Ivailovgrad municipality is situated at the most southern part of the Rhodope Mountains, at the border with Greece. To the north and south, its neighboring municipalities are correspondingly Ljubimetz, Madjarovo and Krumovgrad. The altitude varies from 70m to 700m. The relief of the municipality is defined by the flowing curves of low Rhodopes ridges, which gradually transform into vast valleys. The municipal center – the town of Ivailovgrad, which has a population of 4,423 residents, is situated 60km away from the nearest train station, in the town of Ljubimetz, and 110km away from the towns of Haskovo and Kurdjaly.
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The integrated territory of Ljubimetz, Ivailovgrad and Madjarovo municipalities covers 1,410km2. Also situated there are parts of the Eastern Rhodopes ridges Maglenik, Sarta, Gorata, Gradishte, as well as the southwest slopes of Sakar Mountain and the Maritza River valley surrounded by them. The Vetren peak, situated near the Bulgarian-Greek border, is 1,266 meters high and is the highest in the region. St. Marina (709m) and Sheinovec (704m) are the other high peaks in the region. The majority of the territory is hilly with deeply indented relief and obvious erosion processes along the Arda River Valley.
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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

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

The situation was aggravated additionally around the middle of the 12th century. On several occasions Byzantium was badly shaken by attacks from the east and from the west. The march of the Normans from South Italy, who were trying to establish a foothold on the Peninsula and who left a broad belt of plunder in their wake, was catastrophic for the southewestern Bulgarian territories.

As if that was not enough, the incumbent Emperor Isaac II Angelos decided to marry, and as if to ensure the joyous participation of the populace in his matrimonial plans he could not think of anything better but to impose an additional tax. He might have got away with these plans if they had not coincided with a small incident. Two Bulgarian boyars, Peter and Assen, who held the small but strategically important fort of Tarnovo in northern Bulgaria, and were probably a distant offshoot of the ruling dynasty in Preslav, visited the emperor to request additional landholdings. He sent them away with ridicule and even “regally” ordered them beaten up a bit. It turned out that his visitors were not the type to forgive easily and they raised the banner of revolt over their fort in 1185.

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

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