Interlude: From Wary Peace Through Rus’ Intervention, 927–971

Abstract

The middle phase of the hegemonic wars concluded in 927 with a treaty forced on Lekapenos by Simeon’s successor Petŭr I granting unqualified Byzantine recognition of the Bulgarian ruler’s imperial title. The two imperial ruling houses were united through a marriage of Petŭr with Maria Lekapena. There followed 40 years of peace between the states. The traditional characterization of Bulgaria’s weakness and decline during that period under Petŭr is questioned. Amicable bilateral relations between the two empires collapsed in 966. Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas instigated the Kievan Rus’ to attack Bulgaria and, after two Rus’ invasions, Bulgaria was reduced to a client of Rus’ ruler Svyatoslav. Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes militarily expelled the Rus’ from the Balkans, occupied eastern Bulgaria, and proclaimed the Bulgarian Empire ended.

The following works provided the basic informational framework for the text of this chapter treating the reign of Petŭr I and the Rus’ intervention: Bozhilov and Gyuzelev, pt. 3, chap. 5; Zlatarski, IBDSV 1/2, 495–618; Mutafchiev, IBN 1, chaps. X–XI; IB 2, pt. IV, chaps. 1–3; Andreev, 73–81; Tzvetkov, 137–143; N. Filipov, Petŭr i padaneto na Iztochna Bŭlgariya (Sofia, 1930); Runciman, A History, bk. III, chaps. I-II; Browning, Byzantium and Bulgaria, 67–73; Fine, Early Medieval Balkans, 159–188; id., “A Fresh Look at Bulgaria under Tsar Peter (927–969),” BS/EB 5 (1978): 88–95; K. Marinow, “Hémos comme barrier militaire. L’analyse des écrits historiques de Léon le Diacre et de Jean Scylitzès au sujet de la champagne de guerre des empereurs byzantins Nicéphore II Phocas en 967 et de Jean I Tzymiscès en 971,” Bulgaria Mediaevalis 2 (2011): 443–466; Curta, Southeastern Europe, 227–240 and passim; NCMH 3, 579–585; Obolensky, Byzantine Commonwealth, 113–120, 126–130; Stephenson, Byzantium’s Balkan Frontier, 23–28, 47–55, and passim; Whittow, 260–262, 292–296; Treadgold, A History, chaps. 15–16; Ostrogorsky, History, chap. IV., sects. 4–6; Jenkins, Imperial Centuries, chaps. 20–21.