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DOCUMENTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF MACEDONIA IN MIDDLE AGES

Saint Sophia Church, Ohrid

6th c. Information from John of Ephesus [1] on the settlement of Slavs in the Balkan Peninsula

In the third year following the death of Justinian and the accession of Tiberius Triumphator [2] to the throne, the accursed Slav people appeared and conquered the whole of Hellas, the area around Thessalonica and the whole of Thrace. They captured many towns and fortresses, plundered and laid waste the country with fire and the sword, and lorded it there as freely as in their own country. This lasted for four years, while the Emperor was fighting the Per­sians. That is why they lorded it over the country until God chased them away. Their plundering reached as far as the outer wall.[3] All of the Emperor's herds became their spoil. And even now they live carefree and fearless in the Byzan­tine provinces, pillaging, murdering and burning. They have become rich, and they have gold and silver, whole herds of horses and numerous weapons. They have learned to wage war better than the Byzantines.

Johannes von Ephesus, Kirchengeschichte. Aus dem Syrischen von Schonfalder, Munchcn 1862. See K. Irecek, History of the Bulgarians, pp. 58-59.

1. John of Ephesus, a Byzantine chronicler who lived in Constantinople between 558 and 575.
2. Tiberius, a Byzantine Emperor (R. 578-582).
3. The wall was built by Emperor Anastasius I early in the 6th c. to protect Constantinople from Slav, Proto-Bulgar and other raids. It reaches from Derkos on the Black Sea to Silimbria on the Sea of Marmara.

7th c. Information about the miracle of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica and the settlement of the Proto-Bulgars Maurus and Kouber1 on the Bitola plain
On the internecine war secretly plotted against our town by the Bulgarians Maurus and Kouber

As you know, Christ-loving people, in the preceding chapters we told you in part about the Slavs, i.e. about he who is called Hatson and about the Avars.2 We also related how they devastated almost all Illyricum, namely its provinces: the two Pannonias, also the two Dacias, Dardania, Moesia, Praevalitana, Rhodopa and all other provinces, besides Thrace and the lands by the Long Wall at Constantinople, and the remaining towns and settlements as well. They3 carried off the whole population to the land lying beyond, towards Pannonia by the Danube River.4 The main town of that province was once that which is called Syrmium.5 And so, there, as we have said, the above-mentioned hagan settled all the captive people,6 already as his dependents. It was from that time that they mixed with the Bulgarians, Avars and other tribes and became a huge and numerous people. Every child inherited from his father his inborn qualities and their people's passion for the Byzantine lands ...

And so, Kouber victoriously crossed the aforesaid Danube River with all the above-mentioned people who were with him, came to our lands and took possession of the Keremissian plain.7 Having settled there, they wanted to return to their native towns, chiefly because they had retained their Orthodox faith: some - to our town of Thessalonica, protected by the martyr, others, to the most fortunate town and queen of cities,8 and still others, to the other towns of Thrace.

Miracula Sancti Demetrii, ed. Byeus: AASS, octobris IV, p. 179 C -180 DE; cf. Greek Sources of Bulgarian History, III, pp.158 -159; the original is in Greek

1. Kouber, the Proto-Bulgar chief appointed by the hagan (Khan) of the Avars to head the captured Slw population, who had already mixed with the Proto-Bulgars, the Avars and other tribes.
2. i.e. a reference to the third Avaro-Slav assault on Thessalonica. Hatson was a Slav chieftain.
3. i.e. the Avars.
4. Probably at the beginning of the 7th c.
5. The Old Bulgarian Srem, today Sremska Mitrovitsa.
6. Mainly Slavs.
7. Most probably the present plain of Bitola.
8. i.e. Constantinople.

9th-10th c. Information from the Byzantine writer Ioannes Cameniata1 about some settlements on the plain of Thessalonica paying taxes to the Bulgarian (Scythian) people

In the middle of this plain there are some mixed settlements: some of them pay taxes to the town (Thessalonica) - these are the so-called Dragoviti and Sagoudati;2 other settlements pay taxes to the neighbouring Scythian people,3 situated nearby. Moreover, the settlements are situated in close proximity to each other. They are in contact with the Scythians through trading. This, in ad­dition to the other circumstances, is of great benefit to the people of Thessalonica, particularly when they are in good relations with each other and are not in arms for a cruel war. For a long time in the past this used to be a matter of concern for both sides. They exchange things mutually essential for a joint way of life, preserving a marvelous and profound peace with each other. Big rivers come from the country of the Scythians and, by dividing the above-mentioned plain, bring great abundance to the town through the revenue from fishing and through passage of ships from the sea up the rivers. These ships en­sure a varied flow of goods along these rivers.

loannis Cameniatae De excidio Thessalonicensi, ed. Bonn., pp.495 - 496; V, p.22; the original is in Greek

1. Ioannes Cameniata, a citizen of Thessalonica, who witnessed the Arab conquest of the city in 904. Author of the book The Capture of Thessalonica.

2. Slav tribes.

3. i.e. the Bulgarians.

10th c. - Information about Clement* the Bulgarian Bishop in Ochrida.

"On the same day** we celebrate the birth of Clement, Bulgarian Bishop in Ochrida, our sacred father and performer of wonders."

H. Delehaye, Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae. Propylaeum ad ASS. Novembris, Bruxelles, 1902, col 255-256; the original is in Greek.

* Clement - disciple of Cyril and Methodius, one of the most eminent enlighteners of the Bulgarian people.

** the day of Clement of Ochrida is celebrated today on the 8th of December.


10th c. Excerpt from the second Life of Nahum concerning the arrival of the disciples of Cyril and Methodius in the Bulgarian lands, and the big monastery and church built by Nahum in Ohrid on the orders of the Bulgarian Tsar Boris

The Reverend and Great Father Nahum grew up in Moesia[1] and, in ac­cordance with the education /which he received/ from his noble parents, he regarded nobility, wealth and all as the weeds of the field, and he joined Constantine the Philosopher and his brother Methodius, equal to the Apostles, who went about teaching the Moesian and Dalmatian peoples and he followed them everywhere, even as far as ancient Rome ...

After the death of Methodius, the archbishopric was assumed by a Latin named Viglisco.[2] Being filled with the heresy of Macedonius and Appolinarius,[3] he corrupted the whole teaching of Methodius and he greatly tortured his dis­ciples and put them in dungeons and chains. And when the saints prayed to God, there was a mighty earthquake, and a second time and a third, and everybody ran out of their homes, and the doors of the dungeons were flung open and the chains on arms and legs were torn asunder. And all marveled at this miracle and called the saints great. But the heathens attributed it to Beelzebub, as the Judeans did with my Christ, and with great torture they chased them away from that land.

And they shook the dust from off their feet, as it is said in the Scriptures, and they came to the lands near the Danube. And there, after they had raised by prayer the dead only son of a certain nobleman and had enlightened his household, together with many other /people/ from the village, for which reason they were greatly honoured by all, they at once departed for the great river Danube. There, with prayer and a heavenly miracle they tied three trees with virgin's flower, called on the name of the Holy Trinity and crossed the river and came to Belgrade.[4] And there they were greatly honoured by Knyaz Radislav,[5] and they gave blessing and joy. Thus, some went towards Moesia, and others to Dalmatia and Dacia, and everywhere they multiplied the word of God a hundred-fold.

Nahum and Clement came to the Illyrian and Lichnidian countries. In Devolski Livan, at the far end of the lake of Ohrid city, between the two rivers, Nahum built a big monastery and church dedicated to the hierarchal Archangel Michael and all heavenly powers, with the means and on the orders of the pious Bulgarian Tsar Mihail Boris and his son. Tsar Simeon, and that was in the year 6413 /= 905/. And, having done everything to please God, the blessed Nahum died there at a great age and rendered up his soul into the hands of God on the 23rd day of December,[6] and his venerable body was prepared and anointed by the godly hands of Christ's Bishop Clement of Ohrid and was laid with honours in a grave in the right wing of the church. God glorified him with great miracles and he heals all illnesses and ulcers and casts out devils.

Yordan Ivanov, Bulgarian Antiquities in Macedonia, Naouka i Izkoustvo Publ., 1970, p. 313.; Ivan Duichev, Old Bulgarian Literature, Sofia, 1943, pp. 62-65; the original is in Old Bulgarian.

1. i.e. Bulgaria.

2. Bishop Wieching, German by birth, who came to head the Moravian Church following Methodius' death.

3. Macedonius and Appolinarius were followers of the Arian faith, according to which the Holy Father and the Holy Son were not a unity.

4. Those who arrived in Belgrade were the disciples of Cyril and Methodius - Clement, Nahum, Gorazd and Angelarius.

5. The Bulgarian ruler in Belgrade.

6. Nahum died on December 23, 910.

973 The Western writer Thietmarus reports on the Bulgarian envoys to Emperor Otto I

"...After this he /Otto I[1] went to Quedlinburg where he stayed to spend the coming Easter in church celebrations and worldly pleasures. There on the Emperor's orders were assembled the Princes Mieszko and Boleslaw and the envoys of the Greeks, the Beneventians, the Hungarians, the Bulgarians, the Danes and the Slavs [2] together with all notables from the entire Kingdom. After settling everything in a peaceful fashion, they returned to their countries pleased and loaded with bountiful gifts..."

Thietmari Chronicon, MGH, SS, m, p.753; Latin Sources of Bulgarian History, II, pp.349 -350; the original is in Latin.

1 Otto I, German Emperor (R. 936-973). The arrival of Bulgarian envoys at his court shows that in that time Bulgaria was not conquered. The Bulgarian envoys went at the request of the Kometopouli brothers: David, Moisei (Moses), Aaron and Samuil.

2 These are the Western Slavs.

10th - 11th c. - From the communication of the Byzantine historian Leo Grammaticus it is clear that the inhabitants of Adrianople, who were not Slavs, were called by the territorial name of "Macedonians" because in the Middle Ages part of Thrace was denoted by the name "Macedonia"

"After Kroum had seized Adrianople*, he brought across the Danube and settled by the river many noble Macedonians and extremely large numbers of people... Setting out for Adrianople, he captured it and transferred from there 12,000 men, without counting the women and children, and settled them along the Danube... The people together with the women and children decided to pass over into Romania**... And so the Macedonians despaired, made Tsants and Cordillas their leaders and, engaging in battle, killed many and took some in captivity. The Bulgarians who could not pass over, resorted to the Ugri***. informing them of everything about the Macedonians... The next day, when they wanted to set out, the Huns**** again appeared to fight against them. Then another Macedonian by the name of Leo of the family of the Gimostes, who afterwards became Heteriarch, rose up in arms as well as other prominent Macedonians. They put them to fight and chased them away. Returning, they came on board the ships and fled to the Emperor. They were favoured by him and returned to their country Macedonia*****."

Leonis Grammatici Chronographia, ed. Bonn, 1842, pp.208, 231-233; cf. GSBH, V, pp.155-156; the original is in Greek.

* Adrianople was seized in 813.

** Under Romania here are designated the European parts of Byzantium, i.e. Thrace.

*** Ugri- the Hungarians.

**** Huns - the Hungarians.

***** Macedonia - Thrace with Adrianople as its centre.

10th - 11th c. - The same Byzantine historian Leo Grammaticus reports that Emperor Basil I* was born in Macedonia, in a village near Adrianople

"We deemed it necessary to relate how this same Basil was brought up and from where he descended. He was born in Macedonia, in a village near Adrianople, during the reign of Michael Rhangabe**"

Ibidem, p. 228; cf. GSBH, V, p. 155; the original is in Greek.

* Basil I - Emperor of Byzantium (867 - 886).

** Michael Rhangabe - Emperor of Byzantium (811 - 813).

11th c. - The Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Vladislav* puts a tablet on the fortress wall of Bitolya, in which he is called "autocrator of the Bulgarians" and there is an emphasis on the fact that he is "Bulgarian"

"[In the year 6523 (=1015) of the creation of the world was this fortress erected] built and made by Ivan autocrator of the Bulgarians with the help and prayers of Our Souvereign, the Holy Mother of God, and the intercession of twelve and of [the two] supreme apostles. This fortress was made [as] a sanc[tuary], for the salvation and the life of the Bulgarians. The Bitolya fortress was begun in the month . . . at the end . . . was Bulgarian by birth . . ."

Yordan Zaimov, The Bitolya Inscription - in manuscript; Vl. Moshin, The Bitolya Plaque of 1018, magazine "Makedonski jazik", XVII, 1966, pp. 51 - 61; the original is in Old Bulgarian.

* Ivan Vladislav - Bulgarian Tsar (1015 - 1018).

11th c. - The Byzantine writer Cecaumenus* reports that the Slavs in Macedonia speak Bulgarian, that Basil II** captured 14,000 Bulgarians, that Alusianus, the son of Ivan-Vladislav, with many Bulgarians attacked Thessalonica, that Wallachians and Bulgarians live in Thessaly

". . . In everything help the needy. And truly, the rich is god for the poor because he favours him. It is for this reason that the Bulgarians call the wealthy b o g a t (rich), which means b o g o p o d o b e n (god-like)..."

"Demetrias is a sea town in Hellas, protected from the sea and from the adjacent marshes. Delyan (a bulgarian toparchos) conquered it. After seizing the town, he sent there the old warrior Litovoy of Devol, experienced in military matters (in the language of the Bulgarians the strategus is called chelnik) and provided him with troops for the protection of the fortress . . ."

"If the enemy remains in the fortress and does not come out, and you do not know what the troops are like, take it from me that he is not numerous and that he lacks strength. Yet, in spite of this you should not underrate him but if you have troops do not allow him to relax but send light horsemen to find a way through which troops can sweep over him . . .

And when you find a road do not come out to the open but stay opposite to him and send troops to penetrate through the way discovered by you. Let them have an able man as a guide. When they get in, let them make a fire, if it is during the night but if they get in during day-time, let them make smoke. And watch out! When you see that they are perplexed and confused, you should pounce on them. It was in this way that in the gorge Zagore the porphyrogenitus Emperor Sire Basil captured fourteen thousand Bulgarians, headed by the excellent warrior Samuil."

"If you set out to fight against some people or some fortress, first of all, after you have settled and built up a camp, arrange the troops in the camp - each in his unit. Do not set up your camp very near lest you will be observed by them. When you have put up your troops and have rested, if you wish, begin the battle either against the population or against the fortress. Listen in point of fact how badly fared those who did not observe this rule. Thessalonica is a town. . . populous . . . [Alusianus*** setting out] with a great multitude of Bulgarians, so as to conquer it, did not put up his tent first, and did not settle his troops in a suitable place, but, as he was proceeding with the supply-column, approached the town walls and started the assault. His troops were exhausted from fatigue and the difficulties because even those who are distinguished by force and bodily strength may slacken off and become inactive, wearied from the long journey. And since he did not put them up in a camp, as I have mentioned, they scattered about, some wanting to drink water, others to give their horses some rest, and still others to recover themselves from fatigue. When those inside the fortress saw them loitering in a disorderly manner, they came out all of a sudden, attacked the Bulgarians and inflicted a great defeat upon them. . ."

"While my late grandfather Cecaumenus was in Larissa as governor of Hellos, the Bulgarian ruler Samuil often tried either by war or by stratagem to capture Larissa and failed but was repulsed and outwitted by him. . ."

"Pliris is a river with a wide valley spreading on both sides of its banks. It flows across the land of the Wallachians, dividing it into two. Nikolitsa set up his camp there, gathered the Wallachians and the Bulgarians, living nearby, and so he collected numerous troops."

Strategicon et Incerti scriptoris de officiis reglis, ed. B. Wassiliewsky - V. Jernstedt, Petropoli, 1896; the original is in Greek.

*Byzantine writer. His grandfather on his mother's side was an eminent nobleman at the court of Samuil. Cecaumenus lived for a long time in the western parts of Bulgaria and knew Bulgarians well.
**Basil II called Killer of Bulgarians (Bulgaroctonus), Byzantine emperor (976-1025) who in 1018 conquered Bulgaria
*** Son of Ivan-Vladislav

11th c. - Charters of Basil II (1019, 1020) testifying that Samuil was at the head of the Bulgarian State; they confirm the right of the Bulgarian Church under Tsar Peter also

"F i r s t c h a r t e r

Many and great are the favours which man-loving God has at different times conferred upon our Empire and which surpass any number; the greatest of them is that the Byzantine State expanded and that the State of the Bulgarians passed under one yoke (with it).
Therefore on account of this we confirm the most pious monk loan* to the Archbishop of Bulgaria and to be in charge of the matters relating to the archbishopric.

And since he asked for the kleroikoi and paroikoi nominated to work for the churches of his diocese, as well as for the bishops subordinate to him, to be determined in writing, we gave him the present sigilium of our Majesty by which we order:
The Archbishop himself shall have, in the towns of his diocese, i. e. in Ochrida, Prespa, Mokro and in Kichevo, 40 kleroikoi and 30 paroikoi**.

S e c o n d c h a r t e r

Since after issuing this sigilium referring to the scope of each Bulgarian episcopate, the holiest Archbishop of Bulgaria asked our Majesty to issue another sigilium concerning his other bishoprics not listed in the first sigilium and the other bishoprics subordinate to him, because the neighbouring metropolitans had seized them from the Bulgarian region and had misappropriated them, and since our Majesty does not allow any one of them or of their people to make even one step into the boundaries of the Bulgarian region, we therefore lay down that the present holiest Archbishop shall possess and govern all the Bulgarian bishoprics, as well as all other towns which were under the power of Tsar Peter and Samuil and were also held by the archbishops of that time. Because it was not without blood, labour or sweat, but by years' long persistence and with God's help that this country was granted in subordination to us by God, whose goodness clearly helped us, blending into one the divided parts and putting under one yoke the boundaries, without in any way infringing the rules well established by those reigning prior to us . Because although we became the possessor of the land we yet preserved its rights intact, reaffirming them by our royal decrees and sigilia. We also lay down that the present holiest Archbishop of Bulgaria shall have as large a diocese as that under under Tsar Peter, and that he shall possess and govern all bishoprics of Bulgaria, i. e. not only those mentioned in the first sigilium but also those omitted and not indicated together with the others and which through the present sigilia are announced and listed by name. To them, as to the others, we present kleroikoi and paroikoi.
We, therefore, decree that the Bishop of Dristra*** shall have in the towns of his bishopric and in the other towns around it 40 kleroikoi and 40 paroikoi. Because during the reign of Peter in Bulgaria this (bishopric) shone in archbishop's dignity and then the archbishops (of it) moved from one place to another, one to Triaditsa,**** the other to Vodena and Moglena, and after this we found the present Archbishop in Ochrida. For this reason (we order) Ochrida to have an archbishop, and another bishop to be ordained for Dristra.

We decree that the holiest Archbishop of Bulgaria shall possess not only the bishoprics mentioned by names but if there are some others situated in Bulgarian lands and forgotten to be mentioned, we decree that he shall possess and govern them as well. Whatever other towns missed to be mentioned in the charters of our Majesty, shall be possessed by the same holiest Archbishop and he shall collect canonicon from them all as well as from the Wallachians throughout Bulgaria and from the Turks around the Vardar in so far as they are within the Bulgarian boundaries.
And all strategs in Bulgaria and the other officials and archonts shall hold him in great respect and listen to his word and precepts, shall not interfere in the affairs either of a Bulgarian monastery, a chirch or any ecclesiastical matter and shall not obstruct either him or his subordinate God-tearing bishops and shall not be in their way lest such people draw upon themselves the great and merciless wrath of our Majesty.

For this reason and as a matter of information to the Emperors after us, we drew up this sigilium and gave it to the holiest Archbishop, stamping it with the the molybdovol of our Kingdom in the month of May, indiction 3, year 6528 (1020)."

Yordan Ivanov, Bulgarian antiquities in Macedonia), Sofia, 1931, pp. 547-562; cf. GSBH, VI, pp. 40-41, 44-47; the original is in Greek

*Bulgarian patriarch acknowledged by Basil II for Archbishop of entire Bulgaria. Probably he was a Bulgarian from Debur
**Kleroikoi and paroikoi were dependent
***Silistra at present
****Sofia at present

11th c. Information by the Byzantine writer Cecaumenus1 about the Bulgarians in Macedonia and about the Bulgarian tsars Samuil and Ivan Vladislav

... In everything help the needy. And truly, the rich man is god for the poor man, because he favours him. It is for this reason that the Bulgarians call the wealthy bogat (rich), which means bogopodoben (god-like) ...

Demetnas is a coastal town in Hellas, protected by the sea and by the adjacent marshes. Delyan (a Bulgarian toparchos) conquered it. After seizing the town, he sent there the old warrior Litovoy of Devol, experienced in military matters (in the language of the Bulgarians the strategus is called chelnik) and provided him with troops for the protection of the fortress ...

If the enemy remains within the fortress and does not come out, and you do not know what troops he has, take it from me that he is not numerous and that he lacks strength. Nevertheless, you should not underrate him, and if you have troops, do not allow him to relax but send light horsemen to find a way through which troops can sweep over him ... And when you find a road, do not come out into the open but stay facing him, and send troops to penetrate through the way you have discovered. Let them have an able man as a guide. When they get in, let them make a fire, if it is during the night, but, if they get in during the day, let them make smoke. And watch out! When you see that they are perplexed and confused, you should pounce on them. It was in this way that, in the gorge of Zagora, the porphyrogenitus Emperor Lord Basil [2] cap­tured fourteen thousand Bulgarians, headed by the excellent warrior Samuil.

If you set out to fight against some people or some fortress, first of all, after you have settled and built a camp, arrange the troops in the camp - each in his unit. Do not set up your camp very near lest you be observed by them. After you have settled your troops and have rested, then if you wish, begin the battle, either against the population or against the fortress. Hear, in fact, how badly those fared who did not observe this rule. Thessalonica is a town ... pop­ulous ... /Alusianus,[3] setting out/ with a great multitude of Bulgarians, so as to conquer it, did not put up his tent first, settling his troops in a suitable place but, as he was proceeding with the supply-column, approached the town walls and started the assault. His troops were exhausted from fatigue and the dif­ficulties, because even those who are distinguished by their strength and soundness of body may become slack and inert when wearied from a long journey. And since he did not establish them in a camp, as I have mentioned, they scattered hither and thither, some wanting to drink water, others to give their horses some rest, and still others - to recover from their fatigue. When those inside the fortress saw them wandering about in a disorderly manner, they came out all of a sudden, attacked the Bulgarians and inflicted a great defeat upon them ...

While my late grandfather Cecaumenus was in Larissa as governor of Hellas, the Bulgarian ruler Samuil often tried either by war or by stratagem to capture Larissa but failed, and was repulsed and outwitted by him...

Pliris is a river with a wide valley spreading out on both sides of its banks. It flows across the land of the Wallachians, dividing it into two. Nikolitsa set up his camp there, gathered the Wallachians and the Bulgarians who lived nearby, and thus he collected numerous troops.


Strategicon et Incerti scrtptoris de officiis regiis Libellus, ed. B.Wassiliewsky - V. Jernstedt,Petropoli, 1896; Journal of the Historico-philological faculty, Part XXXVIII, pp. 3, 17-18, 28; Записки Историко-филолог. Факультета Императ. С.-петербургского университета, часть XXXVIII, стр.. 3,17-18, 22, 28, 64-74; the original is in Greek

1 Byzantine writer. His grandfather on his mother's side was an eminent nobleman at the court of Samuil. Cecaumenus lived for a long time in the western parts of Bulgaria and knew Bulgarian well.

2 Basil II, called Killer of Bulgarians (Bulgaroctonus), Byzantine Emperor (976-1025), who con­quered the whole of Bulgaria in 1018.

3 Son of Ivan Vladislav

11th c. Charters granted by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II (1019, 1020, 1020-1025) to the Bulgarian Church after his conquest of Bulgaria

First Charter

Many and great are the favours which man-loving God has at different times conferred upon our Empire and which surpass all number; the greatest of them is that the Byzantine State has expanded and that the State of the Bulgarians has passed under one yoke /with it/.

Therefore on account of this we confirm the most pious monk Ioan1 to be Archbishop of Bulgaria and to direct affairs relating to the archbishopric.

And since he asked for the kleroikoi and paroikoi 2 obliged to work for the churches of his diocese, as well as for the bishops subordinate to him, to be determined in writing, we give him the present sigilium of our Majesty by which we order:

The Archbishop himself shall have, in the towns of his diocese, i.e. in Ohrid, Prespa, Mokro and in Kichevo, 40 kleroikoi and 30 paroikoi.

Second Charter

Since, following the issue of this sigilium referring to the scope of each Bulgarian archbishopric, the holiest Archbishop of Bulgaria asked our Majesty to issue another sigilium concerning his other bishoprics not listed in the first sigilium and the other bishoprics subordinate to him, because the neighbouring metropolitans had seized them from the Bulgarian region and had misap­propriated them, and since our Majesty does not allow any one of them or of their people to make even one step into the boundaries of the Bulgarian region, we therefore decree that the present most holy Archbishop shall possess and govern all the Bulgarian bishoprics, as well as all other towns which were under the power of Tsar Peter and Samuil and were also held by the archbishops of that time. Because it was not without blood, toil and sweat, but by years long persistence and with God's help that this country was granted in subordination to us by God, whose goodness clearly helped us, blending into one the divided parts and putting under one yoke the boundaries, without in any way infringing the rules well established by those reigning before us. Because, although we became the possessor of the land, we still preserved its rights intact, reaffirming them by our royal decrees and sigilia. We also lay down that the present most holy Archbishop of Bulgaria shall have a diocese as large as that under Tsar Peter, and that he shall possess and govern all bishoprics of Bulgaria, i.e. not only those mentioned in the first sigilium but also those omitted and not in­dicated together with the others and which through the present sigilia are an­nounced and listed by name. To them, as to the others, we present kleroikoi and paroikoi.

We, therefore, decree that the Bishop of Dristra3 shall have in the towns of his bishopric and in the other towns around it 40 kleroikoi and 40 paroikoi. Because during the reign of Peter in Bulgaria this /bishopric/ shone with archiepiscopal dignity and then the archbishops /of it/ moved from one place to another, one to Triaditsa,4 the other to Voden and Moglena, and after this we found the present Archbishop in Ohrid. Wherefore /we decree/ that Ohrid itself shall have an archbishop, while another bishop shall be consecrated for Dristra.

We decree that the most holy Archbishop of Bulgaria shall possess not only those bishoprics mentioned by name but, if there be others situated in Bulgarian lands and not mentioned through oversight, we decree that he shall possess and govern them as well. Whatever other towns were omitted in the charters of our Majesty, these shall be possessed by the same Archbishop and he shall collect canonicon from them all as well as from the Wallachians throughout Bulgaria and from the Turks around the Vardar insofar as they are within the Bulgarian boundaries.

And all strategi in Bulgaria and the other officials and archons shall hold him in great respect and listen to his word and precepts, shall not interfere in the affairs of any Bulgarian monastery, church or any ecclesiastical matter whatsoever and shall not obstruct either him or his subordinate God-fearing bishops and shall not hinder them, lest such people draw upon themselves the great and merciless wrath of our Majesty.

For this reason and for the information of the Emperors after us, we drew up this sigilium and gave it to the most holy Archbishop, stamping it with the molybdovoul of our Kingdom in the month of May, indiction 3, year 6528 /1020/.

Yordan Ivanov, Bulgarian antiquities in Macedonia, Sofia, 1931, p. 547-562; cf. ГИБИ, VI, p. 40-41, 44-47; the original is in Greek.


Third Charter

The present sigilium of our Majesty5 is given to the most holy Archbishopric of Bulgaria, so that it may, without let or hindrance, take posses­sion of the following bishoprics, namely those of Servia, Stag [6] and Berrhoea, because they, too, lie within the Bulgarian boundaries. With this present sigilium we attached them to the remaining bishoprics and subordinated them to the Archbishopric of Bulgaria, and decided to endow them also with kleroikoi and paroikoi:
to the Bishop of Stag, 12 paroikoi and 12 kleroikoi.
to the Bishop of Berrhoea, 30 paroikoi and 30 kleroikoi.
to the Servian bishopric they were given according to the first sigilium, and this is not to be interfered with.

Yordan Ivanov, Bulgarian Antiquities in Macedonia, Sofia, 1931, pp. 547-562; cf. ГИБИ, VI, pp. 40-41, 44-47; the original is in Greek


1. Bulgarian Patriarch acknowledged by Basil II as “Archbishop of Bulgaria.” He was probably a Bulgarian from Debur.
2. Kleroikoi and paroikoi were dependent persons.
3. Present-day Silistra.
4. Present-day Sofia.
5. According to Novakovic. Opus cit, p. 62: this charter also dates from 1020; Yordan Ivanov, Dioceses of the Ohrid Archbishopric, p. 95, places its publication after this date.
6. Stag or Stayn, present-day Kalabaka, north-east of Trikala in Thessaly.

11th-12th c. - Theophylactus, Archbishop of Bulgaria, of Greek nationality, witnesses that the language of the Slav population in Macedonia is called Bulgarian

". . . * And so, while glorifying and giving praise to God they arrived to Bregalnitsa . . . and to the shrine of God was appointed a clergyman, trained in the Bulgarian language, to stay there and to sing the sacred songs all the time"

Theophilacti Bulgariae archiepiscopi Historia martyrii XV martyrum, PGr. CXXVI, col. 208; the original is in Greek

* In the missing text of the work of Theophylactus of Ochrida "The Sufferings of the Martyrs from Tiberlopol" there is a story of how the Bulgarian Tsar Boris I is the IXth c. ordered for a new church to be built in Bregovitsa where the relics of the saints from Stroumitsa were transferred. In the passages submitted here Theophylactus mentions about the transfer of these relics.

11th-12th c. - The same Theophylactus of Ochrida reports about how the Bulgarians settled as true inhabitants in Old Macedonia up to Thessalonica

"... When the people (the Avars) withdrew, another people still more lawless and fierce, the so-called Bulgarians, came from the Scythian lands; crossing the river called Istros (Danube), they came as a heavy scourge, sent by God to the western parts. They did not know Christ's name and in their Scythian ignorance worshiped the Sun, the Moon and the stars. There were such as offered sacrifices to the dogs. Their minds were so muddled that they respected the creatures instead of their creator. And since they had conquered the entire Ilyric country, Old Macedonia up to the town of Thessalonica and part of Old Thrace, namely around Boruy*, I say Phillippopolis too, as well as the mountainous localities next to them, they settled as true inhabitants of the lower towns they resettled in the upper, and those of the latter in the lower towns."

Ibidem, col. 189; cf Yordan Ivanov, opus cit., p. 121; the original is in Greek.

*Today's Ber.

11th-12th c. - The same Theophylactus of Ochrida writes that the inhabitants of Ochrida are Bulgarians and the local language is Bulgarian

(a) from a letter to Anem:*

"By saying that you have thoroughly become a barbarian among the Bulgarians, you, dearest, say what I dream (in my sleep). Because, think of it, how much I have drunk from the cup of vulgarity, being so far away from the countries of wisdom and how much I have drunk from the lack of culture . . . Since we have been living for a long time in the land of the Bulgarians, vulgarity has become our close companion and mate."

Gr. CXXVI, Theophylactui epistola XXI ed. Meursio; cf. Letters of Theophylactus of Ochrida, translated by metropolitan Symeon from Greek, Reg. BAS, vol. XXVII, Hist.-Philol. nad Philos.-Polit. Branch, 15, Sofia, 1931, pp. 71-72; the original is in Greek.

*Friend of Theophylactus of Ochrida who among other complaints says that he has to live among the simple Bulgarians.

(b) from a letter to Empress Maria:*

"Since I went from Ochrida to the Queen of Towns**, my holy Lady, I have come across many sorrows because of my numerous sins. . . . And so I come to the Bulgarians, I, the true man of Constantinople, a Bulgarian by miracle, who smells of rot, as they smell of hide."

Ibidem, ep. 1, ed. Lamio; cf. Letters, op. cit., pp. 180-181; the original is in Greek.

*This is the former queen Maria, wife of Nicephorus III Botaneiates (1078-1081)

**I. e. Constantinople

(c) from a letter to the great domesticus:
"There is some difference, however, that I am a slave not of a queen,* pure and beautiful and of a golden Aphrodite, but of slaves, barbarians, unclean, smelling of hide . . ."

Ibidem ep. II, ed. Lamio; cf. Letters, op. cit., p. 188; the original is in Greek.

*In the previous text Theophylactus says that according to the mythology Hercules was a serf to to the lovely Lydian queen Omphala

(d) from a letter to the Bishop of Vidin:
"And so do not lose heart, as if you were the only to suffer . . . Are there Cumans invading your land? What are they, however, in comparison with the people of Ochrida who come from the city to attack us? . . . Have you got cunning citizens? They are children in comparison with our citizens - Bulgarians . . ."

Ibidem, ep. XVI, ed. Finetti; cf. Letters, op. cit., p. 18; the original is in Greek.

(e) from a letter to the royal son-in-law Briennius:*
"Because the clerics paid for the mills twice as much as the laymen, and for the strugi, as they are called in Bulgarian, which the Hellenes would call brooklets and facilitate fishing, and for them the kleroikoi were subjected to much greater damage than the others . . .
Allergedly so as not to put to shame my high order,** from me personally he collected do much that for mills which have long since been destroyed he asked the full price and for those in good condition twice as much as from the Bulgarians."

Ibidem, ep. XLI, ed. Finetti; cf. Letters, op. cit., p. 128; original is in Greek

*Briennius was the husband of Anna Comnena.

**This was the state tax collector pestering Theophylactus.
11th-12th c. - The same Theophylactus of Ochrida in the Long Life story of St. Clement of Ochrida testifies that the Slav language in Macedonia is Bulgarian and calls the Slavs there Bulgarians

"4. You probably want to know who these saints are? - Mathodius who crowned the Pannonian diocese by becoming Archbishop of Moravia, and Cyril,* who was great in pagan philosophy and still greater in the Christian one . . .
5. Because the Slav or Bulgarian people did not understand the scripture in the Greek language, the saints considered this as the greatest loss and found grounds for their inconsolable sorrow in the fact that the lamp of the Scripture was not lit in the dark country of the Bulgarians. They grieved, suffered and renounced life.
6. And so what did they do? They turned to the consoler whose first gifts are the tongues and the words. They obtained from him the grace and invented the alphabet that corresponds to the coarseness of the Bulgarian language and enabled them to translate the Holy Scriptures into the language of the people. And indeed, by devoting themselves to strict fasting and continuous prayer to weaken the body and humiliate their soul, they achieved what they desired . . .
7. . . . After having obtained this desired gift, they invented the Slav alphabet, translated the God-inspired Scripture from the Greek into the Bulgarian language and took care to pass on the divine knowledge to the more talented among their disciples . . .
62. After this, having conferred with the more judicious men of his attendance, who were all favourably disposed towards Clement as if he were their own father, . . . , he (Tsar Symeon) appointed him Bishop of Drembitsa or Velika and so Clement became the First Bishop in the Bulgarian language.
66. . . . He (Clement) made up simple and clear sermons for all holidays, which do not contain anything profound and wise but are understandable even for the simplest Bulgarian. It was with them that he nourished the souls of the plainer Bulgarians . . .
67. . . . In every way he tried to overcome the indifference of the Bulgarians towards divine matters to get them together, attracted by the beauty of the buildings (of the shrines) and particularly to soften the cruelty, harshness and coarseness of their hearts by their coming to know God. . . ."

Al. Milev, Greek Life Stories of Clement of Ochrida, Sofia, 1966, pp. 79, 81, 129, 133, 135; the original is in Greek.

*Theophylactus refers to the brothers from Salonica, Cyril and Methodius
c. 1190 - Two scribes from Macedonia refer to the Bulgarian tsar Assen as their king, although their lands were in Byzantium at that time.

Remember also your slave Josif [Joseph] and Tihota who wrote this book with the help of our Lord and of the Holy Mother of God Virgin Mary. It was written in the town of Ohrid, in the village called Ravna, in the time of tsar Assen of Bulgaria.*

The Bologna Psalter

* The fact that the authors indicate the time of the compiling of the book with the reign of the Bulgarian tsar although they were subjects of Byzantium testifies to their patriotic feeling.

13th c. The Byzantine writer Theodore Scutariot calls Ohrid the Archbishopric of Bulgaria

And so the Emperor[1] sent his brother, Prince Ioannis, against the secessionist.[2] He gave him his army and commanders and ordered him to go forth until he encountered the army of the secessionist. He acted according to his orders. And the secessionist, together with his wife and household, had camped around Castoria.3 Suddenly he heard a cry that the Byzantine forces had crossed the Voden gorge and were advancing towards them. Therefore, seized by no small fear, they fled. But it was night and no one could see where he was going, and many died in the ravines. Thus Theodore Petralipha, brother of the secessionist's wife, who had mounted a wilder horse, fell in a gulch together with his horse and perished. And so they fled back to their lands, or to the Pyrenean Mountains, which divide Old and New Epirus from the Greek land and ours. And the Prince took advantage of the situation and, since he found that the land was undefended, he began to attack the fortresses of the country. And first he went to Ohrid, the Archbishopric of Bulgaria, taking with him the Archbishop Kavasilia, whom Emperor Theodore had kept in the East, because he was suspected of being unloyal to the Emperor, for his brothers Ioannis and Theodore had been with the secessionist Michael.

Bibliotheca Graeca medii aevi, ed. Constant. Sathas. vol. VII, Parisiis, 1894, pp. 5427-54610 - Cf. ГИБИ, VШ, pp. 299-300.

1. The Nicaean Emperor Ioannis Vatatzes (R. 1222-1254).
2. The Epirean despot Michael II Angel (1237-1271).
3. Present-day Kostour, a town in Southwestern Macedonia.

13th c. The Byzantine historian Georgius Acropolita1 writes in his history that the greater part of the Empire's western regions are populated by Bulgarians

The reason for his2 hastening his departure from Nicaea was as follows. When the Bulgarian ruler Mihail,3 who was the brother of Emperor Theodore's wife and the son of his father-in-law, Ivan Assen, by Theodore Angel's daughter, learned of the death of Emperor Ioannis, because he knew that the western lands had been laid bare by the Byzantine troops, he desired to return to the Bulgarian state the land which Emperor Ioannis had taken from the Bulgarians, together with the towns in it. This had long been a source of sorrow to the Bulgarians. Finding, as he believed, the moment suitable, he descended from Haemus4 and, crossing the Hebrus,5 he rapidly conquered vast lands and easily annexed many towns. The populace, who were Bulgarians, went over to their compatriots and shook off the foreign yoke. And the fortresses, left only with a Byzantine guard that was inadequate to offer resistance under the cir­cumstances, were easily accessible to the Bulgarians. Some panicked from fear and gave up the fortresses in exchange for freedom to go home, others took flight and left them unprotected because of the sudden attack, because they could not immediately think of anything useful to do, and still others were, naturally, tired of the long service, since they had been ordered to keep guard for too long a time. And most of the fortresses were unfinished and insufficient­ly armed. Stanimaka, Peroushtitsa, Krichim and Tsepena were immediately captured, together with everything in the Ahrid region except Mniak, which alone remained in Byzantine hands. Ustra, Perperek, Krivus and the Adrianople Plain called Ephraim also fell to the Bulgarians. After this turn of events and after the Byzantine State also found itself in difficulties in the West, a rumour /about this/ reached the Emperor's ears, informing him that evils even greater than the present ones were expected. Then the people in the palace became exceedingly anxious, for it was known that the greater part of the western regions were populated by Bulgarians, who had long ago split away from the Byzantines and were, until recently, subjugated to Emperor Ioannis, but they had not been thoroughly subdued and they always harboured a great hatred for the Byzantines.

Georgi Acropolitae Opera, rec. A. Heisenberg, I-II, Lipsiae 1903, PP-107-109; cp. ГИБИ, VIII, pp. 183 184; the original is in Greek

1. Georgius Acropolita occupied high posts at the Emperor's Court. As a military commander and a participant in the events, he was familiar with the population in the Empire's western regions .
2. The Nicean Emperor Theodore II Lascaris (R. 1254^1258) arrived in the Balkan Peninsula iron Asia Minor in order to stop the advance of Bulgarian Tsar Mihail II Assen towards the south and southeast.
3. The Bulgarian ruler Mihail II Assen (R. 1246-1257).
4. The Balkan Range.
5. The river Maritsa.

13 th c. The Byzantine author Georghis Acropolita calls Demetrius Chomatianus the Archbishop of the Bulgarians

21. And Theodore Comnenus,1 whom we mentioned a little while ago, was not content with his position and assumed royal dignity. After he had become lord of Salonica and had subjugated much of the Byzantine land which had been seized by the Italians,2 as well as much of that which had been con­quered by the Bulgarians, he dressed himself in purple and put on red shoes. This move was most rigorously opposed by the Archbishop of Salonica, Constantino Mesopotamit, who, because he upheld canon law, exposed himself to many calamities and exile. The Bulgarian Archbishop Demetrius,3 however, crowned him with the royal diadem, saying that he was independent and ac­countable to none, and that he therefore had the right to anoint kings whom­soever, wheresoever and whensoever he wished.

Georgi Acropolitae Opera, rec. A. Heisenberg, I-II, Lipsiae 1903; ГИБИ, VIII, p. 158; the original is in Greek.

1 Theodore Angel Duka Comnenus, Byzantine despot of Epirus (R. 1215-1224) and Emperor of Salonica (R. 1224-1230).
2 i.e. the crusaders of the Fourth Crusade.
3 Demetrius Chomatianus, Archbishop of Ohrid at the beginning of the 13th century (1216-1235).

1326 - The Byzantine historian Nicephorus Gregoras travelling to Strumitsa and Skopje, finds Bulgarians between Struma and Strumitsa

We were in foreign places and among people who did not know our language. Most of the old inhabitants here are of the Moesians*, that are our neighbours; their customs have mixed with the customs of the people of our tribe. But when later they greeted us in their own tongue good-naturedly and smiling, we cheered up and relaxed and we did not see anything wrong with them.

Nic. Gregorae, Historia Byzantina, ed. Bonn., p. 375-379

*The Byzantine authors of the periob refer to the Bulgarians as "Moesians" after the name of a tribe that inhabited the Danube plain in antiquity.