| Bulgarian–Serbian wars of 917–924 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theBulgarian–Serbian wars | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Bulgarian Empire | Principality of Serbia Byzantine Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Simeon I the Great Theodore Sigritsa † Marmais † | Petar Gojniković (POW) Pavle Branović Zaharija Pribisavljević | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
TheBulgarian–Serbian wars of 917–924 (Bulgarian:Българо–сръбски войни от 917–924) were a series of conflicts fought between theBulgarian Empire and thePrincipality of Serbia as a part of the greaterByzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927.[1][2] After the Byzantine army was annihilated by the Bulgarians in thebattle of Achelous, theByzantine diplomacy incited thePrincipality of Serbia to attack Bulgaria from the west. The Bulgarians dealt with that threat and replaced the Serbian prince with a protégé of their own. In the following years the two empires competed for control over Serbia. In 924 the Serbs rose again, ambushed and defeated a small Bulgarian army. That turn of events provoked a major retaliatory campaign that ended with the annexation of Serbia in the end of the same year.
Soon afterSimeon I (r. 893–927) ascended to the throne, he successfully defended Bulgaria's commercial interests, acquired territory between theBlack Sea and theStrandzha mountains, and imposed an annual tribute on the Byzantine Empire as a result of theByzantine–Bulgarian war of 894–896.[3][4] The outcome of the war confirmed the Bulgarian domination on theBalkans but also exposed the country's vulnerability to foreign intervention under the influence of the Byzantine diplomacy.[a][5] As soon as the peace with Byzantium had been signed, Simeon I sought to secure the Bulgarian positions in the western Balkans. After the death of princeMutimir (r. 850–891), several members of the ruling dynasty fought for the throne of thePrincipality of Serbia.[6] In 892Petar Gojniković established himself as a prince. In 897 Simeon I agreed to recognize Petar and put him under his protection, resulting in a twenty-year period of peace and stability to the west.[6] However, Petar was not content with his subordinate position and sought ways to achieve independence.[6]
After almost two decades of peace between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire, the Byzantine emperorAlexander (r. 912–913) provoked a conflict with Bulgaria in 913. Simeon I, who was seeking pretext to confront the Byzantines to claim an imperial title for himself, took the opportunity to wage war.[7][8] Unlike his predecessors, Simeon I's ultimate ambition was to assume the throne of Constantinople as a Roman emperor, creating a joint Bulgarian–Roman state.[9] Later that year he forced the Byzantines to recognize him as Emperor of the Bulgarians (in Bulgarian,Tsar)[10][11] and to betroth his daughter to the under-age emperorConstantine VII, which would have paved his way to become father-in-law and guardian of the emperor.[12][13][14] However, after acoup d'état in February 914 the new Byzantine government under Constantine VII's motherZoe Karbonopsina revoked the concessions and the hostilities continued.[14] On 20 August 917 the Byzantines suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of theBulgarian army in theBattle of Achelous whichde facto brought theBalkans under Bulgarian control.[15][16] Weeks later, another Byzantine host was heavily defeated in thebattle of Katasyrtai just outsideConstantinople in night combat.[17][18]
Shortly before the Battle of Achelous the Byzantines had tried to create a wide anti-Bulgarian coalition. As part of their efforts thestrategos ofDyrrachiumLeo Rhabdouchos was instructed to negotiate with the Serbian prince Petar Gojniković, who was a Bulgarian vassal. Petar Gojniković responded positively but the Bulgarian court inPreslav was warned about the negotiations by princeMichael of Zahumlje, a loyal ally of Bulgaria, and Simeon I was able to prevent an immediate Serb attack.[17][19][20]
Following the victories in 917, the way to Constantinople lay open, but Simeon I decided to deal with prince Petar Gojniković before advancing further against the Byzantines. An army was dispatched under the command ofTheodore Sigritsa andMarmais. The two persuaded Petar Gojniković to meet them, seized him and sent him to Preslav, where he died in prison.[17][21][22] The Bulgarians replaced Petar withPavle Branović, a grandson of princeMutimir, who had long lived in Preslav. Thus, Serbia was turned into apuppet state until 921.[17]
In an attempt to bring Serbia under their control, in 920 the Byzantines sentZaharija Pribislavljević, another of Mutimir's grandsons, to challenge the rule of Pavle. Zaharija was either captured by the Bulgarians en route[21] or by Pavle,[23] who had him duly delivered to Simeon I. In either way, Zaharija ended up in Preslav. Despite the setback, the Byzantines persisted and eventually bribed Pavle to switch sides after lashing much gold on him.[24] In response, in 921 Simeon I sent a Bulgarian army headed by Zaharija. The Bulgarian intervention was successful, Pavle was easily deposed and once again a Bulgarian candidate was placed on the Serbian throne.[24][25]
The Bulgarian control did not last long, because Zaharija was raised in Constantinople where he was heavily influenced by the Byzantines.[24] Soon Zaharija openly declared his loyalty to the Byzantine Empire and commenced hostilities against Bulgaria. In 923[24][26] or in 924[25] Simeon I sent a small army led by Thedore Sigritsa and Marmais but they were ambushed and killed. Zaharija sent their heads and armour to Constantinople.[24][27] This action provoked a major retaliatory campaign in 924. A large Bulgarian force was dispatched, accompanied by a new candidate,Časlav, who was born in Preslav to a Bulgarian mother.[26][27] The Bulgarians ravaged the countryside and forced Zaharija to flee to theKingdom of Croatia.
This time, however, the Bulgarians had decided to change the approach towards the Serbs. They summoned all Serbian župans to pay homage to Časlav, had them arrested and taken to Preslav.[26][27] Serbia was annexed as a Bulgarian province, expanding the country's border to Croatia, which at the time had reached its apogee and proved to be a dangerous neighbour.[28] The annexation was seen by the Bulgarians as a necessary move since the Serbs had proved to be unreliable allies[28] and Simeon I had grown wary of the inevitable pattern of war, bribery and defection.[29] According to Constantine VII's bookDe Administrando Imperio Simeon I resettled the whole population to the interior of Bulgaria and those who avoided captivity fled to Croatia, leaving the country deserted.[29]
The Bulgarian advance in the Western Balkans were checked by the Croats whodefeated a Bulgarian army in 926. Similarly to the case of Serbia, Croatia was invaded in the context of the Byzantine–Bulgarian conflict, because kingTomislav (r. 910–928) was a Byzantine ally and harboured enemies of Bulgaria.[30] After the death of Simeon I on 27 May 927 his son and successorPeter I (r. 927–969) concluded a favourable peace treaty with the Byzantines, securing recognition of the Imperial title of the Bulgarian rulers, an independentBulgarian Patriarchate and an annual tribute.[31]
Despite this diplomatic success and the end of the 14-year-long conflict, the beginning of Peter I's reign was plagued by internal instability. The young monarch faced two consecutive revolts by his brothers Ivan andMichael.[32][33] The Serbian prince Časlav took advantage Peter I's internal problems. In 933 he managed to escape from Preslav and to assert Serbia's independence from Bulgaria under Byzantine overlordship.[32][34] With Byzantine financial and diplomatic support he managed to repopulate and reorganize the country.[29][34]
^ a: During theWar of 894–896 the Byzantines incited theMagyars to attack Bulgaria. The Magyars defeated the Bulgarian army twice and plundered the north-eastern regions of the country as far as the capitalPreslav before they were eventually defeated by the Bulgarians.[5]
