The Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I had been the finance minister of the Empress Irene (r.797 - 802). Irene was a swell mom. She was regent for her son, Constantine VI, on the Eastern Roman Imperial Throne. She had been too busy to worry about wars and such. There was this big religious battle (non-lethal) about whether or not it was cool to have holy paintings (icons). Empress Irene was in the thick of it. She supported the idea of having nice pictures around; she was what was called an anti-iconoclast. Icon is a sacred picture, clast means to tear down. She was against ripping down the paintings.
You might think that she was a great Empress because of this religiosity. She had a courtesy crusade telling folks to be nice and leave the pictures alone. She also made sure that those pictures were only painted by authorized illuminators, of the designated age, and using nontoxic paints. Her son acted up a bit and was not at all courteous so she did what any right thinking artistic and scientific mom would do: she had him blinded and deposed. So there!
Of course, Charlemagne (more on him another time) saw her actions as reason enough to have himself crowned Emperor (in 800) somewhere away from Byzantium. Not a very courteous man either, if you ask me.
In 802 CE, Nicephorus (notice that the first four letters spell "nice?") deposed Empress Irene. She died off in exile a year later. Now Nicephorus I, he improved the treasury, revised taxation, and vigorously asserted imperial authority over the church. Hey, Constantine I called the Council of Nicaea, maybe kings and emperors could rule the church. This policy and his appointment of St. Nicephorus (different guy, same name, sucking up?) to the patriarchate of Constantinople kind of led to a conflict with Theodore of Studium, whom he exiled in 809.
Theodore of Studium was an interesting guy. He was eventually made a saint, too. He lived from 759–826. He saw himself as a Byzantine Greek monastic reformer. As an abbot he was early exiled for opposing the marriage of young Emperor Constantine VI to his mistress Theodota. She was a sweet girl, too. In 799 he entered the Studium monastery, which he reformed and made the model monastery of the Byzantine rite. He was exiled again in 809 for two years after long quarrels with Nicephorus I, and then by Leo V when he opposed him (814). Fellow spokehis mind.
Now on to the other guys, the Bulgars. They gave their name to Bulgaria and Hungary. Yes, they were the remnants of Attila the Hun’s folks. Attila died in 453 CE. They found that they rather liked it the wild reaches of what is now Bulgaria. When not hiring themselves out as strong arms for the Byzantines against the Goths, they were free lance running amuck in Thrace. Fact is, they were the wild bunch of that area. The Byzantines were perfumed and polished, the Bulgars were leather and horsehide.
The Bulgars established their own independent kingdom between the Balkan Mountains and the lower Danube plus parts of modern day Romania under Khan Isperich (643-701). Under Khan Terbelis they defeated the Byzantines at Anchialus in 708. There was a brief alliance with Byzantium in 718 when a Bulgarian army helped defeat the invading Arab armies at Adrianople. You know those alliances never lasted though.
The Emperor Constantine V gained the upper hand over the Bulgars in the wars of 755-772 with victories at Marcellae 759 and Anchialus 763. However, by the end of the century Kardam of the Bulgars was once again forcing Byzantium to pay tribute. The army of this period relied heavily on Slav infantry armed with either javelin or bow. Usually only a third of the force would be the effective Bulgar cavalry.
Meanwhile, Byzantium was being squeezed into a smaller and smaller sphere by the Arabs and Khazars on their eastern borders. The next squeeze came again from the Bulgars. The 9th Century Bulgars under Khan Krum raided westwards into Croatia and Serbia as well as southwards.
Emperor Nicephorus I decided that he had had just about enough and decided to raid and punish the Bulgars. On a punitive mission, Nicephorus led his men to Pliska, the Bulgarian capital city. He destroyed the town, set fire to it, killed the inhabitants (who were rather scarce). So, those Bulgars properly spanked, the Emperor and his merry men went safely home. Well, until they got to a mountain pass on this day July 26, 811. Khan Krum with the Bulgar army were waiting in the passes. The troops were shown as much mercy as the town of Pliska. Nicephorus was killed. Krum actually had a drinking mug made out of Nicephorus’ skull. Pretty Goth for a Bulgar!
The next year Krum decided to repay the visit and trucked on to Constantinople. His forces took the fortress of Mesembria. The next year the Bulgars did some suburbian renewal and destroyed the outlying areas of Constantinople. They also took Adrianople. On April 13, 814 while he was just getting ready to go kick some perfumed Byzantine butt, Khan Krum suffered a burst blood vessel and died.
Skipping lightly ahead, the Bulgars and the Byrzantines fought throughout the 900s. Victories on either side were quickly followed by crushing defeats. Khan Samuel (976-1014) reestablished some strength and independence to the Bulgarian state. Emperor Basil II came back at him and surprised a fortified Bulgar army at the Kleidon Pass by climbing over the mountains. This battle was known as Balthista and it spelled the end of Bulgaria for at least 168 years. Emperor Basil took 15,000 captives. He had his troops separate the captives into groups of 100 men. Under his direction, he had the army blind 99 of each one hundred and poke out only one eye of the 100th so the hundredth guy could lead the others home. Talk about brutal! Khan Samuel died of shock when he saw what had happened to his troops.
What have we learned from this? Sometimes it is wise not forget the world when other folks want to argue religion? If you are willing to do the unthinkable (like climbing over mountains) you can win? Hannibal and General Giap showed us that. Drinking out of a head full of fat can clog one’s arteries and cause an aneurysm? How about "it is all fun and games until somebody gets an eye put out?" I know, I know, I’m sorry.