Boril of Bulgaria
Encyclopedia
Boril reigned as emperor (tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

) of Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

 from 1207 to 1218. He was the son of an unnamed sister of his predecessor Kaloyan.

Biography

It is unclear whether Boril was party to the murder of Kaloyan in front of the walls of Thessalonica in 1207, but Kaloyan's intended heirs, his nephews Ivan Asen
Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria
-Early rule:He was a son of Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria and Elena . Elena, who survived until after 1235, is sometimes alleged to be a daughter of Stefan Nemanja of Serbia, but this relationship is questionable and would have caused various canonical impediments to marriages between various descendants...

 and Alexander fled the country on Boril's accession to the throne - first to the Cumans and later to Galicia. Boril married Kaloyan's widow, a Cuman princess, whose name is not recorded, unless she is the Anna (nun Anisija) mentioned in the Synodik of the Bulgarian Church.

Boril's attempt to pursue Kaloyan's foreign policy failed. From the beginning of his reign, he was opposed by members of his family. His brother Strez
Strez
Strez was a Bulgarian sebastokrator and a member of the Asen dynasty. A major contender for the Bulgarian throne, Strez initially opposed the ascension of his close relative Tsar Boril...

 assisted by the Serbian Grand zhupan Stefan Nemanjić seized the stronghold of Prosek
Prosek
Prosek , also known as Stenae, is an archaeological site located in the Demir Kapija Canyon, in Republic of Macedonia. This ancient settlement had an excellent strategical and war position. It was discovered in 1948...

, from which he launched campaigns in Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...

. Boril's cousin and aristocrat Aleksii Slav declared himself independent and established himself in the Pirin
Pirin
The Pirin Mountains are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with Vihren the highest peak, situated at . The range extends about 40 km northwest-southeast, and about 25 km wide. Most of the range is protected in the Pirin National Park...

 region with the town of Melnik
Melnik, Bulgaria
Melnik is a town in Blagoevgrad Province, southwestern Bulgaria, in the southwestern Pirin Mountains, about 440 m above sea level. The town is an architectural reserve and 96 of its buildings are cultural monuments...

 for a capital. To worsen the situation the Latin emperor Henry of Flanders
Henry of Flanders
Henry was the second emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. He was a younger son of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut , and Margaret I of Flanders, sister of Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders....

 defeated Boril in 1208 at Plovdiv
Battle of Plovdiv (1208)
The Battle of Philippopolis or battle of Plovdiv took place on 30 June 1208 in the surroundings of Plovdiv, Bulgaria between the armies of the Bulgarian Empire and the Latin Empire...

 despite the initial success in the battle of Boruy
Battle of Boruy
The battle of Boruy took place in June 1208 near the city of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria between the Bulgarians and the Latin Empire. It resulted in a Bulgarian victory.- Origins of the conflict :...

. Thus Northern Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

 and the Rhodope
Rhodope
Rhodope may mean:* Queen Rhodope, a figure of Greek mythology* Rhodope Mountains, in Bulgaria and Greece* Rhodope Prefecture, of Greece* Rhodope * 166 Rhodope, an asteroid...

 fortresses fell in Latin hands.
Whether as a consequence of a military conflict or a direct result of peaceful negotiations, in 1209 Strez received the court title of sevastokrator (one step lower from that of a despot) and became an ally of Boril till his death in 1214. Meanwhile Boril encountered new internal resistance in the rebellion of four Cuman noblemen in Vidin
Vidin
Vidin is a port town on the southern bank of the Danube in northwestern Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Serbia and Romania, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin...

 1211 (or 1213 according to some sources). Boril couldn't deal with it on his own, and there was no help to be seen from Serbs or Latins, nor from the boyars torn into fractions. The only way out for Boril was to call for Hungarian aid. So an army led by Count Joachim of Sibiu crushed the rebels and seized Vidin. Boril had to cede the area of Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 to the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

 as the price for Hungarian support.

In 1211 Boril convened a church synod at the capital Tărnovo
Veliko Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred to as the "City of the Tsars", Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Yantra River and is famous as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists...

, which commemorated the synod held in 1111 by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...

, and likewise condemned the Bogomils. At about the same time, Boril arranged for the marriage of his stepdaughter (Kaloyan's daughter) Marija (the name is dubious) to Henry of Flanders, and dispatched the bride to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 with numerous gifts. Soon after this, Boril may have married a daughter of Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...

, but there is little evidence for this union. Another marriage was projected between Boril's daughter and Andrew II's son, the future Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...

 in 1214, but it was never carried out.

The alliance with the Latin Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, and the Despotate of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...

, involved Boril in a war against Serbia
History of Medieval Serbia
Тhe medieval history of Serbia begins in the 5th century AD with the Slavic invasion of the Balkans, and lasts until the Ottoman occupation of 1540.- Slavic invasion :...

, in which Boril made little headway, especially after the murder of his brother Strez in 1215. With the death of Henry in 1216 and the departure of Andrew II on the Fifth Crusade
Fifth Crusade
The Fifth Crusade was an attempt to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering the powerful Ayyubid state in Egypt....

, Boril was left essentially without strong supporters. In 1217 or 1218 Ivan Asen, Boril's cousin, returned from exile and defeated Boril, who locked himself up in Tărnovo. After a siege of perhaps seven months (rather than the "seven years" of the Byzantine sources), Boril fled the capital, which surrendered to Ivan Asen. Boril was captured during his escape, and was blinded and relegated to a monastery.

Family

By his first (?) wife, Kaloyan's Cuman widow, Boril had one unnamed daughter, who was engaged to be married to the future Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...

.
Boril may have married as his second (?) wife an unnamed daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II of Hungary
Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...

.

External links

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