021 Macedonian Nation Between Self Identity and Euro Atlantic Integration Implications of the Agreements with Bulgaria and Greece Societies and Political Orders in Transition in Branislav Radeljic amp Carlos Gonzalez Villa ed Researching Yugoslavia and its Aftermath pp 223 252 228 Springer Macedonian Medieval Epic Annoys Bulgaria 17 02 2014 Balkan Insight BIRN Katerina Blazhevska Bugarski istorichari likuvaat Ova e prva pobeda 16 08 2022 Deutsche Welle Sources editAdontz Nicholas 1965 Samuel l Armenien Roi des Bulgares Etudes Armeno Byzantines in French Lisbonne Livraria Bertrand Andreev Jordan Milcho Lalkov 1996 The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars in Bulgarian Abagar ISBN 954 427 216 X Cheynet Jean Claude 1990 Pouvoir et contestations a Byzance 963 1210 in French Paris a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Delev Petar Valeri Katsunov Plamen Mitev Evgeniya Kalyanova Iskra Baeva Boyan Dobrev 2006 12 The decline of the First Bulgarian Empire History and civilization for 11 grade in Bulgarian Trud Sirma ISBN 954 9926 72 9 Dimitrov Bozhidar 1994 Bulgarian epic endeavours for independence 968 1018 Bulgaria illustrated history Sofia Borina ISBN 954 500 044 9 Fine John V A Jr 1991 1983 Bulgaria after Symeon 927 1018 The Early Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press pp 188 200 ISBN 0 472 08149 7 Lalkov Milcho 1997 Tsar Samuil 997 1014 Rulers of Bulgaria Kibea ISBN 954 474 098 8 Lang David Marshal The Bulgarians from pagan times to the Ottoman conquest Boulder Colo Westview Press 1976 ISBN 0 89158 530 3 Lilie Ralph Johannes Ludwig Claudia Pratsch Thomas Zielke Beate 2013 Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online Berlin Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften Nach Vorarbeiten F Winkelmanns erstellt in German Berlin and Boston De Gruyter Ostrogorsky George History of the Byzantine State tr from the German by Joan Hussey rev ed Rutgers Univ Press 1969 Pavlov P Samuil and the Bulgarian epopee in Bulgarian Sofia Veliko Tarnovo 2002 Pirivatric Srđan Bozidar Ferјancic 1997 Samuil s state appearance and character in Serbian Belgrade Institute of Byzantine Studies SANU OCLC 41476117 Excerpt from the Bulgarian translation Runciman Steven 1930 The end of an empire A history of the First Bulgarian Empire London George Bell amp Sons OCLC 832687 Schlumberger G 1900 t 2 Basile II eme le Tueur des Bulgares L epopee byzantine a la fin du X me siecle in French Paris a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Treadgold Warren 1997 A History of the Byzantine State and Society Stanford California Stanford University Press ISBN 0 8047 2630 2 Tsanev Stefan 2006 Chapter XIII 972 1014 Heroic agony Tsar Roman Tsar Samuil Bulgarian Chronicles in Bulgarian Sofia Plovdiv Trud Zhanet 45 ISBN 954 528 610 5 Zlatarski Vasil 1971 1927 Istoriya na blgarskata drzhava prez srednite vekove Tom I Istoriya na Prvoto blgarsko carstvo Chast II Ot slavyanizaciyata na drzhavata do padaneto na Prvoto carstvo 852 1018 History of Bulgaria in the Middle Ages Vol 1 History of the First Bulgarian Empire Part 2 From the Slavicization of the state to the fall of the First Empire 852 1018 Sofia Nauka i izkustvo OCLC 67080314 1 3 The Bulgarian capitals in the Macedonian lands The southwestern Bulgarian lands The Bulgarians and Bulgaria in Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs Trud Sirma 2005 Archived from the original on 2005 11 10 Wortley John ed 2010 John Skylitzes A Synopsis of Byzantine History 811 1057 Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 76705 7 Shishiћ Ferdo ed 1928 Letopis Popa Dukљanina Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja Beograd Zagreb Srpska kraљevska akademiјa Kuncher Dragana 2009 Gesta Regum Sclavorum Vol 1 Beograd Nikshiћ Istoriјski institut Manastir Ostrog Zhivkoviћ Tibor 2009 Gesta Regum Sclavorum Vol 2 Beograd Nikshiћ Istoriјski institut Manastir Ostrog B Panov Mitko 2019 The Blinded State Historiographic Debates about Samuel Cometopoulos and His State 10th 11th Century Volume 55 of East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages 450 1450 Leiden Boston BRILL ISBN 900439429X External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samuil of Bulgaria in Russian Letopis popa Duklyanina in Russian Yahya Antiohijskij Letopis 1 6 7 17 in Russian Otryvok iz Ioanna Skilicy o bitve u gory Belasica Detailed list of Bulgarian rulers PDF John Skylitzes Synopsis Historion The Battle of Kleidion Archived 2001 07 13 at the Wayback Machine Catherine Holmes Basil II A D 976 1025 Archived 2015 03 13 at the Wayback Machine Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja Map of Europe in 1000 Naum Kaychev On Unifying Around Our Common History Tsar Samuil Erga Omnes respublica edu mk 7 april 2021 Preceded byRoman Emperor of Bulgaria997 1014 de facto since 976 Succeeded byGavril Radomir Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Samuel of Bulgaria amp oldid 1217377231, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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