CROATIAN KING TOMISLAV DEFEATED BULGARIAN EMPEROR SYMEON THE GREAT ON MAY 27, 927

 

Dominic Mandić

 

 

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Journal of Croatian Studies, I, 1960, pages 32-43  – Annual Review of the Croatian Academy of America, Inc. New York, N.Y., Electronic edition by Studia Croatica, by permission. All reserved by the Croatian Academy of America.

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Three powerful states flourished in Southeastern Europe at the beginning of the tenth century: Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria, and Croatia. Croatia spread from the Raga River in Istria to the Drin in today's Albania, and from the Adriatic Sea to the Drava and Danube Rivers in the north, and to the Drina River in the east. The country was divided into White Croatia, from the Raga to the Cetina in Dalmatia, and Red Croatia, from the Cetina to the Drin.[1] Bulgaria extended over the territory from the Morava River to the Black Sea, and from the Danube to Adrianople and Salonika. It spanned over what is today Bulgaria, Macedonia, a greater part of Serbia, Albania, except a small coastal strip, and a large part of northern continental Greece. Serbia was then a small country between the central Drina and the Morava. It was called Rascia. Since its origin in the seventh, century, Serbia was either subjected to the Byzantine Empire or dependent on Croatia. In the beginning of the tenth century, it became a dependent at one time of the Byzantine Empire, at another time either of Bulgaria or Croatia.[2]

 

In the second decade of the tenth century, Croatia and Bulgaria were, at the zenith of their powers. Tomislav, the first Croatian king (c. 910-929), ruled Croatia[3]; Symeon the Great (893-927), duke and later emperor, ruled Bulgaria.[4] During Tomislav's reign, Croatia had an army of 100,000 infantrymen and 60,000 mounted soldiers. Its navy consisted of 80 large and 100 small ships.[5] Tomislav was conscious of his power. He courageously repelled neighboring enemies, particularly Magyars, whom he defeated several times.[6] However, he neither attacked neighbors nor longed for their territories. The Bulgarian ruler, Symeon, was a wise and able man with a restless and insatiable spirit. He spent his entire life fighting battles with neighboring countries. His basic aim was to defeat the Byzantine Empire and conquer Byzantium so that he could rule the Balkans as the "Emperor of the .Bulgarians and Greeks". To achieve his aim, Symeon overran the eastern and central Balkans several times, occupied Serbia and finally attacked Croatia. Constantine Porphyrogenitus recorded the event in his work De administrando Imperio, written between 948 and 952. After describing how the Serbian great župan Zacharias fled to Croatia, when Symeon attacked him for the second time, Porphyrogenitus continues, "Now, at that time these same Bulgarians under Alogobotour entered Croatia to make war, and there they were all slain by the Croats."[7]

 

Porphyrogenitus did not state the year when that occurred. However, some historians, among them Croatian historians Rački[8], Klaić[9], and others, concluded on the basis of Porphyrogenitus' data about Serbian history that the event had to occur in 925. Zlatarski, the greatest Bulgarian historian, holds the same opinion[10]. Croatian historian Šišić[11]. English historian Runciman[12], Ostrogorsky[13] and others date the event with 926 A.D. on the basis of the same data. It should be observed that the exact time when the Bulgarians attacked the Croats could not be established on the basis of Serbian history. After the description of Symeon's war against Serbia, Porphyrogenitus starts the description of the war with the Croats with the words “κατά τňν καιρňν οΰν…” which do not really mean, "now at that time," or "then, immediately after that," but rather, "at opportune, favorable time"[14]. Such an expression allows a possibility that the Bulgarian attack on Croatia did not immediately follow the second attack on Zacharias, but rather that some time elapsed between them. Our explanation is particularly true for Porphyrogenitus who, in his works, uses the expression "now" (νΰν) and "just now" (άρτι) for the period of ten and one hundred years[15].

 

Other Byzantine Sources

 

Theophanes Continuatus, i.e. the continuer of Theophanes' Chronicle, another Byzantine writer, mentions the war between the Bulgarians and Croats. He writes, "On the twenty-seventh of the month of May, during the fifteenth indiction, Symeon, ruler of the Bulgarians, led the army against the Croats and fighting a battle with them, he was defeated and all under him were slain ... and Symeon died in Bulgaria, ending his life, overpowered by grief and broken-hearted ... And having heard of Symeon's death, the neighboring peoples, Croats, Magyars, and others, decided to attack the Bulgarians ... "[16]

 

According to this statement, the battle between Symeon and Tomislav, respectively between the Bulgarians and Croats, occurred on May 27, 927, because the fifteenth indiction corresponds to 927 A.D. When Symeon heard of the defeat, he died of a broken heart. That could have happened seven or eight days after the battle, while some of the escaped soldiers returned from Eastern Bosnia to Preslav, capital of Bulgaria. Accordingly, Symeon died about June 3, 927.

 

Theophanes Continuatus' statement has a first class value. He was a contemporary of the event and besides used copious historical material collected by Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus. Our writer wrote his work during the reign of Emperor Nicephorus II, Phocas (963-969)[17], that is less than forty years after the battle.

 

Georgius Cedrenus, a writer from the end of the eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth centuries, says that the battle between Symeon the Great and the Croats occurred in the month May, during the fifteenth indiction, which corresponds to 927 A. D. He writes, "In the month of May, during the fifteenth indiction, Symeon, ruler of the Bulgarians, attacked the Croats, and, having a fight with them, was defeated in impervious regions and lost all his army ... Symeon died stricken by a heart attack in Bulgaria ... Then, having heard of Symeon's death, neighboring peoples, the Magyars, Serbs, Croats and others decided, to attack the Bulgarians"[18].

 

Joannes Zonaras, a twelfth-century Byzantine writer, who distinguishes himself in using old reliable sources, mentions Symeon's defeat in Croatia and, a little later, his death caused by a heart attack. He reads, "But the Bulgarian ruler Symeon, a blood-thirsty and restless man, attacked the Croatian people and, being defeated by them in impervious regions, lost his army... Symeon passed away of a broken heart"[19].

 

Georgius Cedrenus and Joannes Zonaras were exceptional experts in Byzantine sources of earlier data[20]. When they write that the Croats defeated the Bulgarians in May 927 and that Symeon, hearing that, died of a broken, heart, it means that this fact was so stated in the best Byzantine works contemporary to the event. It means that this is a historical fact.

 

Symeon Magister, a contemporary to the event, wrote his work during the reign of Emperor Nicephorus II, Phocas (963--969)[21]. However, he is not an independent writer but only a copyist who abridged Theophanes Continuatus, his contemporary. He begins his story with Theophanes Continuatus indication of the time, but omits the description of the battle between the Bulgarians and the Croats. In that way he states that Symeon died on May 27, 927.[22] Therefore, we cannot accept that statement. Symeon Magister does not mention new independent sources for his statement but just copies and abridges that of Theophanes Continuatus. However, Theophanes Continuatus expressly writes that the battle between the Bulgarians and Croats occurred on May 27, 927, and that Symeon died a few days later when he heard of the defeat of his army in Croatia. Because Symeon Magister is a copyist of Theophanes Continuatus, his statement does not have its own independent value but it has to be interpreted according to its source.

 

The continuer of Georgius Monachus, called Hamartolus (the Sinner), copied Symeon Magister's statement in the sixth book of Georgius' work about the lives of emperors, written in the second half of the tenth century, omitting the legend about the astronomer John and Emperor Romanus. Accordingly, he dates the death of Symeon the Great with May 27, during the fifteenth indiction[23], i.e. 927 A.D. However, the statement of the continuer of Georgius Monachus does not have an independent value for he is a copyist. His statement should be valued in the same way as his sources, i.e. Symeon Magister and Theophanes Continuatus.

 

Some manuscripts of Georgius Monachus Hamartolus, respectively some redactions of his work, disagree with the text printed by E. de Muralto and the Bonn edition. The text of some redactions is similar to the text of Theophanes Continuatus. Namely after the date (May 27, 927) they mention Symeon's defeat in Croatia and afterwards his death of a broken heart. The Munich redaction has the following title of the passage, "About Symeon Bulgarian, his defeat in Croatia, and his death."[24]. The Vatican redaction describes the defeat in Croatia almost with the same words as Theophanes Continuatus so that the date of May 27, 927, refers to the defeat of Symeon's army in Croatia.[25].

 

In an ancient Slaveno-Russian translation of Georgius Hamar tolus Chronicle, there is stated that the Croats defeated Symeon the Great on May 27, 927. The translation reads, "On the 27th of the month of May, during the fifteenth indiction, Symeon, Bulgarian Duke, conducted a battle against the Croats, and, having fought, was defeated, and all under him were slain. Then attacked by an incurable heart sickness, he perished, being an iniquitous man in all ... He installed Peter, his son, as duke ... "[26].

 

We do not have a critical edition either of Georgius Hamartolus Chronicle or of the addenda written by his continuers. Several redactions, particularly the Vatican redaction and that one used by the old Russian translator, indicate first the date, May 27, 927, then describe the battle between Symeon's army and the Croats, and Symeon's death at the end. Therefore, there is a possibility that it was thus written in the original manuscript of the first continuer of Georgius Hamartolus, but that later copyists omitted to mention the battle between the Bulgarians and the Croats. By doing so they left an incorrect text according to which Symeon died on May 27, 927. A critical edition of the Chronicle by Georgius Hamartolus and his continuers should solve this question.

 

The Russian chronicler Nestor, respectively The Russian Primary Chronicle, used a redaction of Georgius Hamartolus which stated first the date, then described Symeon's defeat, and finally his death. As in other cases[27], Nestor incorrectly changed the fifteenth indiction, which he found in Georgius' text, into the year 6450 from the world's creation, namely 942 A. D. According to Georgius' text, Nestor had to change this to the year 6435 from the world's creation, namely 927 A.D. Nestor's text in the English translation reads, "6450 (942). Symeon attacked the Croats and was beaten by them. He, then died, leaving Peter his son as Prince of the Bulgarians"[28].

 

Thus Nestor, when corrected, is also a source which confirms that the Croats defeated the Bulgarians in 927, i.e. on May 27, 927. Namely Nestor always mentions for all events only years, omitting days and months.

 

Western Sources

 

We have an indirect confirmation in a letter of Pope Leon VI, by which the Pope approves the decisions of a church synod, held in Split in 928, as well as in the Minutes of the synod, that the battle between the Bulgarians and the Croats occurred in 927, and not in 925 or 926. Pope Leon VI, who was elected in June 928 and died in December of the same year, writes that a papal mission headed by Cardinal Madalbertus and John, Duke of Chumae[29], returned to Rome during his reign after being absent for two years[30]. It means that Madalbertus left Rome in the summer or fall of 926. His journey across Croatia to Preslav, capital of Bulgaria, took probably two or three month. Accordingly his mission reached Bulgaria at the end of the summer or during the fall of 926. At that time, there was no conflict between the Bulgarians and Croats. Madalbertus did not go to Bulgaria to mediate a peace between them, but rather in a special mission connected with Bulgaria itself. The Pope writes,“... to accomplish the work for which they were authorized, Madalbertus, honorable Bishop, and John, illustrious Duke of Cumae, returned to us after two years"[31].

 

In the official Minutes of the Split synod in 928, we read, "Arriving then on our frontiers, the above mentioned legates went to Bulgaria as ordered by the apostolic injuction"[32]. The question of peace between the Bulgarians and the Croats arose afterwards and Madalbertus mediated it while he was in Bulgaria[33]. The events developed as follows.

 

After long wars and great success, capturing a larger part of Byzantine territory in Europe, Symeon the Great proclaimed himself Emperor and took the title "Emperor of the Bulgarians and Greeks" at the beginning of 925.[34]. According to the juridical reasoning of the time, only the Pope and the Byzantine Emperor could bestow royal or imperial titles, and an emperor might be crowned only by a patriarch. Byzantine Emperor Romanus Lecapenus protested bitterly against Symeon's usurpation of the imperial title[35]. Patriarch of Constantinople, Nicolas Mysticus, did the same[36].36 In such a predicament, Symeon begged Pope John X (914-928) to send him an imperial crown and to recognize the head of the Bulgarian church as a Patriarch. Naturally, Symeon had to promise to recognize the papal primacy in the Church. John X accepted Symeon's request and sent a solemn mission to Bulgaria, headed by Cardinal Madalbertus and John, illustrious Duke of Cumae[37]. The papal mission reached Bulgaria at the end of the summer or during the fall of 926, carrying a crown and a scepter with which they would crown Symeon as Bulgarian Emperor.

 

When the papal mission arrived in Preslav, Madalbertus started long negotiations with Symeon and the representatives of the Bulgarian church. Probably, Madalbertus convoked a church synod in Bulgaria as he later did in Split, in Croatia, on his way back to Rome in 928. The negotiations regarding ecclesiastical matters were successful, and Archbishop Leontius was created Patriarch in Preslav, still during Symeon's reign[38].

 

Meanwhile, Symeon undertook imposing preparations for his crowing during the summer of 927. All of a sudden, he decided to wage a war against the Croats. The reason might have been that Tomislav received and protected the Serbs who were expelled by Symeon from Rascia[39]. In all probability, however, the main reason was that Symeon, if crowned by the Papal Legate, feared an attack from the Byzantine Emperor supported by Tomislav. Emperor Romanus Lecapenus won the friendship of Tomislav some years previously, handing over the Byzantine Dalmatia to Tomislav and recognizing him as King of Croatia[40]. During the summer of 926, Tomislav sent his troops to Italy to expel Saracens, from the city of Sipontus[41], which belonged to the Byzantine province of Langobardia. This event could have been a sufficient proof to Symeon that the Croats took the side of the Byzantine Emperor and that they would support him actively in the future. Therefore, when in the next spring, May 927, Symeon sent a strong army under the command of Alogobotour against the Croats[42], Bulgarians were met by Tomislav in the mountainous region of Eastern Bosnia. Tomislav crushed them, May 27, 927, destroying almost the entire Bulgarian army. When Symeon heard of the crush of his army, seven or eight days after the battle, he suffered a stroke and died about June 3, 927, without having been crowned with the imperial crown brought by Madalbertus from Rome. Samuel, Emperor of the second Bulgarian Empire, died, too, of a heart attack after a defeat on. a battlefield. Byzantine writers noted down the exact , date of Samuel's defeat by Emperor Basil II, the Bulgar-slayer (July 29, 1014)[43], omitting to mention the date of his death. The writers proceeded in the same way as the previous writers did in the case of Symeon the Great: Byzantine writers considered the date of Symeon's defeat by the Croats (May 27, 927) more important than the date of his death.

 

That the Papal Legate Madalbertus came to Bulgaria to crown Symeon the Great, as Bulgarian Emperor, we conclude, firstly, from the statements in the letter of Pope Leon VI and the Minutes of Split church synod in 928, and, secondly, from the fact that Madalbertus crowned Peter, Symeon's son, as Bulgarian Emperor in the summer of 927. Both, the papal letter and the Minutes, speak of important apostolic work which Madalbertus' mission of 926 had in Bulgaria[44]. In 1202 the Bulgarian Emperor, Ivan Kaloyan, expressly stated, on the basis of old Bulgarian chronicles, that Peter was crowned with the crown brought from Rome[45]. And, on the basis of Roman registers, Pope Innocent III replied to Kaloyan that several Bulgarian rulers received crowns from Rome[46]. Peter, however, might have been crowned with a Roman crown by Bishop Madalbertus only during a few early months of his reign. Since at the beginning of the fall of 927, Peter perfected his negotiations with the Byzantine Empire and married a granddaughter of the Byzantine Emperor, Romanus Lecapenus on October 8, 927. In the agreement, Byzantium recognized Peter as Bulgarian Emperor as well as the independence of the Bulgarian church[47]. Byzantium only removed Patriarch Leontius, appointed by Rome, and replaced him by Damnianus, a partisan of Byzantium[48]. During the entire further reign of Peter, there was no possibility that he might be crowned by a crown from Rome. The only logical conclusion is that he was crowned by a crown from Rome at the start of his reign while he was hostile to the Byzantine Empire.

 

Peace Between Bulgaria and Croatia

 

All sources which mention the battle between the Bulgarians and the Croats state that after Symeon's death the Croats, Magyars, and other neighboring peoples took steps to wage a war against the Bulgarians[49]. That means that the Bulgarians did not conclude a peace with the Croats while Symeon was alive as well as that Symeon really died immediately after the defeat in Croatia. The peace was concluded during the reign of Symeon's son and successor, Peter (927-969). It was mediated by the Papal Legate Madalbertus while he was still in Bulgaria as it is written in the Minutes of the Split church synod of 928 [50]. That occurred during July or August 927 for Madalbertus was no longer in Bulgaria when the negotiations were perfected between the Bulgarian Emperor, Peter, and Byzantine Emperor, Romanus Lecapenus. As we already mentioned, the negotiations were successful. Peter married the Emperor's granddaughter on October 8, 927, and Bulgaria fell completely under Byzantine influence.

 

Until recently we had only a single source, the Acts of the Split church synod of 928 [51], about the papal mediation for the conclusion of a peace between the Bulgarians and the Croats. Three years ago, Croatian historian Dr. Vinko Foretić discovered a manuscript on parchment in the treasury of the Chapter of the city of Korčula in Croatia. The manuscript is from the first half of the twelfth century, written about 1130 A.D. Among other things, the discovered codex has a special redaction of Liber Pontificalis. The following is written there about Pope John X, "John X ruled twelve years, two months, and six days. He made a peace between the Bulgarians and Croats through .his legates, Bishop Madalbertus and Duke John..."[52].

 

From this statement we have to conclude that Pope John X, hearing of the war between the Bulgarians and Croats, ordered his mission in Bulgaria to mediate a peace. The Croatian king Tomislav, probably on the invitation of the Papal Legate Madalbertus, sent his representatives to Bulgaria who perfected negotiations and concluded a peace. After the defeat of the Bulgarians on May 27, 927, and the conclusion of a just and propitious peace, Croatia reached the zenith of her power during the reign of her first king Tomislav. At that time she was a very powerful nation in Southeastern Europe.

 



[1] Regnum Croatorum, Ch. 9, and Presbyteri Diocleatis, Regnum Sclavorum. Ch. 9: F. Šišić, ed.. Letopis Popa Dukljanina (Beograd-Zagreb, 1928), p. 306 and 398; V. Mošin, ed., Ljetopis Popa Dukljanina (Zagreb, 1950), p. 54. Cf. D. Mandić Crvena Hrvatska (Chicago, 1957), p. 1-50.

[2] Cf. C. Porphyrogenitus, De administrando imperio, Ch. 32, ed. Gy. Moravesik and R. J. H. Jenkins (Budapest, 1949), p. 152-60; C. Jireček, Geschichte der Serben (Gotha, 1911), vol. I, p. 111-254; D. Mandić "Hrvatski sabor na Duvaniskom polju god. 753," Hrvatska Revija (Buenos Aires), vol. VII (1957), p. 12-19, 38.

[3] Cf. F. Šišić, Geschichte der Kroaten (Zagreb, 1917), p. 121-49, F. Šišić, Povijest Hrvata u vrijeme narodnih vladara (Zagreb, 1925), p. 401-30; D. Mandić, Crvena Hrvatska. p. 107-16.

[4] Cl. W. N. Slatarski, Geschichte der Bulgaren. (Leipzig, 1918), vol. I; V. N. Zlatarski, Istorija na Balgarskata Država: Parvito Balgarsko Carstvo (Sofia. 1927). vol. I. part 2; S. Runciman, A History of the First Bulgarian Empire (London, 1930). Hereafter Runcinam, History.

[5] C. Porphyrogenitus, op. cit., Ch. 31, p. 150.

[6] "Rex autem Thomislavus, fortis iuvenis et robustus bellator, plurima bella cum eo [rege Ungarinorum] commisit et semper eum in fugam convertit," Šišić, ed Letopis Popa Dukljanina, p. 310; Mošin, ed., op. cit., p. 58.

[7] C. Porphyrogenitus, op. cit., Ch. 32, p. 1.58., “κατά τňν καιρňν ούν έκείνον είσήλθον οί αύτοί Βούλγαροι είς Χρωβατίαν μετά τού 'Αλογοβότονρ τού πολεμήσαι, και έσφάγησαν πάντες έκείσε παρά τών Xρωβάτων.” - English translation, ibidem, p. 159. We do not agree with the starting phrase of the translation.

[8] F. Rački, Documenta historiae Chroaticae periodum antiquant illustrantia. Monumenta Spectantia Historiam Slavorum Meridionalium, vol. VII (Zagreb, 1877), p. 392.

[9] V. Klaić, Povijest Hrvata (Zagreb, 1899), vol. I, p. 75.

[10] W. N. Zlatarski, Geschichte der Bulgaren, vol. I, p. 58.

[11] F. Šišić, Povijest Hrvata, p. 422.

[12] S. Runciman, History. p. 176.

[13] G. Ostrogorsky, Geschichte des Byzantinischen Staates (Munich, 1942), p. 215.

[14] Cf. Hen. Stephani. Thesaurus Graecae linguae (Paris, 1829), vol. IV, p. 817; Demetrakon D., Mega lexikon thes Hellenikes glosses (Athens, 1938), vol. IV, p. 3531; The Classic Greek Dictionary (Chicago: Follett, 1954), p. 341.

[15] Cf. A. Pertusi, Constantino Porfirogenito, De Thematibus, Studii e Testi vol. 160. (Vatican, 1952), p. 39 ff.

[16] J. Bakker, ed., Theophanes Continuatus, Lib. VI. De Romano Lacapemo (Bonn, 1838), Ch. 20 ff., p. 411 ff, “Μαίώ δέ μηνί, είκάδι έβδňóμη, νδικτιώνος ιέ, Σγμεών άρχων Βουγγυλγαρίας κατά Χρωβάτων έκίνησε στράτεγμα, καί συμβαλών μετ' άύτών πόλεμον ηττηθείς τούς γπ' αύτόν άπαντας άρδην άπώλεσεν… ο Σγμεών… άνοία συσχεθεις καί νόσω κατακαρδία άλούς, διφθαρτο…” - S. Runciman, Romanus Lecapenus (London, 1929), p. 96, n. 1, understood our writer so that he, the writer, asserted that Symeon personally led his army against the Croats. However that is not correct. Theophanes Continuatus, as well as other Byzantine chroniclers, attributes Symeon all the deeds performed by his army leaders under his command. That our writer did not think that Symeon personally led his army against the Croats, it is evident from the fact that he, the writer, asserts, on the one hand, that Symeon died in Bulgaria, and, on the other hand, that the battle was fought in Croatia.

[17] K. Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzant. Literatur (Munich, 1897), p. 124-26; G. Moravcsik, Byzantinoturcica (Budapest, 1942), vol. I, 340.42.

[18] J. Bekker, ed., Georgii Cedreni Compendium Hist. (Bonn, 1839), vol. II, p. 307 ff.. ««Μαϊφ δέ μηνί, ίνδικτιώνος ιε', είσβολην Συμεών ó τής Βουλγαρίας άρχων έποιήσατο κατά Χρωβάτων, καί συμβαλών μετ' αυτών καί ήττηθείς έν ταϊς τών όρών δυσχωρίαις άπαν τό έαυτοϋ άπώλεσε στράτευμα... ó Συμεών έν Βουλγαρία τέbνηκε νόσω κατακαρδία άλούς... τά γοϋν πέριξ ένθη, Τοϋρκοι Σέρβοι Χρωβάτοι καί οί λοιποί, τήν τοϋ Συμεών άναμαθντες τελευτήν έκστρατεύειν κατά Βουλγάρων έβουλεύοντο.» -» - Hereafter Cedrenus.

[19] Th. Buttner-Wobst, ed., Joannes Zonaras, Epitomae Hist. (Bonn, 1897), vol. III, lib. XVI, Ch. 18, p. 473, «`Ο μέντοι τών Βουλγάρων άρχων ό Συμεών, άνήρ ών αίμάτων, ήσυχίαν άγειν οϋποτε όλως προήρητο. όθεν κατά τοϋ έθνους τών Χροβάτων έστράτευσεν, άλλ' ήττητο ϋπ' εκείνων, κάν ταϊς τών όρών δυσχωρίαις τό οίκεϊον άπέβαλε στράτευμα... καί τώ Συμεών αύθωρόν έπέλιπε τό βιώσιμού, ληφθέντι καρδιωγώώς δ' έξ άνθρώπων ό Συμεών άπελήλυθεν, ή τών Βουλγάρων αρχή προς Πέτρού...» - Hereafter Zonaras.

[20] K. Krumbacher, op. cit., p. 140-46; Moravcsik, op. cit., p. 140-45 and 196-200.

[21] K. Krumbacher, op. cit., p. 136-38; Moravcsik, op. cit., p. 321-23.

[22] Symeon Magister, De Const. Porphyr. et Romano Lacapeno, Ch. 33, in J. Bekker, ed., Theophanes Continuatus. op. cit., p. 740.

[23] E. de Muralto, ed. Georgii Monachi dicti Hamartoli, Chronicon (Petrograd. 1559), p. 830; Georgii Monachi, Vitae recent. imperatorum, De Const. Porphyr. et Romano Lacapeno. Ch. 28, in J. Bekker, ed., Theophanes Continuatus, op. cit., p. 904.

[24] E. de Muralto, ed., op. cit., p. 830, n. r. 9.

[25] Ibidem. u. r. 10. - The text given by Rački (op. cit., p. 392) is composed artificially and does not correspond with the text given by Muralto.

[26] 26) V. M. Istrin', Hronika Georgija Amartola v' drevnem' slavjanorusskom' perevode (Petrograd, 1920), Tom' I, p. 560, "Maia meseca v' 27 indikta 15 Semen', knjaz' Bolgarskij, na Horvaty podvize voinu i sestupu byvšu, pobežden' byv', i suštaja pod nim' vsa issěče. Tem' neiscelnoe bolĕzniju po srce jat', pogybe, bezakonnovav' vsue. Petra, sina svoego, postavi knjazem' ..."

[27] Cf. S. H. Cross and 0. P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor, The Russian Primary Chronicle (Cambridge, Mass., 1953), p. 30-33; D. S. Lihačev, Povest' vremennyh let (Moscow-Leningrad, 1950). vol. II. p. 288.

[28] D. S. Lihačev, op. cit., vol. I, p. 33, "V leto 6450. Semeon' ide na Hravaty i po­bežen' byst' Hravaty, i umre, ostaviv' Petra knjaza, syna svoego, Bol'garoni " English translation S. H. Cross and 0. P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor, op. cit., p. 72.

[29] Cumae, an ancient Greek colony in Campania, Italy, between Naples and Gaeta on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Cumae was an important city during the Middle Ages, being the center of the Cumaean Dukedom (Ducatus Cumae). The city of Cumae (Kűmah) is also mentioned by Arabian geographer Idris in 1154 A.D. (cf. M. Amari and C. Schiaparelli, L'Italia descritta nel "Libro del Re Ruggero" compilato da Idrisi, Rome, 1883, p. 95).

[30] Rački, op. cit., p. 194 and F. Šišić, Enchiridion fontium historiae croaticae (Zagreb, 1914), vol. I, p. 221, " ... iniuncti sibi operis causa Bulgariam petentes Romanorum legati, Madalbertus uenerabilis episcopus et Johannes dux illustris, dux Cumas. ad nos post biennium deuenerunt." Hereafter Šišić, Enchiridion. Bishop Madalbertus was papal legate in Byzantium in 933 A.D., cf. , Δελτίον (Athens, 1885), vol. II, p. 395.

[31] Cf. n. 30.

[32] Rački, op. cit., p. 195 and Šišić, Enchiridion, p. 222, "Perucnientes igitur supra fati legati ad confinia nostra et, sicut illis opus iniunctum apostolica iussione fuit, Bulgariam perexerunt."

[33] Cf. n. 50, 51, and 52.

[34] Cf. Slatarski, op. cit., p. 58; Runciman, History, p. 173; Ostrogorsky, op. cit., p. 214.

[35] Romanus Lecapenus, "Epistolae," in Δελτίον (Athens), vol. I (1884), p. 40-45; V. N. Zlatarski, "Pismata na Romana Lecapina do Simeona," Sbornik' za narodni umotvoreniya (Sofia), vol. XII (1896), p. 205-211; vol. XIII (1896), p. 8-11.

[36] Nicolaus Mysticus, Epistolae, 30 and 31, Migne, Patrol. Graeca (Paris, 1863), vol. III. col. 18.5 ff.

[37] Cf. n. 30.

[38] Cf. n. 48.

[39] Serbian župan Zacharias fled from Symeon to Croatia in the spring of 925 A.D.: C. Porphyrogenitus, op. cit., Ch. 32, p. 159, "Then Zacharias took fright and fled to Croatia, and the Bulgarians ... entered Serbia and took away with them the entire folk, both old and young, and carried them into Bulgaria, though a few escaped away and entered Croatia; and the country was left deserted."

[40] That occurred in 923 A.D. I am preparing a special article about that.

[41] "Hoc anno 19261 comprendit Michael rex Sclavorum civitatem Sipontum, mense Julio, die sanctae Felicitatis, secunda feria, indictione XV," Annales Reneventani (ed. Pertz), MGH SS, vol. III, p. 175; Lupi Protospatharii Chronicon, MGH SS, vol. V, p. 54; Annales Barenses, ad an. 928, MGH SS, vol. III, p. 52; Rački, op. cit., p. 393. - The chronicler, who registered the event immediately after it happened, heard that the army of Croatian king occupied Sipontus. Because the army was led by Michael, duke of Zachumlia, the chronicler thought that he, Michael, was the king of the Slavs ICroatsl.

[42] The name of Alogobotour, Bulgarian army leader, means in Bulgaro-Turanian "the head of heroes." Cf. Runciman, History, p. 285.

[43] Cf. Cedrenus, vol. II, p. 458; Zonaras, vol. III, lib. XVII, Ch. 9, p. 563 ff.

[44] Cf. n. 30 and 32.

[45] Innocentii III Registrorum, lib. V. an 1202, u. 115. Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 214, col. 1112 ff., "in primis petimus ab Ecclesia Romana matre coronam et honorem, tamquam dilectus filius, secundum quod imperatores nostri veteres habuerunt. Unus fait Petrus, alius fuit Samuel et alii qui eos in imperio praecesserunt, sicut in libris nostris invenimus esse. scriptum ...”

[46] Ibidem, n. 116, col. 1114, "Petisti vero humiliter ut coronam tibi Ecciesia Romana concederet, sicut illustris memoriae Petro, Samueli et aliis progenitoribus in libris tuis legitur concessiese. Nos igitur . . . regestra nostra perlegi fecimus diligenter; ex quibus evidenter comperimus quod in terra tibi subjecta multi reges fuerunt coronati ... "

[47] Cf. W. N. Slatarski, op. cit.. p. 59; Runciman, History, p. 179-82.

[48] According to Sinodik carja Borila (ed. Popruženko, Odesa 1899), the first Bulgarian patriarch was Leontius, residing in Preslav. However in the list of Bulgarian Archbishops (V. N. Zlatarski, “Bulgarski Arkhiepiskopi-Patriarsi priez Pervoto Carstvo”, Izviesčiya na Istoricheskoto Druzhestvo v. Sofia, vol. VI), Damnianus from Dristar is listed as the first Bulgarian patriarch. In reality, the first Bulgarian patriarch was Leontius, but Byzantium did not recognize him because he was appointed by Rome. The writer of the list of Bulgarian Archbishops, a Byzantine partisan, did not consider Leontius a lawful Bulgarian patriarch and, therefore, started the list with patriarch Damnianus.

[49] Cf. n. 16 to 23.

[50] The Minutes of Split Church Synod of 928, in Rački, op. cit., p. 195, and Šišić, Enchiridion. p. 222, "Quique peracto negotio pacis inter Bulgaros et Chroatos, repetito itinere ad nos uenerabilis Madalbertus episcopus, in ciuitatem spalatensem adueniens ... " According to the Minutes Madalbertus mediated a peace between the Bulgars and the Croats while he was still in Bulgaria. Afterwards he returned to Split by the same way by which he went to Bulgaria. Cf. n. 32.

[51] Letter of Pope Leon VI (Rački, op. cit., p. 196 ff. and Šišić, Enchiridion, p. 223 ff.) and the Minutes of Split Church Synod of 928 (cf. n. 30 and 32).

[52] V. Foretić, "Korčulanski kodeks 12. stoljeća," Starine (Zagreb: Yugoslav Academy, 1956), vol. 46, p. 30, "Johannes X sedit annos XII, menses II, dies VI. Hic fecit pacem inter Bulgaros et Chroatos per legatos suos Madelbertum scilicet episcopum, et Johannem ducem ... "