Simeon I of Bulgaria
Tsar Simeon (also Symeon)[1] I the Great (Church Slavonic: цѣсар҄ь Сѷмеѡ́нъ А҃ Вели́къ, romanized: cěsarĭ Sỳmeonŭ prĭvŭ Velikŭ Bulgarian: цар Симеон I Велики, romanized: Simeon I Veliki[2] [simɛˈɔn ˈpɤrvi vɛˈliki] Greek: Συμεών Αʹ ὁ Μέγας, romanized: Sumeṓn prôtos ho Mégas) ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927,[3] during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever,[4] making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern and Southeast Europe.[5] His reign was also a period of unmatched cultural prosperity and enlightenment later deemed the Golden Age of Bulgarian culture.[6]
Simeon the Great
Симеон І Велики
893 – 27 May 927
864/865
27 May 927 (aged 62 or 63)
Preslav, Bulgaria
Unknown name (first spouse)
Maria Sursuvul
Michael
Peter, Emperor of Bulgaria
Ivan Rilski
Benjamin
During Simeon's rule, Bulgaria spread over a territory between the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Black Sea.[7][8] The newly independent Bulgarian Orthodox Church became the first new patriarchate besides the Pentarchy, and Bulgarian Glagolitic and Cyrillic translations of Christian texts spread all over the Slavic world of the time.[9] It was at the Preslav Literary School in the 890s that the Cyrillic alphabet was developed.[10][11][12] Halfway through his reign, Simeon assumed the title of Emperor (Tsar),[13] having prior to that been styled Prince (Knyaz).[14]
Background and early life[edit]
Simeon was born in 864 or 865, as the third son of Knyaz Boris I[14] of Krum's dynasty.[15] As Boris was the ruler who Christianized Bulgaria in 865, Simeon was a Christian all his life.[14][16] Because his eldest brother Vladimir was designated heir to the Bulgarian throne, Boris intended Simeon to become a high-ranking cleric,[17] possibly Bulgarian archbishop, and sent him to the leading University of Constantinople to receive theological education when he was thirteen or fourteen.[16] He took the name Simeon[18] as a novice in a monastery in Constantinople.[16] During the decade (ca. 878–888) he spent in the Byzantine capital, he received excellent education and studied the rhetoric of Demosthenes and Aristotle.[19] He also learned fluent Greek, to the extent that he was referred to as "the half-Greek" in Byzantine chronicles.[20] He is speculated to have been tutored by Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople,[21] but this is not supported by any source.[16]
Around 888, Simeon returned to Bulgaria and settled at the newly established royal monastery of Preslav "at the mouth of the Tiča",[22] where, under the guidance of Naum of Preslav, he engaged in active translation of important religious works from Greek to Medieval Bulgarian (currently referred to as Church Slavonic), aided by other students from Constantinople.[16] Meanwhile, Vladimir had succeeded Boris, who had retreated to a monastery, as ruler of Bulgaria. Vladimir attempted to reintroduce paganism in the empire and possibly signed an anti-Byzantine pact with Arnulf of Carinthia,[23] forcing Boris to re-enter political life. Boris had Vladimir imprisoned and blinded, and then appointed Simeon as the new ruler.[24] This was done at an assembly in Preslav which also proclaimed Bulgarian as the only language of state and church[25] and moved the Bulgarian capital from Pliska to Preslav, to better cement the recent conversion.[26] It is not known why Boris did not place his second son, Gavril, on the throne, but instead preferred Simeon.[14]