Krum’s Campaigns of Expansion, 809–814

Abstract

The opening phase of the Balkan hegemonic struggle was characterized by the expansionary campaigns of Bulgar ruler Han Krum during the opening decades of the ninth century that reversed the military situation in the Balkans from the Byzantines’ to the Bulgars’ favor and cemented the Bulgar state’s position as Byzantium’s primary competitor in the region. His anti-Byzantine military operations between 809 and 814 are related in detail, with particular attention given to his victories at Vŭrbitsa (811; after which he used the dead Emperor Nikephoros I’s skull as a drinking cup), Versinikia (813), and his ravaging of Constantinople’s environs. The chapter concludes with Krum’s death (814) and the forging of a 30-year peace with Byzantium (816) by his successor Omurtag, ending the hegemonic wars’ first phase.

The following works provided the basic informational framework for the text of this chapter on Krum: Bozhilov and Gyuzelev, pt. 2, chap. 6; Zlatarski, IBDSV 1/1, 321–376; Mutafchiev, IBN 1, chap. VI, sect. 1; IB 2, pt. II, chap. 3, sect. 1–3; IB 5 VI, 78–87; Sophoulis, chaps. 5–6; Runciman, A History, 50–74; Browning, Byzantium and Bulgaria, 49–51; Tzvetkov, 108–113; Andreev, 29–37; Fine, Early Medieval Balkans, 78–83, 94–106; Curta, Southeastern Europe, 147–156; Treadgold, A History, chap. 13; id., Byzantine Revival, chaps. Three and Four; Ostrogorsky, History, chap. III., section 6–7; Whittow, 276–279; Luttwak, 176–185; Jenkins, Imperial Centuries, chap. 9; NCMH 2, 233–236.