This article is about the specific polity First Bulgarian Empire and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
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Was an empire in the Balkan region of Eastern Europe. It was founded by Bulgar people that left the Pontic Steppe due to invasions of Avars and Khazars.
Establishment
January 671: The Bulgars of Asparuh moved westwards to what is now Bessarabia, subdued the territories to the north of the Danube in modern Wallachia, and established themselves in the Danube Delta.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were a series of conflicts fought between the Byzantines and Bulgarians which began when the Bulgars first settled in the Balkan peninsula in the 5th century, and intensified with the expansion of the Bulgarian Empire to the southwest after 680 AD.
1.1.Asparukh's war
Were the military campaigns of Bulgarian ruler Aspurah.
September 680: In the 670s they crossed the Danube into Scythia Minor, nominally a Byzantine province, in addition to the grazing grounds to the west of the Dniester River already under their control. In 680 the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV (r. 668-685), having recently defeated the Arabs, led an expedition at the head of a huge army and fleet to drive off the Bulgars but suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Asparuh at Onglos.
January 682: In 681 Constantine was forced to acknowledge the Bulgar state in Moesia.
1.2.Tervel's wars
Were the military campaigns of Bulgarian ruler Tervel.
January 706: Khan Tervel in 705 assisted the deposed Byzantine Emperor Justinian II in regaining his throne in return for the Zagore region of Northern Thrace.
January 706: Tervel supported Justinian in an attempted restoration to the Byzantine throne in exchange for friendship, gifts and his daughter in marriage. With an army of 15,000 horsemen provided by Tervel, Justinian suddenly advanced on Constantinople and managed to gain entrance into the city in 705. Possibly a territorial concession in northeastern Thrace, a region called Zagore.
January 713: Tervel was the ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, while Thrace was a region in the Byzantine Empire. The raid in 712 was a result of the political instability in Byzantium, allowing Tervel to take advantage and plunder the region up to the outskirts of Constantinople.
February 713: Tervel was the ruler of the Bulgarian Empire, while Thrace was a region in southeastern Europe. The Byzantine Empire was facing internal turmoil at the time, allowing Tervel to launch successful raids in 712, reaching the outskirts of Constantinople in 713.
1.3.Khan Krum's wars
Were the military campaigns of Bulgarian Khan Krum.
June 809: In 809 Krum besieged and forced the surrender of Serdica.
July 811: Nikephoros I was the Byzantine Emperor who led the expedition against Bulgaria in 811. Pliska was the capital of the Bulgarian Empire at that time. The successful siege of Pliska on July 20, 811, resulted in the territory being annexed by the Byzantine Empire.
July 811: Nikephoros I was the Byzantine Emperor from 802 to 811. He faced internal rebellions and external threats, including the First Bulgarian Empire. In 811, after facing military defeats and internal unrest, Nikephoros retreated towards Thrace, ultimately leading to his death in the Battle of Pliska.
August 811: Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I undertook a massive expedition against Bulgaria, managing to to take over Pliska, the capital of Bulgaria.
September 811: Having sacked and set at fire the city of Pliska, the capital of Bulgaria, the Byzantines ended ther raid.
December 812: Krum besieged and captured Mesembria (Nesebar) in the autumn of 812.
January 813: In 812 Krum of Bulgaria invaded Byzantine Thrace, taking Develt.
August 813: The new emperor, Leo V the Armenian, offered to negotiate and arranged for a meeting with Krum. As Krum arrived, he was ambushed by Byzantine archers and was wounded as he made his escape. Furious, Krum ravaged the environs of Constantinople and headed home, capturing Adrianople.
August 813: With Krum's cavalry in pursuit, the rout of Michael I was complete, and Krum advanced on Constantinople, which he besieged by land.
January 814: Territorial expansion of Bulgaria during the reign of Khan Krum (803-814).
1.3.1.Byzantine-Bulgarian treaty of 815
Was a 30-year peace agreement signed in Constantinople between the Bulgarian Khan Omurtag and the Byzantine Emperor Leo V the Armenian.
January 816: The possibility of an anti-Bulgarian alliance between the Byzantine and the Frankish empires, the need to consolidate Bulgarian authority in the newly conquered lands, and the new stirring of the tribes in the steppes gave reason for Omurtag to conclude a 30-year peace treaty with the Byzantines in 815. Under this agreement, the Great Balkans became another time the natural border between the two empires, and Byzantium regained the cities it had lost in the Black Sea.
January 816: Krum's successor Khan Omurtag (r. 814-831) concluded a 30-year peace treaty with the Byzantines, thus allowing both countries to restore their economies and finance after the bloody conflicts in the first decade of the century, establishing the border along the Erkesia trench between Debeltos on the Black Sea and the valley of the Maritsa River at Kalugerovo.
1.4.War with Theophilos
Were the military campaigns of Bulgarian ruler Malamir against Byzantine Emperor Theophilos.
January 837: In 836, during the rule of Khan Malamir, the Bulgarians annexed Philippopolis (Plovdiv) and its surrounding territories as part of the expansion of the First Bulgarian Empire under the leadership of the Khan and his military forces.
January 837: During the short reign of Khan Malamir, the important city of Philippopolis was incorporated into the country.
1.5.Wars of Boris I
Were the military campaigns of Bulgarian ruler Boris I.
January 857: The independence of Powys ended when Merfyn Frych, ruler of Gwynedd, married Nest, sister of king Cyngen. Upon the latter's death in 855, Merfyn Frych and Nest's son Rhodri inherited the kingdom, which was governed as if it were a part of Gwynedd.
January 864: In 863 Boris made a decision to embrace Christianity, and he sought a mission from the Franks. The Byzantines could not countenance so close a neighbor as Bulgaria falling under Frankish religious control. A fleet was sent into the Black Sea and an army dispatched to invade Bulgaria. As the bulk of Boris' army was campaigning against Moravia far to the northwest, he had little choice but to yield immediately. He broke off the Frankish alliance, allowed Greek clergy to enter Bulgaria, and was eventually baptized, with the Byzantine emperor Michael III as his sponsor. He took the additional name of Michael at his baptism. The Bulgarians were allowed to recover the debatable region of Zagora as a reward for their change of religious orientation.
1.6.Byzantine-Bulgarian War of 894-896
Was a war between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire.
December 894: Simeon I was the ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, while Thrace was a region in the Byzantine Empire. The invasion of Thrace in 894 led to widespread looting by the Bulgarians and the capture of many Byzantine prisoners.
January 895: In the autumn of 894 Simeon I launched an invasion of Byzantine Thrace.The Bulgarians looted the region and retired to the north taking many captives.
January 896: The Magyars pillaged and looted unopposed, reaching the outskirts of the capital Preslav.
February 896: The Magyars pillaged and looted unopposed, reaching the outskirts of the capital Preslav.
January 897: Battle of Southern Buh: great Bulgarian victory which forced the Magyars of the Etelköz realm to abandon the steppes of southern Ukraine.
January 897: Battle of Boulgarophygon: annihilation of the Byzantine army. The war ended with a peace treaty which confirmed the Bulgarian domination on the Balkans, restored the status of Bulgaria as a most favoured nation, abolished the commercial restrictions and obliged the Byzantine Empire to pay annual tribute. Under the treaty, the Byzantines also ceded an area between the Black Sea and Strandzha to Bulgaria.
1.7.Byzantine-Bulgarian War of 913-927
Was a war between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire.
August 913: Toward the end of July 913 the Bulgarian monarch launched a campaign at the head of a large army, and in August he reached Constantinople unopposed.
September 913: Toward the end of July 913 the Bulgarian monarch launched a campaign at the head of a large army, and in August he reached Constantinople unopposed.
September 914: Simeon I of Bulgaria invaded Thrace in the summer of 914 and captured Adrianople.
September 914: In the summer of 914 the Bulgarian army invaded the themes of Thrace and Macedonia. Simultaneously, the Bulgarian troops penetrated into the regions of Dyrrhachium and Thessalonica to the west.
November 914: After the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I captured Adrianople in 914, the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI negotiated the city's return by paying a large ransom. This event highlighted the ongoing power struggles between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire during the 9th and 10th centuries.
August 917: Battle of Achelous.
January 919: With the Serbian threat eliminated and the bulk of the Byzantine army destroyed, in 918 Simeon I personally led a campaign in the Theme of Hellas and penetrated deep to the south, reaching the Isthmus of Corinth.
April 921: Battle of Pegae.
September 924: In the summer of 924, Simeon nevertheless arrived at Constantinople and demanded to see the patriarch and the emperor. He conversed with Romanos on the Golden Horn on 9 September 924 and arranged a truce, according to which Byzantium would pay Bulgaria an annual tax, but would be ceded back some cities on the Black Sea coast.
January 925: Serbia was annexed as a Bulgarian province, expanding the country's border to Croatia.
1.7.1.Byzantine-Bulgarian Treaty of 927
Was a treaty that ended the Byzantine-Bulgarian war of 913-927.
November 927: Byzantium recognizes the imperial title of the Bulgarian monarchs and the Bulgarian Patriarchate. The treaty restored the border approximately along the lines agreed in 904: the Bulgarians returned most of Simeon I's conquests in Thrace, Thessaly and Hellas and retained firm control over most of Macedonia and the larger part of Epirus.
1.8.Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria
Was the invasion of the Bulgarian Empire by the Kievan Rus'.
September 971: Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes and Sviatoslav I of Kiev agreed to a peace treaty: The Rus' army left the occupied territories, and their trading rights were re-affirmed in exchange for an oath to never again attack imperial territory.
September 971: While the eastern parts of the empire were conquered and turned into a Byzantine province, the lands to the west of Iskar river remained under Bulgarian control and included most of Macedonia, Albania and the lands to the south of the Danube between the Kolubara river (including Srem) to the west and the mountains around Etropole and Ihtiman to the east. These territories were ruled by the four brothers David, Moses, Aron and Samuel, sons of the governor (komita/comes) of Serdica (Sofia) Nikola.
January 972: The Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes eventually defeated Svyatoslav's forces and compelled him to leave the Balkans in 971. In the course of their campaign the Byzantines seized Preslav and detained Boris II. Initially John I Tzimiskes presented himself as a liberator but Boris II was promptly forced to ritually abdicate in Constantinople. Although at the time the Byzantines controlled only the eastern regions of the country, Bulgaria was proclaimed a Byzantine province.
1.8.1.Kievan Offensive
Was a military campaign by the invading Kievan Rus' in the Bulgarian Empire.
June 968: In August 967 or 968, the Rus' crossed the Danube into Bulgarian territory, defeated a Bulgarian army of 30,000 men in the Battle of Silistra, and occupied most of the Dobruja.
September 969: In summer 969, Sviatoslav of Kiev returned to Bulgaria in force, accompanied by allied Pecheneg and Magyar contingents. Sviatoslav stormed the city. Thereafter Boris and Roman capitulated, and the Rus' rapidly established control over eastern and northern Bulgaria, placing garrisons in Dorostolon and the Bulgarian capital of Preslav.
1.9.Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
From ca. 970 until 1018, a series of conflicts between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire led to the gradual reconquest of Bulgaria by the Byzantines, who thus re-established their control over the entire Balkan peninsula.
January 987: In 986, Byzantine Emperor Basil II, known as the "Bulgar Slayer," led a 30,000-man army to besiege Sofia, the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire.
January 1002: The Byzantine troops recaptured Preslav and Pliska, putting north-eastern Bulgaria once again under Byzantine rule.
January 1003: The town of Servia, did not fall so easily to the Byzantines. its governor Nikulitsa organized the defenders well. They fought until the Byzantines penetrated the walls and forced them to surrender.
January 1003: The next town, Servia, did not fall so easily. its governor Nikulitsa organized the defenders well. They fought until the Byzantines penetrated the walls and forced them to surrender.
September 1003: End of Bulgarian Sack of Adrianople.
January 1004: In 1003 a major offensive along the Danube resulted in the fall of Vidin after an eight-month siege.
February 1004: Byzantine reconquest of Thessaloniki.
January 1005: In 1004 Byzantine emperor Basil II defeated Samuel of Bulgaria in the battle of Skopje and took possession of the city.
July 1018: Battle of Dyrrhachium: This was the final battle of the centuries long struggle between the First Bulgarian Empire and Byzantium. Within months after Bulgarian king Vladislav’s death most of his realm was subjugated by the Byzantine emperor Basil II.
1.10.Bulgarian conquest of Larissa
Bulgarian conquest of Larissa from the Byzantines.
January 987: Bulgar conquest of Larissa.
1.11.Byzantine conquest of Durazzo
Byzantine conquest of Durazzo.
January 1006: Byzantine conquest of Durazzo.
Was a military campaing by Bulgarian Khan Aspurah against the Byzantine Empire that resulted in the conquest of Moesia and Dobrugia.
January 681: Bulgar conquest of Moesia and Dobrugia.
The Magyars (or Hungarians) successfully conquered the Carpathian Basin (corresponding to the later Kingdom of Hungary) by the end of the ninth century, and launched a number of plundering raids thoughout Europe.
January 901: In 900, the Hungarian army, led by Prince Árpád, conquered Pannonia after their alliance proposal to the East Francians, led by King Louis the Child, was rejected. This marked a significant expansion of the Principality of Hungary's territory.
January 928: The Hungarians marched up to Rome and imposed large tribute payments on Tuscany and Tarento.
February 928: The Hungarians marched up to Rome and imposed large tribute payments on Tuscany and Tarento. After the raid, the Hungarians left these territories.
January 938: The Hungarians attacked Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire, reaching the walls of Constantinople.
January 938: In 937, the Hungarians raided France as far west as Reims, Lotharingia, Swabia, Franconia, the Duchy of Burgundy and Italy as far as Otranto in the south.
February 938: In 937, the Hungarians raided France as far west as Reims, Lotharingia, Swabia, Franconia, the Duchy of Burgundy and Italy as far as Otranto in the south. After the ride they left these territories.
February 938: The Hungarians attacked Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire, reaching the walls of Constantinople.
January 948: In 947, Bulcsú, a Hungarian chieftain of Taksony, led a raid into Italy as far as Apulia.
February 948: In 947, Bulcsú, a Hungarian chieftain of Taksony, led a raid into Italy as far as Apulia.
The Frankish Kingdom was partitioned and reuinited several times as the Frankish rulers used to divide their territories equally among their heirs. This lead also to a number of wars and revolts.
4.1.Incoronation of Otto I
East Frankish King Otto I was crowned first Holy Roman Emperor.
February 962: Territorial change based on data about the borders of the Bulgaria in 962.
February 962: Territorial change based on data about the borders of Hungary in 962.
January 682: Wallachia was under the control of the First Bulgarian Empire from its establishment in 681.
January 717: However, three years later, Justinian tried to regain the ceded territory by force, but his army was defeated at Anchialus. Skirmishes continued until 716 when Khan Tervel signed an important agreement with Byzantium that defined the borders and the Byzantine tribute.
January 805: In 804, Bulgaria conquered the southeastern Avar lands in Transylvania and southeastern Pannonia up to the Middle Danube River, and many Avars became subjects of the Bulgarian Empire.
January 806: The Principality of Nitra is said to have existed from before 805 to 1110 on the territory of today's Slovakia.
January 806: Around 805, Bulgarian emperor Krum defeated the Avar Khaganate.
January 830: Whatever was left of Avar power was effectively ended when the Bulgars expanded their territory into the central and eastern portions of traditional Avar lands around 829.
January 831: The exact date of the founding of the Moravian state or empire is disputed. Dušan Třeštík assumes that the Moravian state formation process began around 790 and was completed around 831 under the Moravian prince Mojmir I (around 830-846).
January 832: Further expansion of the Bulgars into Thrace.
January 843: Under Khan Presian (r. 836-852), the Bulgarians took most of Macedonia.
January 848: Under Khan Presian (r. 836-852), the Bulgarians took most of Macedonia.
January 851: In the middle of the 9th century, the state in Raska (Serbia) was already quite extensive and militarily strong.
January 861: The Pechenegs settled towards the end of the ninth century between the Volga and the Ural River, north of the Caspian Sea.
January 905: In order to dissuade Simeon from capturing the city and populating it with Slavs, Leo VI was forced to make further territorial concessions to the Bulgarians in the modern region of Macedonia. With the treaty of 904, all Slavic-inhabited lands in modern southern Macedonia and southern Albania were ceded to the Bulgarian Empire, with the border line running some 20 kilometres north of Thessaloniki.
January 913: After the bulgarian siege of Constantinople the Byzantines also ceded an area between the Black Sea and Strandža to the Bulgarian Empire.
May 927: After the death of Tsar Simeon, an acute internal crisis began in the Bulgarian kingdom, accompanied by feudal unrest and uprisings.
January 987: The new Byzantine Emperor Basil II was decisively defeated in the Battle of the Gates of Trajan in 986 and barely escaped with his life. Immediately after the victory Samuel of Bulgaria pushed east and recovered north-eastern Bulgaria, along with the old capitals, Pliska and Preslav.
January 990: By 989, the Bulgarian troops had penetrated deep into Byzantine territory, and seized many fortresses, including such important cities as Veria and Servia.
January 997: In 996, Samuel of Bulgaria defeated the Byzantines in the battle of Thessaloniki. During the battle, Thessaloniki's governor, Gregorios, perished and his son Ashot was captured. Elated by this success, the Bulgarians continued south. They marched through Thessaly, overcame the defensive wall at Thermopylae and entered the Peloponnese, devastating everything on their way.
February 997: Samuel of Bulgarie leaves Thessaloniki, Thessaly, and Peloponnese.
August 1003: On 15 August Samuel of Bulgaria attacked Adrianople (modern-day Edirne) and plundered the area.
January 1004: Samuel of Bulgaria undertook a march against Thessaloniki. His men ambushed and captured its governor, Ioannes Chaldus, but this success could not compensate for the losses the Bulgarians had suffered in the past four years.
Disestablishment
July 1018: Battle of Dyrrhachium: This was the final battle of the centuries long struggle between the First Bulgarian Empire and Byzantium. Within months after Bulgarian king Vladislav’s death most of his realm was subjugated by the Byzantine emperor Basil II.
Selected Sources
Haldon, John F. (2001), The Byzantine Wars, Stroud: Tempus, p.104
Leyser, K. (1982): Medieval Germany and its neighbours, 900-1250, London (UK), p. 50
Lowe, S. (30 May 2011). The Magyars of Hungary. https://web.archive.org/web/20091027151814/http://www.geocities.com/egfrothos/magyars/magyars.html
Makkai, L. (1990): The Hungarians' prehistory, their conquest of Hungary and their raids to the west to 955, in: A History of Hungary, Bloomington (USA) p. 8-14
Reuter, T. (1995): The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 900-c. 1024, Cambridge (UK), p. 543
Stephenson, Paul (2000), Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900–1204, Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, p.53
Stoimenov, D., Temporary Byzantine Military Administration in the Bulgarian Lands 971–987/989, Yearbook of the Sofia University, pp. 40, 46–47, 49–53
Sugar, P. F. / Hanák, P. (1994): A History of Hungary, Bloomington (USA), p. 13
Timothy R. (1995) The New Cambridge Medieval History Volume 3, c. 900-c. 1024, Cambridge (UK), p. 543
Zlatarski, Vasil (1971) [1927]. История на българската държава през средните векове. Том I. История на Първото българско царство, Част II. От славянизацията на държавата до падането на Първото царство (852–1018) [History of Bulgaria in the Middle Ages. Vol. 1. History of the First Bulgarian Empire, Part 2.From the Slavicization of the state to the fall of the First Empire (852–1018)]. Sofia: Nauka i izkustvo. OCLC 67080314. p.603
matura.imamproblem.com. Retrieved on 7 April 2024 on https://matura.imamproblem.com/history/karti/07-Voinite%20na%20Khan%20Krum%20%28813%20-%20827%29.jpg
First Bulgarian Empire
