Arms and Armour

First Bulgarian Empire

The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern and southeastern Central Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after a group of Bulgars, led by Asparuh, moved south to the northeastern Balkans, and secured Byzantine recognition and their right to settle south of the Danube by defeating – possibly with the help of local South Slavic tribes – the Byzantine army led by Constantine IV. During the 9th and 10th century, Bulgaria reached the height of its power and stretched from the Danube Bend to the Black Sea and from the Dnieper River to the Adriatic Sea, becoming a major power capable of competing with the Byzantine Empire. As the state solidified its position in the Balkans, it entered into a centuries-long interaction, sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile, with the Byzantine Empire. Bulgaria became Byzantium's primary threat to its north, resulting in several wars. The two powers also enjoyed periods of peace and cooperation, most notably the alliance during the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople, where the Bulgarian army broke the siege and destroyed the Arab army, thus preventing an Arab invasion of Southeastern Europe. Byzantium had a strong cultural influence on Bulgaria, which also led to the eventual adoption of Christianity in 864. After the disintegration of the Avar Khaganate, Bulgaria expanded its territory northwest to the Pannonian Plain. Later the Bulgarians confronted the advance of the Pechenegs and Cumans, and achieved a decisive victory over the Magyars, forcing them to settle permanently in Pannonia. The ruling Bulgars and other non-Slavic tribes in the empire gradually mixed and adopted the prevailing Slavic language, thus gradually forming the Bulgarian nation from the 7th to the 10th century. From the 10th century, the demonym Bulgarian gained prevalence and became a permanent designation for the local population, both in literature and in common parlance. The development of Old Church Slavonic prevented the assimilation of the South Slavs into neighbouring cultures, and helped to create a distinct Bulgarian identity. After the adoption of Christianity, Bulgaria became the foremost cultural and spiritual centre of Slavic Europe.

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See also

• ▸Aragon
• ▸Metropolitan Museum of Art
• ▸Girardoni air rifle

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.