Sir Steven Runciman tells the story of the First Bulgarian Empire as only he can. Few other historians before or since have been able to tell such a riveting and vibrant tale while maintaining such a high standard of academic rigor. Sir Steven is the rare writer who can engage a popular audience and satisfy the demands of the professional historian at the same time.

A History of the First Bulgarian Empire

This book provides an interpretive narrative of the wars fought by Bulgaria against the Byzantine Empire for dominant control of the Balkan Peninsula during the early medieval era. Over a span of two centuries, from the early ninth through the early eleventh, and under the leadership of the Bulgarian rulers Krum, Simeon I, and Samuil, those conflicts evolved from simple confrontations for territorial possession into a life-or-death struggle for imperial precedence within the Orthodox world then emerging in Eastern Europe—a struggle that the Bulgarians ultimately lost. The primary focus is on Bulgaria, rather than Byzantium, and an effort is made to provide a historically reliable chronology of the assorted campaigns. The various belligerents’ military organizations, defensive technologies, armaments, and tactics are surveyed in an introduction to the main narrative. A prelude chapter sets the stage for the hegemonic conflict, which was divided into three distinct phases by interludes of relative peace between the contending parties, during which Bulgaria’s domestic, foreign, and cultural developments shaped the nature and conduct of the fighting in each successive phase.

The Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony

The Rise and Fall of the First Bulgarian Empire (679-1018)

Bogomilism (Bulgarian: Богомилство, Serbo-Croatian: Bogumilstvo/Богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic or dualist religiopolitical sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Peter I in the 10th century. It most probably arose in what is today the region of Macedonia as a response to the social stratification that occurred with the introduction of feudalism and as a form of political movement and opposition to the Bulgarian state and the church. The Bogomils called for a return to what they considered to be early spiritual teaching, rejecting the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and their primary political tendencies were resistance to the state and church authorities. This helped the movement spread quickly in the Balkans, gradually expanding throughout the Byzantine Empire and later reaching Kievan Rus', Bosnia (Bosnian Church), Dalmatia, Serbia, Italy, and France (Cathars). The Bogomils were dualists or Gnostics (people of knowledge) in that they believed in a world within the body and a world outside the body. They did not use the Christian cross, nor build churches, as they revered their gifted form and considered their body to be the temple. This gave rise to many forms of practice to cleanse oneself through purging, fasting, celebrating and dancing.

The Bogomils of Bulgaria and Bosnia

The reign of Basil II (976-1025), the longest of any Byzantine emperor, has long been considered as a 'golden age', in which his greatest achievement was the annexation of Bulgaria. This, we have been told, was achieved through a long and bloody war of attrition which won Basil the grisly epithet Voulgartoktonos, 'the Bulgar-slayer'. In this new study Paul Stephenson argues that neither of these beliefs is true. Instead, Basil fought far more sporadically in the Balkans and his reputation as 'Bulgar-slayer' was created only a century and a half later. Thereafter the 'Bulgar-slayer' was periodically to play a galvanizing role for the Byzantines, returning to centre-stage as Greeks struggled to establish a modern nation state. As Byzantium was embraced as the Greek past by scholars and politicians, the 'Bulgar-slayer' became an icon in the struggle for Macedonia (1904-8) and the Balkan Wars (1912-13).

The Legend of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer

Drawing on written and material sources, the book offers a comprehensive analysis of Byzantium's relations with Bulgaria during the late eighth and early ninth centuries, one of the most crucial and formative periods in the history of both medieval states.

Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775-831

Slavo-Bulgarian history

Bulgaria early history and civilization, Bulgaria culture, Bulgaria development, Bulgaria tourism, Bulgaria economic situation. In the past 150 years, vast changes have completely transformed the political and economic situation in Bulgaria, as well as the country's way of life. Poor peasants who served a foreign ruler first became land-owning peasants, then industrial workers who were mostly urbanized and disconnected from the land. Bulgarians who had traveled no farther than the next village began to migrate, often to gain a better education or to get a job in a growing industry. As villages and towns became less isolated, both internal migration and emigration became easier. The decline in the agricultural way of life also made people susceptible to changes on a national level rather than on a village or regional level. People were less self-sufficient for their basic needs and therefore more vulnerable to fluctuations in the national economy. The traditional support systems of the extended family and cooperative work in the village were replaced by a vast network of national social welfare programs. Instead of receiving help from family and neighbors, the poor, elderly, and disabled grew dependent on governmental programs. The sick no longer relied solely on traditional village healers once villagers and city people alike fell under coverage of a national health system

Bulgaria History, Early Settlement and Empire

Byzantium's Balkan Frontier is the first narrative history in English of the northern Balkans in the tenth to twelfth centuries. Where previous histories have been concerned principally with the medieval history of distinct and autonomous Balkan nations, this study regards Byzantine political authority as a unifying factor in the various lands which formed the empire's frontier in the north and west. It takes as its central concern Byzantine relations with all Slavic and non-Slavic peoples - including the Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians and Hungarians - in and beyond the Balkan Peninsula, and explores in detail imperial responses, first to the migrations of nomadic peoples, and subsequently to the expansion of Latin Christendom. It also examines the changing conception of the frontier in Byzantine thought and literature through the middle Byzantine period.

Byzantium's Balkan Frontier

Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World is the first comprehensive study of warfare and the Byzantine world from the sixth to the twelfth century. The book examines Byzantine attitudes to warfare, the effects of war on society and culture, and the relations between the soldiers, their leaders and society. The communications, logistics, resources and manpower capabilities of the Byzantine Empire are explored to set warfare in its geographical as well as historical context. In addition to the strategic and tactical evolution of the army, this book analyses the army in campaign and in battle, and its attitudes to violence in the context of the Byzantine Orthodox Church. The Byzantine Empire has an enduring fascination for all those who study it, and Warfare, State and Society is a colourful study of the central importance of warfare within it.

Warfare, State And Society In The Byzantine World 565-1204

The book presents an investigation into the legal language of mediaeval Bulgaria, seen in its own cultural context: the Byzantine Commonwealth. Law and Language are cultural phenomena and their interdependence is closely linked to their civilisation in which they are embedded.

Word and Power in Mediaeval Bulgaria

Medieval Bulgarian Empire

The First Bulgarian Empire, established in the 7th century AD under the leadership of Khan Asparuh, was a medieval European state that played a pivotal role in the history of Southeastern Europe. Located in the Balkans, it thrived for over two centuries, encompassing modern-day Bulgaria and parts of neighboring countries. This dynamic empire left a significant legacy, marked by its cultural and political influence, including the adoption of Christianity as the state religion under Tsar Boris I. The First Bulgarian Empire's rise and fall represent a fascinating chapter in European history, characterized by military prowess, territorial expansion, and religious transformation, all of which continue to shape the region's cultural and historical identity today.

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First Bulgarian Empire

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