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| Siege of Lovech | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theByzantine–Bulgarian wars | |||||||
 Lovech Fortress Plan. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Bulgarian Empire | Byzantine Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Unknown | Isaac II Angelos | ||||||
Thesiege of Lovech (Bulgarian:Обсада на Ловеч,romanized: Obsada na Lovech) took place in the spring of 1187 between the forces ofBulgaria and theByzantine Empire. The three-month siege resulted inBulgarian victory and Byzantine defeat.
In 1185, the brothersAsen andPeter led anuprising against the Byzantines to restore theBulgarian Empire. The whole region ofMoesia except forVarna was quickly liberated and the brothers started attacking the Byzantine garrisons to the south of theBalkan Mountains. The Bulgarian tactics included quick assaults and haste movement and the Byzantines were unable to charge them.
In order to change that situation, the Byzantine Emperor,Isaac II Angelos, decided to move the military actions to northern Bulgaria and strike directly to the rebel's heartlands aroundTarnovo.
In the late autumn of 1186, the Byzantine army marched northwards through Sredets (Sofia). The campaign was planned to surprise the Bulgarians. However, the harsh weather conditions and the early winter postponed the Byzantines and their army had to stay in Sredets during the whole winter.
In the spring of the following year, the campaign was resumed, but the element of surprise was gone and the Bulgarians had taken measures to bar the way to their capital Tarnovo. Instead the Byzantines besieged the strong fortress of Lovech. The siege lasted for three months and was a complete failure. Their only success was the capture of Asen's wife in an ambush, but Isaac was forced to accept a truce thusde facto recognizing the restoration of the Bulgarian Empire.
According to the treaty, the youngest of the Asen brothers,Kaloyan, was sent as a hostage toConstantinople to guarantee the peace, whilst the captured wife of Asen was released. However,Niketas Choniates noted that the situation became even more grim for the Byzantines because soon after the Bulgarians inMacedonia rebelled underDobromir Chrysos.
The peace lasted until 1189 when, due to the Bulgarian proposal to support theThird Crusade against the Byzantines, Isaac Angelos launched another campaign and suffered a heavy defeat in theBattle of Tryavna.
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