Uprising of Asen and Peter
Uprising of Asen and Peter | |
---|---|
Balkan Peninsula | |
Result | Bulgarian-Vlach victory |
Territorial changes | Reestablishment of the Bulgarian Empire |
Vlachs
Supported by:
Cumans
John Doukas
John Kantakouzenos
Alexios Branas
The Uprising of Asen and Peter (Bulgarian: Въстание на Асен и Петър) was a revolt of Bulgarians and Vlachs[1][2] living in Moesia and the Balkan Mountains, then the theme of Paristrion of the Byzantine Empire, caused by a tax increase. It began on 26 October 1185, the feast day of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki, and ended with the restoration of Bulgaria with the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire, ruled by the Asen dynasty.
. They asked to be added to the roll of the Byzantine army and to be granted land near Haemus to provide the monetary income needed to pay the tax. This was refused, and Peter and Asen were treated roughly. Their response was to threaten revolt.After their return, many of the protesters were unwilling to join the rebellion. The brothers Peter and Asen built the
In the spring of 1186, Isaac started a counter-offensive. It was successful at first. During the solar eclipse of 21 April 1186, the Byzantines successfully attacked the rebels, many of whom fled north of the
The Emperor now entrusted the war to his uncle, John the sebastocrator, who gained several victories against the rebels but then himself rebelled. He was replaced with the emperor's brother-in-law, John Kantakouzenos, a good strategist but unfamiliar with the guerrilla tactics used by the mountaineers. His army was ambushed, suffering heavy losses, after unwisely pursuing the enemy into the mountains.
The third general in charge of fighting the rebels was
In the spring of 1187, Isaac attacked the fortress of Lovech, but failed to capture it after a three-month siege. The lands between the Haemus Mons and the Danube were now lost for the Byzantine Empire, leading to the signing of a truce, thus de facto recognising the rule of the Asen and Peter over the territory, leading to the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The Emperor's only consolation was to hold, as hostages, Asen's wife and a certain John (future Kaloyan of Bulgaria), brother of the two new leaders of the Bulgarian state.
Notes
- ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
- ISBN 978-0-299-80926-3.
- ^ Niketas Choniates p. 368 van Dieten.
- ^ Niketas Choniates p. 371-372 van Dieten.
- ISBN 0-521-77017-3, p. 290.
Sources
- Nicetas Choniates, Historia, ed. J.-L. Van Dieten, 2 vols. (Berlin and New York, 1975), pp. 368–9, 371–7, 394-9; trans. as O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, by H.J. Magoulias (Detroit; Wayne State University Press, 1984).
External links
- Foreign policy of the Angeli from A History of the Byzantine Empire by Al. Vasilief
Bibliography
- Paul Stephenson, Byzantium's Balkan Frontier. A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900–1204 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000) pp. 289–300.
- R. L. Wolff, "The Second Bulgarian Empire. Its origin and history to 1204". Speculum 24 (1949): 167–206.
- George Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State. Rutgers University Press, 1969.