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Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan's Great Victory at Adrianople
On 14 April 1205 Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan led a Bulgarian-Cuman army to a crushing defeat of the Latin Empire and Venetian forces near Adrianople in Th…
Timeline
- 1205Adrianople · ThraceLatin emperor Baldwin I led the remnants of the crusader forces with Venetian naval support and faced Tsar Kaloyan's Bulgarian-Cuman army in Thrace, with both sides contesting control of Adrianople in a decisive battle.
- 1205Outside Adrianople · ThraceKaloyan used cavalry and Cuman nomadic troops to outflank and rout the main Latin-Venetian force. Baldwin I was captured, and according to tradition the Venetian doge Enrico Dandolo died on the battlefield; the Latin Empire's eastward plans were completely shattered.
- 1205Thrace and the Balkans · ThraceThe Latin Empire lost its emperor and much of its elite and was forced to contract its lines; Bulgaria recovered control over large areas of Thrace, while Greek states such as Nicaea and Epirus also expanded, creating a new multipolar standoff in the Balkans.
Sources
- The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest — John V. A. Fine Jr. (1994)
- Bulgaria — Vasil Zlatarski (1934)