Treaty of 815
Encyclopedia
The Treaty of 815 was a 30-year peace agreement signed in Constantinople
between the Bulgarian
Khan Omurtag
and the Byzantine
Emperor Leo V the Armenian
.
n throne in 803 began the last and decisive part of the prolonged succession of Byzantine–Bulgarian conflicts which started in 756. For a little over a decade until his death in 814, Krum achieved significant successes over the Byzantine Empire
, seizing the important city of Serdica in 809
and decisively defeating the Byzantine armies at the Varbitsa pass
and at Versinikia
. His son and successor Omurtag tried to continue Krum's aggressive policy but his campaign in 814 was stopped by the Byzantines. As both countries were exhausted by the sustained military effort, peace negotiations began.
In the beginning of 815 Omurtag sent emissaries to Constantinople to negotiate the peace. The signing ceremony was a solemn event and performed in the presence of numerous people. The agreement envisaged that the Byzantine Emperor must vow according to the pagan Bulgarian customs and Omurtag's emissaries according to the Christian laws. The Byzantine historians were outraged by the emperor's actions. They recorded that the "most Christian" ruler had to pour out water on the ground from a cup, to personally turn round horse saddles, to touch triple bridle and to lift grass high above the ground. Another historian added that Leo V had to even cut up dogs as witnesses to his vow.
Byzantine records for the conditions of the treaty have not been preserved, but the first two of the treaty's four articles survive in the Greek-language Syuleymankyoy Inscription:
also fell victim. The Bulgarians also had to restore their economy following the bloody conflicts of the first decade of the century, while their capital Pliska
still lay in ruins.
The peace treaty was reaffirmed in 820, when Emperor Michael II
seized the Byzantine throne. Omurtag and Michael II additionally agreed to provide help to each other in case of danger. True to his word, in 823 Omurtag relieved the siege of Constantinople by the rebel Thomas the Slav
and defeated his army.
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:...
between the Bulgarian
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
Khan Omurtag
Omurtag of Bulgaria
Omurtag was a Great Khan of Bulgaria from 814 to 831. He is known as "the Builder".In the very beginning of his reign he signed a 30-year peace treaty with the neighboring Eastern Roman Empire which remained in force to the end of his life...
and the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
Emperor Leo V the Armenian
Leo V the Armenian
Leo V the Armenian was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 813 to 820. A senior general, he forced his predecessor, Michael I Rangabe, to abdicate and assumed the throne. He ended the decade-long war with the Bulgars, and initiated the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm...
.
Background
With the succession of Khan Krum on the BulgariaBulgaria
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...
n throne in 803 began the last and decisive part of the prolonged succession of Byzantine–Bulgarian conflicts which started in 756. For a little over a decade until his death in 814, Krum achieved significant successes over the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, seizing the important city of Serdica in 809
Siege of Serdica (809)
The Siege of Serdica took place in the spring of 809 at modern Sofia, Bulgaria. As a result, the city was permanently included in the Bulgarian State.- Origins of the conflict :...
and decisively defeating the Byzantine armies at the Varbitsa pass
Battle of Pliska
The Battle of Pliska or Battle of Vărbitsa Pass was a series of battles between troops, gathered from all parts of the Byzantine Empire, led by the Emperor Nicephorus I Genik, and Bulgaria, governed by Khan Krum...
and at Versinikia
Battle of Versinikia
The Battle of Versinikia was fought in 813 between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire, near the city of Adrianople in contemporary Turkey....
. His son and successor Omurtag tried to continue Krum's aggressive policy but his campaign in 814 was stopped by the Byzantines. As both countries were exhausted by the sustained military effort, peace negotiations began.
Signing of the treaty
Terms
- 1st Article, determining the border between BulgariaFirst Bulgarian EmpireThe First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
and Byzantium. It started at DebeltDebeltDebelt is a village in Sredets municipality in Burgas Province in southeastern Bulgaria, about 25 kilometers from Burgas. It has a population of 1,574 and an altitude of 46 meters. The village was founded around the 2nd century by the Roman emperor Vespasian. Then called Deultum, it was the only...
near the Black SeaBlack SeaThe Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coast and passed along the old trench of Erkesiya up to the upper stream of the river Choban Azmak, a tributary of TundzhaTundzhaThe Tundzha is a river in Bulgaria and Turkey and the most significant tributary of the Maritsa, emptying into it on Turkish territory near Edirne....
. From there it reached the MaritsaMaritsaThe Maritsa or Evros , ) is, with a length of 480 km, the longest river that runs solely in the interior of the Balkans. It has its origin in the Rila Mountains in Western Bulgaria, flowing southeast between the Balkan and Rhodope Mountains, past Plovdiv and Parvomay to Edirne, Turkey...
river to the north of HarmanliHarmanliHarmanli is a town in Haskovo Province, South-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Harmanli Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 18,557 inhabitants....
, near the ancient town of Constantia and continued to the west to the modern village of UzundzhovoUzundzhovoUzundzhovo is a village in southeastern Bulgaria, part of Haskovo municipality, Haskovo Province. As of 2008, it has a population of 1,727 and the mayor is Vancho Vanchev. The village lies in the agricultural Upper Thracian Plain , east of Haskovo, south of Dimitrovgrad and west of Simeonovgrad...
. After that the border continued to an unidentified mountain, most probably one of the ridges of the eastern Rhodope MountainsRhodope MountainsThe Rhodopes are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece. Its highest peak, Golyam Perelik , is the seventh highest Bulgarian mountain...
. According to the Süleymanköy Inscription, the border was ratified to that mountain. The explanation of the historians is that the region of Philippopolis (PlovdivPlovdivPlovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
) was to be transferred to Bulgaria after some years while the Byzantine garrisons gradually withdrew from the area; until that time the borderline followed the old border up to Sredna GoraSredna GoraSredna Gora is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to Balkan mountain range and extending from the river Iskar to the west and the elbow of Tundzha north of Yambol to the east. Sredna Gora is 285 km long, reaching 50 km at its greatest width...
. The Bulgarians kept some fortresses around Adrianople as a guarantee for the cession of Philippopolis, which were returned to the Byzantine Empire after Khan MalamirMalamir of BulgariaMalamir was the ruler of Bulgaria 831–836.Malamir was a son of Omurtag and a grandson of Krum. His name may be of Slavic origin, and is claimed to be the first Bulgar khan to possess a Slavic name; however another theory is that it was an Iranian name, as there is an Iranian city named Malamir...
(831-836) took possession of the city. With that article the expansion of the Bulgarian borders to the south was officially recognized although the Bulgarians had to return some of the occupied towns, notably Adrianople.
- 2nd Article, concerning the exchange of prisoners of war between the two countries. The Bulgarians agreed to release the Byzantines captured during the disastrous campaign of Emperor Nikephoros INikephoros INikephoros I or Nicephorus I, Logothetes or Genikos was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811, when he was killed in the Battle of Pliska....
in 811, as well as the population captured during the later raids of Krum. The Byzantines had to release the Slavs who had been captured by Leo V, as well as those who inhabited border regions of the Byzantine Empire around StrandzhaStrandzhaStrandzha is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and the European part of Turkey, in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of Thrace to the west, the lowlands near Burgas to the north and the Black Sea to the east. Its highest peak is Mahya Dağı in Turkey, while the...
and the Rhodope, even though some of them had never been subjects of the Bulgarian khans. The article then continued with details for the process of exchange. Notably, the Byzantines not only had to agree to exchange man for man, but also to give two heads of cattle for every released Byzantine soldier, on the condition that their soldiers would return in their homes. In that way the Bulgarians ensured the reduction of the Byzantine border garrisons.
Aftermath
Although the treaty was in Bulgaria's favour, it was a welcome respite by the Byzantines, who had to regroup their forces after successive defeats, and who faced another round of internal turmoil because of the revival of iconoclasm. Bulgaria on the other hand also faced religious problems, as the growing number of Christians disturbed Omurtag: the Khan began anti-Christian persecutions, to which his eldest son EnravotaEnravota
Saint Enravota or Voin or Boyan was the eldest son of Omurtag of Bulgaria and the first Bulgarian Christian martyr, as well as the earliest Bulgarian saint to be canonized....
also fell victim. The Bulgarians also had to restore their economy following the bloody conflicts of the first decade of the century, while their capital Pliska
Pliska
Pliska is the name of both the first capital of Danubian Bulgaria and a small town which was renamed after the historical Pliska after its site was determined and excavations began....
still lay in ruins.
The peace treaty was reaffirmed in 820, when Emperor Michael II
Michael II
Michael II , surnamed the Amorian or the Stammerer , reigned as Byzantine emperor from December 820 to his death on 2 October 829, and the first ruler of the Phrygian or Amorian dynasty....
seized the Byzantine throne. Omurtag and Michael II additionally agreed to provide help to each other in case of danger. True to his word, in 823 Omurtag relieved the siege of Constantinople by the rebel Thomas the Slav
Thomas the Slav
Thomas the Slav was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt against Emperor Michael II the Amorian in 820–823....
and defeated his army.