Petar Delyan was a leader of an uprising that broke out in the summer of 1040 in the
Theme of Bulgaria against the
Byzantine Empire. There were two main causes: • The replacement of the Bulgarian
Archbishop of Ohrid with a Greek speaking Roman (1037) and the beginning of the process of
Hellenisation • Imposition of taxes in coin for local people by the Byzantine government The uprising spread and rebels very quickly took control over the northern part of
Pomoravlje and liberated Belgrade. Delyan was proclaimed emperor (
Tsar) of
Bulgaria there and took the name
Petar II after being raised atop a shield by leaders of the resistance. He had been proclaimed legitimate as the grandson of Samuel. He perhaps enjoyed some support from the
Kingdom of Hungary. Petar II Delyan took
Niš and
Skopje, first co-opting and then eliminating another potential leader in the person of one
Tihomir, who had led a rebellion in the
region of Dyrrhachium. After this Petar II (or Petar) marched on
Thessalonica, where the Byzantine Emperor
Michael IV was staying.
Defeated, he fled, leaving his treasury to a certain Michael Ivač. The latter, who was probably a son of
Ivač, a general under
Samuel of Bulgaria, promptly turned over the bulk of the treasury to Petar outside the city. Thessalonica remained in Byzantine hands, but
Macedonia, Dyrrachium, and other parts of northern
Greece were taken by Petar II's forces. This inspired further Slavic revolts against Byzantine rule in
Epirus and
Albania. Petar II Delyan's successes ended, however, with the interference of his cousin
Alusian. Alusian, whose father
Ivan Vladislav had murdered Petar's father
Gavril Radomir in 1015, joined Petar II's ranks as an apparent deserter from the Byzantine court, where he had been disgraced. Alusian was welcomed by Petar II, who gave him an army with which to attack Thessalonica. The siege, however, was raised by the Byzantines, and the
army was defeated. Alusian barely escaped and returned to
Ostrovo. and the Bulgarian rebels. In 1041, one night during dinner, while Delyan was drunk, Alusian cut off his nose and blinded him with a kitchen knife. Since Alusian was of the blood of
Samuel of Bulgaria, he was quickly proclaimed emperor in Petar II's place by his troops, but he conspired to defect to the Byzantines. As the Bulgarian and Byzantine troops were preparing for battle, Alusian deserted to the enemy and headed for
Constantinople, where his possessions and lands were restored to him, and he was rewarded with the high court rank of
magistros. Meanwhile, though blind, Petar II Delyan resumed command of the Bulgarian forces, but the Byzantine Emperor Michael IV determined to take advantage of the situation and advanced against them. In an obscure
battle of Ostrovo, the Byzantines defeated the Bulgarian troops and Petar II Delyan was captured and taken to
Constantinople, where he was perhaps executed. According to some legends he was later exiled to a monastery in
Iskar Gorge, in the
Balkan Mountains, where he died. Norse sagas refer to the participation of the future
Norwegian King Harald Hardrada, who allegedly cut down Petar II in the field of battle as a member of the
Varangian Guard. This tradition may be supported by a laconic reference in the so-called "
Bulgarian Apocryphal Chronicle". In either case, Petar II Delyan might have perished in 1041. ==Family tree==