The
"Varyags" (Normans) and the First Bulgarian Kingdom
06:00
26.04.2024
The earliest contacts of the Bulgarians with the Norman "element"
date back to the first half of the 9th century
The main "channel"
for the relations of the First Bulgarian Kingdom with the Normans was the
medieval state of Kievan Rus
Interest in this little-known to the general public, but interesting problem of the history of medieval Bulgaria, is the subject of scientific research, less often of popular publications and television shows. The accumulated scientific knowledge is most fully presented in the editions of the international conferences on the topic "Vikings - seafarers, discoverers, creators", organized by the Department of "Germanic and Scandinavian Studies" of SU "St. Kliment of Ohrida" with the participation of Academician Vasil Gyuzelev, Prof. Emil Mihailov, Associate Professor Valeri Yotov, Mihail Raev and other researchers. A brief overview is also included in my book "Rebels and Adventurers in Medieval Bulgaria" (2000).
Although to a lesser extent
compared to Western Europe, Kievan Rus and Byzantium, medieval Bulgaria
repeatedly had contacts with the Normans ("Vikings", "the Ross
people", "Varyags", "Veringi", etc.), and, as we shall
see in one of the following episodes of this series, even with Englishmen in
Byzantine service. The main "channel" of the connections of the First
Bulgarian Kingdom with the Normans is the medieval Kievan Rus (its successors
are the modern states of Ukraine, the European part of Russia and Belarus),
created by Prince Oleg after the conquest of Kiev in 882. Oleg/Olaf is the heir
of the Norman leader Rurik, who conquered the lands around Novgorod at the
beginning of the same century. In the first centuries of the existence of
Kievan Rus, the Norman element had a clear political supremacy, which is also
reflected in the treatise "On the management of the empire" of the
Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Bagrenorodni". The "Varyags"
gave the name "Ros"/"Rus" to the country with its
predominantly Slavic population.
As is known, the Normans,
brave sailors and adventurers, reached Iceland, Greenland and even
"Vinland" (North America) five centuries before Columbus! Their
daring raids in Western Europe, which grew into conquests in Northern France,
England, etc., are known. In the east, sailing along the great rivers Volga and
Dnieper, their ships ("drakars") ended up in the Caspian and Black
seas! Until 882, today's Ukrainian capital was ruled by the brothers Askold and
Dir, most likely also of Norman origin, but recognizing the supreme authority
of the Khazar Khaganate. The possible earliest contacts of Bulgaria with the
Normans date from the first half of the 9th century, and the recorded
appearance of "Rossi" in Constantinople, messengers of an unknown "Khagan",
dates from 839. The Byzantine capital was attacked by sea for the first time in
18 June 860, perhaps by the forces of the said Askold and Dir. The Empire tried
to pacify them and even succeeded in baptizing some of the "Varyangs".
On this occasion, Patriarch Photius reported that shortly after the Bulgarians
(864), the Christian faith was also accepted by the "Russians". This
first "Baptism of Russians", presented in miniature and in the
Bulgarian translation of the Manasseh Chronicle (XIV century), is limited.
Kievan Rus remained pagan until the conversion of its population by Byzantine
and Bulgarian clergy in 988 - a landmark event that is worth recounting
separately.
The northern "men of
blood" are the basis of the trans-sea trade along the route "Iz
Varyag v Greki" ("From the Normans to Byzantium"), reaching
along the Bulgarian coast to Mesemvria/Nesebar and Constantinople/Tsarigrad. New
groups from the Scandinavian Peninsula continue to arrive in Kievan Rus for
military service. Contingents of the Slavic communities Drevlians, Severians,
etc. also take part in the military campaigns. The case of the so-called
Tiberians and Ulyches, according to some researchers, of (proto)Bulgarian
origin, but involved in the "orbit" of Kiev.
The formation of Kievan Rus
changed the geopolitical situation in the Black Sea region. In 907, Oleg by sea
made a surprise attack and devastated the surroundings of the Byzantine
capital. What is the attitude of King Simeon the Great towards this campaign is
unknown, and the sea attack was probably from the Crimea to Asia Minor and from
there to Constantinople. With the treaties between Oleg and Byzantium,
concluded in 907 and 911, the access of "Varangian" merchants to the
Byzantine capital was put under control. Then the "Varyago-Russian
squad" was created as a mercenary corps in the Byzantine army.
In 941, Prince Igor with
"countless ships" again penetrated the Bosphorus, but was defeated by
the Byzantine fleet. The Russians are especially afraid of the famous
"Greek fire", the medieval "napalm", which made the Roman "dromons"
the strongest warships of that era. Two years later, the prince again marched
against Constantinople, but was stopped by diplomatic means. The Bulgarian king
Peter, as a loyal ally, warned the empire about the impending attack. Igor's
Pecheneg allies, however, do not count, which is why they attack the northern
Bulgarian lands. Anyway, the "Varyangs" are well known to the
authorities in Veliki Preslav.
As a military-political factor
in the full sense of the word, the Normans appeared during the aggression of
Prince Svetoslav Igorevich in 968-971, which dealt an extremely heavy blow to
the First Bulgarian Kingdom. Svetoslav, despite being the first prince of Kiev
with a Slavic name, was a pure-blood "Varyang" - his father
Igor/"Ingvar" and his mother Olga/"Helga", the first
Christian ruler of Kiev, were of Norman descent. Indeed, in the 15th century
.In the Russian chronicles there is a legend that St. Olga/Helena is Bulgarian
(!), which, however, cannot be accepted as reliable. On the other hand, she was
created due to the old ties of Kievan Rus and its successor principalities ,
such as Bulgaria, whose spiritual and cultural influence is fundamental.
In Svetoslav's campaigns in
Bulgaria, his closest assistants were the "Varyangs" Ikmor and
Sveneld ("Svenkel"). The first died in the battles near Druster
(Silistra), the second led the remnants of the army on the return? in Kiev after
the death of the prince, killed at the gates of the Dnieper by the Pechenegs.
In the war with Bulgaria, the "Russians", the vast majority of them
pagans, proved their qualities in the art of war. And yet, their victories were
mostly due to superiority in people (at least twice, as the Byzantine authors
claim), and also to military prowess. In "The Tale of the Past Years"
it is told how during Svetoslav's second campaign in Bulgaria near Malki
Preslavets in the Danube Delta "...the Bulgarians came out to fight, a
great battle ensued and the Bulgarians began to prevail. And Svetoslav said to
his warriors: " Here we must perish! Let's resist, brothers and comrades,
manfully!" Towards evening, Svetoslav prevailed..." The fierce
Bulgarian resistance is not covered by the imposed idea of the decline and
weakness of the country under the kings Peter (927-969) and Boris II (969-971).
The adventurism and predatory
"appetites" of Svetoslav and the military acumen around him allowed
Byzantium to use Kievan Rus as its weapon. Despite the supposed
"alliance" imposed on Boris II (with the actual hostage-taking of the
king and prominent Bulgarian boyars!) the prince's actions against Byzantium in
Eastern Thrace ended in failure, what's more - Svetoslav severely punished the
inhabitants of Philipopol/Plovdiv, killing thousands... The fighters against
the Romans, Bulgarian soldiers declare that they are doing it for revenge,
because the until recently supposedly "friends" and Christians threw
the "pagans" against Bulgaria! After 988, when the relations of
Kievan Rus with Byzantium were cemented by a dynastic marriage (Vladimir I
married Anna, the sister of Basil II) and the Christianization of Kievan Rus,
the participation of the "Varyago-Russians" in the Roman army was
unchanged. Their troops also fought against Bulgaria in the war of Basil II
(976-1025) against Samuel (997-1014) and his successors. After one victory of
the Bulgarian killer over Tsar Ivan Vladislav (1015-1018), one third of the
loot was given to the "Russians" in the imperial army. These events
by no means put an end to the Bulgarian-Norman ties, but we will talk about
their continuation in the XI-XII centuries another time in this series.
