Battle of Bitola (1015)

Coordinates: 41°01′55″N 21°20′05″E / 41.03194°N 21.33472°E / 41.03194; 21.33472
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Battle of Bitola
Part of the
Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars
DateAutumn, 1015
Location
near Bitola, North Macedonia
Result Bulgarian victory
Belligerents
Bulgarian Empire Byzantine Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ivats
 George Gonitsiates
Orestes
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Heavy

The battle of Bitola (

Byzantine Emperor Basil II had to retreat from the Bulgarian capital Ohrid
, whose outer walls were by that time already breached by the Bulgarians. However, the Bulgarian victory only postponed the fall of Bulgaria to Byzantine rule in 1018.

Prelude

In the

Moglena. During its siege they captured kavkhan Dometian and many soldiers.[2][5]

Gavril Radomir's attempts to settle peace failed.[2][6] Basil II continued the war and simultaneously encouraged a successful conspiracy of Ivan Vladislav to murder his cousin Radomir and take the throne.[7][8] After Ivan Vladislav took the crown in August 1015, he pretended to agree to surrender to the Byzantines.[2][9][10] Basil II did not trust him and prepared another plot to murder the new Bulgarian Tsar. The new conspiracy failed and led the negotiations to an end.[2][11]

Campaign to Ohrid and the battle

As he did not trust the proposal of Ivan Vladislav, Basil II immediately launched a new campaign via Ostrovo. The Byzantines blinded every captured Bulgarian.[2] In Pelagonia he left a large army under the command of the strategoi George Gonitsiates and Orestes to pillage the region and guard the Byzantine rear between Ohrid and Bitola.[12] Basil himself reached Ohrid and managed to overrun most of the city except for the citadel where the royal palaces were located.[13][14]

However his initial intention to march west to Dyrrhachium failed after unexpected difficulties in the Byzantine rear.[15] The army which was led by Gonitsiates was ambushed by the Bulgarian commander Ivats and was completely destroyed.[12][16] That defeat forced Basil II to pull back swiftly. The rest of the Byzantine army entered Pelagonia, but Ivats avoided engaging it, and Basil II retreated undisturbed to Thessaloniki.[12][16]

Aftermath

The battle of Bitola deprived Basil II of the great success achieved at the beginning of a campaign which might have destroyed the Bulgarian state as early as 1015.[17] However the devastation which the country suffered that year was a prerequisite for the final fall of the First Bulgarian Empire in 1018.[18]

References

  1. ^ In present-day North Macedonia
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Подбрани извори за българската история, т. II, Изд. "ТАНГРА ТанНакРа ИК", София 2004, с. 67
  3. ^ Златарски, В., История на българската държава през средните векове, т. I, ч. 2, София 1971, с. 706
  4. ^ Златарски, В., История на българската държава през средните векове, т. I, ч. 2, София 1971, с. 707
  5. ^ Златарски, В., История на българската държава през средните векове, т. I, ч. 2, София 1971, с. 708
  6. ^ Златарски, В., История на българската държава през средните векове, т. I, ч. 2, София 1971, с. 707-708
  7. ^ Златарски, В., История на българската държава през средните векове, т. I, ч. 2, София 1971, с. 708-711
  8. ^ Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, XXXVI, Russian translation, English translation Archived 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Златарски, В., История на българската държава през средните векове, т. I, ч. 2, София 1971, с. 713-714
  10. Comitopul
    ".
  11. ^ Златарски, В., История на българската държава през средните векове, т. I, ч. 2, София 1971, с. 716
  12. ^ a b c Подбрани извори за българската история, т. II, Изд. "ТАНГРА ТанНакРа ИК", София 2004, с. 68
  13. ^ Гюзелев, В., България от втората четвърт на Х до началото на ХІ век, с. 74 (в: Кратка история на България, изд. "Наука и изкуство", София 1983)
  14. ^ Ангелов, Д., и Чолпанов, Б., Българска военна история през средновековието (Х-XV век), Издателство на Българската академия на науките, София 1994, с. 59
  15. ^ Подбрани извори за българската история, т. II, Изд. "ТАНГРА ТанНакРа ИК", София 2004, с. 67-68
  16. ^ a b Златарски, В., История на българската държава през средните векове, т. I, ч. 2, София 1971, с. 717
  17. ^ Мутафчиев, П., Книга за българите, Издателство на БАН, София 1992, с. 120
  18. ^ Златарски, В., История на българската държава през средните векове, т. I, ч. 2, София 1971, с. 718

41°01′55″N 21°20′05″E / 41.03194°N 21.33472°E / 41.03194; 21.33472

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