Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire (Middle Bulgarian: Ц(а)рьство бл(ъ)гарское;[2][3] Modern Bulgarian: Второ българско царство, romanized: Vtorо Balgarskо Tsarstvo) was a medieval Bulgarian[4][5] state that existed between 1185 and 1396.[6] A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire,[7][8][9][10] it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the early 15th century.
Bulgarian Empireц︢рьство блъгарское
българско царство
българско царство
Tarnovo
(1185–1393)
Nikopol
(1393–1395)
Vidin (1356/1386 as capital of the Tsardom of Vidin)
Bulgarian Orthodoxy (official, 1204–1235 in the union with Rome)
Bogomilism (banned)
Monarchy
Peter IV (first)
Constantine II of Bulgaria (last)
1185
1396
293,000 km2 (113,000 sq mi)
Until 1256, the Second Bulgarian Empire was the dominant power in the Balkans, defeating the Byzantine Empire in several major battles. In 1205, Emperor Kaloyan defeated the newly established Latin Empire in the Battle of Adrianople. His nephew Ivan Asen II defeated the Despotate of Epiros and made Bulgaria a regional power again. During his reign, Bulgaria spread from the Adriatic to the Black Sea and the economy flourished. In the late 13th century, however, the Empire declined under constant invasions by Mongols, Byzantines, Hungarians, and Serbs, as well as internal unrest and revolts. The 14th century saw a temporary recovery and stability, but also the peak of Balkan feudalism as central authorities gradually lost power in many regions. Bulgaria was divided into three parts on the eve of the Ottoman invasion.
Despite strong Byzantine influence, Bulgarian artists and architects created their own distinctive style. In the 14th century, during the period known as the Second Golden Age of Bulgarian culture, literature, art, and architecture flourished.[11] The capital city Tarnovo, which was considered a "New Constantinople", became the country's main cultural hub and the centre of the Eastern Orthodox world for contemporary Bulgarians.[12] After the Ottoman conquest, many Bulgarian clerics and scholars emigrated to Serbia, Wallachia, Moldavia, and Russian principalities, where they introduced Bulgarian culture, books, and hesychastic ideas.[13]
Background[edit]
In 1018, when the Byzantine emperor Basil II (r. 976–1025) conquered the First Bulgarian Empire, he ruled it cautiously. The existing tax system,[a] laws, and the power of low-ranking nobility remained unchanged until his death in 1025. The autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate was subordinated to the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople and downgraded to an archbishopric centred in Ohrid, while retaining its autonomy and dioceses. Basil appointed the Bulgarian John I Debranin as its first archbishop, but his successors were Byzantines. The Bulgarian aristocracy and tsar's relatives were given various Byzantine titles and transferred to the Asian parts of the Empire.[21][22] Despite hardships, the Bulgarian language, literature, and culture survived; surviving period texts refer to and idealize the Bulgarian Empire.[23] Most of the newly conquered territories were included in the themes Bulgaria, Sirmium, and Paristrion.
As the Byzantine Empire declined under Basil's successors, invasions of Pechenegs and rising taxes contributed to increasing discontent, which resulted in several major uprisings in 1040–41, the 1070s, and the 1080s. The initial centre of the resistance was the theme of Bulgaria, in what is now Macedonia, where the massive Uprising of Peter Delyan (1040–41) and the Uprising of Georgi Voiteh (1072) took place. Both were quelled with great difficulty by Byzantine authorities.[24] These were followed by rebellions in Paristrion and Thrace.[25] During the Komnenian Restoration and the temporary stabilisation of the Byzantine Empire in the first half of the 12th century, the Bulgarians were pacified and no major rebellions took place until later in the century.
Notes[edit]
^ a: Unlike the Byzantine Empire, the taxes in the First Bulgarian Empire were paid in kind.[21]
^ b: Peter I (r. 927–969) was the first Bulgarian ruler who received official recognition of his imperial title by the Byzantines and enjoyed great popularity during the Byzantine rule. Two other rebel leaders were proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria under the name Peter before Theodore.[231]
^ c: The Roman and the Latin Empires were referred to by Western Europeans as "Romania".[232] The term "Franks" (in Bulgarian фръзи, in Greek frankoi) was used by the medieval Bulgarians and Byzantines to describe the whole Catholic population of Europe and the subjects of the Latin Empire.[233]
^ d: There is no information about territorial changes in the negotiations but many historians suggest that the Serbs occupied Niš at that time.[108]
^ e: When there was no legitimate heir of the deceased monarch it was customary that the nobility would elect an emperor among themselves. Constantine Tikh (r. 1257–1277), George I Terter (r. 1280–1292) and Michael Shishman (r. 1323–1330) were all elected emperors by the nobility.[132]