Lardea
| Lardea Лардея | |
|---|---|
Bulgarian-Ottoman Wars |
Lardea or Lardeya (Bulgarian: Лардея, Greek: Λαρδέα) is a ruined late Roman and medieval fortress, situated near the village of Lozenets in Straldzha Municipality, Yambol Province, south-eastern Bulgaria. In the Middle Ages, Lardea often changed hands between Bulgaria and Byzantium.
History
Lardea was founded in the late 3rd or early 4th century. In 705, it was ceded to the
Lardea was conquered by the re-established
Lardea was captured by the Byzantines along with Ktenia in 1278 during the Uprising of Ivaylo. In 1304, emperor Theodore Svetoslav (r. 1300–1321) regained north-eastern Thrace including Lardea for Bulgaria. The fortress became part of the enlarged Despotate of Kran, which served as the appanage of Aldimir, a Bulgarian noble loyal to his nephew Theodore Svetoslav.[4]
However, the fortress was lost once again during the interregnum after the premature death of Theodore Svetoslav's son George II Terter in 1322.[5] It was recovered by the new emperor Michael Shishman (r. 1323–1330) in 1324.[6] After another brief Byzantine occupation between 1330 and 1332, it was once again in Bulgarian hands in the aftermath of the Battle of Rusokastro on 18 July 1332.[7] In 1373, the Ottomans captured the important city of Diampolis and the surrounding fortresses including Lardea.
Footnotes
- ^ Comnena, Anna (1967). Elizabeth Dawes (ed.). The Alexiad of the princess Anna Comnena. Being the history of the reign of her father, Alexius I, emperor of the Romans, 1081-1118 A.D. Taylor & Francis.
- ISBN 978-954-621-235-1.
- ISBN 978-0-8143-1764-8.
- ISBN 954-304-152-0. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
- ^ Andreev, pp. 255-256
- ^ Andreev, p. 256
- ^ Andreev, p. 268-270
Sources
- Andreev, Jordan; Milcho Lalkov (1996). The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars (in Bulgarian). ISBN 954-427-216-X.
42°40′18″N 26°43′48″E / 42.67167°N 26.73000°E
