Byzantine–Bulgarian wars
The Byzantine–Bulgarian wars were a series of conflicts fought between the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria which began after the Bulgars conquered parts of the Balkan peninsula after 680 AD. The Byzantine and First Bulgarian Empire continued to clash over the next century with variable success, until the Bulgarians, led by Krum, inflicted a series of crushing defeats on the Byzantines. After Krum died in 814, his son Omurtag negotiated a thirty-year peace treaty. Simeon I had multiple successful campaigns against the Byzantines during his rule from 893 to 927. His son Peter I negotiated another long-lasting peace treaty. His rule was followed by a period of decline of the Bulgarian state.
| Byzantine–Bulgarian wars | |||||||||
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Clockwise from right: The Battle of Anchialus; Khan Omurtag; The rulers of Bulgaria and Byzantium negotiate for peace; Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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First Bulgarian Empire Second Bulgarian Empire | Byzantine Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Khans and Tsars: Asparuh Tervel Kormisosh Vinekh Telets Telerig Krum Omurtag Malamir Presian I Boris I Simeon I Peter I Boris II Samuel Gavril Rodomir Ivan Vladislav Peter II Peter III Peter IV Ivan Asen I Kaloyan Ivan Asen II Michael Asen I Mitso Asen Constantine I Ivaylo Smilets Theodore Svetoslav George II Michael Asen III Ivan Stephen Ivan Alexander |
Emperors: Constantine IV Justinian II Philippikos Bardanes Constantine V Nikephoros I Logothetes † Michael I Rangabe Leo V the Armenian Theophilos Michael III Leo VI the Wise Alexander Leo Phokas the Elder Romanos I Nikephoros II Phokas John I Tzimiskes Basil II the Bulgar-slayer Gregory Taronites † Nikephoros Ouranos Michael IV the Paphlagonian Michael VII Doukas Isaac II Angelos Alexios III Angelos John III Doukas Vatatzes Theodore II Laskaris Michael VIII Palaiologos Andronikos II Palaiologos Michael IX Palaiologos Andronikos III Palaiologos | ||||||||
In 971 John I Tzimiskes, the Byzantine emperor, subjugated much of the weakening Bulgarian Empire by defeating Boris II and capturing Preslav, the Bulgarian capital. Samuel managed to stabilize the Bulgarian state with a center around the town of Prespa. Near the end of his rule, the Byzantines got the upper hand again, and under Basil II they won the Battle of Kleidion and completely conquered Bulgaria in 1018. There were rebellions against Byzantine rule from 1040 to 1041, and in the 1070s and the 1080s, but these failed. In 1185, however, Theodore Peter and Ivan Asen started a revolt, and the weakening Byzantine Empire, facing internal dynastic troubles of its own, was unable to quash the revolt.
After the army of the Fourth Crusade conquered Constantinople in 1204, Kaloyan, the Bulgarian emperor, tried to establish friendly relations with the crusaders. However, the newly created Latin Empire spurned any offer of alliance with the Bulgarians. Because of his cold reception, Kaloyan allied with the Nicaeans, which reduced the crusaders' power in the area. Even though his nephew Boril allied with the Latin Empire, Boril's successors sided with the Nicaeans, despite a few continuing attacks from them. After the Latin Empire collapsed, the Byzantines, took advantage of the Bulgarian civil war and captured portions of Thrace, but the Bulgarian emperor Theodore Svetoslav retook these lands. The Byzantine-Bulgarian relations continued to fluctuate until the Ottoman Turks captured the Bulgarian capital in 1393 and the Byzantine capital in 1453.