Central Europe in the 9th century The early 9th century marked the beginning of a fierce rivalry between the
Greek East and Latin West, which would ultimately lead to the
schism between the
Orthodox Church in
Constantinople and the
Catholic Church in
Rome. As early as 781, the
Empress Irene began to seek a closer relationship with the
Carolingian dynasty and the
Papacy. She negotiated a marriage between her son,
Constantine, and
Rotrude, a daughter of
Charlemagne by his third wife
Hildegard. Irene went as far as to send an official to instruct the Frankish princess in Greek; however, Irene herself broke off the engagement in 787, against her son's wishes. When the
Second Council of Nicaea of 787 reintroduced the
veneration of icons under Empress Irene, the result was not recognized by Charlemagne since no Frankish emissaries had been invited even though Charlemagne was by then ruling more than three provinces of the old Roman empire. While this improved relations with the Papacy, it did not prevent the outbreak of a war with the Franks, who took over
Istria and
Benevento in 788. When Charlemagne was proclaimed Emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire by
Leo III, the Pope was effectively nullifying the legitimacy of Irene. He certainly desired to increase the influence of the papacy and to honour his protector Charlemagne. Irene, like many of her predecessors since
Justinian I, was too weak to protect Rome and its much reduced citizenry and the city was not being ruled by any emperor. Thus, Charlemagne's assumption of the imperial title was not seen as an usurpation in the eyes of the Franks or Italians. It was, however, seen as such in Byzantium, but protests by Irene and her successor
Nicephorus I had no great effect.
Mojmír I managed to unite some Slavic princes and established
Great Moravia in 833. His successor,
Rastislav, also fought against the Germans. Both states tried to maintain good relations with Bulgaria on account of its considerable military power.
Military campaigns Boris I was the son and successor of
Presian I of Bulgaria. In 852 he sent emissaries to
Eastern Francia to confirm the peace treaty of 845. At the time of his accession he threatened the Byzantines with an invasion, but his armies did not attack, and he received a small area in
Strandzha to the southeast. The peace treaty was not signed, however, although both states exchanged temporary delegations. In 854 the Moravian Prince Rastislav persuaded Boris I to help him against East Francia. According to some sources, some Franks bribed the Bulgarian monarch to attack
Louis the German. The Bulgarian-Slav campaign was a disaster, and Louis scored a great victory and invaded Bulgaria. At the same time the
Croats waged
a war against the Bulgarians. Both peoples had coexisted peacefully up to that time, suggesting that the Croats were paid by Louis to attack Bulgaria and distract Boris' attention from his alliance with Great Moravia.
Kanasubigi Boris could not achieve any success, and both sides exchanged gifts and settled for peace. As a result of the military actions in 855, the peace between Bulgaria and Eastern Francia was restored, and Rastislav was forced to fight against Louis alone. In the meantime, a conflict between the Byzantines and Bulgarians had started in 855–856, and Boris, distracted by his conflict with Louis, lost Philippopolis (
Plovdiv), the region of
Zagora, and the ports around the
Gulf of Burgas on the
Black Sea to the
Byzantine army led by
Michael III and the
caesar Bardas.
Serbia After the death of Knez
Vlastimir of Serbia circa 850, his state was divided between his sons. Vlastimir and Boris' father had fought against each other in the
Bulgarian-Serbian War of 839–842, which resulted in a Serbian victory, and Boris sought to avenge that defeat. In 853 or 854, the Bulgarian army led by
Vladimir-Rasate, the son of Boris I, invaded Serbia, with the aim of replacing the Byzantine overlordship over the Serbs. The Serbian army was led by
Mutimir and his two brothers; they defeated the Bulgarians, capturing Vladimir and 12
boyars. Boris I and Mutimir agreed to peace (and perhaps an alliance An internal conflict among the Serbian brothers resulted in Mutimir banishing the two younger brothers to the Bulgarian court. Mutimir, however, kept a nephew,
Petar, at his court for political reasons. The reason for the feud is not known, though it is postulated that it was a result of treachery. Through this alliance, Louis promised to supply Boris with missionaries, which would have effectively brought the Bulgars under the Roman Church. However, late in 863, the
Byzantine Empire under Emperor Michael III declared war on Boris and the Bulgars during a period of famine and natural disasters. Taken by surprise, Boris was forced to make peace with the Byzantines, promising to convert to Christianity according to the eastern rites, in exchange for peace and territorial concessions in
Thrace (he regained the region of Zagora recently recovered by the Byzantines). At the beginning of 864, Boris was secretly baptized at
Pliska by an embassy of Byzantine clergymen, together with his family and select members of the Bulgarian nobility. With Emperor
Michael III as his godfather, Boris also adopted the Christian name Michael. Separate from diplomatic concerns, Boris was interested in converting himself and the Bulgarians to Christianity to resolve the disunity within the Bulgarian society. When he ascended to the throne, the Bulgars and Slavs were separate elements within Boris' kingdom, the minority Bulgars constituting a military aristocracy. Richard Spence compares it to the relationship between the Normans and Saxons in England. Religious plurality further contributed to divisions within the society. The Slavs had their own
polytheistic belief system while the Bulgar elite believed in
Tangra, the Sky God, or God of Heaven. The arrival of Methodius and his followers introduced the Cyrillic alphabet, freeing the Bulgarians from dependence on Greek as a written and liturgical language. A Slavic
Christian culture developed that helped unify the realm. At the same time Boris sought further instruction on how to lead a Christian lifestyle and society and how to set up an
autocephalous church from the Byzantine Patriarch
Photios. Photios' answer proved less than satisfactory, and Boris sought to gain a more favorable settlement from the
Papacy. Boris dispatched emissaries led by the
kavhan Peter with a long list of questions to
Pope Nicholas I at Rome in August 866, and obtained 106 detailed answers, detailing the essence of
religion,
law,
politics,
customs and personal
faith. Stemming from his concerns with the baptism of the Bulgarians, Boris also complained to Nicholas about the abuses perpetrated by the Byzantine priests responsible for baptizing the Bulgarians and how he could go about correcting the consequences resulting from these abuses. The pope temporarily glossed over the controversial question of the autocephalous status desired by Boris for his church and sent a large group of missionaries to continue the conversion of Bulgaria in accordance with the western rite. Bulgaria's shift towards the Papacy infuriated Patriarch Photios, who wrote an encyclical to the eastern clergy in 867 in which he denounced the practices associated with the western rite and Rome's ecclesiastical intervention in Bulgaria. The Christianization of the Bulgarians as a result of Boris’ actions had profound effects not only on the religious belief system of the Bulgarians but also the structure of the Bulgarian government. Upon embracing Christianity, Boris took on the title of Knyaz and joined the community of nations that embraced Christ, to the great delight of the Eastern Roman Empire. In 885, Boris was presented with a new opportunity to establish a native clergy when Slavic-speaking disciples of St. Cyril and St. Methodius were forced to flee from Moravia after a German-inspired reaction to the death of the apostle.
Changes to Bulgarian culture brought on by Clement and Naum In 886 Boris' governor of
Belgrade welcomed the disciples of
Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, who were exiled from
Great Moravia into Bulgaria and sent them on to Boris in
Pliska. Boris happily greeted two of these disciples,
Clement of Ohrid and
Naum of Preslav, who were of noble Bulgarian Slavic origin. To utilize the disciple's talents, Boris commissioned Clement to be a “teacher” in the province of
Kutmichevitsa. Both Clement and Naum were instrumental in furthering the cultural, linguistic and spiritual works of Cyril and Methodius. They set up educational centers in
Pliska and in
Ohrid to further the development of Slavonic letters and
liturgy. Clement later trained thousands of Slavonic-speaking priests who replaced the Greek-speaking clergy from Constantinople still present in Bulgaria. The script that was originally developed by Cyril and Methodius is known as the
Glagolitic alphabet. In
Bulgaria,
Clement of Ohrid and
Naum of Preslav created (or rather compiled) the new Bulgarian script, later called
Cyrillic that was declared the official alphabet in 893.
Old Bulgarian was declared as the official language in the same year. In the following centuries this script was adopted by other
Slavic peoples and states. The introduction of Slavic liturgy paralleled Boris' continued development of churches and monasteries throughout his realm.
Reactions to religious conversion Conversion to Christianity met great opposition among the Bulgarian elite. Some refused to become Christians while others apostatized after baptism and started a rebellion against Boris for forcing them to be baptized. Some people did not object necessarily to the Christian religion but to the fact that it was brought by foreign priests, which, as a result, established external foreign policy. By breaking the power of the old cults, Boris reduced the influence of the boyars, who resisted the khan's authority. Thus the Christianization continued. ==End of Boris' reign==