The Birth of the Myth About the Byzantine-Bulgarian War of 863

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.13.28

Keywords:

Byzantine Empire, Khan Boris, Christianization of Bulgaria, Michael III, Bardas

Abstract

The Byzantine-Bulgarian relationship from the mid-9th to the early 10th century has attracted the attention of historians for years. However, this topic is fraught with multiple myths and misconceptions. The Byzantine invasion of Bulgarian territories in 863 is one of these myths. This hypothesis became part of the master narrative of Bulgarian national historiography and significantly impacted the clarification of the actual motivation of all parties in the complex political process. However, an analysis of sources shows that the military raid under Basileus Michael III and Caesar Bardas into Bulgarian territory is nothing more than fiction. According to a new Byzantine propaganda policy, this narrative was created after the mid-10th century. This research observes how a simple interpolation becomes a historiographical hypothesis and the dominant historiographical narrative. Additionally, a new interpretation of the beginning of Bulgarian Christianization is proposed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Annales Alamannici, Hannover 1826 [= Monumenta Germaniae historica, Scriptores, 1].
Google Scholar

Annales Altahenses maiores, Hannover 1868 [= Monumenta Germaniae historica, Scriptores, 20].
Google Scholar

Annales Quedlinburgenses, Hannover 1839 [= Monumenta Germaniae historica, Scriptores, 3].
Google Scholar

Annales Sangallenses maiores, Hannover 1826 [= Monumenta Germaniae historica, Scriptores, 1].
Google Scholar

Chernorizets Khrabr O pis’menakh, [in:] B. Florya, Skazaniya o nachale slavyanskoy pis’mennosti, Moskva 1981.
Google Scholar

Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De administrando imperio, ed. G. Moravcsik, trans. R.J.H. Jenkins, Washington 1993 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae, 1].
Google Scholar

Epi tē tōn Boulgarōn symvasei, [in:] I. Dujčev, On the Treaty of 927 with the Bulgarians, “Dumbarton Oaks Papers” 32, 1978, p. 254–288, https://doi.org/10.2307/1291425
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1291425

Genesios, On the Reigns of the Emperors, trans. A. Kaldellis, Canberra 1998 [= Byzantina Australiensia, 11].
Google Scholar

Georgii Monachi chronicon, ed. C. de Boor, Stutgardiae 1904 [= Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana].
Google Scholar

Georgius Cedrenus, Compendium historiarum, vol. I–II, ed., trans. I. Bekker, Bonn 1838–1839 [= Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae].
Google Scholar

Georgius Monachus Continuatus, [in:] Theophanes Continuatus, ed I. Bekker, Bonn 1838 [= Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae].
Google Scholar

Ioannis Scylitzae, Synopsis Historiarum, ed. I. Thurn, Berolini–Novi Eboraci 1973 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae, 5].
Google Scholar

Iosephi Genesii Regum libri quattuor, rec. A. Lesmueller-Werner, H. Thurn, Berolini 1978 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae, 14] (ed. C. Lachmann, Bonn 1834).
Google Scholar

John Zonaras, Epitome of Histories, vol. I–III, ed., trans. M. Pinder, Th. Büttner-Wobst, Bonn 1841–1897.
Google Scholar

Khronika Simeona Magistra i Logofeta, vol. I, ed. A.Yu. Vinogradova, Moskva 2014.
Google Scholar

Michael Psellos, Encomium in Metaphrastem Dominum Symeonem, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. CXIV, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1864, col. 183–200.
Google Scholar

Mikhail Psell, Pokhval’noe slovo Simeonu Metafrastu, [in:] Voronezhskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, Voronezh 1869.
Google Scholar

Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople, Short History / Nicephori Patriarchae Constantinopolitani Breviarium historicum, ed. C. Mango, Washington DC 1990 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae, 13; Dumbarton Oaks Texts, 10].
Google Scholar

Photius, Epistolai, ed. J. N. Baletta, New York 1978.
Google Scholar

Photius, Homilies, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. CII, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1857, col. 563–573.
Google Scholar

Pseudo-Symeon, Chronographia, ed. I. Bekker, Bonn 1838 [= Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae].
Google Scholar

Pseudo-Symeonis, Chronographia, [in:] Fontes graeci historiae bulgaricae, vol. V, Sofija 1964, p. 169–182.
Google Scholar

Pseudo-Symeonis, Chronographia, praef., trans. et comm. G. Cankova-Petkova, Serdicae 1964.
Google Scholar

Symeonis Magistri et Logothetae Chronicon, rec. S. Wahlgren, Berolini 2006 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae, 44.1].
Google Scholar

Theophanes, Chronographia, rec. C. de Boor, Lipsiae 1883.
Google Scholar

Theophanes Continuatus, Chronographia, ed. I. Bekker, Bonn 1838 [= Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae].
Google Scholar

Theophylactus Bulgarus, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. CXXVI, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1864.
Google Scholar

Vita Ignatii, [in:] Patrologiae cursus completus, Series graeca, vol. CV, ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris 1864.
Google Scholar

Ahrweiler H., L’idéologie politique de l’Empire byzantine, Paris 1975.
Google Scholar

Alimov D. E., Etnogenez khorvatov formirovanie khorvatskoy etnopoliticheskoy obshchnosti v VII–IX vv, Sankt-Peterburg 2016.
Google Scholar

Andreev Y., Lazarov I., Pavlov Pl., Koy koy e v Srednovekovna Băgarija, Sofija 1999.
Google Scholar

Angelov A. B., Conversion and Empire: Byzantine Missionaries, Foreign Rulers, and Christian Narratives (ca. 300–900) (PhD thesis, University of Michigan, 2011), https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/89651 [31 V 2023].
Google Scholar

Angelov P., Srednovekovna Bălgarija i neynite săsedi, Sofija 2017.
Google Scholar

Blagojević M., Nemanjići i Lazarevići i srpska srednjovekovna državnost, Beograd 2004.
Google Scholar

Bozhilov I., Gyuzelev V., Istorija na Srednovekovna Bălgarija VII–XIV v., vol. I, Plovdiv 1999.
Google Scholar

Cankova-Petkova G., Contribution au sujet de la conversion des Bulgares au christianisme, “Byzantinobulgarica” 4, 1973, p. 21–40.
Google Scholar

Cheshmedziev D., Knyaz Boris-Michael I: the Bulgarians’ Conversion to Christianity, “Bulgarian Historical Review” 33.1–2, 2005, p. 6–18.
Google Scholar

Ćirković S., Srbi u srednjem veku, Beograd 1998.
Google Scholar

Curta F., Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250, Cambridge 2006 [= Cambridge Medieval Textbooks], https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815638
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815638

Daskalov R., Historical Master Narratives and the Master Narrative of the Bulgarian Middle Ages, “Studia Ceranea” 10, 2020, p. 259–280, https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.10.12
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.10.12

Drinov M., Pogled vărhu proizhozhdenieto na bălgarskija narod i nachaloto na bălgarskata istorija, [in:] Săchinenija na M. S. Drinova, vol. I, Sofija 1909.
Google Scholar

Dujčev I., Légendes byzantines sur la conversion des Bulgares, “Sborník prací filosofsické fakulty brněnské university” 10, 1961, p. 7–17.
Google Scholar

Dvornik F., The Slavs. Their Early History and Civilization, Boston 1956.
Google Scholar

Eggers M., Bowlus Ch.R., 863/864 – eine ‘internationale Konfrontation in Südosteuropa’, “Südost-Forschungen” 59–60, 2000–2001, p. 14–33.
Google Scholar

Gil’ferding A. F., 1. Istoriya serbov i bolgar. 2. Kirill i Mefodiy. 3. Obzor cheshskoy istorii, vol. I, Sankt-Peterburg 1868.
Google Scholar

Golubinskiy E., Kratkiy ocherk istorii pravoslavnykh tserkvey Bolgarskoy, Serbskoy i Rumynskoy ili Moldo-Valashskoy, Moskva 1871.
Google Scholar

Gregory T. E., A History of Byzantium, Maldon–Oxford–Carlton 2005.
Google Scholar

Gyuzelev V., Knyaz Boris Părvi, Sofija 1969.
Google Scholar

Haldon J. F., Byzantium at War, AD 600–1453, Oxford 2003, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203494622
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203494622

Harris J., The Lost World of Byzantium, New Haven 2016, https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300178579.001.0001
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300178579.001.0001

Hupchick D. P., The Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony. Silver-Lined Skulls and Blinded Armies, Palgrave 2017.
Google Scholar

Irechek K. I., Istoriya bolgar, Odessa 1878.
Google Scholar

Ivanov S., Religious Missions, [in:] The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c. 500–1492, ed. J. Shepard, Cambridge 2008, p. 305–332, https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521832311.014
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521832311.014

Ivanov S., Vizantiyskoe missionerstvo: mozhno li sdelat’ iz – «varvara» khristianina?, Moskva 2003.
Google Scholar

Jenkins R.J.H., Studies on Byzantine History of the 9th and 10th Centuries, London 1970.
Google Scholar

Jenkins R.J.H., Mango C., The Date and Significance of the Tenth Homily of Photius, “Dumbarton Oaks Papers” 9–10, 1955–1956, p. 123–140, https://doi.org/10.2307/1291094
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1291094

Kazhdan A. P., Khronika Simeona Logofeta, “Византийский временник” / “Vizantiyskiy Vremennik” 15 (40), 1959, p. 125–143.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/phbl.19590150309

Kazhdan A. P., Litavrin G. G., Ocherki istorii Vizantii i yuzhnykh slavyan, Moskva 1958.
Google Scholar

Klaić N., Povijest Hrvata u ranom srednjem vijeku, Zagreb 1975.
Google Scholar

Leshka M. Y., Boris I-Mikhail, vladetelyat na Bălgariya v tvorchestvoto na Teofilakt, arkhiepiskop Okhridski, [in:] Bălgarsko srednovekovie. Obshchestvo, vlast, istorija. Sbornik v chest na prof. d-r Miliana Kaymakamova, ed. G. N. Nikolov, Sofija 2013, p. 229–238.
Google Scholar

Litavrin G. G., Vvedenie khristianstva v Bolgarii (IX – nach. X), [in:] Prinyatie khristianstva narodami Tsentral’noy i Yugo-Vostochnoy Evropy i kreshchenie Rusi, Moskva 1988.
Google Scholar

Maksimović Lj., O vremenu pohoda bugarskogo kneza Borisa na Srbiju, “Зборник Филозофског факултета (Београд)” / “Zbornik Filozofskog fakulteta (Beograd)” 14.1, 1979, p. 69–76.
Google Scholar

Markopoulos A., Sur Les Deux Versions De La Chronographie De Symeon Logothete, “Byzantinische Zeitschrift” 76.2, 1983, p. 279–284, https://doi.org/10.1515/byzs.1983.76.2.279
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/byzs.1983.76.2.279

Obolensky D., The Byzantine Commonwealth. Eastern Europe, 500–1453, London 1971.
Google Scholar

Olson L., The Conversion of the Visigoths and Bulgarians Compared, [in:] Religious Change, Conversion and Culture, Sydney 1996, p. 22–33.
Google Scholar

Ostrogorsky G., Geschichte des Byzantinischen Staates, München 1963.
Google Scholar

Palauzov Sp., Vek bolgarskogo tsarya Simeona, Sankt-Peterburg 1852.
Google Scholar

Pavlov Pl., Sărbite v politikata na knyaz Boris Mikhail i tsar Simeon Veliki, [in:] Pl. Pavlov, Bălgarskoto Srednovekovie. Poznato i nepoznato, Veliko Tărnovo 2008, p. 51–65.
Google Scholar

Petrov P., La politique étrangère de la Bulgarie au milieu du IX siècle et la conversion des Bulgares, “Byzantinobulgarica” 2, 1966, p. 41–52.
Google Scholar

Rosseykin F. M., Pervoe pravlenie Fotiya, patriarkha Konstantinopol’skogo, Sergiev Posad 1915.
Google Scholar

Runciman S., A History of the First Bulgarian Empire, London 1930.
Google Scholar

Runciman S., Byzantium and the Slavs, [in:] Byzantium. An Introduction to East Roman Civilization, ed. N. H. Baynes, H.St.L. B. Moss, Oxford 1948, p. 338–368.
Google Scholar

Shafarik P. I., Slavyanskiye drevnosti, vol. II, Moskva 1847.
Google Scholar

Simeonova L., Diplomacy of the Letter and the Cross. Photios, Bulgaria and the Papacy 860s–880s, Amsterdam 1998.
Google Scholar

Šišić F., Povijest Hrvata. Pregled povijesti hrvatskoga naroda 600–1526, Zagreb 1916 (Split 2004).
Google Scholar

Sokolov M., Iz drevney istorii bolgar, Sankt-Peterburg 1879.
Google Scholar

Stanković V., A Ninth Century Turnaround in Southeast Europe: Christianization of Bulgaria and Constantinople’s Embracing of the Slavs, [in:] Laudator temporis acti. Studia in Memoriam Ioannis A. Božilov, ed. I. Biliarsk, Sofia 2018, p. 253–259.
Google Scholar

Tougher S., After Iconoclasm (850–886), [in:] The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c. 500–1492, ed. J. Shepard, Cambridge 2008, p. 292–304, https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521832311.013
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521832311.013

Treadgold W., The Middle Byzantine Historians, New York 2013, https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137280862
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137280862

Trifonov Y., Tsar Boris-Mikhail. Vreme, tsaruvane i velichie, Sofija 1927.
Google Scholar

Trifonov Y., Tsaruvaneto na Borisa-Mikhayla, Sofija 1907.
Google Scholar

Tsukhlev D., Istoriya na bălgarskata tsărkva, vol. I, Sofija 1911.
Google Scholar

Vachkova V., Danube Bulgaria and Khazaria as Parts of the Byzantine Oikoumene, [in:] The Other Europe in the Middle Ages. Avars, Bulgars, Khazars and Cumans, ed. F. Curta, R. Kovalev, Leiden–Boston 2008 [= East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450, 2], p. 339–362, https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004163898.i-492.84
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004163898.i-492.84

Vasilik V. V., Desyataya gomiliya patriarkha Fotiya, “Studia Slavica et Balcanica Petropolitana” 1–2, 2009, p. 185–194.
Google Scholar

Vasilyev A., Vizantiya i araby. Politicheskie otnosheniya Vizantii i arabov za vremya Amoriyskoy dinastii, Sankt-Peterburg 1900.
Google Scholar

Venelin Y. I., Kriticheskie issledovaniya ob istorii Bolgar. S prikhoda Bolgar na Frakiyskiy poluostrov do 968 goda, ili pokoreniya Bolgarii Velikim Knyazem Russkim Svyatoslavom, Moskva 1849.
Google Scholar

Vlasto A. P., The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom. An Introduction to the Medieval History of the Slavs, Cambridge 1970, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511583759
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511583759

Wahlgren St., Symeon the Logothete and Theophanes Continuatus, “Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik” 69, 2019, p. 323–334, https://doi.org/10.1553/joeb69s323
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1553/joeb69s323

Wasilewski Т., Bizancjum i Słowianie w IX wieku. Studia z dziejów stosunków politycznych i kulturalnych, Warszawa 1972.
Google Scholar

Ziemann D., The Rebellion of the Nobles against the Baptism of Khan Boris (865–866), [in:] Post-Roman Towns, Trade and Settlement in Europe and Byzantium, vol. II, Berlin–New York 2007 [= Millennium-Studien, 5.2], p. 613–624, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110218831.3.613
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110218831.3.613

Ziemann D., Von Wandervolk zur Großmacht. Die Entstehung Bulgariens im frühen Mittelalter (7.–9. Jh.), Cologne–Weimar–Vienna 2007 [= Kölner Historische Abhandlungen, 43].
Google Scholar

Živković T., Sloveni i Romeji. Slavizacija na prostoru Srbije od VII do XI veka, Beograd 2000.
Google Scholar

Zlatarski V. N., Istorija na Bălgarskata derzhava prez srednite vekove, vol. I, pars 2, Sofija 1927 (2007).
Google Scholar

Zlatarski V. N., Izvestija za bălgarite v khronikata na Simeon Metafrast i Logotet, [in:] Izbrani proizvedeniya, vol. I, ed. P. Petrov, Sofija 1972.
Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

2023-12-30

How to Cite

Bardola, K. (2023). The Birth of the Myth About the Byzantine-Bulgarian War of 863. Studia Ceranea, 13, 191–214. https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.13.28

Issue

Section

Articles

Similar Articles

<< < 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.