Table Of ContentByzantium and Bulgaria, 775–831
East Central and Eastern
Europe in the Middle Ages,
450–1450
General Editor
Florin Curta
VOLUME 16
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/ecee
Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775–831
By
Panos Sophoulis
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2012
Cover illustration: Scylitzes Matritensis fol. 11r.
With kind permission of the Bulgarian Historical Heritage Foundation, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all rights holders to any copyrighted
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sophoulis, Pananos, 1974–
Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775–831 / by Panos Sophoulis.
p. cm. — (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages,
450–1450, ISSN 1872-8103 ; v. 16.)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-20695-3 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Byzantine Empire—Relations—Bulgaria.
2. Bulgaria—Relations—Byzantine Empire. 3. Byzantine Empire—Foreign relations—527–1081.
4. Bulgaria—History—To 1393. I. Title.
DF547.B9S67 2011
327.495049909’021—dc23
2011029157
ISSN 1872-8103
ISBN 978 90 04 20695 3
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CONTENTS
Preface ............................................................................................................ ix
A Note on Transliteration ........................................................................... xi
List of Maps and Illustrations .................................................................... xiii
Abbreviations ................................................................................................ xv
Introduction ................................................................................................... 1
1. The Sources .............................................................................................. 5
1.1 The Chronographia ........................................................................ 5
1.1.1 Authorship and Date of Composition .......................... 5
1.1.2 Theophanes and the Bulgars ........................................... 14
1.1.3 The Bulgar Narrative ........................................................ 15
a) The Years 775–802 ...................................................... 15
b) The Years 802–810 ...................................................... 17
c) The Campaign of 811 ................................................. 18
d) The Years 811–813 ...................................................... 20
1.2 The Chronicle of 811 and the Scriptor Incertus de Leone
Armenio ........................................................................................... 23
a) The Campaign of 811 .................................................. 32
b) The Years 813–814 ...................................................... 32
1.3 George the Monk, the Logothete’s Chronicle and the
Scriptores Post Theophanem ......................................................... 34
a) The Battle of Mesembria ............................................ 36
1.4 Hagiography ................................................................................... 37
a) The Story of the Martyrs of Adrianople .................. 38
1.5 Other Byzantine Literary Sources ............................................... 39
1.6 Syriac, Arabic, Armenian and Frankish Sources ..................... 41
1.7 The Proto-Bulgarian Inscriptions ............................................... 44
1.8 Archaeology .................................................................................... 47
2. The Geographical and Historical Setting ............................................ 51
2.1 The Physical Context, Routes and Cities ................................... 51
2.2 The Internal Organization of the Khanate ................................ 65
2.2.1 Social, Political and Military Organization .................. 65
2.2.2 The Religion of the Proto-Bulgarians ............................ 79
vi contents
2.3 The Historical Background of the Conflict ............................... 89
2.4 The Byzantine and Bulgar Defence ............................................ 95
3. Bulgaria’s Northern Neighbours and the Black Sea
Zone in the Seventh to Ninth Centuries ............................................. 105
3.1 From “Old Great Bulgaria” to the Danube Khanate.
The Historical Background to Asparuch’s Migration to
the Balkans ...................................................................................... 105
3.2 Bulgaria’s Northern Neighbours, Late Seventh to Early
Ninth Century: A Brief Overview ............................................... 112
3.2.1 The Geographical Setting ................................................. 113
3.2.2 Wallachia and the Bulgars ............................................... 117
3.2.3 The Southern Regions of the Carpathian Basin .......... 119
3.2.4 Transylvania ....................................................................... 124
3.2.5 The Steppes North of the Black Sea .............................. 129
3.2.6 The Crimea ......................................................................... 135
4. Conflict and Contact, 775–802 ............................................................. 143
4.1 The Byzantine Empire under Leo IV (775–780) ...................... 143
4.2 Byzantine-Bulgar Relations under Leo IV ................................ 146
4.3 The Empire under Irene and Constantine VI (780–802) ....... 149
4.4 Byzantium and Bulgaria, 780–802 .............................................. 159
5. Emperor versus Khan: Byzantium and Bulgaria,
802–811 ..........................................................................................173
5.1 The Byzantine Empire under Nikephoros I .............................. 173
5.2 Byzantine-Bulgar Relations from 802 to 810 ............................ 180
5.2.1 The Collapse of the Avar Qaghanate and the Bulgars 180
5.2.2 Nikephoros’ Balkan Expansion and the War with
Bulgaria ............................................................................... 184
5.3 The Campaign of 811 .................................................................... 192
6. The Bulgar Offensive, 811–814 ............................................................. 217
6.1 The Empire under Michael I (811–813) .................................... 217
6.2 The Byzantine-Bulgar War During the Reign of Michael I ... 221
6.2.1 From Nikephoros’ Defeat to the Fall of Mesembria .... 221
6.2.2 The Byzantine Campaign of 813 and the Battle of
Versinikia ........................................................................... 234
contents vii
6.3 The War in Leo V’s Reign ............................................................ 245
6.3.1 Byzantium under Leo V (813–820) ............................... 245
6.3.2 The Bulgar Siege of Constantinople ............................... 249
6.3.3 The War until the Death of Krum (April 814) ............ 258
7. The Last Phase of the War and the Conclusion of
the Thirty Years’ Peace ........................................................................... 265
7.1 The Internal Crisis in Bulgaria and the Battle of Mesembria ... 265
7.2 The Thirty Years’ Peace ................................................................. 275
8. The Reign of Omurtag and the Transformation
of Early Medieval Bulgaria ..................................................................... 287
8.1 Reconstructing Omurtag’s Power ............................................... 287
8.2 Bulgaria and Byzantium During the Reign of Omurtag ......... 306
Conclusion ................................................................................................... 311
Bibliography ................................................................................................... 321
Index ............................................................................................................... 361
PREFACE
This book stems from a doctoral thesis which I defended at the University
of Oxford in July 2005. A project of this duration inevitably accumulates
numerous debts of gratitude. I must begin by acknowledging the encourage-
ment and help of James Howard-Johnston who first stimulated my interest
in medieval Bulgarian history and supervised the thesis. Elizabeth Jeffreys
and Jonathan Shepard, who examined the thesis, have been generous with
advice and support. Jonathan Shepard, in particular, read drafts of papers
reworked for the book and supplied me with bibliographical information
and assistance. Special thanks are due to Florin Curta, who read the whole
text in draft and made many helpful observations, all of which have sig-
nificantly improved the final version. Tsvetelin Stepanov also read sections
of the book and provided invaluable feedback. Taxiarchis Kolias, Natalija
Ristovska, Stephan Nikolov, Panagiotis Antonopoulos, Marianne Noble and
the late Rašo Rašev have all offered valuable advice, information and refer-
ences. I should also like to add my profound gratitude to Kiril Nenov who
contributed in many ways to this book, both with practical assistance and
with information and suggestions. Finally, I must thank Marcella Mulder at
Brill for making the publication process so smooth.
In the course of writing the thesis and book I have enjoyed the support of a
number of institutions. The Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation
sponsored me during my study in Oxford. In addition, I received financial
assistance from the University of Oxford, Exeter College and the Faculty of
Modern History, to all of which I am very much indebted. I am also greatly
obliged to the staff of the following libraries for all the assistance given me
as a reader: the Bodleian and Sackler Libraries at Oxford, the British Library,
the St Cyril and Methodius National Library of Bulgaria, the Archaeologi-
cal Museum, Sofia, the Regional Museum of History at Šumen, the Varna
Archaeological Museum, as well as the French and British Archaeological
Schools at Athens.
I have been especially fortunate to teach in the Department of Slavic Stud-
ies of the University of Athens and should like to thank all my colleagues
and staff for providing a fine environment in which to work and study at the
highest level. Finally, I must thank my family for their constant support and
encouragement, and particularly my father for all he has done for me.
Panos Sophoulis
