Battle of Klokotnitsa
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| Battle of Klokotnitsa | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Klokotnitsa , Bulgaria | |
| Result | Bulgarian victory |
20,000 on the river bank and 1,000 Cumans in the forests
Total: 21,000 men20,000 Byzantine soldiers
2,000-4,000 German knightsModerate
Many captured and killed, but most men were allowed to return to their homelands unharmed.The Battle of Klokotnitsa (
Origins of the conflict
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Around 1221–1222 Emperor
The battle
Theodore Komnenos summoned a large army, including western mercenaries. He was so confident of victory that he took the whole royal court with him, including his wife and children. His army moved slowly and plundered the villages on its way. When the Bulgarian tsar learned that the state was invaded, he gathered a small army of a few thousand men (including Cumans, that Akropolites describes as Scyths[1]) and quickly marched southwards. In four days the Bulgarians covered a distance three times longer than Theodore's army had travelled in a week.
On 9 March, the two armies met near the village of Klokotnitsa. It is said that Ivan Asen II ordered the broken mutual protection treaty to be stuck on his spear and used as a flag. He was a good tactician and managed to surround the enemy, who were surprised to meet the Bulgarians so soon. The battle continued until sunset. Theodore's men were completely defeated, only a small force under his brother
Ivan Asen II's Tarnovo Inscription
In order to commemorate the battle, the Bulgarian emperor had an inscription carved in one of the marble columns of the Church "Holy Forty Martyrs" in the capital of the Bulgarian empire Veliko Tarnovo. Among all existing documents the text of this inscription is the most accurate evidence of the outcome and the aftermath of the battle:
"In the
Aftermath
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Ivan Asen II immediately released the captured soldiers without any conditions and the nobles were taken to
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-19-921067-1.
- ^ Turnovo inscription of Tsar Ivan Asen II in the Holy 40 Martyrs Church in honour of the victory at Klokotnitsa on 9 March 1230
References
- Akropolites, George, The History, (Oxford, 2007), translated by Ruth Macrides [ISBN missing]
- Дуйчев, Иван. Из старата българска книжнина, т.II, С. 1944, с. 38–39
- Златарски, Васил Н., История на българската държава през средните векове, Т.III, Второ българско царство, с. 587–596
- Uspensky, Fyodor, О древностях города Тырнова, Известія Руского Археалогического Института в Константинополе, 1901, VII, вып 1, с. 6–7 и табл. 5
Further reading
- Stoyanov, Aleksandr (July 2019). "The Size of Bulgaria's Medieval Field Armies: A Case Study of Military Mobilization Capacity in the Middle Ages". Journal of Military History. 83 (3): 719–746.