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Bulgarian Second Empire (1270s)
In the 1270s the Bulgarian Second Empire under Tsar Constantine Tikh declined from prosperity to decay: a Byzantine invasion in 1273, a large-scale w…
Timeline
- 1273Western Bulgaria · BulgariaMichael VIII exploited Bulgarian internal instability to invade western territories and capture several fortresses, weakening Constantine Tikh's rule and provoking prolonged military confrontation between the two states.
- 1275–1277Eskizagra · ThraceConstantine Tikh led an invasion of Thrace and fought the Byzantine army led personally by Michael VIII, suffering successive defeats at Eskizagra and elsewhere, and Bulgaria lost control of the Thracian frontier.
- 1277–1280Northeastern Bulgaria · BulgariaDefeat and heavy taxation triggered a peasant revolt; the swineherd Ivaylo rose in the northeast, defeated the noble armies, and killed Tsar Constantine Tikh, briefly proclaiming himself tsar, plunging the empire into civil war and chaos with Byzantine and Mongol intervention.
Sources
- A Concise History of Bulgaria — R. J. Crampton (2005)
- The Bulgarian State in the Middle Ages — Vasil Zlatarski (1971)