Tsar John Alexander stood at Bulgaria’s helm from 1331 to 1371. It was during his rule that the country was given some breathing space, He was not lucky in the wars he waged but neither did he suffer any particular defeat. Bulgarian territories were part of international trade. There was a special “Frankish” neighbourhood in the capital inhabited by foreign merchants. Jews who had probably come a century or two before that from Byzantium also lived separately. The most active merchants were those from Ragusa /Dubrovnik/, on the Adriatic Sea, who crossed the peninsula far and wide. As the items they imported and exported were interesting, the tsar had given them special grants specifying their privileges.
Continue reading The Decline of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom part II

John Assen’s empire showed many of the characteristics of the late feudal states. Its successes were frequently only illusory. Feudal anarchy was stopped but far from destroyed. The decades following the death of the great ruler were chaotic. Bulgaria lost many of its acquisitions. The much younger Serbian state rose in power to the west. To the south, the Nicaeans managed to take Constantinople, restored Byzantium, and tried to reestablish their influence in the central part of the peninsula. From the middle of the 13th century onwards, the lands of the Bulgarians were ravaged by Tartar-Mongolian hordes nearly every year.

Continue reading The Decline of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom part I

Rendition video There were quite a few great feudal lords who looked at the crown with envy and who thought their rights over it were no less than those of the brothers. The two elder brothers were murdered by plotting boyars. The throne was taken by Kaloyan, who dealt with any resistance mercilessly. He was also helped by chance.

The reconstructed head of Tsar Kaloyan
In the fall of 1972 a medieval burial of an aristocrat was discovered during excavations in Veliko Tarnovo. One could not but be impressed by the enormous height of the man – nearly two metres – something quite unusual for that age. There was a heavy gold ring inscribed Ring of Kaloyan on his hand. The deceased was dressed in robes of purple, the colour of royalty in the middle ages, embroidered with pearls. The head was covered with a cap also decorated with gold, and there were red boots on his feet. The age of the deceased was presumed to be between 35 and 40.

Continue reading The Rise of Bulgaria from the middle of the 12th century part II

Emperor Basil II defeats Tsar Samouil – 14th century miniature.
One of the greatest tragedies in Bulgarian history occurred in 1014. The Byzantine Emperor Basil the Macedonian (for then Macedonia was the name of the region we call Thrace today) organized a new march. Samouil, who was too elderly to fight himself, sent his army against the Byzantines. The Bulgarians built a fortified camp in a narrow valley between two mountain slopes along the Stroumeshnitsa River, a hundred kilometers or so to the north of Salonika. The Byzantine army had no choice but to try a frontal attack. Or at least that was what the Bulgarian commanders thought, not so their enemy. Bribed guides led numerous companies along goat tracks and the surprised Bulgarians were attacked both front and back. The defeat was absolute, and 14,000 men were taken prisoners. Quite familiar with the significance of psychological warfare, Basil II decided on a step with few analogues in world history. All 14,000 prisoners of war were blinded upon his order, one in each hundred being left with one eye to lead the rest. Several days later, an indescribable column of thousands of blind men in their prime reached Samouil’s capital. The heart of the ruler could not stand the sight. He suffered a heart attack and died several days later. The Byzantine was called some time after Basil Bulgaroctonos (Slayer of Bulgarians) a name with which he has remained in the annals of history.
Continue reading The Decline of the First Bulgarian Kingdom part II