First Bulgarian Empire

Not to be confused with Old Great Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Empire
Блъгарьско Цѣсарьствиѥ
681–1018
First Bulgarian Empire in 850[1][2][3]
First Bulgarian Empire in 850[1][2][3]
Capital
Common languages
Religion
Demonym(s)Bulgarian
GovernmentAutocracy, Absolute monarchy
Monarch 
• 681–700 (first)
Asparuh
• 1015–1018 (last)
Ivan Vladislav
Historical eraMiddle Ages
680
• New Bulgarian state recognized by Eastern Roman Empire
681
864
• Adoption of Old Bulgarian as a national language
893
• Simeon I assumes the title of tsar (emperor)
913
• Theme Bulgaria established in Byzantine Empire
1018
Area
850[9]400,000 km2 (150,000 sq mi)
950[10]240,000 km2 (93,000 sq mi)
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Byzantine Empire under the Heraclian dynasty
Old Great Bulgaria
Bulgaria (theme)
Second Bulgarian Empire
Part of a series on the
History of Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Main category
flag Bulgaria portal

The First Bulgarian Empire (Church Slavonic: блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, romanized: blŭgarĭsko tsěsarǐstvije; Bulgarian: Първо българско царство) was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh, moved south to the northeastern Balkans. There they secured Byzantine recognition of their right to settle south of the Danube by defeating – possibly with the help of local South Slavic tribes – the Byzantine army led by Constantine IV. During the 9th and 10th century, Bulgaria at the height of its power spread from the Danube Bend to the Black Sea and from the Dnieper River to the Adriatic Sea and became an important power in the region competing with the Byzantine Empire.[11]

As the state solidified its position in the Balkans, it entered into a centuries-long interaction, sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile, with the Byzantine Empire. Bulgaria emerged as Byzantium's chief antagonist to its north, resulting in several wars. The two powers also enjoyed periods of peace and alliance, most notably during the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, where the Bulgarian army broke the siege and destroyed the Arab army [citation needed], thus preventing an Arab invasion of Southeastern Europe. Byzantium had a strong cultural influence on Bulgaria, which also led to the eventual adoption of Christianity in 864. After the disintegration of the Avar Khaganate, the country expanded its territory northwest to the Pannonian Plain. Later the Bulgarians confronted the advance of the Pechenegs and Cumans, and achieved a decisive victory over the Magyars, forcing them to establish themselves permanently in Pannonia.

The ruling Bulgars and other non-Slavic tribes in the empire gradually mixed and adopted the prevailing Slavic language, thus gradually forming the Bulgarian nation from the 7th to the 10th century. Since the 10th century, the demonym Bulgarian gained prevalence and became permanent designations for the local population, both in literature and in common parlance. The development of Old Church Slavonic literacy had the effect of preventing the assimilation of the South Slavs into neighbouring cultures, while stimulating the formation of a distinct Bulgarian identity.

After the adoption of Christianity, Bulgaria became the foremost cultural and spiritual centre of Slavic Europe. Its leading cultural position was further consolidated with the adoption of the Glagolitic alphabet, the invention of the Early Cyrillic alphabet shortly after in the capital Preslav, and the literature produced in Old Church Slavonic soon began spreading north. Old Church Slavonic became the lingua franca of much of Eastern Europe. In 927, the fully independent Bulgarian Patriarchate was officially recognized.

During the late 9th and early 10th centuries, Simeon I achieved a string of victories over the Byzantines. Thereafter, he was recognized with the title of Tsar (Slavic for Caeser), and proceeded to expand the state to its greatest extent. After the annihilation of the Byzantine army in the Battle of Anchialus in 917, the Bulgarians laid siege to Constantinople in 923 and 924. The siege failed however, and the Bulgars were forced to retreat. The Bulgarians suffered a brutal invasion by Sviatoslav I Igorevich, the Grand-Prince of the Kievan Rus between 967 and 969, that saw the empire vassalised to the Rus. Sviatoslav was killed in 972 however, seeing the empire able to briefly recover, but was unable to reclaim lost territories north of the Danube, in Thrace and Southern Macedonia. Their old rivals, the Byzantines eventually recovered, and in 1014, under Basil II "the Bulgar Slayer", a crushing defeat was inflicted on the Bulgarians at the Battle of Kleidion. Basil famously ordered that every 100 of the captured 15,000 Bulgarian prisoners be blinded, with the 100th soldier spared one eye to guide the rest back home, forcing their communities to care for them for the rest of their lives. By 1018, the last Bulgarian strongholds had surrendered to the Byzantine Empire, and the First Bulgarian Empire had ceased to exist. It was succeeded by the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185.

  1. ^ Cameron, Averil (2009). The Byzantines. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1405198332.
  2. ^ Davies, Norman (1997). Europe. A History. Oxford University press. ISBN 954-427-663-7.
  3. ^ Wickham, Chris (2016). Medieval Europe. Yale University press. ISBN 978-1405198332.
  4. ^ Sedlar, Jean W. (2011). East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500. University of Washington Press. p. 424. ISBN 978-0295800646.
  5. ^ Fletcher, Richard A. (1999). The Barbarian Conversion: from Paganism to Christianity. University of California Press. p. 338. ISBN 0-520-21859-0.
  6. ^ Adrados, Francisco Rodríguez (2005). A History of the Greek Language: from its Origins to the Present. Brill. p. 265. ISBN 90-04-12835-2.
  7. ^ Curta 2008, pp. 350–351
  8. ^ Florin Curta (2006). Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250. Cambridge University Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-521-81539-0.
  9. ^ Rashev, Rasho (2008). Българската езическа култура VII–IX в./Bulgarian Pagan Culture VII–IX cтр. 38 (in Bulgarian). Класика и стил. ISBN 978-9543270392.
  10. ^ Bakalov, Georgi (2011). Средновековие и съвременност/Middle ages and the modern times, p. 222: original quote in Bulgarian: "В средата на 10 век Българската държавна територия покрива площ от 240 000 кв км., което нарежда Дунавска България сред шестте най-големи европейски държави, наред с Византия, Киевска Рус, Волжка България, Франция и Свещената Римска империя." (in Bulgarian). Sofia University "St Kliment Ohridski". ISBN 978-954-07-2935-0.
  11. ^ Ziemann 2016.