-- CULTURAL REVIVAL -- - Part 01

-- CULTURAL REVIVAL --

800 A.D. - Cultural Revival begins in Macedonia

We know that the brothers Kiril and Metodi instituted a revision of the written Macedonian language during the 8th and 9th centuries AD. This statement may be rather controversial, but we can say that the brothers did not invent but renovated the Macedonian alphabet, based on old Macedonian traditions, to properly capture the natural evolution of the spoken language. The Macedonian oral language always existed and naturally evolved. Unfortunately, due to prolonged Roman influence, the written form was neglected and in need of reformation. What the Macedonian brothers began was later taken up by their students. Kliment being the brightest was credited with the final reformation of the alphabet which became known as the Cyrillic alphabet. Kliment updated the written part of the Macedonian language to take advantage of its natural evolution and made it simpler and phonetic. Kliment was also credited for translating the gospels and other works and making them available in the Macedonian language commonly referred to as “Old Church Slavonic”. The brothers Kiril and Metodi were Macedonians, natives of Solun, who were acclaimed as the apostles of the southern Slavs and the fathers of Slav literary culture. Kiril, the younger of the two, was given the name Constantine when he was baptized. It was much later that he received the name Kiril.

Macedonian scholars not only solved the problem of writing in the common Macedonian language in a relatively short period of time but they also managed to successfully promote and teach it to the entire Slav speaking world. This kind of success was not only paramount but unprecedented in the history of the world.

Since there was no one to speak on behalf of the Macedonian people when Balkan histories were written after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, foreigners such as the Greeks and Bulgarians usurped parts of Macedonia’s history and took credit for Macedonian deeds and accomplishments.

What is important here is that these deeds and accomplishments originated in Macedonia, not in Greece and not in Bulgaria and as such must be attributed to the people of Macedonia.

It is a well known fact that the Bulgars never defeated, conquered or invaded Solun so how can modern Bulgarians claim that Kiril and Metodi, the Solun bothers, the very same people who are credited with “inventing” the Cyrillic alphabet be Bulgarians?

Similarly, even though the Slavs never conquered Solun, according to Byzantine Emperor Michael III, the people of Solun spoke pure Slavonic. How is possible that they spoke “pure Slavonic” in Solun when no Slav ever set foot on that city?

“The ‘Salonika Brothers’, the ‘Apostles to the Slavs’, as they are variously called, are claimed by different sources such as Greeks, Bulgarians or Macedonians. Such categories are inappropriate for the middle ages, before the formation of modern nations. Cyril (Kiril) and Methodius (Metodi) were Byzantine missionaries. They may have been of East South Slavonic stock or they may have learned the Salonika dialect from peasants in the area. When the

Moravian Emperor Rastislav appealed to the Byzantine Emperor Michael III in Constantinople for missionaries to teach the gospel to the Slavs of Moravia, Michael chose Constantine and Methodius, who were well known as Byzantine scholars and diplomats. Michael justified his choice with the famous sentence: ‘You are Thessalonians, and all the people of Salonika speak pure Slavonic’.” (Peter Hill. The Macedonians in Australia. Carlisle: Hesperian Press, 1989. Page 2)

Again, if the Slavs never entered Solun, how was it that all the people of Solun spoke “pure Slavonic” and not Greek as the Greeks today want us to believe?

Debates as to who the Macedonians were are absurd and counterproductive since it is well known that the Macedonian people were not only a dominant factor in the affairs of the Byzantine Empire but also major contributors to the world’s civilization.

Macedonians took the initiative to create a written language not only for themselves as some cultures had done in the past, but also to educate a vast part of the world. If anyone should be credited for spreading their language and culture it should be the Macedonians. Christianizing and educating the entire East European world and part of Asia all the way to Siberia is an example of what the Macedonians had accomplished in a relatively short period of time. Today we have the following languages using the Cyrillic alphabet: Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Avar, Azeri, Belorussian, Bulgarian, Dungan, Kazak, Kyrkhyz, Komi, Macedonian, Moldovan, Mongolian, Old Church Slavonic, Russian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slavio, Tajik, Tatar, Turkman, Ukrainian, Uzbek and Yakut.

There are two questions that arise from the above: 1) why would Macedonians be willing to create a language and spread it so far away from their own domain? And 2) why would foreign tribes and nations as far north as Siberia accept a foreign language from a foreign people thousands of miles away?

This is indeed an enigma to which, to this day, very little thought has been devoted, especially from academics and scholars. This however does not preclude us from theorizing.

Angelina Markus always believed that the modern Macedonians are the natural inheritors of the entire Macedonian heritage from the day Macedonia came into being which according to her extends to Neolithic times. According to Markus “many of the people from the Balkans to Siberia today who are called ‘Slavs’ owe that title to the Macedonians”. When Alexander conquered Eastern Europe he created cities and populated them with Macedonians. These cities remained intact and vibrant even after the Macedonian empires disappeared. History has also recorded that when Rome attacked Macedonia half of the Macedonian population fled north beyond the Roman domain. The people that fled were mostly educated and prominent Macedonians who would have found it difficult to survive under Roman oppression and were invariably civilized and capable of spreading the Macedonian language and culture to the new worlds they settled. It is estimated that half a million people fled Macedonia some 2,100 years ago and since then have been populating and spreading the Macedonian language and culture to Eastern Europe and Asia all the way to Siberia.

When the so called “Slav tribes” from the Danube to Siberia were Christianized during the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries AD, they were Christianized by teachers from Macedonia, a foreign world, a world that should have been alien to the Slavs. Yet this demand for Macedonian teachers did happen and lead to the formation of the Ohrid University, the first University in Europe.

“The reason that these people were asking for teachers from Macedonia” explains Markus “is because they were themselves or believed to be themselves akin to the Macedonians”. This also explains why when the so called “Slavs” came to Macedonia they found a familiar culture and language.

Angelina Markus also pointed out that: “To have a complete Macedonian History, Culture, Philosophy, we need to open the archives of the Vatican because old Rome was the last to take everything from Macedonia, and those documents today are hidden away in a secret place. The other places that need to be opened are the archives of the universal Constantinople (Istanbul) patriarchy. In these archives are kept most highly treasured things about the

writing and history of ancient Macedonia.” (Zac I)

While Ohrid experienced a boom in the field of education and enlightenment, Solun experienced a golden age of its own not only in the arts and literature but also in commerce and industry. Celebrated scholars, orators, philosophers, mosaicists, wood carving craftsmen, hymnologists, architects, hagiographers, etc., all gathered together in Solun not only to build the most magnificent churches the world had ever seen but to also open schools and teach their crafts to foreign students for export.

Besides the immense Macedonian contribution to the arts, crafts, literature and architecture, Macedonians also served the Byzantine Empire as soldiers, statesmen and even Emperors. Macedonians occupied the Empire’s throne during the period from 867 AD to 1081 AD in what came to be known as the Macedonian Epoch. The following Macedonian Emperors and Empresses served on the Byzantine throne: Basil I the Macedonian (867-886), Leo VI the Philosopher or the Wise (886-9I2), Alexander (886-913), Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-959), Romanus I Lecapenus (919-944), Romanus II (959-963), Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969), John Tzimisces (969-976), Basil II the Macedonian 976-1025), Constantine VIII (1025-1028), Romanus III Argyrus (1028-1034), Michael IV (1034-1041), Michael V Calaphates (1041-1042), Zoe and Theodora 1042, Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-1055) and Theodora (1055-1056). (A. Vasiliev. “History of the Byzantine Empire (324 - 1453)”. The University of Wisconsin Press. 1952. Pages 300-303)

According to Vasiliev, the Macedonian dynasties fall into two periods. The first extends from 867 AD to 1025 AD with the death of Basil II. The second but brief period extends from 1025 AD to 1056 AD with the death of Empress Theodora.

Historians have often referred to these periods, especially the first, as the most productive and politically successful in the Empire’s existence. The Empire was particularly productive under the leaderships of Nicephorus Phocas, John Tzimisces and Basil II.

During Basil II’s reign the empire achieved its greatest accomplishments and glory. Among its successes were the suppression of the separatist movements in Asia Minor, its increased influence in Syria, its partial annexation of Armenia, its annexation of Bulgaria and its successful Christianization of Russia. Upon adopting Christianity from the Byzantines, Russia entered into closer religious, political, commercial, and cultural ties with the Byzantine Empire.

855 A.D. - Kiril, Metodi and the Macedonian alphabet

It was during the reign of the Pravoslav emperor Michael III (842-867) that Solun had definitely established itself as the religious and philosophical center of the empire. This was the time when Kiril (Cyril) and Metodi (Methodius) set off on a series of missions to spread the doctrines of Christianity to various places in Eastern Europe and Asia.

I just want to mention here that, by the eighth century AD, the Macedonian eparchy was controlled by a Macedonian Archbishopric with its center located in Solun and bishoprics existed in eighteen towns including Lerin, Kostur, Voden and Serres.

The brothers Kiril and Metodi were Macedonians, natives of Solun, who were acclaimed as the apostles of Eastern Europe and the fathers of Macedonian literary culture. Kiril, the younger of the two, was given the name Constantine when he was baptized. It was much later that he received the name Kiril.

Kiril was very fortunate to have studied in Tsari Grad at a young age and received his education from Leo the Grammarian and Photius, a prominent educator at the imperial university. Kiril was an extraordinary student and earned himself the nickname "the Philosopher". After he finished his education he was ordained deacon and later became professor of philosophy at the imperial school in Tsari Grad, where he took over the chair from Photius. Soon afterwards, he retired to the quiet solitude of a monastery. From there, in 861 AD, he was summoned by the emperor, Michael III, and sent on a mission to Christianize the Khazars of southern Russia who lived between the Dnieper and Volga Rivers.

The older brother Metodi was a well-liked, intelligent man who started his career in his father’s footsteps. At first he served in the military in Solun. Later, at age twenty, he became governor of one of the colonies in the Opsikion province in Asia. Then he became a monk and, like his brother, took part in a mission to Christianize the Khazars.

Kiril and Metodi were two of seven siblings. Their father Lev was a prominent Macedonian who served as assistant to the Solun military commander of the Pravoslav army.

The careers of the Solun brothers took a turn for the better in 862 AD when, Rostislav, the prince of Moravia sent his ambassador to Tsari Grad seeking missionaries capable of teaching his people to read and write in their own language. Rostislav, fearful of his powerful German neighbours, sought the opportunity to strengthen his alliance with the Pravoslavs to counter-balance the German missionary influence in his kingdom. Rostislav preferred the ecclesiastical politics of Photius, now patriarch of Tsari Grad, over those of his western counterpart.

When word came that Emperor Michael was looking for capable missionaries, Photius decided that Kiril and Metodi were the most suitable candidates for the job. The Solun brothers, being Macedonian speakers themselves, knew the Solunian language dialect well and accepted the task.

The old-Macedonian dialect was quite well understood by all Eastern European countries. Unfortunately, teaching the illiterate to read and write was easier said than done. Even though the old Easter Europeans had a written form of language described as “lines and incisions”, it was not an easy language to learn.

Kiril was familiar with the Glagolic script but that was also too complex a language for illiterate people to grasp quickly. According to Tsarnorizets Hrabar, an advocate of Macedonian literacy, Kiril and Metodi first tried to use the Koine and then Latin alphabets, but proper pronunciation could not be achieved. Macedonian speech was far too complex to record with just Koine or Latin letters. Kiril

was an intelligent man and solved the problem by constructing a new alphabet based on old Macedonian traditions. The pattern and some letters he based on the Koine alphabet but he enriched it by adding new letters. He borrowed some from the Glagolic script and some he fashioned from ancient Macedonian symbols that had traditional Macedonian meaning. “Peter Hill argues that Old Church [Macedonian]…was more than merely a written dialect. It is naïve, he says, to imagine that this construction of a written language was possible without established tradition. Therefore it can safely be assumed that there was at least some tradition on which Cyril and Methodius could build. Presumably their familiarity with this tradition derived from the fact that they were [Macedonian…themselves.” (Page 198, John Shea, Macedonia and Greece The Struggle to Define a New Balkan Nation, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 1997)

When it was completed Kiril’s alphabet consisted of 38 letters, each accurately and exactly representing a unique sound in Macedonian speech. The phonetic nature of Kiril’s language made spelling words very simple. One only needed to learn the alphabet to have the ability to read and write. The same is true to this day.

I just want to mention that there are some references claiming that Kiril was the inventor of the Glagolic script, but they are incorrect. Kiril was familiar with the Glagolic script and had composed Glagolic texts but we now know from recent discoveries of ancient inscriptions that the Glagolic alphabet existed before Kiril’s time.

862 A.D. - Kiril and Metodi in Moravia

In 862 AD Kiril and Metodi, along with a number of followers, arrived in Moravia in Rostislav’s court. They immediately set out to work and to their surprise Kiril’s vernacular was not only well understood but also became popular with the Moravians. The Pravoslav missionaries continued their work for a while, with much success, but were soon handicapped by the lack of Pravoslav bishops to ordain their priests. Also, their popularity with the Moravians displeased the German missionaries who saw them as competition and harshly objected to their presence.

German hostilities reached their peak when the German Emperor Louis forced Rostislav to take an oath of loyalty to him. The German prelate, the bishop of Passau, who had the power to ordain Pravoslav priests refused to do so out of contempt. Unable to continue their work the missionaries were forced to return to Tsari Grad. On their way back the Macedonian brothers took a detour through Venice where they learned that the Pope had excommunicated Photius, the Pravoslav Patriarch in Tsari Grad. Pravoslav missionaries and their liturgical use of the Macedonian language were vehemently criticized.

In 858 AD Emperor Michael III, on his own authority, deposed Patriarch Ignatius and replaced him with the more progressive Photius. The Pope, however, did not agree with Michael’s decision and proclaimed his deeds invalid. At the same time the Pope denounced both Photius and the emperor.

When Pope Nicholas I found out that the Pravoslav missionaries were in Venice he summoned them to Rome. By the time they arrived, however, Nicholas had died and the political situation had changed for the better. In a turn of events Nicholas’s successor, Adrian II, warmly welcomed the strangers, especially when he found out that they were bringing him an important gift. Kiril it seems had recovered some relics of Pope St. Clement when he was in the Crimea visiting the Khazars and offered them to Adrian as gifts.

When they arrived, Adrian conducted an investigation and found no misconduct on the part of the Pravoslavs. In his judgment he permitted Kiril and Metodi to receive Episcopal consecration and allowed their newly converted priests to be ordained. He also approved Macedonian to be used in liturgy.

869 A.D. - Kiril dies

Sadly, Kiril died on February 14, 869 AD in Rome and never made it back home. After Kiril’s death Metodi pleaded with Pope Adrian to allow him to take his brother’s body to Solun for burial but Adrian would not permit it. It was the wish of Kiril and Metodi’s mother that if either son should die, the other would bring the body

back for a decent burial in the family monastery. Unfortunately Adrian would not allow it claiming that it would not be fitting for the Pope to permit the body of so distinguished a Christian to be taken away. He declared that a man so famous should be buried in a famous place. Kiril was buried with great pomp in the church of San Clemente on the Coelian, where the relics of St. Clement had been enshrined.

After Kiril died Metodi took over the cause and leadership of the mission from his brother. Having been consecrated, he obtained a letter of recommendation from the Pope and the Holy See and quickly returned to his duties. At the request of Kozzel, prince of Pannonia, who at the time wanted to revive the ancient archdiocese of Sirmium (now Mitrovitsa), Metodi was made metropolitan (Archbishop). He was given a large area of responsibility with boundaries that extended to the borders of Bulgaria. Unfortunately as the political situation in Moravia was shifting Metodi’s title and his papal approval did not mean much to the western missionaries, especially the Germans who began a smear campaign against him. To make matters worse Rostislav's nephew, Svatopluk, allied himself with Carloman of Bavaria and had his uncle driven out. After that it did not take long before Metodi was in trouble again.

In 870 AD Metodi was summoned before a synod of German bishops. They found him guilty of misconduct, no doubt on trumped-up charges, and locked him up in a leaking jail cell. It took two years of pleading before Pope John VIII could get him out. Unfortunately, to avoid further controversies Pope John withdrew his permission to use Macedonian, a barbarous language as he called it, for any purpose other than preaching. At the same time he reminded the Germans that Pannonia was never German and since age immemorial it belonged to the Holy See.

After his release, Metodi continued his work in Moravia but there too he got into trouble. Metodi did not approve of Svatopluk’s wicked lifestyle and made his displeasure public. In retaliation, Svatopluk reported Metodi to the Holy See. He accused him of conducting divine worship in Macedonian and of heresy, charging that he omitted the words "and the Son" from the creed. At that time these words where not yet introduced everywhere in the west.

In 878 AD, as a result of Svatopluk’s accusations, Pope John VIII summoned Metodi to Rome and conducted an inquiry. Metodi, a serious man and a dedicated Christian, was able to convince the Pope both of his devotion to his religion and of the necessity to use Macedonian liturgy. Even though Pope John was in agreement with Metodi on most matters, he had certain reservations about the use of the Macedonian language. It seems that some of the western missionaries perceived the Macedonian language as a threat to their own mission and did everything in their power to condemn it. They alleged that, being created by mere men, the Macedonian language was not from God and that God had created the three principal languages, Hebrew, Koine and Latin. Metodi however fought back with equally persuasive arguments, counter-claiming that God did not create the Hebrew, Koine or Latin languages. God created the Syrian language which Adam and the people after him spoke until the flood. Then during the building of the Tower of Babel, God distributed the various languages among the people and created the written form of the languages. His arguments may have bought Metodi some time but he was still in trouble with the German missionaries.

Seeing that he could not easily get rid of him, Svatopluk used his influence as king and persuaded the Pope to appoint Wiching, a known adversary, to work with Metodi. The German (or French) priest Wiching was brought in to assist Metodi as one of his bishops. Wiching was an implacable opponent of Metodi who worked against him tirelessly. This unscrupulous prelate continued to persecute Metodi, even to the extent of forging pontifical documents.

After Metodi’s death, Wiching obtained the archiepiscopal see, banished Metodi’s followers, and undid as much as he could of Metodi’s work in Moravia.

When Wiching was appointed as his assistant, Metodi must have realized that he was fighting a losing battle. In the last four years of his life he took a break from missionary work and translated most of the Bible from Koine to Macedonian. Metodi died in 885 AD, probably from exhaustion. His funeral service was carried out in

Koine, Macedonian and Latin. Metodi was very popular with the people and many came to his funeral to pay their last respects.

I just want to add here that Saints Kiril and Metodi were always celebrated in the lands of their missions and after 1880 they were also celebrated throughout the entire western world.

886 A.D. - Ohrid Literary School established

Kliment and Naum spread Christianity and establish the Ohrid Literary School

The most famous of the Pravoslav disciples were Kliment (Clement), Naum, Angelarius Sava and Gorazd. Even though Gorazd was groomed to take over from Metodi, the first to rise to the occasion was Kliment, also known as Kliment of Ohrid.

Kliment was one of the brightest of Kiril and Metodi’s students and played a pivotal role in their careers. After his banishment from Moravia and Pannonia however, Kliment returned to Ohrid to his place of birth (although some claim he was born in Solun). Kliment spent the next seven years, from 886 to 893 AD, in Ohrid doing God’s work and teaching the Macedonian language. During his stay in Ohrid he was instrumental in founding the Ohrid Literary School and developing the first university in the Balkans and perhaps in all of Europe. It has been said that three thousand five hundred clergy and teachers were educated in the University of Ohrid. But that was not all, Kliment was also responsible for writing poetry and translating other works from Koine to Macedonian.

In 839 AD Kliment was joined by one of his life long friends, Naum. Kliment and Naum were responsible for refining Kiril’s alphabet as well as re-writing many of Kiril’s works from Glagolic to Macedonian (Cyrillic). Kiril, it seems, had written many works in the Glagolic script in anticipation of using them in his teaching but after finding out that Glagolic was too difficult for lay people to grasp, he opted for the simpler Macedonian which he himself created.

During Leo VI’s rule the peace treaty between the Pravoslavs and Bulgars was once again breached. When the Bulgar ruler, Simeon came to power in 893 AD he resumed aggression in Macedonia. His armies continued to penetrate further west and south and came to within twenty-two kilometers of Solun. A new peace treaty was signed in 896 AD and Leo VI agreed to pay Simeon an annual subsidy of an undisclosed amount to cease his aggression.

After coming to power in 893 AD, Simeon invited Kliment to Preslav with an offer to make him his son’s royal counselor and assistant. The offer did not materialize due to some demands Simeon had made that seemed unreasonable to Kliment. Simeon had some reservations about making the Macedonian language official and requested that Kliment modify it. Kliment of course refused, wanting the work of Kiril and Metodi to stay as it was. Simeon himself was educated in Koine at Tsari Grad and had developed ambitions to take over the Pravoslav Empire and become Emperor of a Pravoslav-Bulgar Empire.

When the original offer did not work out, Kliment was given a new appointment in the Velika bishopric in a backward province. This was somewhat of a demotion for Kliment but at the same time it allowed him more time to work on his own projects. He continued to translate chants, psalms, festal fragments from the Bible, moralities and so on.

Towards the end of their careers, both Kliment and Naum built churches on opposite sides of Lake Ohrid. Closest to the city, Kliment dedicated a shrine to the holy healer Panteleimon. A little later, near the springs of the Crn Drim River, Naum built a monument in honour of Gabriel and Michael, the archangels.

Both Kliment and Naum were buried in the tombs they had built for themselves. Naum was buried in 910 AD and Kliment six years later in 916 AD.

Naum, like Kliment, was also an important contributor to the development of the Macedonian language and culture. It is believed that Naum was born in Macedonia in 835 AD and had been Kliment’s inseparable companion since his earliest youth. As

mentioned earlier, Naum was a student of Kiril and Metodi and was active among the people in Moravia and Pannonia. Naum, also known as Naum of Ohrid, was inseparable from his teachers and fellow pupils and suffered the same humiliation and injustice they did. Their most difficult and fateful moments came after Metodi’s death when, under the influence of German churchmen, the Franks attacked the Macedonian missionaries and tortured them. In the words of Kliment of Ohrid’s biographer: "Soldiers, stern men because they were Germans and by nature fierce, their fierceness being increased by their orders, took the priests, led them out of the town, pulled off their clothes and began to drag them along naked. Thus by one act they did them two wrongs: dishonored them and tortured them in the icy fog, which had descended on the Danube banks. Besides this, they put their swords against their heads, ready to cut them, and their spears against their breasts, ready to make them bleed, so they would not die a sudden death..."

"Subjected to cruel torture, some of the pupils succumbed, while the others, among them particularly Gorazd, Clement, Naum, Sava and Angelarius, were declared excommunicate by Bishop Vihing. Their books were seized and burnt. The younger pupils (about 200) were sold as slaves, while these five were driven out of the country."

On their way home to Macedonia, at the request of Boris the Bulgarian prince, Kliment, Naum and Angelarius (who died shortly afterwards) took a detour through Pliska, Bulgaria. After a short visit they felt it was time to return home and continued their work translating books from Koine to Macedonian. Prince Boris insisted that they remain in Pliska but when he couldn’t convince Kliment he insisted that Naum must stay. Having no choice, Naum spent the next seven years, from 885 to 893 AD, in Pliska before returning home to join Kliment.

The establishment of feudal social structures in Macedonia opened the way for mass exploitation not only of the feudal principalities but also of the free peasants who still lived in rural communities. The situation worsened around the middle of the tenth century when the profitable Bulgar wars of conquest came to an end. Having no other substantial sources of income to support the Bulgar military, administrative, court and church systems, the Bulgars turned to

feudal exploitation. After everyone took their cut, the Macedonian peasant was left with nothing. Pushed beyond the brink of starvation, the Macedonian peasants revolted in what later became known as the Bogomil movement. Even though it was religious in nature, the Bogomil movement was predominantly a class struggle between the poor Macedonian peasant and his rich foreign rulers. The Bogomil movement was initiated in Macedonia by a Macedonian priest named Bogomil.

Under feudal ownership the peasants were fully dependent upon their feudal lords. Some historians argue that Kliment of Ohrid’s visit to the Bulgar capital and his resignation as bishop a few months before his death was in response to the violence and devastation the Bulgars inflicted on the territory of the Bishopric of Velika.

The swift spread of the Bogomil movement prompted Petar, the Bulgar king, to take measures for its suppression but he did not succeed. Bogomilism was strongest in the territory defined by the triangle of the Vardar River, Ohrid and Mt. Shar. His intervention, however, did cause the Bogomils much suffering. But even the cruelest of methods did not stop the insurrection, which in time spread and became a general people’s movement. Petar’s death and the Russian campaigns drastically reduced Bulgar control over Macedonia allowing the Bogomil movement to flourish, at least for a while.

976 A.D. - Macedonian Medieval kingdom established

Tsar Samoil (976-1018) established the Macedonian Medieval kingdom

The Macedonian Ohrid archbishopric, with its capital in Ohrid, was founded during Tsar Samoil’s rule.

In the meantime a new force of power was emerging in Macedonia. In 976 AD, the year emperor John (Tsimisces) died, the four brothers, David, Moses, Aaron and Samoil raised a rebellion. With the collapse of Bulgar rule and in the absence of Pravoslav forces, the rebellion was successful and the brothers decided to rule their newly established state jointly. Unfortunately, the joint rule did not

last too long. Vlach shepherds killed David, somewhere between Castra and Prespa, and Moses died during a siege in Serres.

In the absence of David and Moses a struggle for the throne ensued between Aaron and Samoil. Samoil, being a much more talented leader and statesman, was victorious. To prevent further problems Samoil had Aaron and his family executed, with the exception of Aaron’s son Ivan.

After consolidating his power Samoil started a westerly campaign penetrating Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly right down to the Peloponnesus. Just recovering from its last sacking, Solun was about to be sacked again but Samoil decided to continue south and in so doing he took a large number of towns, including Larissa. Samoil resettled the inhabitants of Larissa in the interior of his state and incorporated the Larissan soldiers into his own army.

From Larissa he removed the remains of St. Achilles and brought them to Prespa, to the island of Ail. Protected by the waters of Lake Mala Prespa, Samoil made Ail his capital and built a magnificent palace on it.

It was no accident that Samoil received his strongest support from the territory defined by the triangle of the Vardar River, Ohrid and Mt. Shar. Samoil’s success was fueled by the Bogomil movement and its distaste for foreign rule. In Macedonia the Bogomil movement was particularly influential in the creation of favourable conditions for a liberation uprising and the formation of an independent state. Samoil took full advantage of the situation and established a Macedonian state.

Although Samoil may not have been a Bogomil himself, he accepted Bogomilism and its right to exist in his new kingdom. In turn, the Bogomils ceased to verbally attack Samoil, his upper classes, royal officials and high ranking clergy. If anyone was not pleased with Samoil’s successes it was the Pravoslavs. Samoil, in combination with the Bogomil movement, was perceived as a powerful force and the Pravoslavs wanted it checked.

For the last ten years or so Basil II was attempting to put down insurrections in Asia, ignoring what was happening in his own backyard. But when the threat became too great to ignore, he gathered an army together and crossed over the frontier regions of the Rhodopes and the River Maritsa. There in August 986 AD, at the hands of Samoil, Basil suffered a crushing defeat. Basil lost nearly his entire cavalry, a large section of his infantry and narrowly escaped death himself. A peace treaty was concluded giving Samoil free control of his new territory.

Basil’s defeat caused even more internal strife among the Pravoslavs, especially in Asia. The Pravoslav quarrels took attention away from Samoil and opened opportunities to extend his rule to new territories.

In the summer of 989 AD Samoil resumed his campaign and took Berroea (Ber). After that he invaded Dalmatia and declared war on young king Vladimir. When Samoil reached Diocleia, Vladimir fled to the mountains but was persuaded by one of his tribal chieftains to surrender. Samoil took him prisoner and banished him to Prespa. In much need of resources, Samoil plundered the whole of Dalmatia and took whatever he could find. He then burned the cities of Kotor and Dubrovnik and razed many villages as far away as Zadar. Samoil had no navy and was not able to take any of the coastal towns.

Back in Prespa meanwhile, Samoil’s daughter Kossara fell in love with the young captive king Vladimir and wanted to marry him. Not to disappoint her, Samoil gave in and gave her his blessings. Now that he was his son-in-law he gave Vladimir his former kingdom back. As a wedding gift he also gave the newlyweds Dyrrachium and all its territories. He even returned Trebinye to Vladimir's uncle, Dragomir. Samoil’s good deeds not only earned him the respect of his son-in-law but Vladimir also became his ally and loyal vassal.

When the Pravoslav civil war ended Basil decided it was time to terminate his three year treaty with Samoil, which lasted from 987 to 990 AD. War broke out in 990 AD and lasted until 994 AD during which time Basil captured and destroyed a number of Samoil's strongholds. In retaliation, in late 994 AD, Samoil prepared a siege

against Solun during which Gregory Taronites, the city’s Governor, was killed. Gregory died while attempting to rescue his son, Ashot, who had been ambushed during a reconnaissance mission. When Basil found out, he was furious and sent Uranus, his Supreme Commander from the west, to investigate. Uranus discovered that not only had Samoil besieged Solun, but he had been plundering the surrounding countryside. He had also been campaigning in Thessaly, Boeotia, Attica and the Peloponnesus. Upset by the situation, Basil ordered Uranus to attack Samoil and put an end to his free reign.

Uranus immediately went in pursuit of Samoil but found the River Spercheius swollen from a flash flood. Unable to cross he camped on the river’s bank. As it happened, Samoil's army had also made camp nearby but on the opposite side of the river. Upon his discovery that Samoil was close by, Uranus went in search of and found a safe place to cross. During the night he made the crossing and attacked his sleeping adversary. Being unprepared, Samoil's army was devastated and both Samoil and his son were badly wounded and barely managed to escape.

Victorious, Basil demanded that Samoil surrender. Instead of surrendering Samoil fled to his capital. To convince Basil not to pursue him, Samoil agreed to sign a peace treaty and offered his surrender in writing. But instead of surrendering Samoil had himself proclaimed King. What Samoil really wanted was the crown of an emperor but the Pope of Rome, Gregory V, had no intention of creating another Emperor. Samoil could have taken the Bulgar crown, but unfortunately that crown was also in Tsari Grad and out of reach. So, all that Samoil could legally hope for was a mere king’s crown. Even though Samoil’s crown was not recognized by Tsari Grad, his coronation gave him international recognition. For the Pope of Rome, this was another chance to erode and weaken Pravoslav rule.

When Basil found out that Samoil was crowned king he became furious and once again dispatched Uranus to destroy him. Unable to engage Samoil in battle, Uranus went on a looting spree burning everything in his path. After three months of mayhem and

destruction Uranus failed his mission and returned to Tsari Grad empty handed.

Safe, at least for now, Samoil took the opportunity to marry another daughter, Miroslava, to Ashot, Gregory’s son from Solun whom he had previously captured. As a wedding gift he gave the newlyweds Governorship of Dyrrachium with king Vladimir’s full approval. The ungrateful Ashot, however, fled to Tsari Grad and for his loyalty was awarded the title of Magistrate, by the Pravoslavs. In the meantime his wife, Miroslava, became a lady-in-waiting at the Tsari Grad court. Soon after Ashot fled, the city leaders of Dyrrachium broke off relations with Vladimir and surrendered their city to the Pravoslavs.

In retaliation and hoping to stir trouble for Basil in Tsari Grad, Samoil began a propaganda campaign promoting Vatatz, a family member from the Basil Glavas family as his ally. The Basil Glavas family and a number of other nobles had taken refuge with Samoil to avoid persecution from Basil.

Instead of creating trouble, Samoil’s actions further infuriated Basil prompting him to initiate a new military offensive. Taking a route via Philippopolis, Basil destroyed most cities in the region of Serdica. In the year 1000 he dispatched a large army and attacked all fortified cities, capturing Great and Little Preslav and Pliska, near the River Maritsa. In 1001 Basil himself joined the offensive and marched his army by Solun in the direction of Berroea, where he captured Dobromir. Basil then captured Kolidron, near Berroea, and put Servia under siege. In spite of Servia’s brave resistance, the city fell into Basil's hands anyway. Nikolitsa, Servia’s Governor, was taken captive to Tsari Grad but instead of being thrown in jail, Basil conferred upon him the honour of a patrician. Nikolitsa, however, was not satisfied and fled to Samoil and together they attacked Servia. Basil retaliated and again captured Nikolitsa but this time he conferred upon him the honour of serving in chains in exile in his jail in Tsari Grad.

After subduing Servia, Basil took his campaign to Thessaly. He took back and made repairs to the damaged fortresses which Samoil’s troops had held. He then refortified the fortresses with fresh

Pravoslav garrisons. After that he turned his attention to Voden and took the city by force from the aggressive Governor Drazhan. Drazhan was captured and sent to Solun as Basil’s prisoner. Upon his arrival in Solun, Basil dispatched Uranus to Antioch to deal with the Arabs. Uranus was replaced with the patrician David Arijant as Solun’s new military commander.

In 1002 Basil made his way to Vidin and after an eight-month siege he broke through the defenses and captured the town. On the same day Samoil forced marched his troops through Thrace, looting and trashing Endrene (Adrianople). If Samoil’s intent was to get Basil’s attention by trashing Endrene, he succeeded. Basil now moved his campaign to Skopje, where he caught up with Samoil. Unexpectedly Samoil fled without a fight and Skopje’s governor surrendered the city to Basil. From Skopje, Basil took his campaign to the fortress of Pernik where he encountered heavy resistance from the great warrior Krakras. Basil failed to take the town and incurred great losses in the process and was forced to return to Tsari Grad.

As if Samoil did not have enough problems with the Pravoslavs he now made the Hungarians angry. His son, who was married to a Hungarian princess, decided to leave her thus bringing disgrace to his family and an end to the cordial relations between Samoil and King Stephen I. After the embarrassing incident, King Stephen abandoned his alliance with Samoil and joined Basil who had offered him an alliance of his own.

1014 - Battle of Mount Belisitsa

In the recent past, Pravoslav attacks and plundering of Samoil's territory were more frequent and of greater intensity. Samoil felt it was time do something and soon. His chance came in 1014 when Basil’s forces were about to enter a gorge in the Rhodope Mountains. Samoil surrounded the gorge with a strong force in what was going to be a surprise attack. Unfortunately Basil must have anticipated Samoil’s move and ordered one of David Arijant’s generals to force march his troops around Samoil’s forces. When a fierce battle broke out between Basil and Samoil, Samoil's army was attacked from the rear and trapped. Unable to withdraw, many of Samoil’s soldiers were slain and even more were captured. Samoil

himself was saved by his son who aided his escape to the fortress of Prilep.

After his victory Basil rounded up all his prisoners and had his soldiers gouge their eyes out. According to accounts there were fifteen thousand Macedonian soldiers captured that day. To lead the blind soldiers back to Samoil, Basil ordered that one out of every hundred men be left with one eye intact. This was indeed a gruesome act, a real tragedy not only for Samoil but for Macedonia as well. Shaken by the sight of this tragedy Samoil died of shock two days later. Samoil’s son Gabriel Radomir succeeded him.

When Samoil died in 1014, his kingdom was vast and included the whole of Macedonia (except for Solun), Thessaly, Epirus, the coastal sclavenes of Oiocleia, Travunya and Zachlumia, the Neretva region (excluding the islands) as far as Cetina, Serbia, Bosnia and a considerable part of Bulgaria. For the most part, the majority of the population living in Samoil’s empire was Macedonian. To a lesser extent there lived Bulgars, Serbs, Croats, Romani, Albanians and Vlachs. Additionally there lived migrants such as Vardariot Turks and Armenians who were recently settled there by former Pravoslav emperors and some by Samoil. While many Armenians existed in Thrace, Samoil had also settled some in Pelagonia, Prespa and Ohrid. The Romani were known to exist mostly in coastal regions.

Samoil’s kingdom was a newly created state with a completely different nucleus of people and with completely different domestic and foreign policies than any of his neighbours. The center of Samoil’s state was in the far south of the Balkans, inside today's Republic of Macedonia. Samoil had a number of capitals, which he used from time to time. During his reign Samoil moved his capital to several places including Prespa, Ohrid, Prilep, Bitola, Pronishte and Setin, all of which were inside Macedonia.

1018 - Byzantine rule resumes in Macedonia