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161-655: After the Fourth Crusade, another branch of the family managed to establish an independent state in Epirus , which quickly expanded to rule Thessaly and Macedonia . The members of this branch largely eschewed the use of the 'Angelos' surname in favour of the more prestigious ' Doukas ' and ' Komnenos ', and are collectively known as the Komnenodoukas ( Κομνηνοδούκας ) dynasty. In c.  1224 , Theodore Komnenos Doukas conquered Thessalonica , and founded

322-531: A catastrophic defeat at the Tryavna Pass . The emperor barely escaped with his life; the Imperial treasury, including the crown and the cross, were captured by the victorious Bulgarians. After their success, Asen was crowned emperor and became known as Ivan Asen I. Peter IV voluntarily stepped down to make way for his more energetic brother; Peter IV retained his title but Ivan Asen assumed authority. In

483-681: A cousin of the Byzantine emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos . At first, Michael allied with Boniface of Montferrat , but having lost the Morea ( Peloponnese ) to the Franks at the battle of the Olive Grove of Koundouros , he went to Epirus , where he considered himself the Byzantine governor of the old province of Nicopolis and revolted against Boniface. Epirus soon became

644-475: A deterioration of relations with Serbia. This change of political course is explained by the rapid growth of Serbian power and its penetration into Macedonia. The Bulgarians and the Byzantines agreed to a joint campaign against Serbia, but it took five years until the differences and tensions between Bulgaria and Byzantium were overcome. Michael Shishman gathered 15,000 troops and invaded Serbia. He engaged

805-686: A few months the Mongol Chaka ruled in Tarnovo. In 1300, Theodore Svetoslav , George I's eldest son, took advantage of a civil war in the Golden Horde, overthrew Chaka, and presented his head to the Mongol khan Toqta . This brought an end to Mongol interference in Bulgarian domestic affairs and secured Southern Bessarabia as far as Bolgrad to Bulgaria. The new emperor began to rebuild

966-734: A large Christian army led by the Serbian brothers Vukašin Mrnjavčević and Jovan Uglješa in the Battle of Chernomen . They immediately turned on Bulgaria and conquered northern Thrace, the Rhodopes, Kostenets , Ihtiman , and Samokov , effectively limiting the authority of Ivan Shishman in the lands to the north of the Balkan mountains and the Valley of Sofia . Unable to resist, the Bulgarian monarch

1127-593: A major rebellion in 1211, Boril was forced to cede Belgrade and Braničevo to Hungary. A campaign against Serbia in 1214 also ended in defeat. I waged war in Romania , defeated the Greek army, and captured the Lord Emperor Theodore Comnenus himself and all his boyars . And I conquered all the land from Adrianople to Durazzo, Greek, Serbia and Albanian alike. The Franks hold only the cities in

1288-520: A major victory in the Battle of Klokotnitsa . Theodore Komnenos was captured along with his whole court and most of the surviving troops. Ivan Asen II released all ordinary soldiers and marched on the Epirote–controlled territories, where all cities and towns from Adrianople to Durazzo on the Adriatic Sea surrendered and recognized his rule. Theodore's brother Michael II Komnenos Doukas

1449-521: A plot inspired by Constantinople. Peter IV besieged Tarnovo and Ivanko fled to the Byzantine Empire, where he was made governor of Philippopolis . Peter IV was murdered less than a year after his brother's death. The throne was succeeded by Kaloyan , Asen's and Peter IV's youngest brother. An ambitious and ruthless ruler, he wanted to gain international recognition and to complete the liberation of Bulgaria. Kaloyan also wanted revenge against

1610-540: A serious contender for the Byzantine throne, but Theodore was defeated and captured by John II Asen at the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230 and his empire quickly declined following the loses in Macedonia and Thrace. During Theodore's captivity, his brother Manuel ruled over Thessalonica, succeeded by Theodore's sons John and Demetrios . In 1242 the Nicaean emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes compelled John to abandon

1771-595: A strictly political agenda in his negotiations with the Papacy, without sincere intentions to convert to Roman Catholicism . The union with Rome lasted until 1235 and did not affect the Bulgarian church, which continued its practices of Eastern Orthodox canons and rites. The ambition of Bulgaria to become the religious centre of the Orthodox world had a prominent place in the Second Empire's state doctrine. After

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1932-493: A successor, the Byzantines recaptured the city and other Bulgarian-seized towns in northern Thrace. The energetic despot of Vidin, Michael Shishman , was elected emperor the next year; he immediately turned on the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos , regaining the lost lands. In late 1324, the two monarchs signed a peace treaty, strengthened by a marriage between the Bulgarian ruler and Theodora Palaiologina . Michael Shishman divorced his Serbian wife Anna Neda , causing

2093-495: A temporary recovery and stability, but also the peak of Balkan feudalism as central authorities gradually lost power in many regions. Bulgaria was divided into three parts on the eve of the Ottoman invasion. Despite strong Byzantine influence, Bulgarian artists and architects created their own distinctive style. In the 14th century Bulgarian culture, literature, art, and architecture flourished. The capital city Tarnovo , which

2254-428: A visit to Tarnovo. The years of peace brought economic prosperity and boosted commerce; Bulgaria became a major exporter of agricultural commodities, especially wheat. During the early 1320s, tensions between Bulgaria and the Byzantines rose as the latter descended into a civil war and the new emperor George II Terter seized Philippopolis. In the confusion following George II's unexpected death in 1322 without leaving

2415-410: A week; in 1332, it travelled 230 km (140 miles) in five days. Inside the fortress [Sofia] there is a large and elite army, its soldiers are heavily built, moustached and look war-hardened, but are used to consume wine and rakia —in a word, jolly fellows. Ottoman commander Lala Shahin on the garrison of Sofia . Bulgaria maintained extensive lines of fortresses to protect the country, with

2576-445: Is considered unlikely by other scholars. Despite his lowly origin, Constantine managed to win the favors of Theodora Komnene (born 1097), the widow of John Kourtikes and fourth daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos ( r.  1081–1118 ) and Irene Doukaina . Their marriage took place in c.  1122 , after the death of Alexios I. As an Imperial in-law, Constantine received the title of sebastohypertatos , even though he

2737-535: The Bulgarian coinage , coins from the Byzantine Empire, Latin Empire, Venice, Serbia, the Golden Horde, and the small Balkan principalities were widely used. Due to the increase of production, there was a tendency to limit the circulation of foreign coins by the second half of the 14th century. Coins were minted by some independent or semi-independent Bulgarian lords, such as Jacob Svetoslav and Dobrotitsa. Following

2898-645: The Byzantine Empire established in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 by a branch of the Angelos dynasty. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire during the subsequent struggle for Constantinople , along with the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond ; its rulers briefly proclaiming themselves as Emperors in 1227–1242 (during which it is most often called

3059-490: The Dukes of Athens . In 1267 Corcyra and much of Epirus were taken by Charles of Anjou , and in 1267/68 Michael II died. Michael VIII did not attempt to annex Epirus directly, and allowed Nikephoros I to succeed his father and deal with Charles, who captured Dyrrhachium in 1271. In 1279 Nikephoros allied with Charles against Michael VIII, agreeing to become Charles' vassal. With Charles' defeat soon after Nikephoros lost Albania to

3220-608: The Eastern Orthodox Church . Henry of Flanders demanded that Michael submit to the Latin Empire , which he did, at least nominally, by allowing his daughter to marry Henry's brother Eustace in 1209. Michael did not honour this alliance, assuming that mountainous Epirus would be mostly impenetrable by any Latins with whom he made and broke alliances. Meanwhile, Boniface's relatives from Montferrat made claims to Epirus as well, and in 1210 Michael allied with

3381-448: The Empire of Thessalonica ). The term "Despotate of Epirus" is, like "Byzantine Empire" itself, a modern historiographic convention and not a name in use at the time. The Despotate was centred on the region of Epirus , encompassing also Albania and the western portion of Greek Macedonia and also included Thessaly and western Greece as far south as Nafpaktos . Through a policy of aggressive expansion under Theodore Komnenos Doukas

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3542-493: The Empire of Thessalonica , claiming the Byzantine imperial title in rivalry to the Empire of Nicaea . His empire quickly collapsed after the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230. Thessalonica was lost to Nicaea in 1246, and the prospects of recovering Constantinople were dashed at the Battle of Pelagonia in 1259, followed by the re-establishment of the Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty in 1261. Often in rivalry to

3703-609: The Latin Empire . The Bulgarians tried to establish friendly relations with the Latins but were rebuffed and the Latins claimed their lands despite Papal recognition. Facing a common enemy, Kaloyan and the Byzantine aristocracy in Thrace made an alliance and the latter promised they would accept Kaloyan as their emperor. The decisive battle between the Bulgarian army and the Crusaders took place on 14 April 1205, at Adrianople , at which

3864-768: The Ottoman Turks against the Albanians. In 1399 the Albanian leader of Principality of Gjirokastër , Gjon Zenebishi captured the Despot Esau de' Buondelmonti and released him after 15 months, when his relatives in Italy offered a huge amount of money as a ransom. By 1416 the Tocco family of Cephalonia succeeded in reuniting Epirus, or at least in asserting their control over its towns. But internal dissension eased

4025-666: The Patriarch of Jerusalem to negotiate an anti-Byzantine alliance, which included the other two Eastern Patriarchs, but the mission achieved nothing. Disputes with the Patriarchate of Constantinople over the legitimacy of the Bulgarian Patriarchate intensified in the 14th century. In 1355, the Ecumenical patriarch Callistus I tried to assert his supremacy over the Bulgarian church and claimed that under

4186-521: The Romans '), which generally referred to the whole Byzantine Empire, to refer specifically to Epirus, as seen in the Latin title of Despotus Romanie claimed by Philip I of Taranto and his son Philip of Apulia , Nicholas Orsini , and later Carlo I Tocco . In the Byzantine world, the term Dysis ( Δύσις ), meaning "West", which historically referred to Dalmatia , Macedonia and Sicily , or even

4347-833: The Second Bulgarian Kingdom to distinguish it from the First Bulgarian Empire . An alternative name used in connection with the pre-mid 13th century period is the Empire of Vlachs and Bulgarians ; variant names include the Vlach–Bulgarian Empire , the Bulgarian–Wallachian Empire , or the Romanian–Bulgarian Empire ; the latter name was used exclusively in Romanian historiography. However, Arabic chronicles from

4508-535: The Venetians and attacked Boniface's Kingdom of Thessalonica . Pope Innocent III excommunicated him in response. Henry forced Michael into a renewed nominal alliance later that year. Michael turned his attention to capturing other strategically important Latin-held towns, including Larissa and Dyrrhachium . He also took control of the ports on the Gulf of Corinth . In 1214 he captured Corcyra from Venice , but he

4669-494: The sebastokrator John Doukas . Like John, most of his descendants eschewed the surname "Angelos" and used either "Doukas" or "Komnenos Doukas", after which they are known in modern scholarship as the "Komnenodoukai" ( Κομνηνοδούκαι ). After the fall of Constantinople and the establishment of the Latin Empire in 1204, John Doukas' illegitimate son, Michael I Komnenos Doukas , founded the Despotate of Epirus in 1205 choosing

4830-613: The 1070s, and the 1080s. The initial centre of the resistance was the theme of Bulgaria, in what is now Macedonia , where the massive Uprising of Peter Delyan (1040–41) and the Uprising of Georgi Voiteh (1072) took place. Both were quelled with great difficulty by Byzantine authorities. These were followed by rebellions in Paristrion and Thrace . During the Komnenian Restoration and the temporary stabilisation of

4991-631: The 13th century had used only the name of Wallachia instead of Bulgaria and gave the Arabic coordinates of Wallachia and specified that Walachia was named "al-Awalak" and the dwellers "ulaqut" or "ulagh". In 1018, when the Byzantine emperor Basil II ( r.   976–1025) conquered the First Bulgarian Empire, he ruled it cautiously. The existing tax system, laws, and the power of low-ranking nobility remained unchanged until his death in 1025. The autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate

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5152-563: The Black Sea coast, and the valleys of the Struma and Vardar rivers in Macedonia. Production of vegetables, orchards, and grapes became increasingly important since the beginning of the 13th century. The existence of large forests and pastures was favorable for livestock breeding, mainly in the mountainous and semi-mountainous regions of the country. Sericulture and especially apiculture were well developed. Honey and wax from Zagore were

5313-465: The Bulgarian army and its tactics. Since the beginning of the rebellion of Asen and Peter, the light, mobile Cuman cavalry was used effectively against the Byzantines and later the Crusaders. Kaloyan used 14,000 cavalrymen in the Battle of Adrianople. The Cuman leaders entered the ranks of the Bulgarian nobility; some of them received high military or administrative posts in the state. In the 14th century,

5474-559: The Bulgarian army increasingly relied on foreign mercenaries, which included Western knights, Mongols, Ossetians , or Wallachians. Both Michael III Shishman and Ivan Alexander had a 3,000-strong Mongol cavalry detachment in their armies. In the 1350s, emperor Ivan Alexander hired Ottoman bands, as did the Byzantine Emperor. Russians were also hired as mercenaries. The economy of the Second Bulgarian Empire

5635-481: The Bulgarian cause and called for a rebellion. That act had the desired effect on the religious population, who enthusiastically engaged in a rebellion against the Byzantines. Theodore, the elder brother, was crowned Emperor of Bulgaria under the name Peter IV, after the sainted Peter I (r.927–969). Almost all of Bulgaria to the north of the Balkan Mountains —the region known as Moesia —immediately joined

5796-496: The Bulgarian language, literature, and culture survived; surviving period texts refer to and idealize the Bulgarian Empire. Most of the newly conquered territories were included in the themes Bulgaria , Sirmium , and Paristrion . As the Byzantine Empire declined under Basil's successors, invasions of Pechenegs and rising taxes contributed to increasing discontent, which resulted in several major uprisings in 1040–41,

5957-611: The Bulgarians launched attacks in northern Thrace while the Byzantine army was fighting with the Normans , who had attacked Byzantine possessions in the Western Balkans and sacked Thessalonica , the Empire's second largest city. The Byzantines reacted in mid-1186, when Isaac II organized a campaign to crush the rebellion before it spread further. The Bulgarians had secured the passes but the Byzantine army found its way across

6118-484: The Bulgarians launched several campaigns and retook many towns in north-eastern Thrace. The Byzantines tried to counter the Bulgarian advance but suffered a major defeat in the battle of Skafida . Unable to change the status quo, they were forced to make peace with Bulgaria in 1307, acknowledging Bulgarian gains. Theodore Svetoslav spent the rest of his reign in peace with his neighbors. He maintained cordial relations with Serbia and in 1318, its king Stephen Milutin , paid

6279-409: The Byzantine katepanikion ), which were ruled by katepans who were subordinated to the dukes. During the reign of Ivan Asen II (1218–41), the provinces included Belgrade, Braničevo, Boruy , Adrianople, Dimotika , Skopje, Prilep , Devol , and Albania . During the Second Empire, Bulgarian society was divided into three social classes : clergy, nobility, and peasantry. The nobility included

6440-475: The Byzantine Empire in the first half of the 12th century, the Bulgarians were pacified and no major rebellions took place until later in the century. The disastrous rule of the last Komnenian emperor Andronikos I (r. 1183–85) worsened the situation of the Bulgarian peasantry and nobility. The first act of his successor Isaac II Angelos was to impose an extra tax to finance his wedding. In 1185, two aristocrat brothers from Tarnovo , Theodore and Asen , asked

6601-537: The Byzantine Empire under the ambitious Michael VIII Palaiologos further worsened Bulgaria's situation. A major Byzantine invasion in 1263 led to the loss of the coastal towns Messembria and Anchialus , and several cities in Thrace—including Philippopolis. Unable to effectively resist, Constantine Tikh organized a joint Bulgarian–Mongol campaign, but after ravaging Thrace the Mongols returned north of

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6762-554: The Byzantines besieged Lovech but could not seize it; they signed an armistice that de facto recognized Bulgarian independence. In 1189, when the leader of the Third Crusade , emperor Frederick I Barbarossa was at the brink of war with the Byzantines, Asen and Peter IV offered him an army of 40,000 in return for official recognition, but relations between the Crusaders and the Byzantines eventually improved. In 1190, Isaac II led another anti-Bulgarian campaign that ended in

6923-464: The Byzantines for blinding 14,000 of emperor Samuel 's soldiers. Kaloyan called himself Romanoktonos (Roman-slayer) after Basil II , who was called Bulgaroktonos (Bulgar-slayer). He quickly allied himself with his brother's murderer, Ivanko. The Byzantines killed Ivanko, but the Bulgarians took the city of Constantia . In 1201, Kaloyan captured Varna , the last Byzantine stronghold in Moesia, which

7084-600: The Byzantines. Under Andronikos II Palaiologos , son of Michael VIII, Nikephoros renewed the alliance with Constantinople. Nikephoros, however, was persuaded to ally with Charles II of Naples in 1292, although Charles was defeated by Andronikos's fleet. Nikephoros married his daughter to Charles's son Philip I of Taranto and sold much of his territory to him. After Nikephoros's death in c. 1297 Byzantine influence grew under his widow Anna, Andronikos's cousin, who ruled as regent for her young son Thomas I Komnenos Doukas . In 1306 she revolted against Philip in favour of Andronikos;

7245-464: The Crusaders had no support in Constantinople, while the anti-Latin sentiment of the citizens was reinforced. Following the brief reign and failed negotiations by Alexios V, the Crusaders sacked Constantinople and established the Latin Empire officially terminating the Byzantine rule for nearly half a century. The Angelos line was continued by the descendants of Constantine's eldest son,

7406-455: The Danube with Cuman reinforcements, declaring he would continue the struggle until all Bulgarian lands were liberated. A new Byzantine army was assembled under the command of the emperor's uncle John Doukas Angelos , but as Isaac II feared he would be overthrown, Doukas was replaced by John Kantakouzenos , a blind man ineligible for the throne. The Bulgarians attacked Kantakouzenos' camp during

7567-404: The Danube. The emperor became crippled after a hunting accident in the early 1260s, and fell under the influence of his wife Maria Palaiologina , whose constant intrigues fueled divisions among the nobility. Constant Mongol raids, economic difficulties, and the emperor's illness led to a massive popular uprising in the north-east in 1277. The rebel army, led by the swineherd Ivaylo , defeated

7728-692: The Despotate of Epirus also briefly came to incorporate central Macedonia , with the establishment of the Empire of Thessalonica in 1224, and Thrace as far east as Didymoteicho and Adrianople , and was on the verge of recapturing Constantinople and restoring the Byzantine Empire before the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230 where he was defeated by the Bulgarian Empire . After that, the Epirote state contracted to its core in Epirus and Thessaly, and

7889-424: The Despotate. Anna tried to negotiate and obtain the Despotate for her son when he came of age, but Andronikos demanded the complete surrender of the Despotate to which she finally agreed. Thus Epirus came peacefully under imperial rule, with Theodore Synadenos as governor. The imperials had insisted that Nikephoros would be engaged to one of the daughters of the emperor's right-hand man, John Kantakouzenos . When

8050-455: The Epirote rulers as "Despots of Epirus" is technically incorrect. The title of Despot did not imply any specific territorial jurisdiction, nor was it hereditary; it was merely the highest rank in the Byzantine court hierarchy , awarded by a reigning emperor to close relatives, usually his sons. Consequently, it was often borne by the princes sent to govern semi-autonomous appanages and only later came to be associated with these territories as

8211-539: The Greek word for 'angel' or 'messenger', although such an origin is rarely attested in Byzantine times. Another theory suggests that their name instead derives from A[n]gel, a district near Amida in Upper Mesopotamia . The historian Suzanne Wittek-de Jongh suggested that Constantine was the son of a certain patrikios Manuel Angelos, whose possessions near Serres were confirmed by a chrysobull of Emperor Nikephoros III ( r.  1078–1081 ), but this

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8372-532: The Hungarian king Béla III and make a joint attack against Bulgaria, but was deposed and blinded by his brother Alexios III Angelos . The Byzantines tried to negotiate peace but Ivan Asen demanded the return of all Bulgarian lands and the war continued. In 1196, the Byzantine army was again defeated at Serres , far to the south. Upon his return to Tarnovo, Ivan Asen was murdered by his cousin Ivanko allegedly in

8533-537: The Hungarian king Sigismund , but after the Christian army was defeated in the Battle of Nicopolis the Ottomans immediately marched on Vidin and seized it, bringing an end to the medieval Bulgarian state. Resistance continued under Constantine and Fruzhin until 1422. The former was referred to by king Sigismund as the " distinguished Constantine, glorious Emperor of Bulgaria ". The Second Bulgarian Empire

8694-594: The Komnenos Doukas dynasty that ruled over Epirus and Thessalonica in the 13th–14th centuries. Constantine's third son Andronikos Doukas Angelos , was the progenitor of the imperial Angelos dynasty. The Angeloi came into conflict with Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos who had initiated a series of anti-aristocratic policies. In a 1185 coup d'état, Andronikos' son Isaac II Angelos gained popular support and deposed Andronikos I Komnenos proclaiming himself Byzantine Emperor. The new emperor did not manage to regulate

8855-616: The Latin inhabitants were expelled but she was forced to return some territory to Philip. In 1312 Philip abandoned his claim to Epirus and claimed the defunct Latin Empire of Constantinople instead as the inheritance of his wife Catherine II of Valois, Princess of Achaea . Anna succeeded in marrying off Thomas to a daughter of Michael IX, but Thomas was assassinated in 1318 by his cousin Nicholas Orsini , who married his widow and claimed to rule not only Epirus, but all of Greece; his rule

9016-630: The Latins out of Thrace . In 1227 Theodore crowned himself Byzantine emperor, although this was not recognized by most Greeks, especially not the Patriarch in Nicaea. In 1230 Theodore broke the truce with Bulgaria , hoping to remove Ivan Asen II , who had held him back from attacking Constantinople. In the battle of Klokotnitsa (near Haskovo in Bulgaria) the Bulgarian emperor defeated Theodore, capturing and later blinding him. His brother Manuel Komnenos Doukas took power in Thessalonica, but Epirus itself soon broke away under Michael I's illegitimate son, Michael II Komnenos Doukas . Manuel awarded Michael

9177-408: The Latins were defeated and their emperor Baldwin I was captured. The battle was a blow to the newly founded Latin Empire, which descended into chaos. After their victory, the Bulgarians retook most of Thrace, including the important city of Philippopolis. The unexpected Bulgarian successes caused the Byzantine nobility to plot against Kaloyan and ally themselves with the Latins. The plot in Tarnovo

9338-409: The Mongols twice, greatly boosting Ivaylo's popularity. Ivaylo then turned on and defeated the regular army under the command of Constantine Tikh. He personally killed the emperor, claiming the latter did nothing to defend his honour. Fearing a revolt in Byzantium, and willing to exploit the situation, the emperor Michael VIII sent an army led by Ivan Asen III , a Bulgarian pretender to the throne, but

9499-399: The Nicaean dynasty as a ruling house. The Bulgarian–Latin cooperation was short-lived; Ivan Asen II remained at peace with his southern neighbours until the end of his reign. Shortly before his death in 1241, Ivan Asen II defeated part of the Mongol army returning to the east after a devastating attack on Poland and Hungary . Ivan Asen II was succeeded by his infant son Kaliman I . Despite

9660-479: The Ottoman conquest, which proceeded with the capture of Ioannina in 1430, Arta in 1449, Angelokastron in 1460, and finally Vonitsa in 1479. With the exception of several coastal Venetian possessions, this was the end of Frankish rule in mainland Greece. Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire ( Middle Bulgarian : Ц(а)рьство бл(ъ)гарское ; Modern Bulgarian : Второ българско царство , romanized :  Vtorо Balgarskо Tsarstvo )

9821-691: The Ottomans in 1479. In traditional and modern historiography , the Epirote state is usually termed the "Despotate of Epirus" and its rulers are summarily attributed the title of " Despot " from its inception, but this use is not strictly accurate. First of all, the title of "Despot" was not borne by all Epirote rulers: the state's founder, Michael I Komnenos Doukas , never used it, and is only anachronistically referred to as " Despot of Epirus " in 14th-century Western European sources. His successor Theodore Komnenos Doukas did not use it either, and actually crowned himself emperor ( basileus ) at Thessalonica c.  1225 . The first ruler of Epirus to receive

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9982-431: The Papacy. The joint campaign against the Latins was successful, but they failed to capture Constantinople . With John of Brienne's death two years later, Ivan Asen II—who could have again become a regent of Baldwin II—decided to end his cooperation with Nicaea. His decision was further based on the assumption that after an allied success, Constantinople would again have become the centre of a restored Byzantine Empire, with

10143-440: The Peloponnese, and by Nikephoros who had returned to Epirus, based in Thomokastron . By the end of the year the imperial army returned to the area, and in the following year, 1340, Andronikos III himself arrived together with John Kantakouzenos. Nikephoros was persuaded through diplomacy to recognize the authority of the emperor. He surrendered Thomokastron, married Maria Kantakouzene, the daughter of John Kantakouzenos, and received

10304-430: The Pope, emperor Kaloyan (r. 1197–1207) acquired the right to mint coins. Well-organized mints and engraving workshops were set up in the mid-13th century, producing copper, billon, and silver coinage. The reform was initiated by Constantine Tikh Asen (r. 1257–1277) and led to a stabilization of the monetary market in Bulgaria. The Uprising of Ivaylo and the pillage raids of the Mongols in the late 13th century destabilized

10465-410: The Serbian king Stephen Dečanski , who commanded an approximately equal force, near the border town of Velbazhd. The two rulers, both expecting reinforcements, agreed to a one-day truce but when a Catalan detachment under the king's son Stephen Dušan arrived, the Serbs broke their word. The Bulgarians were defeated in the ensuing Battle of Velbazhd and their emperor perished. Despite their victory,

10626-405: The Serbs and the Hungarians, provoking massive Ottoman invasions in 1388 and 1393. Despite strong resistance, the Ottomans seized a number of important towns and fortresses in 1388, and five years later they captured Tarnovo after a three-month siege. Ivan Shishman died in 1395 when the Ottomans, led by Bayezid I , took his last fortress Nikopol . In 1396, Ivan Sratsimir joined the Crusade of

10787-479: The Serbs did not risk an invasion of Bulgaria and the two sides agreed to peace. As a result, Ivan Stephen , the eldest son of the dead emperor by his Serbian wife, succeeded him in Tarnovo and was deposed after a brief rule. Bulgaria did not lose territory but could not stop the Serbian expansion in Macedonia. After the disaster at Velbazhd, the Byzantines attacked Bulgaria and seized a number of towns and castles in northern Thrace. Their success ended in 1332, when

10948-431: The Tocco , where the inhabitants of the Despotate are referred to as the Despotatoi . The term "Despotate of Epirus" is thus sometimes replaced by "(Independent) State of Epirus" in more recent historiography. The Epirote realm itself did not have an official name. Contemporaries, particularly in Western Europe, used the term Romania (Greek: Ῥωμανία , romanized:  Rhōmania , lit.   'land of

11109-425: The aristocracy: the bolyars , whose origin was the older Bulgarian boilas from the First Empire, the judges, and the "whole army". The bolyars were subdivided into greater and lesser bolyars. The former possessed large estates, which at times included tens and even hundreds of villages, and held high administrative and military posts. The peasants formed the bulk of the third class and were subordinated either under

11270-628: The battle of Klokotnitsa. Theodore's younger son Demetrios Angelos Doukas lost Thessalonica to Nicaea in 1246 and Michael II of Epirus allied with the Latins against the Nicaeans. In 1248 John III Doukas Vatatzes of Nicaea forced Michael to recognize him as emperor, and officially recognized him in turn as despotēs in Epirus. Vatatzes' granddaughter Maria later (in 1256) married Michael's son Nikephoros , although she died in 1258. Also in 1248 Michael's daughter Anna married William II , Prince of Achaea , and Michael decided to honour this alliance over his obligations to Vatatzes. The allies were defeated in

11431-400: The best-quality bee products in the Byzantine markets and were highly praised. The forests produced wood for cutting ( бранища ); there were also fenced forests ( забели ), in which wood-cutting was banned. The increase in the number of towns gave strong impetus to handicrafts, metallurgy, and mining. Processing of crops was traditional; products included bread, cheese, butter, and wine. Salt

11592-555: The capital Tarnovo in the centre. To the north were lines along both banks of the Danube river . To the south were three lines; the first along the Balkan mountains, the second along Vitosha , northern Rhodope mountains and Sakar mountain , the third along the valley of the river Arda . To the west, a line ran along the valley of the river South Morava . During the Second Empire, foreign and mercenary soldiers became an important part of

11753-428: The central authorities or under local feudal lords. With time, the number of the latter increased as a result of the process of feudalization of Bulgaria. The main groups of peasants were paritsi and otrotsi . Both could own land but only the paritsi could inherit property; the latter could not, since it was provided by the feudal lords. The emperor of the Second Bulgarian Empire was commander-in-chief of its army;

11914-485: The city of Arta as its capital. Initially a vassal and an ally of the Latins, Michael I went on to expand his territories in north-eastern Greece until his death in 1215, when he was succeeded by his half-brother Theodore Komnenos Doukas . In 1224, Theodore captured the Kingdom of Thessalonica from the crusaders and proclaimed himself as the legitimate Byzantine emperor ( basileus ) in his holdings . Epirus appeared as

12075-511: The clan of Muriq Shpata held Aetoloacarnania, with Angelokastron as its capital. In 1367 a part of the Epirotan Despotate was resurrected under local Serbian nobleman Thomas II Preljubović , who kept Ioannina. After Thomas' death in 1384, his widow remarried in 1385 and transferred the Despotate to homage of Italian nobility. The state tradition was carried on by the Serbian and Italian rulers of Ioannina , who solicited aid from

12236-428: The coinage, resulting in a tenfold decrease of minting activities. With the stabilization of the empire since 1300, Bulgarian monarchs issued an increased number of coins, including silver ones, but were able to secure the market with domestic coins after the 1330s. The erosion of the central authorities on the eve of the Ottoman invasion gave rise to primitive, anonymous, and crudely-forged counterfeit coins. Along with

12397-590: The concept of Tarnovo as a " Second Constantinople ". The Patriarchate vigorously opposed the papal initiative to reunite the Orthodox Church with Rome; he criticized the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Byzantine emperor for their apparent willingness to make concessions at the Second Council of Lyon in 1272–74. Patriarch Ignatius was called "pillar of Orthodoxy". Envoys were sent to

12558-470: The country's defence against the strong Byzantine army. During wartime, the Bulgarians would send light cavalry to devastate the enemy lands on a broad front, pillaging villages and small towns, burning the crops, and taking people and cattle. The Bulgarian army was very mobile—for instance for four days before the Battle of Klokotnitsa, it covered a distance three times longer than the Epirote army covered in

12719-469: The country's economy, subdued many of the semi-independent nobles, and executed as traitors those he held responsible for assisting the Mongols, including Patriarch Joachim III . The Byzantines, interested in Bulgaria's continuous instability, supported pretenders Michael and Radoslav with their armies, but were defeated by Theodore Svetoslav's uncle Aldimir , the despot of Kran . Between 1303 and 1304,

12880-532: The dioceses of Vidin from the Tarnovo Patriarchate. The two brothers did not cooperate to repel the Ottoman invasion. According to historian Konstantin Jireček , the brothers were engaged in a bitter conflict over Sofia. Ivan Shishman reneged on his vassal obligation to support the Ottomans with troops during their campaigns. Instead, he used every opportunity to participate in Christian coalitions with

13041-408: The disputed areas. This major setback cost the emperor's life and led to a period of instability and civil war between several claimants to the throne until 1257, when the boyar of Skopje Constantine Tikh emerged as a victor. The new emperor had to deal with multiple foreign threats. In 1257, the Latins attacked and seized Messembria but could not hold the town. More serious was the situation to

13202-503: The elevation of the Bulgarian Church to a Patriarchate. Eventually the Papacy tacitly accepted the Bulgarian position regarding the Imperial title. The union between Bulgaria and Rome remained strictly official; the Bulgarians did not change their Orthodox rites and traditions. Several months before Kaloyan's coronation, the leaders of the Fourth Crusade turned on the Byzantine Empire and captured Constantinople , creating

13363-512: The emperor to provide them a relatively poor pronoia in the Balkan Mountains, in exchange for military service. The emperor refused, resulting in a heated argument which saw Asen struck across the face. Upon their return to Tarnovo, the brothers commissioned the construction of a church dedicated to Saint Demetrius of Salonica . They showed the populace a celebrated icon of the saint, who they claimed had left Thessalonica to support

13524-586: The empire by contemporaries was Bulgaria , as the state called itself. During Kaloyan 's reign, the state was sometimes known as being of both Bulgarians and Vlachs . Pope Innocent III and other foreigners such as the Latin Emperor Henry mentioned the state as Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Empire in official letters. In modern historiography, the state is called the Second Bulgarian Empire , Second Bulgarian Tsardom , or

13685-426: The end of 1280, Ivaylo sought refuge with his former enemies the Mongols, who under Byzantine influence killed him. The nobility chose the powerful noble and ruler of Cherven , George I Terter , as emperor. He reigned for twelve years, bringing even stronger Mongol influence and the loss of most of the remaining lands in Thrace to the Byzantines. This period of instability and uncertainty continued until 1300, when for

13846-403: The ensuing conflict at the Battle of Pelagonia in 1259. Emperor Theodore II Laskaris allied with Michael II, and their children, betrothed by John years before, finally married in 1256, with Theodore receiving Dyrrhachium in return. Michael did not accept this transfer of land, and in 1257 he revolted, defeating a Nicaean army led by George Acropolites . As Michael marched on Thessalonica, he

14007-434: The entire European part of the Empire, also came into use already in the 13th century when juxtaposing Epirus to its eastern rival, the Empire of Nicaea , which was then called Anatolē ( Ἀνατολή ), "East". Moreover, the term " Hellenes " was widely used instead of the earlier "Romans" by the 13th-century court of the Despotate to describe its population. The Epirote state was founded in 1205 by Michael Komnenos Doukas ,

14168-455: The fall of Constantinople to the knights of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Tarnovo became for a time the main centre of Orthodoxy. The Bulgarian emperors were zealously collecting relics of Christian saints to boost the prestige of their capital. The official recognition of the restored Bulgarian Patriarchate at the Council of Lampsacus in 1235 was a major step in that direction and gave rise to

14329-414: The first attacks on Bulgarian soil by the Ottoman Turks , who were allied with Kantakouzenos. The attempts of Ivan Alexander to fight off the Ottomans in the late 1340s and early 1350s failed after two defeats in which his eldest son and successor Michael Asen IV and his second son Ivan Asen IV may have been killed. The emperor's relations with his other son Ivan Sratsimir , who had been installed as

14490-426: The first half of the 14th century; the army numbered 11,000–15,000 troops in the 1330s. The military was well supplied with siege equipment , including battering rams , siege towers , and catapults. The Bulgarian army used various military tactics , relying on the experience of the soldiers and the peculiarities of the terrain. The Balkan mountains played a significant role in the military strategy and facilitated

14651-489: The following year. However, Michael II Asen 's indecisiveness allowed the Nicaeans to regain all of their lost territory, with the exception of Tsepina. In 1255, the Bulgarians quickly regained Macedonia, whose Bulgarian population preferred the rule of Tarnovo to that of the Nicaeans. All gains were lost in 1256, after the Bulgarian representative Rostislav Mikhailovich betrayed his cause and reaffirmed Nicaean control over

14812-456: The governorship of Epirus. John extended his rule to Thessaly in 1342, but died from the plague in 1348. Epirus and Thessaly were conquered by the Serbian ruler Stefan Dušan soon afterwards. Descendants of John Angelos continued to govern Thessaly under Simeon Uroš and John Uroš . John Uroš, the last Nemanjić , abdicated in favour of Alexios Angelos Philanthropenos , the kaisar of Thessaly. Alexios' brother Manuel Angelos Philanthropenos

14973-457: The growing power of Nicaea and could not stop Theodore from capturing Thessalonica in 1224. Theodore now challenged Nicaea for the imperial title and crowned himself emperor, founding the short-lived Empire of Thessalonica . In 1225, after John III Doukas Vatatzes of Nicaea had taken Adrianople , Theodore arrived and took it back from him. Theodore also allied with the Bulgarians and drove

15134-600: The heritage of the First Bulgarian Empire. In return, Kaloyan promised to accept Papal suzerainty over the Bulgarian Church. The union between Bulgaria and Rome was formalized on 7 October 1205, when Kaloyan was crowned King by a papal legate and the Archbishop Basil of Tarnovo was proclaimed Primate. In a letter to the Pope, Basil styled himself Patriarch , against which Innocent III did not argue. Just like Boris I (r. 852–889) three centuries earlier, Kaloyan pursued

15295-484: The highest ranks of the Ottoman Empire, becoming beylerbey of Rumelia in 1451 and Grand Vizier in 1455. Thus, in the negotiations between Serb despot Lazar Branković and Mehmed II in 1457, the two sides were represented by the brothers Mihailo and Mahmud Anđelović. Despotate of Epirus The Despotate of Epirus ( Medieval Greek : Δεσποτᾶτον τῆς Ἠπείρου ) was one of the Greek successor states of

15456-458: The imperial title (keeping only the title of despotes ), and by 1246 Thessalonica was captured by Nicaea, marking the end of the Angelid rule in much of northern Greece. In 1230, Theodore's nephew Michael II , son of Michael I, established himself as ruler of Epirus and Thessaly and was partially successful in recapturing holdings lost to Nicaea. After the death of Michael II in 1268, Epirus

15617-511: The initial success against the Mongols, the regency of the new emperor decided to avoid further raids and chose to pay them tribute instead. The lack of a strong monarch and increasing rivalries among the nobility caused Bulgaria to rapidly decline. Its main rival Nicaea avoided Mongol raids and gained power in the Balkans. After the death of 12-year-old Kaliman I in 1246, the throne was succeeded by several short-reigned rulers. The weakness of

15778-400: The leader of the Fourth Crusade, 100,000 soldiers to help him take Constantinople. By the end of the 13th century, the military declined and the army was reduced to fewer than 10,000 men—it was recorded that Ivaylo defeated two Byzantine armies of 5,000 and 10,000 men, and that his troops were outnumbered in both cases. Military strength increased with the political stabilization of Bulgaria in

15939-405: The loss of many Bulgarian-populated territories and signified that the monarch in Tarnovo was the emperor of all Bulgarian people, even those who lived beyond the country's political borders. The Emperor held supreme power over secular and religious affairs in an autocracy ; his personal abilities played an important role in the country's well-being. When the monarch was an infant, the government

16100-681: The lost towns were handed over to the Byzantines. To the north-west, the Hungarians attacked and occupied Vidin in 1365. Ivan Alexander reconquered his province four years later, allied with his de jure vassals Vladislav I of Wallachia and Dobrotitsa . The death of Ivan Alexander in 1371 left the country irrevocably divided between Ivan Shishman in Tarnovo, Ivan Sratsimir in Vidin, and Dobrotitsa in Karvuna. The 14th century German traveler Johann Schiltberger described these lands as follows: I

16261-469: The meantime the Latins offered the regency to the French nobleman John of Brienne . Concerned with the actions of the Bulgarians, while marching on Constantinople in 1230, Theodore Komnenos invaded Bulgaria with a huge army. Surprised, Ivan Asen II gathered a small force and moved to the south to engage them. Instead of a banner, he used the peace treaty with Theodore's oath and seal stuck on his spear and won

16422-463: The medieval Bulgarian administration. The Bolyar Council included the greater bolyars and the Patriarch; it discussed issues about external and internal policies, such as declarations of war, formations of alliances, or the signing of peace treaties. The highest-ranking administrative officials were the great logothete , who had the functions of a first minister, and the protovestiarios , who

16583-402: The mountains due to a solar eclipse . Once the Byzantines reached the plains, the rebels did not risk a confrontation with the larger, better-organized force. Peter IV pretended he was willing to submit, while Asen travelled to the north of the Danube to raise an army. Contented, the Byzantine emperor burned the Bulgarians' crops and returned to Constantinople. Soon after, Asen crossed back over

16744-593: The new Bulgarian emperor Ivan Alexander defeated them in the battle of Rusokastro , recovering the captured territories. In 1344, the Bulgarians entered the Byzantine civil war of 1341–47 on the side of John V Palaiologos against John VI Kantakouzenos , capturing nine towns along the Maritsa river and in the Rhodope Mountains, including Philippopolis. That acquisition marked the last significant territorial expansion of medieval Bulgaria, but also led to

16905-469: The new Byzantine regime, the Komnenodoukai nevertheless secured recognition and titles from Constantinople, and retained their control over Thessaly (ruled by a cadet line) and Epirus until 1318. The Angeloi, unlike some other Byzantine families, were not established among the Byzantine nobility and their lineage was not thought of particularly highly until the first half of the 12th century. Despite

17066-463: The new government was exposed when the Nicaean army conquered large areas in southern Thrace, the Rhodopes, and Macedonia—including Adrianople , Tsepina , Stanimaka , Melnik , Serres , Skopje , and Ohrid —meeting little resistance. The Hungarians also exploited Bulgarian weakness, occupying Belgrade and Braničevo. The Bulgarians reacted as late as 1253, invading Serbia and regaining the Rhodopes

17227-527: The new home of many refugees from Constantinople , Thessaly , and the Peloponnese , and Michael was described as a second Noah , rescuing men from the Latin flood. John X Kamateros , the Patriarch of Constantinople , did not consider him a legitimate successor and instead joined Theodore I Laskaris in Nicaea ; Michael instead recognized the authority of Pope Innocent III over Epirus, cutting ties to

17388-578: The newly established Latin Empire in the Battle of Adrianople . His nephew Ivan Asen II defeated the Despotate of Epiros and made Bulgaria a regional power again. During his reign, Bulgaria spread from the Adriatic to the Black Sea and the economy flourished. In the late 13th century, however, the Empire declined under constant invasions by Mongols , Byzantines , Hungarians , and Serbs , as well as internal unrest and revolts. The 14th century saw

17549-464: The next four years, the focus of the war shifted to the south of the Balkan mountains. Ivan Asen's strategy of swiftly striking in different locations paid off, and he soon took control of the important cities Sofia and Niš to the south-west, clearing the way to Macedonia. In 1194, the Byzantines gathered a huge force composed of the eastern and western armies, but were defeated at the Battle of Arcadiopolis . Unable to resist, Isaac II tried to ally with

17710-421: The night, killing a large number of soldiers. In mid-1186, another army under the general Alexios Branas was sent in. However, instead of fighting the rebels, Branas turned to Constantinople to claim the throne for himself; he was murdered shortly afterwards. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Bulgarians raided northern Thrace, looting the countryside before Byzantine forces could counterattack. On one occasion,

17871-552: The north-west, where the Hungarians supported Rostislav, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria in Vidin . In 1260, Constantine Tikh recovered Vidin and occupied the Severin Banat, but the next year a Hungarian counterattack forced the Bulgarians to retreat to Tarnovo, restoring Vidin to Rostislav. The city was soon controlled by the Bulgarian noble Jacob Svetoslav , but by 1266 he also styled himself emperor. The restoration of

18032-531: The north-west. In 1203, the Bulgarians pushed the Serbs out of Niš, defeated the Hungarian army in several battles along the valley of the Morava river , and recaptured their former territory. Kaloyan knew the Byzantines would never recognize his imperial title; he began negotiations with Pope Innocent III. He based the claims on his predecessors in the First Bulgarian Empire; Simeon I , Peter I, and Samuel. The Pope

18193-411: The odds, the family's rise occurred rather quickly during the period of the Byzantine aristocratization. The lineage, of Greek origin, was founded by Constantine Angelos , a minor noble from Philadelphia ( Asia Minor ). According to the 12th-century historian John Zonaras , Constantine was brave, skilled and very handsome, but of lowly origin. The family's surname is commonly held to have derived from

18354-510: The practice became regularized (aside from Epirus, the Despotate of the Morea is the most notable case). The territorial term "despotate" itself (in Greek δεσποτᾶτον , despotaton ) was first used in contemporary sources for Epirus only from the 14th century on, e.g. in the Chronicle of the Morea , in the history of John Kantakouzenos , the hagiography of St. Niphon, or the Chronicle of

18515-454: The rebels reached Tarnovo first. Constantine Tikh's widow Maria married Ivaylo and he was proclaimed emperor. After the Byzantines failed, Michael VIII turned to the Mongols, who invaded Dobrudzha and defeated Ivaylo's army, forcing him to retreat to Drastar , where he withstood a three-month siege. After his defeat, Ivaylo was betrayed by the Bulgarian nobility, who opened the gates of Tarnovo to Ivan Asen III. In early 1279, Ivaylo broke off

18676-458: The rebels, who also secured the assistance of the Cumans , a Turkic tribe inhabiting lands north of the Danube river. The Cumans soon became an important part of the Bulgarian army, playing a major role in the successes that followed. As soon as the rebellion broke out, Peter IV attempted to seize the old capital of Preslav but failed; he declared Tarnovo the capital of Bulgaria. From Moesia,

18837-422: The refoundation of Bulgaria, the recognition of the imperial title of the monarch and the restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate became the priority of the Bulgarian foreign policy. The continuous state of war against the Byzantine empire urged Bulgarian rulers to turn to the Papacy. In his correspondence with Pope Innocent III, Kaloyan (r. 1197–1207) demanded imperial title and a Patriarchate, basing his claims on

18998-727: The ruler of Vidin, deteriorated after 1349, when Ivan Alexander divorced his wife to marry Sarah-Theodora , a converted Jew. When their child Ivan Shishman was designated an heir to the throne, Ivan Sratsimir proclaimed independence. In 1366, Ivan Alexander refused to grant passage to the Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos, and the troops of the Savoyard crusade attacked the Bulgarian Black Sea coast . They seized Sozopolis , Messembria, Anchialus, and Emona , causing heavy casualties and unsuccessfully laying siege to Varna. The Bulgarians eventually granted passage to John V, but

19159-526: The same year, the south of Thessaly was seized by the Catalan Grand Company and annexed to the Duchy of Athens , while the north passed to a series of autonomous magnates. Having re-established Byzantine control over Epirus and Thessaly in 1340, emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos appointed the pinkernes (cup-bearer) John Angelos , a nephew of megas domestikos John Kantakouzenos , to

19320-405: The second-in-command was the velik (great) voivoda . The detachments of the army were led by a voivoda . The protostrator was responsible for the defence of certain regions and the recruitment of soldiers. In the late 12th century, the army numbered 40,000 men-at-arms. The country could mobilize around 100,000 men in the first decade of the 13th century; Kaloyan reportedly offered Baldwin I,

19481-432: The siege at Drastar and besieged the capital. The Byzantines sent a 10,000-strong army to relieve Ivan Asen III, but suffered defeat by Ivaylo at the battle of Devina . Another army of 5,000 had a similar fate, forcing Ivan Asen III to flee. Ivaylo's situation did not improve, however—after two years of constant warfare his support was diminished, the Mongols were not decisively defeated, and the nobility remained hostile. By

19642-474: The territorial evolution of the country. In surviving primary sources, the provinces were named with the Byzantine term hora or the Bulgarian terms zemya ( земя ), strana ( страна ), and oblast ( област ), usually named after its main city. The provincial governors were titled "duke" or kefalia — both from Byzantine dux and kephale —and were directly appointed by the emperor. The provinces were subdivided into katepanika (sing. katepanikon , from

19803-483: The time of the engagement came, Nikephoros had vanished. Andronikos learned that Nikephoros had fled to Italy, with the help of members of the Epirote aristocracy who supported an independent Epirus. He stayed in Taranto , Italy, in the court of Catherine II of Valois (Philip of Taranto's widow), the titular empress of Constantinople. In 1339 a revolt began, supported by Catherine of Valois, who had previously moved to

19964-537: The title of panhypersebastos . The Empire soon fell into a civil war between John V Palaiologos and John VI Kantakouzenos, and Epirus was conquered by the Serbian tsar Stefan Dušan in 1348, who appointed his brother, despot Simeon Nemanjić-Palailogos as governor of the province. Nikephoros II took advantage of the Byzantine civil war and the death of Dušan (1355) to escape and to reestablish himself in Epirus in 1356, to which he also added Thessaly. Nikephoros

20125-443: The title of Despot —making Michael the first Epirote ruler to bear the title—as a sign of his nominal dependency on Thessalonica, but Michael was de facto independent, which he demonstrated by seizing Corfu in ca. 1236. In the rump Empire of Thessalonica, after Theodore was released in 1237, he overthrew his brother Manuel, and set up his son John Komnenos Doukas as ruler of Thessalonica. Thessalonica never regained its power after

20286-501: The title of Despot was Michael II , from his uncle Manuel of Thessalonica in the 1230s, and then again, as a sign of submission and vassalage, from the Nicaean emperor John III Vatatzes . Earlier historians assumed that Michael I was indeed named "Despot" by the deposed emperor Alexios III Angelos after ransoming him from Latin captivity in c.  1206/7 or c.  1210 ; this has been disproven by more recent research. Furthermore, even after Michael II, speaking of

20447-541: The treaty, Theodore Komnenos conquered Salonica, greatly reducing the size of the Latin Empire. In 1225, Theodore proclaimed himself emperor. By 1228, the situation for the Latins became desperate; they entered into negotiations with Bulgaria, promising a marriage between the under-age emperor Baldwin II and Ivan Asen II's daughter Helena. This marriage would have made the Bulgarian emperor a regent in Constantinople, but in

20608-634: The true power during their reign. After his deposition by the Fourth Crusade, Alexios III fled Constantinople with the goal of collecting support and restoring his reign, but was eventually captured in Nicaea where he died in a monastery in 1211. Despite their initial synergy, the inability of the Angeloi to deal with the Crusaders' demands caused friction between the Crusaders and the co-emperors, who in January 1204 were deposed by Alexios V Doukas and killed shortly after. With their former supporters now dead,

20769-450: The two armies confronted each other near the fortress of Lardea in an indecisive battle; the Bulgarians kept their plunder and retreated untroubled to the north of the Balkan mountains. In the late 1186, Isaac II launched his second campaign against Bulgaria. His army was forced to spend the winter in Sofia , giving the Bulgarians time to prepare for the invasion. Early the following year,

20930-526: The vicinity of Constantinople itself. But even they [these cities] are under the authority of my empire since they have no other emperor but me, and only thanks to me do they survive, for thus God has decreed. — Tarnovo inscription of Ivan Asen II in the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs on the aftermath of the battle of Klokotnitsa. As a result of the growing discontent with his policy, Boril

21091-430: The victory against Stephan Nemanja of Serbia in 1190. During Isaac's reign, attempts to usurp imperial power by Byzantine nobles, previously uncommon in the Byzantine history of the 12th century, became a common occurrence preventing the empire's complete recovery. In 1195 Isaac II was deposed by his brother Alexios III Angelos , whose coup and misuse of power accelarated the decline of the empire's strength. His reign

21252-413: The weaknesses that he inherited, including the abuses in central and provincial administration. Isaac II failed to crush the revolt of the Bulgarians and Walachians and in 1187 he was forced to recognize the Bulgarian empire . Despite those military defeats, Isaac succeeded in retrieving imperial fortunes in the Balkans, after Branas ' victory against the Normans at the Battle of Demetritzes in 1185 and

21413-403: Was assassinated later that year and was succeeded by his half-brother Theodore. Theodore Komnenos Doukas immediately set out to attack Thessalonica , and he fought with the Bulgarians along the way. Henry of Flanders died on the way to counterattack, and in 1217 Theodore captured his successor Peter of Courtenay , most likely executing him. The Latin Empire, however, became distracted by

21574-472: Was a hereditary monarchy ruled by a Tsar —the Bulgarian word for Emperor that originated in the 10th century during the First Bulgarian Empire. The monarchs of Bulgaria styled themselves, "In Christ the Lord Faithful Emperor and Autocrat of all Bulgarians" or variations, sometimes including "...and Romans, Greeks, or Vlachs". The term all Bulgarians was added in the 14th century following

21735-562: Was a medieval Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire , it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the early 15th century. Until 1256, the Second Bulgarian Empire was the dominant power in the Balkans , defeating the Byzantine Empire in several major battles. In 1205, Emperor Kaloyan defeated

21896-554: Was allowed to rule in Salonica over the southern areas of the despotate as a Bulgarian vassal. It is possible Serbia accepted Bulgarian suzerainty at that time to counter the threat from Catholic Hungary. In 1231, when John of Brienne arrived in Constantinople, Ivan Asen II allied with the Nicaean Empire against the Latins. After the Nicaeans recognized the Bulgarian Patriarchate in 1235, Ivan Asen II broke his union with

22057-505: Was attacked by King Manfred of Sicily , who conquered Albania and Corcyra . However, Michael immediately allied with him by marrying his daughter Helena to him. After Theodore II died, Michael, Manuel , and William II fought the new Nicaean emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos . The alliance was very unstable and in 1259 William was captured at the disastrous Battle of Pelagonia . Michael VIII went on to capture Michael II's capital of Arta , leaving Epirus with only Ioannina and Vonitsa. Arta

22218-416: Was based on agriculture, mining, traditional crafts, and trade. Agriculture and livestock breeding remained the mainstays of the Bulgarian economy between the 12th and 14th centuries. Moesia, Zagore , and Dobrudzha were known for rich harvests of grain, including high quality wheat. Production of wheat, barley, and millet was also developed in most regions of Thrace. The main wine-producing areas were Thrace,

22379-475: Was considered a " New Constantinople ", became the country's main cultural hub and the centre of the Eastern Orthodox world for contemporary Bulgarians . After the Ottoman conquest, many Bulgarian clerics and scholars emigrated to Serbia , Wallachia , Moldavia , and Russian principalities , where they introduced Bulgarian culture, books, and hesychastic ideas. The name most frequently used for

22540-433: Was defended by a large garrison. Despite capturing the city at Easter , Kaloyan ordered every Byzantine to be thrown in the moat. He then negotiated peace with Byzantines, securing Bulgarian gains in early 1202. While the Bulgarians were occupied in the south, the Hungarian king Andrew II and his Serbian vassal Vukan had annexed Belgrade , Braničevo , and Niš, but after negotiating peace, Kaloyan turned his attention to

22701-421: Was extensively used in the beginning of the 13th century. Metalworking was developed in western Bulgaria— Chiprovtsi , Velbazhd , and Sofia, as well in Tarnovo and Messembria to the east. Monetary circulation and minting steadily increased throughout the period of the Second Bulgarian Empire, reaching their climax during the reign of Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria (reigned 1331–1371). Along with his recognition by

22862-428: Was extracted from the lagoon near Anchialus . Leathermaking, shoemaking, carpentry, and weaving were prominent crafts. Varna was renowned for the processing of fox fur, which was used for production of luxurious clothes. According to Western European sources, there was an abundance of silk in Bulgaria. The Picardian knight Robert de Clari said that in the dowry of the Bulgarian princess Maria , " ... there

23023-482: Was forced into vassalage to other regional powers. It nevertheless managed to retain its autonomy until being conquered by the restored Palaiologan Byzantine Empire in ca. 1337. In the 1410s, the Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos Carlo I Tocco managed to reunite the core of the Epirote state, but his successors gradually lost it to the advancing Ottoman Empire , with the last stronghold, Vonitsa , falling to

23184-750: Was forced to become an Ottoman vassal, and in return he recovered some of the lost towns and secured ten years of uneasy peace. The Ottoman raids renewed in the early 1380s, culminating in the fall of Sofia . Simultaneously, Ivan Shishman had been engaged in war against Wallachia since 1384. According to the Anonymous Bulgarian Chronicle , he killed the Wallachian voivode Dan I of Wallachia in September 1386. He also maintained uneasy relations with Ivan Sratsimir, who had broken his last ties with Tarnovo in 1371 and had separated

23345-483: Was headed by a regency that included the mother-empress, the Patriarch, and senior members of the ruling dynasty. As the processes of feudal fragmentation accelerated in the 14th century, it became customary for the monarch's sons to receive imperial titles during their father's lifetime; sons were styled co-rulers or junior emperors. Unlike the First Empire, the administration during the Second Bulgarian Empire

23506-488: Was heavily influenced by the Byzantine system of administration . Most of the titles of the nobility, the court, and the administration were directly adopted from their Byzantine counterparts in Byzantine Greek, or were translated into Bulgarian. There were some differences in the ranking systems between the two countries—there are few surviving sources about the precise obligations, insignia, or ceremonial affairs of

23667-456: Was in three regions, and all three were called Bulgaria. The first Bulgaria extends there, where you pass from Hungary through the Iron Gate . Its capital is called Vidin. The other Bulgaria lies opposite Wallachia , and its capital is called Tarnovo. The third Bulgaria is there, where the Danube flows into the sea . Its capital is called Kaliakra. On 26 September 1371, the Ottomans defeated

23828-494: Was killed in battle putting down an Albanian revolt in 1359, and the territory of the former despotate became a component part of the personal Empire of Dušan's brother Simeon Nemanjić-Palailogos . Simeon was also governing Thessaly at the time, and, as the Chronicle of Ioannina shows, he left much of the territory under the control of Albanian clans establishing short-lived entities: the clan of Pjetër Losha held Arta , and

23989-675: Was limited only to Akamania, or the southern part of Epirus. He was overthrown by his brother John in 1323, who attempted to balance submission to Constantinople with cooperation with the Angevins of Naples, who also claimed Greece as part of their domains. John was poisoned around 1335 by his wife Anna, who became regent for their son Nikephoros II . In 1337 the new Emperor, Andronikos III Palaiologos , arrived in northern Epirus with an army partly composed of 2,000 Turks contributed by his ally Umur of Aydın . Andronikos first dealt with unrest due to attacks by Albanians and then turned his interest to

24150-492: Was marked by abuses in provincial administration and an increasing autonomy of regional magnates who would even defy the emperor's authority. In 1201 Isaac's son, Alexius Iv Angelos , made his way to the west, where he succeeded in bringing about the diversion of the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople in order to restore his father, Isaac II, to power. On 1 August 1203, the blinded Isaac II was crowned co-emperor, after eight years of imprisonment, along with his son Alexios IV, who held

24311-400: Was not a single horse that was not covered in red silk fabric, which was so long that dragged for seven or eight steps after each horse. And despite they travelled through mud and bad roads, none of the silk fabrics was torn—everything was preserved in grace and nobility." There were blacksmiths, ironmongers, and engineers who developed catapults, battering rams, and other siege equipment, which

24472-460: Was not considered equal to Alexios' other sons-in-law who were of nobler origin and held more titles. Theodora's mother, Empress-dowager Irene, also appears to have disapproved of the match. Constantine and Theodora had seven children, three sons and four daughters. Through his sons, Constantine was the progenitor of the Angelos dynasty, which produced three Byzantine emperors in 1185–1204, as well as

24633-461: Was overthrown in 1218 by Ivan Asen II , son of Ivan Asen I, who had lived in exile after Kaloyan's death. After his coronation, Ivan Asen II arranged a wedding with Anna Maria , daughter of the Hungarian king Andrew II, and received the captured cities Belgrade and Braničevo as a dowry. He then signed an alliance with Theodore Komnenos , ruler of the most powerful Byzantine successor state, the Despotate of Epirus . With his northern border secured by

24794-532: Was quickly discovered; Kaloyan made brutal reprisals against the Byzantines in Thrace. The campaign against the Latins also continued; in 1206, the Bulgarians were victorious at the battle of Rusion and conquered a number of towns in Eastern Thrace . The following year, Boniface I , the King of Salonica, was killed in battle, but Kaloyan was murdered before he could begin the assault on the capital. Kaloyan

24955-457: Was recovered by 1260 while Michael VIII was occupied against Constantinople. After Michael VIII restored the empire in Constantinople in 1261 he frequently harassed Epirus, and forced Michael's son Nikephoros to marry his niece Anna Palaiologina Kantakouzene in 1265. Michael considered Epirus a vassal state, although Michael II and Nikephoros continued to ally with the Princes of Achaea and

25116-486: Was responsible for the treasury and finance. High court titles such as despot and sebastokrator were awarded to the Emperor's relatives but were not strictly concerned with administrative functions. The capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire was Tarnovo, which was also the centre of its own administrative unit under the direct authority of the emperor. Bulgaria was divided into provinces, whose numbers varied with

25277-566: Was ruled by his legitimate son Nikephoros I , while Thessaly – now separated from Epirus – was given to his illegitimate son John I Doukas . The Komnenodoukas family lost both Epirus and Thessaly in 1318; Nicholas Orsini , Count of Cephalonia , murdered Nikephoros' son Thomas I , ending the rule of the family in Epirus, while in Thessaly John I Doukas was succeeded by his son Constantine , followed by John II , who ruled from 1302/03 until his death in 1318. In

25438-729: Was subordinated to the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople and downgraded to an archbishopric centred in Ohrid , while retaining its autonomy and dioceses. Basil appointed the Bulgarian John I Debranin as its first archbishop, but his successors were Byzantines. The Bulgarian aristocracy and tsar's relatives were given various Byzantine titles and transferred to the Asian parts of the Empire. Despite hardships,

25599-510: Was succeeded by his cousin Boril , who tried to pursue his predecessor's policies but did not have his capability. His army was defeated by the Latins at Philippopolis , reversing most of Kaloyan's gains. Boril failed to maintain the integrity of the empire; his brother Strez took most of Macedonia for himself, Alexius Slav seceded his territory in the Rhodopes ; in return for help suppressing

25760-612: Was the last Byzantine Greek ruler of Thessaly. After the Ottoman conquest of Thessaly in 1394, the Angeloi Philanthropenoi took refuge in Serbia . A grandson of either Alexios or Manuel, Mihailo Anđelović , served as an official at the court of Đurađ and Lazar Branković . Mihailo's brother Mahmud , captured in his infancy by Ottoman soldiers, was brought to Adrianople , where he converted to Islam. He later rose to

25921-433: Was willing to recognize Kaloyan as king on the condition the Bulgarian Church would submit to Rome. After lengthy negotiations in which both acted diplomatically but without changing their positions, Kaloyan was crowned king in late 1204. Archbishop Basil was proclaimed Primate . Kaloyan had no intention of submitting to that decision; he sent the Pope a letter expressing his gratitude for the Imperial title he had received and

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