This article is about the specific polity Second 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.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
The Byzantine Teme (province) of Bulgaria had originated from the conquest of the first Bulgarian Empire one centuriy earlier. The Bulgarians rebelled and created the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1186.
Establishment
January 1186: Uprising of Asen and Peter: almost all of Bulgaria to the north of the Balkan Mountains (the region known as Moesia) immediately joined the rebels.
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.Uprising of Asen and Peter
26 October 1185-spring 1187: revolt of Bulgarians and Vlachs living in Moesia and the Balkan Mountains.
June 1187: The lands between the Haemus Mons and the Danube were lost by the Byzantine Empire, leading to the signing of a truce, thus de facto recognising the rule of the Asen and Peter over the territory, leading to the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire.
1.2.Expansion of the Second Bulgarian Empire
Were a series of conquests by the Second Bulgarian Empire after it became independent from the Byzantine Empire.
January 1192: The Bulgarians captured the areas of Sredec (Sofia) and Niš in 1191.
January 1196: Belgrade conquered by Second Bulgarian Empire.
January 1197: Melnik and Prosek conquered by Second Bulgarian Empire.
January 1202: Kaloyan conquered Konstanteia (Simeonovgrad) in Thrace and Varna from the Byzantine Empire in 1201.
January 1203: Most of Slavic Macedonia conquered by Second Bulgarian Empire.
1.3.Bulgar conquest of Konstanteia
Conquest of Konstanteia by the Second Bulgarian Empire.
January 1202: In 1201, the Second Bulgarian Empire, led by Tsar Kaloyan, conquered the city of Konstanteia. This marked a significant victory for the Bulgars in their expansion efforts in the region.
1.4.Theodore Svetoslav's Byzantine war
Were the military campaigns of Bulgarian ruler Theodore Svetoslav against the Byzantine Empire.
January 1304: The Bulgarians captured several fortresses in northeastern Thrace, including Mesembria, Ankhialos, Sozopolis.
January 1305: Agathopolis (Ahtopol) is conquered by the Bulgarians.
1.5.George Terter II's Byzantine war
Were the military campaigns of Bulgarian ruler George Terter II against the Byzantine Empire.
January 1324: Taking advantage of the byzantine civil war of 1321-1328, George of Bulgaria invaded Byzantine Thrace and, encountering little, if any, resistance, conquered the major city of Philippopolis (Plovdiv) and part of the surrounding area in 1322 or 1323.
1.6.Byzantine reconquest of northern Thrace
Byzantine reconquest of Northern Thrace from Bulgaria.
January 1332: Byzantine reconquest of Northern Thrace.
Was the invasion of northern Germany by king Canute VI of Denmark caused by disagreement with Adolf III, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein, over the possession of the island of Rügen.
January 1202: The Serbians annexed Belgrade, Braničevo, and Niš.
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the Medieval period. The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291.
3.1.Fourth Crusade
Was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem. However, the Western Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204 and partitioned the Byzantine Empire.
October 1204: The Crusader State of Thessalonica was founded after the Fourth Crusade over conquered Byzantine lands in Macedonia and Thessaly.
Were a series of conflicts between the Second Bulgarian Empire and the Latin Empire.
April 1205: Battle of Adrianople.
July 1205: Battle of Serres.
November 1205: During the course of 1205, the Bulgarians captured Serres and Philippopolis, overrunning much of the territory of the Latin Empire in Thrace and Macedonia.
January 1206: Battle of Rusion.
March 1206: Battle of Rodosto (Tekirdağ).
January 1207: On January 31, 1206 the Bulgarians defeated the Latins again in Thrace, and later proceeded to capture Didymoteikhon.
June 1208: Battle of Philippopolis: The Crusaders were victorious. Peace treaty signed between Boril of Bulgaria and Henry of Flanders (Latin Empire).
Expansion during the rule of Henry in the Latin Empire.
January 1208: In 1207, the Bulgarian army, led by Tsar Kaloyan, was defeated by the Latin Empire at Philippopolis.
June 1208: Boril was the successor of Tsar Kaloyan of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The Battle of Philippopolis in 1208 was fought between the Bulgarians and the Latin Empire, resulting in Boril's defeat and loss of the territory to the Duchy of Philippopolis.
Were a series of military campaigny by the Mongols that created the largest contiguous Empire in history, the Mongol Empire, which controlled most of Eurasia.
6.1.Invasion of Bulgaria and Serbia
During the Mongol invasion of Europe, Mongol tumens (divisions) led by Batu Khan and Kadan invaded Serbia and then Bulgaria in the spring of 1242 after defeating the Hungarians at the battle of Mohi.
June 1242: During the Mongol invasion of Europe, Mongol tumens led by Batu Khan and Kadan invaded Serbia and then Bulgaria in the spring of 1242 after defeating the Hungarians at the battle of Mohi and ravaging the Hungarian regions of Croatia, Dalmatia and Bosnia.
July 1242: The Mongols leave Serbia and Burglaria.
Nicaean Emperor Theodore II Laskaris invaded The Bulgarian Empire and conquered Veles.
March 1255: In 1255, the Empire of Nicaea, led by Emperor Theodore II Laskaris, launched a surprise attack on the invading forces in Thrace. The successful assault forced the invaders to retreat from the territory.
December 1255: Theodore I Laskaris, the Emperor of Nicaea, invaded Macedonia in 1255. He successfully forced the Bulgarian garrison in Veles to surrender, gaining control of the territory.
Expansion during the rule of Michael VIII in the Byzantine Empire.
January 1264: A major Byzantine invasion in 1263 led to the Bulgarians loosing the coastal towns Messembria and Anchialus, and several cities in Thrace - including Philippopolis.
January 1278: Territorial losses of Konstantin Tih.
Was a brief conflict in the Duchy of Mačva (or Macsó), in the southern realm of the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary.
January 1268: In 1267, the region of the Banate of Mačva was taken over by the Kingdom of Hungary.
February 1269: Serbia king Stefan Uroš I brought an invasion force to Mačva, and did considerable damage to the city until Hungarian reinforcements under Béla IV from the north came to fight off the Serbs.
Was a conflict that broke out in the Byzantine Empire after the death of Andronikos III Palaiologos over the guardianship of his nine-year-old son and heir, John V Palaiologos.
January 1345: In 1344, the regency concluded a further alliance with Bulgaria, which required the surrender of Philippopolis and nine other towns in northern Thrace along the river Evros.
September 1345: Serres was conquered on 25 September 1345 by the Serbian King Stefan Dušan.
Expansion during the rule of Murad I in the Ottoman Beylik.
January 1363: Reorganized the leadership of the Ottoman forces in Europe, under the leadership of Lala Şahin Paşa, Murad I led the final Ottoman campaign in Thrace. This conquest was crowned in 1362 with the capture of Adrianople , which from then on was renamed Edirne.
January 1365: Philippopolis and Thrace conquered by Ottoman Beylik.
January 1374: Unable to defend his country from the Ottomans, in 1373 the Bulgarian emperor Ivan Shishman agreed to become an Ottoman vassal.
11.1.Battle of Chernomen and its consequences
Was a battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Serbian Empire that lead to the loss of southern Serbia to the Ottomans.
Expansion during the rule of Algirdas in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
January 1363: Expansion of Lithuania by 1362.
Dissolution of Serbia after the Battle of Maritsa between the Ottoman Empire and Serbia.
September 1371: After the Battle of Maritsa, Serbia fragmented into several successor states.
January 1188: In 1187, the Second Bulgarian Empire, under the rule of Tsar Peter II, conquered territories in the Balkans, expanding their influence.
January 1191: Nis conquered by Second Bulgarian Empire.
January 1194: Ivan Asen of Bulgaria took control of the important city of Sofia.
January 1197: Bulgarian conquests around 1196.
January 1202: The Serbians annexed Belgrade, Braničevo, and Niš.
January 1203: In 1202, the Second Bulgarian Empire, led by Tsar Kaloyan, conquered Macedonia from the Byzantine Empire. This marked a significant expansion of Bulgarian territory and influence in the region. The conquest was part of ongoing power struggles between the Byzantines and Bulgarians during the Middle Ages.
January 1204: In 1203, the Bulgarians pushed the Serbs out of Niš.
January 1204: The Hungarian army in several battles along the valley of the Morava river was defeated, and their former territory were recaptured.
January 1208: Philippopolis was captured by the Bulgarians.
January 1212: In return for help suppressing a major rebellion in 1211, Boril of Buglaria was forced to cede Belgrade and Braničevo to Hungary.
January 1216: In 1215, Michael I Komnenos Doukas, ruler of the Despotate of Epirus, captured Larissa and Dyrrhachium from the Latin Empire. He also gained control of ports on the Gulf of Corinth, expanding his territory and influence in the region.
February 1221: After his coronation, Ivan Asen II arranged a wedding with Anna Maria, daughter of the Hungarian king Andrew II, and received the cities of Belgrade and Braničevo as a dowry.
January 1226: Theodore of Thessalonica marched into Thrace and forced the Nicaeans to leave their European possessions to him.
January 1228: John III's possession of Adrianople was terminated by Theodore Komnenos Doukas of Epirus and Thessalonica, who drove the Nicaean garrison out of Adrianople and annexed much of Thrace in 1227.
March 1230: Battle of Klokotnitsa: Theodore of Thessalony's recently conquered territories in Thrace and Macedonia were regained by Bulgaria without resistance. Thrace, most of Macedonia with Ohrid, the Albanian territories with Kruja and the northern half of Epirus became Bulgarian.
March 1230: The territory of the Duchy of Philippopolis finally joined the Bulgarian Empire, in the aftermath of Tsar Ivan Asen II's victory over the Empire of Thessalonica at the Battle of Klokotnitsa.
January 1231: Theodore Komnenos invaded Bulgaria with a huge army. Surprised, Ivan Asen II gathered a small force and moved to the south to engage them. Instead of a banner, he used the peace treaty with Theodore's oath and seal stuck on his spear and won a major victory in the Battle of Klokotnitsa. Theodore Komnenos was captured along with his whole court and most of the surviving troops. Ivan Asen II released all ordinary soldiers and marched on the Epyrote-controlled territories, where all cities and towns from Adrianople to Durazzo on the Adriatic Sea surrendered and recognized his rule.
July 1237: Conquests of the Empire of Thessalonica in Bulgaria.
January 1247: The Nicaea annexed much of Bulgarian Thrace in 1246.
January 1247: The Nicaean army conquered large areas in southern Thrace, the Rhodopes, and Macedonia—including Adrianople, Tsepina, Stanimaka, Melnik, Serres, Skopje, and Ohrid—meeting little resistance.
January 1247: In 1246 the Upper Vardar valley, including Skopje, was incorporated once more into a Byzantine state, the Empire of Nicaea.
January 1247: The Hungarians occupied Belgrade and Braničevo.
January 1254: The Bulgarians reacted as late as 1253, invading Serbia and regaining the Rhodopes the following year.
January 1255: Michael II Asen's indecisiveness allowed the Nicaeans to regain all of their lost territory, with the exception of Tsepina.
February 1255: Michael of Bulgaria invaded Macedonia and Thrace in December 1254 or January 1255. The Bulgarians quickly seized most Thracian fortresses. Two Macedonian towns, Veles and Skopje, also surrendered to them.
January 1256: In 1255, the Bulgarians quickly regained Macedonia, whose Bulgarian population preferred the rule of Tarnovo to that of the Nicaeans.
September 1256: Rostislav accepted it and signed the peace treaty on Michael II's behalf on 29 June. The treaty prescribed that Michael II cede Tzepaina to the Nicaeans, but the Bulgarian garrison was not withdrawn immediately from the fortress. Theodore became convinced that Rostislav had deceived him and ordered the public whipping of Akropolites. His act proved imprudent, because the Bulgarians ceded the fortress in early September.
January 1257: All Bulgarian gains in Macedonia were lost in 1256, after the Bulgarian representative Rostislav Mikhailovich betrayed his cause and reaffirmed Nicaean control over the disputed areas.
January 1261: In 1260, Constantine Tikh recovered Vidin and occupied the Severin Banat.
January 1262: A Hungarian counterattack forced the Bulgarians to retreat to Tarnovo, restoring Vidin to Rostislav.
January 1274: Darman and Kudelin were two Bulgarian nobles who jointly ruled the region of Braničevo in modern Serbia as independent or semi-independent autocrats in the late 13th century (1273-1291). They were known for their military prowess and strategic alliances in the region.
January 1283: The territory of Syrmia became independent from the Kingdom of Hungary after the collapse of central power.
January 1285: In 1284, Saqchi, a town in Bulgaria, was conquered by the Golden Horde, a Mongol khanate. As a result of the invasion, coins were minted in the name of the ruling Khan, marking the town's submission to Mongol rule.
January 1291: Moncastro (today: Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky) became a center of Genoese commercial activity from c. 1290 on.
January 1300: Chaka reigned as tsar of Bulgaria from 1299 to 1300. Chaka was the son of the Mongol leader Nogai Khan.
January 1301: In 1300, Theodore Svetoslav of Bulgaria took advantage of a civil war in the Golden Horde, overthrew Chaka (the son of the Mongol leader Nogai Khan), and presented his head to the Mongol khan Toqta (who was at war with Chaka). This brought an end to Mongol interference in Bulgarian domestic affairs and secured Southern Bessarabia as far as Bolgrad to Bulgaria.
January 1308: Between 1303 and 1304, the Bulgarians launched several campaigns and retook many towns in north-eastern Thrace. The Byzantines tried to counter the Bulgarian advance but suffered a major defeat in the battle of Skafida. Unable to change the status quo, they were forced to make peace with Bulgaria in 1307, acknowledging Bulgarian gains.
January 1311: Wallachia, the first independent medieval state between the Carpathians and the lower Danube was created by Basarab I (c. 1310-1352).
January 1321: During the early 1320s, tensions between the Second Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire rose as the Byzantines were in a civil war. The new emperor George II Terter of Bulgaria seized Philippopolis, further escalating the conflict between the two powers.
January 1323: In the confusion following George II's unexpected death in 1322 without leaving a successor, the Byzantines recaptured Philippopolis and other Bulgarian-seized towns in northern Thrace.
January 1324: The Despotate of Vidin, under Mihail Shishman, returned to the suzerainty of Bulgaria.
January 1331: Wallachia fell under hungarian control.
January 1337: He became involved in larger conflicts with the Hungarians, but these clashes were mostly defensive. Dušan's armies were initially defeated by Charles I of Hungary's 80,000-strong royal armies in Šumadija in 1336. As the Hungarians advanced south towards a hostile terrain, Dušan's cavalry launched several attacks in the narrow open fields, resulting in a rout of Hungarian troops, which retreated to the north of Danube. Charles I was wounded by an arrow but survived. As a result, the Hungarians lost Mačva and Belgrade.
January 1345: In 1344, the Bulgarians entered the Byzantine civil war of 1341-47 on the side of John V Palaiologos against John VI Kantakouzenos, capturing nine towns along the Maritsa river and in the Rhodope Mountains, including Philippopolis.
January 1347: In the 14th century, King Charles I of Hungary attempted to expand his realm and the influence of the Catholic Church eastwards after the fall of Cuman rule, and ordered a campaign under the command of Phynta de Mende (1324). In 1342 and 1345, the Hungarians were victorious in a battle against Tatar-Mongols and founded the Moldavian mark in 1346.
January 1351: Territorial change based on available maps.
January 1357: In 1356, Bulgarian tsar Ivan Alexander isolated Vidin from the Bulgarian monarchy and appointed his son Ivan Stratsimir as absolute ruler, the first Tsar of the domain of Vidin.
January 1357: The Despotate of Dobruja split off from the Second Bulgarian Empire under the influence of the Byzantine Empire.
January 1360: Bogdan of Cuhea, voivode fof the Wallachians, who had fallen out with the Hungarian king, crossed the Carpathians in 1359, took control of Moldavia, and succeeded in becoming thre first independent ruler of Moldavia.
January 1366: In 1366, Ivan Alexander refused to grant passage to the Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos, and the troops of the Savoyard crusade attacked the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. They seized Sozopolis, Messembria, Anchialus, and Emona.
January 1370: Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria reconquered the province of Vidin.
Disestablishment
January 1374: Unable to defend his country from the Ottomans, in 1373 the Bulgarian emperor Ivan Shishman agreed to become an Ottoman vassal.
Selected Sources
VKL-1462-ru. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 7 April 2024 on https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB:VKL-1462-ru.png
Second Bulgarian Empire
