The stupendous number of rebellions and civil
wars that took place within and against the Eastern Roman Empire is now a meme known to
any fan of history, but no other period featured as many of them as the late XI-first half
of the XII centuries. The Byzantines surrounded by the enemies on
all sides suffered constant attacks and this period affected a profound change in the region,
that reverberated in centuries. Byzantines, Crusaders, Hungarians, Bulgarians,
Serbians, Seljuks, Normans, Cumans, and others entered shaky, ever-shifting alliances and
fought an all-out war. Welcome to our series on the events in Anatolia
and the Balkans in the late XI and XII century, bookmarked by two Byzantine restorations. In this episode, we will set the stage, with
the beginning of the reign of the Angelos dynasty in the Eastern Roman Empire and the
rise of the Second Bulgarian Tsardom. Shoutout to Bespoke Post for sponsoring this
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and use promo code KINGSANDGENERALS20 at checkout! The Komnenian restoration that started in
1081 by Alexios I Komnenos and provided a devastated Eastern Roman Empire still reeling
from the defeat at Manzikert the reforms it needed to survive. Three Emperors of this dynasty who ruled for
a century changed the course of history, leading to a cultural, military and territorial expansion
as well as opening the gates for the crusades that would ultimately undo all of their progress. Alexios I and his son John II knew that one
of the most necessary and radical changes was the replacement of the theme system, which
while effective was extremely expensive to upkeep. The solution to this problem was a new system
that was much more feudal and centralised, giving power to the royal family. Only the Emperor could hand out the titles
required for one to become a landowner - pronoi, who then had to supply Constantinople with
taxes and manpower. In a very short span, the local aristocracy
declined in favor of the extended royal family which received most of the titles and land. The competition was fierce and the entire
system relied on a capable ruler who could reign in his family, with the result being
a smaller, cheaper army that was easier to control. On the economic front, the debased currency
of the empire - solidus - was replaced with a gold coinage of higher fineness commonly
called the hyperpyron. The Empire experienced a revival in mosaic
art, built many new churches and fortifications, and annually hosted fairs and jousting tournaments. Then came Manuel I, who much like Justinian
was energetic and ambitious, waging wars constantly. In 1167, Hungary was defeated at the battle
of Sirmium and forced to become the vassal of the empire. In Italy, Manuel first supported Conrad III
of Germany against the Normans, and then the pope in his conflict with the emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire Frederick Barbarossa. He also fought wars against the Seljuks pushing
all the way to their capital of Iconium. Although largely successful, his wars drained
the treasury in return for small gains and created many enemies abroad and at home. Manuel placated the merchant republics of
Venice, Genoa, Amalfi, and Pisa giving them extensive privileges in return for naval and
political support. The rich trade republics bought their way
into power, built large estates, and treated the local populace as second-class citizens,
which aggravated the denizens of Constantinople who despised the Latins. When Manuel died in 1180 he was succeeded
by his 11-year-old son Alexios II, but in reality, his Latin mother Maria, the daughter
of the Crusader Prince of Antioch Raymond of Poitiers ruled as regent. Right away she betrothed her son to the 10-year-old
daughter of Louis VII - Agnes of France and gave even more privileges to the Latin merchants
as the Empire was now being attacked by Bela III Hungary in the west and the Seljuk Turks
in the east. Maria turned to her unlikely allies the Pope
and Saladin, but by that time it was too late. Maria Komnene, the Emperor's half-sister,
and her husband John were worried that Maria would continue her husband's pro-Latin policies
and they were the ones asking Hungary to attack. In 1182 they invited the exiled rebellious
cousin of Manuel, Andronikos to the capital. The latter sent his guards through the gates
of Constantinople and urged the citizens to take justice into their own hands. Years of frustrations against the Catholics
erupted in one of the most violent and bloody moments in the city's history, as tens of
thousands of Latins were slaughtered in the quarters given to them. The mob even cut off the head of the papal
legate cardinal John. The 4000 westerners who barely survived the
carnage were sold off to the Seljuks as slaves. Andronikos quickly turned on Maria Komnene
and her husband, poisoning them. The usurper then forced the 13-year-old Alexios
to sign the execution of his mother and proclaim him as co-Emperor in front of the city crowd. Afterward, Alexios was strangled and the 65-year-old
Andronikos married his betrothed Agnes of France who was just 12. The new emperor wanted to undo the reforms
of his predecessors, which was somewhat justified, as they had now spiraled out of control and
led to an unprecedented level of corruption. Andronikos forbade the sale of offices, appointed
new and fair tax collectors, brutally punished corrupted officials, and reconciled with the
Venetians, restoring trade relations disrupted by the killing of the Latins in 1182. While the people in the provinces enjoyed
these new changes the aristocracy and the populace of Constantinople who were subjected
to this new tyrannical government quickly began conspiring against him. The city and province of Philadelphia rebelled,
but was then crushed, while Cyprus and Serbia made their own attempts to break off, which
were successful. Srem, Zara, Zemun, Belgrade, Branicevo, Nis
and Serdica were all seized by the joint Serbian-Hungarian army of Bela III and Stefan Nemanja with little
to no resistance and Ragusa, which was previously the vassal of Constantinople, was forced to
pledge allegiance to the Norman King of Sicily William II. All of this happened in 4 separate campaigns,
none of which saw a single pitched battle. The Byzantine army was paralysed and in disarray. That same Norman King led an invasion against
the Eastern Roman Empire on both land and sea at the head of a massive army alongside
a pretender who claimed to be Alexios II. He first conquered Dyrrhachium and the Ionian
islands in June of 1185, and then marched on the Egnatia road to Thessaloniki unopposed,
reaching it in August. At the same time, a fleet of 200 ships arrived
under the walls of Thessaloniki. The great city was taken during the final
assault in late August which led to a brutal sack where 7 000 people died. On September 11, 1185, while the Emperor was
absent from the capital a popular uprising put a new candidate on the imperial throne:
Isaac II Angelos. This caught Andronikos by surprise and after
he was captured, Isaac decided to let the mob deal with him. For 3 days the former Emperor was tied to
a post and beaten. Then the old emperor was executed in a horrific
fashion, which marked the bloody end of the Komnenos dynasty which both centralised and
exhausted the state. Isaac II immediately turned his attention
to the west and launched a campaign against the Norman invaders. A momentous event happened sometime during
the campaign, as while the emperor was at camp he granted the audience to 2 brothers
whose names were Asen and Theodore, and who offered their help against the Normans in
return for autonomy over territory in the Haemus mountains. In response, the Emperor’s uncle John Dukas
commanded a eunuch to slap the more insolent of the two in front of the Emperor and sent
them on their way back north. The conquest of Thessaloniki opened the road
to Constantinople, but an army led by the general Alexios Vranas won two victories,
at Mosynopolis, and then decisively, on November 7, 1185, at Demetritzes, largely due to the
fact that the Norman soldiers lost discipline after extensive looting. Despite the fact that the Byzantines defeated
the Norman land forces and retook what most of the lost territory lost, the Norman navy
continued to wreak havoc in the eastern Mediterranean and crushed a force sent by Isaac II to retake
Cyprus. While Byzantium was busy with rebels and invaders
from all sides the two brothers previously insulted by the emperor’s servant rebelled
against the crown in one of history's most elaborate propaganda campaigns. The region of the Haemus mountains centered
around the well-defended fortress of Tarnovo was a multi-ethnic area with a mixed population
made out of Bulgarians, Vlachs, Cumans and Pechenegs as well as other semi-nomadic people
driven out from the steppe. The brothers were most likely Vlachs, but
to build a state they tapped into the Bulgarian heritage and culture which not only endured
but flourished during 167 years of Byzantine control. Up to this point, the rich cattle herders
of these lands were not directly involved with any conflict and remained loyal to Constantinople. To spread the flames of the rebellion the
brothers rebranded themselves in the image of the great Bulgarian tsars, changing their
names from Theodore and Asen to Peter and Ivan Asen, with Peter crowning himself with
a golden wreath wearing red boots and claiming the throne for himself. Next, they took advantage of the recent sack
of Thessaloniki telling their supporters that the patron saint of the city, Saint Demetrius
had abandoned it and bestowed his blessing upon Tarnovo instead. One of his icons taken by the Normans made
its way to the city and was placed in a hastily built wooden church. Peter and Asen declared their rebellion on
his feast day of October 26, 1185, which was an important date in the calendar of all Orthodox
Christians in the Balkans. Finally, they brought in soothsayers, who
were people suffering from epilepsy but regarded as prophets, who told tales that additionally
inspired people to rise up in rebellion. As the propaganda campaign was picking up
speed, Isaac II levied a new tax that fell heavily on the people of the region, especially
on the coastal cities of Varna and Anchialos to pay for the wedding to the Hungarian princess,
which was part of the terms of the peace he concluded with Bela III in order to secure
the west. Bulgarian minor nobles - the boyars were already
aggravated due to losing their positions to the Byzantine aristocrats, and this tax pushed
them to defect to the rebel cause. However, the rebellion lacked the means to
take many of the nearby fortresses including the old Bulgarian capital of Preslav, and
quickly turned to raiding Thrace and gathering more support. Desperate for new allies, Issac II offered
the hand of his sister Theodora to Conrad of Montferrat, an ally of Manuel I, who distinguished
himself fighting against Frederick Barbarossa in Italy In 1179. On his wedding day, he was also awarded the
rank of Caesar. Shortly after Alexios Vranas, the man who
had crushed the Norman threat was emboldened by his victories and the support of his men
who proclaimed him Emperor in his native city of Adrianople. From there he marched on Constantinople in
the spring of 1187 and attempted to take the city. Despite some initial success, he was unable
to breach the strong city defenses, when suddenly Conrad rallied the defenders and sallied out
with his Latin force. Alexios spotted the man and rushed over in
an attempt to kill the enemy leader, but lost the duel and his head. The rebellion was over and Conrad was a hero,
but in the end, he chose to board a Genoese ship and seek out more glory in the Holy Land,
where he would play a key role in the Third Crusade. Vranas was a popular general among the local
populace, so his killing by Conrad only exacerbated the animosity between the Latins and the Greeks. With the Vranas rebellion dealt with, Issac
II was ready to put an end to the raids of the north and mounted against the Vlacho-Bulgarian
rebels. The Byzantine astronomers knew that a total
solar eclipse would happen on September 4, 1187. so Issac used that to his advantage and attacked
the moment the darkness set in. The unsuspecting rebels were decisively routed
and forced to retreat north of the Danube. The Emperor then took the capital with ease,
taking Asen’s wife Helen and brother Kaloyan hostage as well as recovering the icon of
the patron saint. He then moved his army west to besiege Lovech,
but this siege failed after 3 months. Despite the fact that the campaign was a military
and symbolic victory, Angelos failed to capitalise on it, since he left no garrison in Tarnovo,
which the brothers quickly recovered with the help of their new Cuman allies. This forced Isaac to sign a peace treaty that
recognized the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Tsardom, but the hostilities were
far from over. The emperor took this time to uphold the promises
of his predecessor towards the Venetians and even expanded their rights, in return for
their obedience: the Doge was named the most loyal servant of the Emperor, the Venetians
regarded as Romans and forced to aid the Empire when called upon, in return for paying no
tariffs when trading in all of its ports. 2 years later in 1189 the Venetian quarter
was expanded by incorporating the smaller French and German quarters in the city in
a treaty that named the trade ports Venice had free access to, one that would become
the foundation of the partition of the Eastern Roman Empire 15 years later. On October 2 1187 Saladin took over Jerusalem,
which triggered the Third Crusade. Isaac II made an alliance with him to counterbalance
Frederick Barbarosa, whose budding diplomacy with the Seljuk Turks was worrisome. After gathering at the initial starting point
of Regensburg the crusaders passed Hungarian and Serbian lands where they were treated
with hospitality and the Serbian ruler Stefan Nemanja proposed a coalition against Isaac
along with the new Bulgarian state, who Serbia initially assisted. Frederick refused and sent envoys to Isaac. Unfortunately, the emperor was fighting against
another pretender to the throne Theodore Mankaphas of Philadelphia, and his courtiers didn’t
think of anything better than taking the envoys hostage, which started a limited war between
the Holy Roman and the Eastern Roman empires. The crusader journey in Byzantine lands was
a series of hit and run attacks on their baggage train by Cuman, Vlach, Bulgarian, Serbian
and Greek detachments. When captured many admitted they were acting
on the orders of the Emperor. Mountain passes were blockaded and the cities
of Serdica and Philipopolis were found evacuated with their defenses torn down. Meanwhile, Peter and Asen also sent a proposal
to Barbarosa pledging their support and fealty if he would attack their common enemy. An offer that Frederick seriously considered
as he wintered at Adrianople for 3 months. From there he wrote to his son to gather a
fleet of ships to aid in the capture of Constantinople, but that plan never panned out. In February of 1190, the crusaders clashed
with a Vlacho-Cuman mercenary company hired by Byzantium and soundly defeated them near
Arkadiopolis. Shortly after this defeat Isaac II sent terms
and concluded a treaty allowing the crusaders past the strait free of charge. That same year the crusaders and the Seljuks
of Rum would collide at the Battle of Iconium. Barbarossa was victorious and continued towards
the holy land, which meant that neither him nor the Seljuks would trouble Issac for the
time being. Taking advantage of the absence of any Byzantine
army the Serbians sacked Skopje and occupied the region between Branicevo and Nis, but
Isaac decided to deal with the fledgling Bulgarian state first. A major expedition was launched in July 1190
landing in Messembria and heading straight to Preslav and Tarnovo while enduring the
typical guerrilla tactics employed by the locals. While preparing to capture Strinavos a spy
sent from Ivan Asen convinced Isaac II that a new Cuman wave was south of the Danube ready
to cut him off. The Emperor decided to move through the narrow
Tryavna pass to avoid being stuck between two forces. The giant baggage train stretched for kilometers
and the army was divided into three groups: the vanguard commanded by emperor’s cousin,
Manuel Kamytzes, and by his son-in-law, the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos; the main body
of the army under the command of the emperor and his brother, the sebastokrator Alexios
Angelos and the rearguard commanded by emperor’s uncle, John Dukas, the man who slapped Asen
in the face. Knowing exactly when and where the enemy would
be, Ivan Asen positioned his troops around the pass and allowed the vanguard to go through
it, and then attacked the main corps under direct imperial command. Isaac could not deploy his troops. Once the battle ensued the pinned roman soldiers
were showered with arrows and boulders from above. In order to get out alive, Isaac II’s bodyguards
had to cut through his own soldiers after he was injured and lost his helm. The Vlachs and the Bulgarians captured parts
of the imperial treasury, including many religious relics. Upon learning about the attack, the rearguard
used another pass, probably Šipka, through which John Dukas escaped. Yet another ambush that decimated the army
and supplied the Bulgarians with weapons, armor, funds, morale, and above all legitimacy. What followed was a whirlwind of conquests
that included Varna, Anchialos, Serdica, Nis all the way to Stob. And what was up until now a dual leadership
from two brothers with Peter at the helm shifted with Ivan Asen I being the leading figure
because of the military triumph. Back in Constantinople Isaac II disguised
his failure as a victory and energetically launched a new campaign against Serbia, crushing
them somewhere on the Morava in 1191. There he accepted Stefan Nemanja as ruler
of the region, as long as he was his vassal, forced him to abandon all agreements with
the Bulgarian brothers, and began contemplating a new attack, this time with the aid of Bela
III who would invade from the North, before Bulgaria could obtain the power and status
it once had. In 1192 the Emperor appointed one of his cousins
- Constantine Dukas Angelos, as strategos and gave him Philipopolis. That man proved his worth by securing several
major victories and returning Thrace into the fold. Like many before him, his successes on the
battlefield and the support of his men encouraged Constantine who rose up in rebellion against
Isaac. But when he wrote to his brother-in-law, who
controlled Adrianople, to join his cause, he was refused and the same supporters handed
him over to the Emperor making his rebellion short-lived. With the capable defender now out of the picture,
the Bulgarian raids resumed in 1194, now even more deadly thanks to the assistance of Cuman
allies. Isaac II responded by bringing in Alexios
Gidos from Asia Minor with fresh troops combined with those of the west, that force was annihilated
in Arkadiopolis, which was very close to Constantinople, and pushed the border between the two entities
to the Rhodope mountains. Two expeditionary forces were sent to counter-attack
both leading to a mutiny of the soldiers who feared that their commanders would lead them
to yet another mountain pass ambush. By this point, Isaac II was fed up by this
small spark that only included Tarnovo and its countryside, which grew out of control
so he turned to Bela III and prepared for a massive invasion on two fronts. In March 1195 the emperor left the capital
and gathered his force in Rodosto where he received reports that there was a plot to
put his brother on the throne. However, Isaac refused to believe that his
brother would betray him. This was a mistake, as soon Alexios III proclaimed
himself the Emperor, blinding and imprisoning his brother, and putting yet another campaign
to a halt, which allowed the Bulgarians to press towards Melnik and Serres. Two new armies under two new commanders were
sent against Bulgaria, both armies defeated and their commanders captured. However what seemed to have been the greatest
triumph of the new state quickly turned into a tragedy as before the army reached Tarnovo
a Bulgarian noble killed Ivan Asen I, however by that time the Second Bulgarian Tsardom
was firmly established and became a major player in the region. The constant internal and external wars, raids,
and changes in leadership were actually the calm before the storm if we think about the
events that followed them. That storm would soon strike Constantinople
during the Fourth Crusade. Our series will continue soon, so make sure
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