INGLESE
ITALIANO
Ultimo aggiornamento: 26 May 2021
Sophoulis P.
Byzantium and Bulgaria, 775-831
Winner of the 2013 John Bell Book Prize
BRILL, Leiden (The Netherlands) 2011
Scheda a cura di: Sophoulis P.
Series: East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450, Vol. 16
This innovative survey of Byzantium's relations with pre-Christian
Bulgaria in the late eighth and early ninth century offers an entirely
new framework for understanding the developments that shaped one of the
most turbulent periods in the history of the early Medieval Balkans.
Unlike previous studies, it integrates the surviving literary sources
with the ever-growing archaeological record to construct a comprehensive
narrative account of the Byzantine-Bulgar conflict for political
mastery in the region. Moreover, the analysis of the changing
socio-political structures of Bulgaria provides a basis for
understanding its transformation from a loose tribal confederation into a
stable monarchy. While this is primarily a regional study, focusing on
the territories and peoples controlled by the two competing powers, it
is also of interest to students of the Frankish, Arab and steppe-nomad
worlds, since the relations between Byzantium and Bulgaria are put into a
wider international context.
Table of contents
Preface ... ix
A Note on Transliteration ... xi
List of Maps and Illustrations ... xiii
Abbreviations ... xv
Introduction ... 1
1. The Sources ... 5
1.1 The Chronographia ... 5
1.1.1 Authorship and Date of Composition ... 5
1.1.2 Theophanes and the Bulgars ... 14
1.1.3 The Bulgar Narrative ... 15
a) The Years 775–802 ... 15
b) The Years 802–810 ... 17
c) The Campaign of 811 ... 18
d) The Years 811–813 ... 20
1.2 The Chronicle of 811 and the Scriptor Incertus de Leone Armenio ... 23
a) The Campaign of 811 ... 32
b) The Years 813–814 ... 32
1.3 George the Monk, the Logothete’s Chronicle and the Scriptores Post Theophanem ... 34
a) The Battle of Mesembria ... 36
1.4 Hagiography ... 37
a) The Story of the Martyrs of Adrianople ... 38
1.5 Other Byzantine Literary Sources ... 39
1.6 Syriac, Arabic, Armenian and Frankish Sources ... 41
1.7 The Proto-Bulgarian Inscriptions ... 44
1.8 Archaeology ... 47
2. The Geographical and Historical Setting ... 51
2.1 The Physical Context, Routes and Cities ... 51
2.2 The Internal Organization of the Khanate ... 65
2.2.1 Social, Political and Military Organization ... 65
2.2.2 The Religion of the Proto-Bulgarians ... 79
2.3 The Historical Background of the Conflict ... 89
2.4 The Byzantine and Bulgar Defence ... 95
3. Bulgaria’s Northern Neighbours and the Black Sea Zone in the Seventh to Ninth Centuries ... 105
3.1 From “Old Great Bulgaria” to the Danube Khanate. The Historical Background to Asparuch’s Migration to the Balkans ... 105
3.2 Bulgaria’s Northern Neighbours, Late Seventh to Early Ninth Century: A Brief Overview ... 112
3.2.1 The Geographical Setting ... 113
3.2.2 Wallachia and the Bulgars ... 117
3.2.3 The Southern Regions of the Carpathian Basin ... 119
3.2.4 Transylvania ... 124
3.2.5 The Steppes North of the Black Sea ... 129
3.2.6 The Crimea ... 135
4. Conflict and Contact, 775–802 ... 143
4.1 The Byzantine Empire under Leo IV (775–780) ... 143
4.2 Byzantine-Bulgar Relations under Leo IV ... 146
4.3 The Empire under Irene and Constantine VI (780–802) ... 149
4.4 Byzantium and Bulgaria, 780–802 ... 159
5. Emperor versus Khan: Byzantium and Bulgaria, 802–811 ...173
5.1 The Byzantine Empire under Nikephoros I ... 173
5.2 Byzantine-Bulgar Relations from 802 to 810 ... 180
5.2.1 The Collapse of the Avar Qaghanate and the Bulgars 180
5.2.2 Nikephoros’ Balkan Expansion and the War with Bulgaria ... 184
5.3 The Campaign of 811 ... 192
6. The Bulgar Offensive, 811–814 ... 217
6.1 The Empire under Michael I (811–813) ... 217
6.2 The Byzantine-Bulgar War During the Reign of Michael I ... 221
6.2.1 From Nikephoros’ Defeat to the Fall of Mesembria ... 221
6.2.2 The Byzantine Campaign of 813 and the Battle of Versinikia ... 234
6.3 The War in Leo V’s Reign ... 245
6.3.1 Byzantium under Leo V (813–820) ... 245
6.3.2 The Bulgar Siege of Constantinople ... 249
6.3.3 The War until the Death of Krum (April 814) ... 258
7. The Last Phase of the War and the Conclusion of the Thirty Years’ Peace ... 265
7.1 The Internal Crisis in Bulgaria and the Battle of Mesembria ... 265
7.2 The Thirty Years’ Peace ... 275
8. The Reign of Omurtag and the Transformation of Early Medieval Bulgaria ... 287
8.1 Reconstructing Omurtag’s Power ... 287
8.2 Bulgaria and Byzantium During the Reign of Omurtag ... 306
Conclusion ... 311
Bibliography ... 321
Index ... 361. 515
A cura di Giulia Tarquini