Second Bulgarian Empire
Bulgaria was under brutal Byzantine occupation for nearly 200 years, from the defeat of Tsar Samuel in 1014 to the rebellion of the Asen brothers in 1185. Samuel was one of the Cometopuli brothers – four Maccabee style brothers who fought for the independence of Bulgaria at the end of the First Empire period. Therefore, it is only symbolic that three other Maccabee style brothers – the Asen brothers – were the ones who unleashed a rebellion that heralded the founding of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.
Towards the end of the 11th century, the Byzantines weakened, the Seljuks defeated them and conquered Most of Anatolia, the Hungarians conquered Belgrade, the nomadic tribes of Tatars and Pechenegs arrived from west Russia and raided throughout the Balkans. But the Byzantine kingdom managed to recover under the leadership of a new and energetic dynasty called the Komnenian dynasty/
The Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118) plays a decisive role in the Crusades and persecutes the Bogomils. His biography is written in a book called Alexiad by his daughter – Anna Comnenus and serves an important source for the study of the period. In 1083, Bachkovo Monastery was built close to Plovdiv to strengthen the Orthodox faith against the Bogomil heresy and is inhabited by monks from Georgia.
In 1185 the Normans conquer Thessaloniki and the last Komnenian emperor is murdered in Constantinople. The weak Angelus dynasty comes to power. The brothers Peter and Asen take advantage of the moment, arriving in Constantinople to request autonomy, but they are publicly humiliated by the new emperor Isaac II, including a slap in the face of Asen. The humiliation leads to a rebellion in the town they came from – Yantra (later Veliko Tarnovo) which spreads mainly in the Balkan range and north-eastern Bulgaria. The rebels defeat the imperial armies with the help of an alliance they make with the Cuman horsemen, nomadic war tribes of Tatar origin who have just arrived in the region. This is the second time that local Slavic and Vlach inhabitants have joined forces with nomadic tribes of Turkish origin, thereby gaining significant military power and political independence. Several thousand Cuman cavalry constitute backbone of the new Bulgarian army, and the Bulgarians join them en masse.
In 1196, the brother’s Asen and Peter are murdered (like the Maccabees) and the third brother Kaloyan the brave comes to power, he becomes one of the greatest Bulgarian rulers and the founder of a large and powerful kingdom. Kaloyan rules for more than ten years, until 1207. During his time, Constantinople fell to a crusader army that conquered it in 1204 and the empire is divided into three relatively small states. In 1205, the Crusaders tried to conquer Bulgaria and were defeated, King Baldwin was captured and kept as a prisoner in the wall tower of the new capital – Veliko Tarnovo. The power of the Crusaders was broken, and this fact helps the Byzantines hold on and establish a kingdom in Nicaea, which eventually in 1261 recaptures Constantinople.
Kaloyan conquers Macedonia in 1207 and is murdered during the siege of Thessaloniki. After his death, an incompetent man named Buril, who is known for suppressing the Bogomils, becomes the king. He was replaced in 1218 by the son of Asen I, Tsar Ivan Asen II, who ruled from 1218 to 1241, and became one of the most talented rulers of the Second Bulgarian State.
Ivan Asen marries princesses from the royal dynasties of the Serbs, Hungarians, Byzantines and Latins. He defeats the Byzantine kingdom of Epirus on the Day of the Forty Saints, and builds the Church of the Forty Saints in Valiko Tarnovo in honor of the victory. He re-establishes the Bulgarian Orthodox Patriarchate of Veliko Tarnovo (Ohrid remains an important archdiocese), erects a citadel at the entrance to the Rhodope Mountains named after him, and supports the Monastery in nearby Bachkovo.
Ivan Asen organizes the state financial system and mints coins, promotes literature and art, encourages trade based on good relations with Dubrovnik merchants, and maintains safety on the roads. His period is a new golden age followed by a prolonged period of decline. External events are not working in Bulgaria’s favor; this is a period of Mongol invasions, the Byzantines are getting stronger, and in addition to that, the country is suffering from corruption and internal problems. A farmer named Ivalo, a pig herder, leads a rebellion in 1277 and becomes Tsar for two years. Although he had visions of helping the poor and oppressed, in the end he is no better than the other kings.
The Neighboring Serbian kingdom is getting stronger, becoming the dominant power in the Balkans instead of Bulgaria. Stefan Nemenja establishes the Serbian Empire and Kingdom in 1168, his son Sveti Sava establishes the Independent Serbian Church and maintains close friendship ties with the Bulgarian king, Ivan Esen II. He died in Veliko Tarnovo while traveling back home from a visit to Israel and is buried in the Church of the Forty Martyrs.
Kings Stefan Orosh (1243–1246) bring his remains back to Serbia, King Milutin (1281–1321) brings Serbia to heights that overshadow its neighbor, King Stefan Dacanski (1321–1331) defeats the Bulgarian Tsar Michael Shishman at Kustandil, the greatest Serbian king Stefan Dušan (1331–1355) conquers Ohrid, Thessaloniki, Mount Athos, and becomes the Slavic Tsar who dreams of inheriting Byzantium, like the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I hundreds of years before him.
The last great Bulgarian Tsar is Theodore Svetoslav (1298–1322). He succeeds in getting rid of the Mongols, and throws their supporters from the top of a cliff in Veliko Tarnovo. Supported by Patriarch Yehoiachin, he conquers large areas from the weakening Byzantines, including Nessebar, Sozopol and the coastal areas, through which a brisk trade develops with Genoa and Venice. Art reaches new heights and a School of original painting develops in the capital Veliko Tarnovo.
The next Tsar after him, Ivan Alexander rules for 40 years (1331-1371)! Bulgaria becomes the main supplier of goods, wood and wheat to Byzantium and a peace treaty is signed between the countries. There was a flourishing of the economy, art, and literature – a Venetian quarter is established in Nessebar, an academy of knowledge and art is founded in Kilifarevo, not far from Veliko Tarnovo. But at the same time the feudal system deprives and enslaves the peasants, the Turks cross the Dardanelles and begin raiding the land, two Church conferences held in Veliko Tarnovo in 1350 and 1360 fail to reconcile the internal divisions within the Church, there are religious disputes regarding the tradition of Theosis and Hesychasm, and in addition to That a irreconcilable rift with the Bogomils.
In the middle of those difficult times, Ivan Alexander leaves his Christian wife and marries a Jewish woman named Theodora – something that causes a rift in the aristocracy. He divides the kingdom between Theodora’s son – Ivan Shishman, the ruler of Veliko Tarnovo, and the son from the previous wife, Ivan Strasitmir, the ruler of Vidin.
While the Bulgarians were arguing among themselves, the Ottomans were advancing. Sultan Murad conquered parts of Bulgaria one by one, establishing his capital in Adrianople, conquering Plovdiv, and finally Sofia and Veliko Tarnovo in 1393. The last Tsar, Ivan Shishman, tried to rebel against the Ottomans and fight back with the help of European forces. King Sigismund of Hungary led a crusade against the Ottomans in 1396 with the participation of an army of nights from France, but in the decisive battle, held near the city of Nikopol on the banks of the Danube, Sultan Bayezid defeated the joint forces, and thus Bulgarian Christian independence came to an end.
The Turks exiled a large part of the Bulgarian elites, ended the existence of the independent Bulgarian Patriarchate, and burned the capital, Veliko Tarnovo. Finally, they captured Vidin and Dobruja at the mouth of the Danube river.
The 14th century is a century of calamity for the Bulgarians, the black plague struck the population, the Ottomans advanced and conquered the country, and the religious and political disputes divided the people. At the same time, this was also a time of cultural renaissance expressed in painting; carving, writing and research, parallel to the Paleological cultural renaissance that manifested in the Byzantine Empire. The paintings in the Boyana Church on Mount Vitosha are a demonstration of this.
The great and important man at end of the century is that of Patriarch Evtimiy, the last head of the independent Bulgarian Church between 1375-1393. Evtimiy was a student of the great Hesychasm monks on Mount Athos, such as Gregory of Palames and Gregory of Sinai. He was a mystic and scholar who began the enterprise of revising the translations of the Holy Scriptures into Slavic and establishing new grammar rules for the Bulgarian language. A move that was no small thing, because God created the world with a word, and any change of a comma or syllable can affect the entire universe.
Evtimiy began his work in the Bulgarian Zagrof Monastery on Mount Athos. In 1371 he moved to Veliko Tarnovo and founded the Patriarchal Monastery of the Trinity there, which became the center of linguistic and literary work. The product of the school became the standard of Bulgarian Slavic religious literature. In the end, he was appointed Patriarch of Bulgaria, and in the absence of the king, he also became the protector ofVeliko Tarnovo against the Ottoman siege in 1385. With the fall of the City, he moved with his students to the Monastery in Bachkovo, where he died and was buried in 1404.
Avtimi prepared the Bulgarian bookshelf for the days of darkness ahead, and his work has been compared to that of Moses or Ptolemy I (founder of the Library of Alexandria). He wrote the biographies, prayers, liturgical rules, books of theology and spirituality of the Bulgarian Church, fortifying Bulgarian Christianity against the Bogomil heresies and Islamic influence. Among other things, he wrote the stories of Saint Petka, and the stories of the holy monk Ivan Rilsky, who became mother and father figures for the masses of the common people.
Sveti Petka
Throughout the Balkans there are many Churches dedicated to Sveta Petka, who is a kind of national mother figure. She was the patron and protector of the Second Bulgarian Empire and veneration for her exists to this day. Apparently, her name was identified with ancient Slavic deities. Sometimes her name becomes Paraskeva, a word that means Friday. Hence she may be a personification of Friday, the day of crucifixion.
Among the Churches dedicated to her, there is a 13th century Church in the heart of Sofia, an ancient Church in Tsari Mali Grad at the foot of the Rila Mountains, a Church in Veliko Tarnovo, a Church in the village of Baba Vanga, and more. Her sect developed in the 14th-13th centuries, and there are probably several “Sveta Petkas” that have merged over the years.
According to legends, she was born and raised in the 10th century in the Strandja Mountains in Bulgaria. As a child she heard verse 24 in Mark chapter 8, “He who desires to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me”, and as a result of this she decided to become a nun in the Judean desert in an attempt to imitate Elijah and John the Baptist. Sveta Petka was in love with Jesus and his teaching and tried to follow his path. She went to Israel disguised as a man, tortured herself with countless fasts, contented herself with little food and conquered her desires.
During her life in the Judean desert she subsisted on local herbs and sparing water. She lived alone in the desert, and the love of God and the presence of God filled her and became the center of her life. The devil tried to tempt her in various ways and especially through the appearance of monsters and demons, but sveta Petka was not deterred and drove away the apparitions by raising the cross she held in her hand before the visions. This action became her attribute (symbol).
At the age of 25 she had a vision in which she was guided to return to her native land. With great sorrow she left the desert, arrived in Constantinople, prayed and stayed in the Churches there, and finally returned to her native village, where she passed away at the age of 27. No one knew about her life and spiritual achievements, but because of her pure life her body was filled with light, and therefore it did not rot but remained intact in the grave.
Years passed and in the same place a road robber died and was buried, his body rotted and gave off a strong stench. One of the monks who secluded himself on a pillar not far away[1], could not bear the smell and came down from the pillar to bury the body. During the digging of the grave, Petka’s body was discovered glowing and whole, the story of her life was revealed, and since then the holy relics began a journey around the Balkan. At first, the body was adopted by the emperors of Byzantium, but the holy City was conquered by the Latins who looted it. Ivan Asen, the Tsar of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, asked for and received her remains and brought them with honors to his capital, Veliko Tarnovo. This is how Sveta Petka became the saint of the new Bulgarian Empire and a symbol of Christian Bulgarian nationalism — she is the one who faces difficulties in a manly way and overcomes them, despite being a woman.
With the occupation of Veliko Tarnovo by the Turks, the remains of Sveta Petka moved to the City of Vidin on the Danube for three years, after which they were taken by the last Serbian kings, Lazar and Lazarovic, and brought to Belgrade, where they defended the City for another 100 years against the advancing Ottomans, until the City was conquered by Suleiman The magnificent in the 16th century. And then her remains arrived in Istanbul, where they were adopted by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Fener. In 1641 the relics were transferred to Moldavia in exchange for financial aid to the Greeks and were placed in the Church of the Three Saints in Iasi. From then until today, she protects Romanian Moldova and her burial place is used as a pilgrimage site.
The one who brought to light the stories of Sveta Petka and her miracles was Patriarch Evtimiy, who promoted her cult as a local saint, and at the same time also the cult of the Ivan Rilsky (see the chapter on Rila Monastery). Evtimiy’s goal was to create a local model of identification (Bulgarian saints) for the masses, which proved itself during the long years of Ottoman oppression
Notes
[1] One of the traditions of Orthodox monasticism is seclusion on high pillars, like fakirs in India.
