Any neighbour of the dazzling empire found its wealth an attraction difficult to resist. King Simeon was no exception. Around the end of the 9th century he engaged in endless wars with Byzantium. He was led by the misguided ambition not only to annex the maximum of Byzantine territory but also, if possible, to sit on the throne of the emperors in Constantinople. The Bulgarian ruler’s military and diplomatic genius could not be doubted. They allowed him to turn the power of his extensive realm into a fist of iron and to make the very existence of the empire questionable on several occasions. From the walls of the imperial city the officials of Byzantium could repeatedly enjoy the picture of nimble Bulgarian companies engaged in plunder. Simeon was also helped by the international situation. The Arabs persistently attacked from the east, compelling the empire to fight on two fronts. Cornered as they were, the Byzantines were forced to make an extreme sacrifice: Simeon was recognised as Tsar, i.e. almost equal to the emperor, the head of the Bulgarian Church - as Patriarch, while Byzantium committed itself to pay the Bulgarians annual due. In those days that was equal to being declared a Great Power. (Some historians, by the way, question the official character of this recognition and insist that it was his son Peter who became Tsar.)

Tsar Simeon in battle with the Byzantines - 14th century miniature.
Continue reading The Rise of the First Bulgarian Kingdom part IV

The elder brother, Methodius, returned to Great Moravia only to encounter the growing hostility of the German clergy. He and his disciples were vilified, persecuted, and imprisoned. After his death some of the disciples were sold as slaves in Italian markets. Others, who were luckier, sailed down the Danube and found refuge in one of the Bulgarian ports on the river. From there they went to the capital Pliska, where Prince Boris welcomed them as dear guests and created all the necessary conditions for their work. Schools for future priests and administrators were opened, establishments that were to give their disciples the invaluable advantage of being able to read and write in their mother tongue. In this case the language was based on the Slavonic, albeit with many borrowings from the Bulgarian. The state, however, was vast and one literary centre did not suffice. That was why one of Cyril’s most able disciples, Clement, was consecrated bishop of Koutmichevitsa, a region in present-daySouthwest Macedonia with Ochrid as a centre. This was where the second literary centre was established in which more than 3,500 students were trained over a period of twenty years.

Continue reading The Rise of the First Bulgarian Kingdom part III

There are all reasons to say that the time of king Simeon marked the highest point in the development of the Bulgarian Kingdom in the middle ages. In the first quarter of the 10th century Bulgaria is an unparalleled in south-eastern Europe and one of the most civilized states in the Christian world. Under king Simeon Byzantium controls only 1/3 of the Balkan territories and is true worried about its future presence on the Peninsula. For the more sagacious contemporaries of the events it is clear that SIMEON intends to change the status of Bulgaria. Byzantine and to create a new imperial system in which the Bulgarians will dominate. The young prince whom the Patriarch of Constantinople Nikolay the Mystic called “THE SO OF PEACE”, was born after the conversion to Christianity and had Christian upbringing Later he continues his education in the famous School of Magnaura. In Constantinople the third son of king BORIS, who is preparing for a clerical career, comes to know the source of imperial power, which spring not from human and natural resources, but from thousands of years of cultural tradition that gave the Byzantines self-confidence and pride. Years later, on coming back to his home country, SIMEON makes use of his knowledge to set the beginnings of the period of cultural flourish for Bulgaria, known as THE GOLDEN AGE.

Continue reading Bulgaria Under the rule of Tsar Simeon the Great (893-927)