| Battle of Boulgarophygon | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theByzantine–Bulgarian wars: War of 894–896 | |||||||
 The Bulgarians rout the Byzantine army at Boulgarophygon, miniature from theMadrid Skylitzes | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Bulgarian Empire | Byzantine Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Simeon I of Bulgaria | Leo Katakalon | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Light | Almost the entire army | ||||||
TheBattle of Boulgarophygon (Bulgarian:Битка при Булгарофигон;Medieval Greek:Μάχη του Βουλγαρόφυγου) was fought in the summer of 896 near the town of Boulgarophygon (modernBabaeski,Turkey) between theByzantine Empire and theFirst Bulgarian Empire. The result was an annihilation of the Byzantine army which determined the Bulgarian victory in thetrade war of 894–896.
Despite the initial difficulties in the war against theMagyars, who acted as Byzantine allies, the battle of Boulgarophygon proved to be the first decisive victory of the young and ambitious Bulgarian rulerSimeon I against the Byzantine Empire. Simeon would go on to inflict a number of defeats on the Byzantines in pursuit of his ultimate goal, the throne inConstantinople. The peace treaty that was signed as a result of the battle confirmed the Bulgarian domination in theBalkans.
During the rule ofBoris I (r. 852–889), Bulgaria underwent major changes – theChristianization of the country and the admission of the disciples ofSaints Cyril and Methodius, which marked the beginning of the creation and consolidation of the medieval Bulgarian literature and alphabet. Despite a number of military setbacks against most neighbouring countries, Boris I managed to preserve Bulgarian territorial integrity.[1] During theCouncil of Preslav in 893, assembled after the unsuccessful attempt of Boris I's eldest sonVladimir-Rasate to restore Paganism, it was decided thatOld Bulgarian was to replace Greek as a language of the church and the Byzantine clergy was to be banished and replaced with Bulgarians.[2][3] The Council sealed Boris I's ambitions for cultural and religious independence[4] and calmed down the concerns among the nobility, who feared any strong Byzantine influence in the internal affairs of Bulgaria. It was also decided that his third son Simeon, born after the Christianization and calledchild of peace,[5] was to become the next Prince of Bulgaria.[6]
These events ruined the Byzantine hopes to exert influence over the newly Christianized country, and EmperorLeo VI (r. 886–912) soon had a chance to retaliate.[6] Some members of the Byzantine court had an interest in moving the market of the Bulgarian goods fromConstantinople toThessaloniki, which meant that the Bulgarian merchants would have to pay higher taxes.[7] That move affected not only private interests but also the international commercial importance of Bulgaria, regulated with theByzantine–Bulgarian Treaty of 716.[8][9] The ousting of the merchants from Constantinople, which was a major destination of trade routes from all over Europe and Asia, was a heavy blow for Bulgarian economic interests.[10] The merchants complained to Simeon I, who in turn raised the issue with Leo VI, but the appeal was left unanswered.[6] Simeon, who was seeking a pretext to declare war and begin implementing his plans, launched an invasion of Byzantine Thrace,[11] resulting in what has sometimes been called the first commercial war in Europe.[7]
The Byzantines hastily assembled a large army under the generals Prokopios Krenites and Kourtikios, which included the Imperial Guard that consisted ofKhazar mercenaries.[7] In the ensuing battle in theTheme of Macedonia (modernEastern Thrace), probably aroundAdrianople,[12] the Byzantines were defeated and their commanders perished. Most of the Khazars were captured and Simeon had their noses cut and "sent them in the capital for shame of the Romans [i.e the Byzantines]".[13]
Since the main Byzantine forces were engaged in the east against theArabs, Leo VI turned to the well-tried methods ofByzantine diplomacy and sent envoys with rich gifts to theMagyars,[14] who in that time inhabited the steppes to the north-east of Bulgaria.[15] When Simeon I refused to conclude peace and imprisoned the Byzantine envoy Konstantinakios, at the end of 894 theByzantine navy was used to ferry the Magyars across theDanube, despite the fact that the Bulgarians had barred the river with chains and ropes.[13] Simeon I, who was at the Byzantine-Bulgarian border facing the generalNikephoros Phokas, had to march northwards to confront them. His army was defeated by the Magyars somewhere inDobruja and Simeon himself had to flee to the strong fortressDrastar.[16] The Magyars looted and pillaged unopposed, reaching the outskirts of the capitalPreslav, and after they sold the captives to the Byzantines they retreated to the north of the Danube.[17] Then Simeon pretended that he wanted to negotiate and put forward the issue of prisoner exchange. The Byzantines sentLeo Choirosphaktes in Preslav to negotiate the terms.[13][18] As Simeon needed time to address the Magyar threat, he deliberately prolonged the negotiations and Choirosphaktes was repeatedly refused an audience.[13] In the meantime Simeon allied with thePechenegs, while the people even appealed to his father Boris I, who had become a monk, to assume the command of the army.[16] In the decisive battle the Magyars suffered a devastating defeat, but the victorious Bulgarians were themselves said to have lost 20,000 riders.[19] That was the only victory on the battlefield Boris I ever achieved.[20] As a result of this defeat, the Magyars had to move westwards and settle inPannonia, where they later established theKingdom of Hungary.[21]
When Simeon I returned to Preslav "proud of the victory",[22] he broke the negotiations with Choirosphaktes and once again invaded Byzantine Thrace, further encouraged by the death of the capable general Nikephoros Phokas.[19] The Byzantines transferred "allthemes andtagmata",[22] i. e. all forces that were fighting the Arabs, to Europe. The army was commanded by theDomestic of the Schools Leo Katakalon, who lacked the ability of Phokas.[19] The two armies clashed at Boulgarophygon in the summer of 896 and the Byzantines were thoroughly routed. A Byzantine historian wrote:[22]
...the Romans were decisively defeated all down the line and they all perished.
Among the casualties was theprotovestiarios Theodosius, the second-in-command of the army, while Leo Katakalon managed to escape with a few other survivors.[7][19] The Byzantine defeat was so grave that one of their soldiers retired from society and became an ascetic under the name ofLuke the Stylite.[19]
Gaining the upper hand, Simeon I led the Bulgarian troops to Constantinople, burning villagesen route. According to the Muslim historianal-Tabari, Leo VI was desperate after the consecutive refusals of peace, and was forced to gather an army of Arab prisoners of war and send them against the Bulgarians with the promise of freedom.[23] The Bulgarians were stopped just outside Constantinople and Simeon I agreed to negotiate.[24]
The war ended with a peace treaty which formally lasted until around Leo VI's death in 912, and under which Byzantium was obliged to pay Bulgaria an annual tribute[25] in exchange for the return of allegedly 120,000 captured Byzantine soldiers and civilians.[26] Under the treaty, the Byzantines also ceded an area between the Black Sea andStrandzha to the Bulgarian Empire,[27] while the Bulgarians also promised not to invade Byzantine territory.[23]
Simeon I was content with the results and considered that he had superiority over the Byzantine Empire.[22] Despite the success, he realized that there was still a lot to do before prevailing over the Empire for good. He needed his own political and ideological base, and he consequently launched an ambitious construction program in Preslav so that it could rival Constantinople.[28] In the meanwhile, Simeon I had also imposed his authority over Serbia in return for recognizingPetar Gojniković as its ruler.[29] That was an important move towards reducing Byzantine influence over the Western Balkans.
Simeon also learned the lesson of how vulnerable Bulgaria was to the northern tribes neighbouring his realm, when they were influenced by Byzantine diplomacy.[30] That experience paid off in 917, when Simeon managed to counter the Byzantine efforts to ally with theSerbs or thePechenegs, and forced them to fight alone in thebattle of Achelous, where the Byzantines were soundly defeated in one of the biggest disasters in Byzantine history.[31]