Boris I of Bulgaria

Czar of Bulgaria (r. 852-889)

• Born: 830
• Birthplace: Probably Pliska, Bulgaria
• Died: May 15, 0907
• Place of death: Preslav (now Veliki Preslav), Bulgaria

Boris brought Bulgaria into the framework of Christian Europe while preserving its political independence and cultural identity. His efforts made Bulgaria a center of Slavonic Christian culture and laid the foundation for the first Bulgarian Empire.

Early Life

Boris's father was Svinitse, the second of three sons of Khan Omortag, who ruled between 814 and 831. The pagan Bulgars were polygamous, and the identity of Boris's mother is unknown. She was probably the daughter of a prominent noble, or boyar, family. Few reliable reports about the details of Boris's physical appearance are available. In numerous frescoes and mosaics, almost all of them posthumous, he is portrayed as a bearded, dark-haired warrior-saint dressed in Byzantine-style robes.

The pre-Christian Bulgarian society that Boris came to rule was a rather complex affair, and understanding something of its nature is essential to appreciating Boris's subsequent policies. The original Bulgars were an Asiatic, nomadic people closely related to the Huns. In 679, a large number of them crossed the Danube River and established themselves in what is now northern Bulgaria. This region was already inhabited by numerous Slavic tribes, whom the Bulgars proceeded to subjugate. The Slavs subsequently provided most of the manpower of the Bulgarian state, while the Asiatic Bulgars constituted the military aristocracy a relationship somewhat similar to the one later established between Normans and Saxons in England. By Boris's day, there had already been considerable blending of the two groups, but the Asiatic element was still distinct and dominant. One of Boris's major accomplishments was to promote the general Slavicization of his realm's language and culture.

Boris followed his uncle Malamir to the throne in 852. Malamir had apparently been a weak ruler, and his reign remains as a hazy episode in Bulgarian history. His wars with the Byzantines and Serbs were largely unsuccessful, and he left no son to succeed him. Young Boris was initially determined to reestablish his nation's military prestige and expand the conquests of his forebears. The campaign he proceeded to launch against the Byzantine Empire, however, achieved little, and he was diplomatically outmaneuvered by the empress Irene. In 853, he invaded the Carolingian part of Croatia, again without notable success; in 860, he initiated an effort to conquer the Serbs on his northwestern frontier, but this campaign ended in disastrous defeat. Boris did, however, consolidate Bulgarian control over most of Macedonia, a region that would later become the cultural watershed of the Bulgarian Empire.

Life's Work

His lack of success as a conqueror soured Boris on military adventures and influenced him to take a closer look at the internal and diplomatic state of his realm. In both areas, the matter of religion was a paramount cause for concern. Boris turned his attention to this issue and there achieved his most important and lasting impact.

The traditional faith of the Bulgars was a brand of shamanism, revolving around the worship of the Sun and the Moon. Animal and human sacrifice was widely practiced. The Slavs also had numerous pagan cults, the most important of which was that of the god Perun. The shamans and priests of these cults were closely linked to the boyar nobles, who provided the state with most of its military leaders and administrators. Like their counterparts in Western Europe, the boyars were generally opposed to expansion or consolidation of the monarch's power.

Christianity had already made inroads into Bulgar society. Its most active agents were the Byzantines, who exported their faith as a kind of diplomatic weapon. The Byzantine, or Orthodox, Church adhered to the doctrine of caesaropapism, under which their emperor served as head of both state and church. Thus, a Bulgar who accepted the Orthodox faith was technically obligated to accept the Byzantine ruler as the rightful sovereign, a position that made his conversion tantamount to treason. As a result, the Bulgar khans had generally opposed the spread of Christianity among their subjects.

The alternative to the Orthodox Church was the Roman church, headed by the pope. Although the final split between the Eastern and Western churches was still some two centuries away (1054), these two branches of Christianity were already locked in a bitter struggle for dominance, a conflict that Boris exploited to his advantage.

Boris accepted the Orthodox faith in 864 or early 865. His conversion has been variously attributed to his contemplation of a vivid painting of the Last Judgment, the influence of a Greek Christian slave, and a threat of invasion from Byzantine emperor Michael III (r. 842-867). The first version is almost certainly fanciful, but both of the others probably contain some core of truth. Still, his conversion was undoubtedly a deliberate and practical decision. Boris had tolerated numerous Christians, including his sister, in his court. He could also see that the pagan cults had lost their spiritual vitality as well as the allegiance of much of the population. Furthermore, by breaking the power of the cults, he could reduce the influence of the boyars. Finally, he recognized that as long as Bulgaria remained pagan it would never be accepted by the Christian powers as a legitimate state; thus, it would remain isolated from the material and cultural benefits of Christian civilization.

Boris's challenge was to bring his country into the Christian fold without surrendering its independence to either the emperor or the pope. At his baptism, Boris accepted Michael III as his godfather and even adopted Michael as his Christian name. Boris proceeded to demand that all of his subjects follow his example, and where there was resistance he was not averse to using force. In 866, diehard pagans, led by dissident boyars, rebelled, but they were quickly and ruthlessly crushed. Fifty-two leading boyars were slaughtered along with their entire families; the noble opposition was thus left without leadership.

Boris hoped that the Byzantines would accept an autonomous archbishop at the head of the Bulgarian church, thus guaranteeing it some measure of independence from imperial control. Instead, the country was flooded with Greek priests who regarded Bulgaria as a Byzantine province.

In retaliation, Boris turned to Rome, and in 866, he recognized the supremacy of the pope. The opportunity to establish his authority directly on the Byzantines’ doorstep was tempting to Pope Nicholas the Great (822-867). He offered Boris guidance in both religious and governmental policies and sent a mission from Rome to take over the stewardship of the Bulgarian church. The Greek priests were replaced by Latin-speaking clerics whose language and manners were completely alien to the Bulgars. Moreover, the pope refused to grant any measure of autonomy to the Bulgarian Christians.

As a result, Boris initiated a rapprochement with the Byzantines, a move abetted by the coincidental deaths of Pope Nicholas and Emperor Michael in late 867. Two years later, the Orthodox patriarch Ignatius consecrated an autonomous archbishop for Bulgaria, the candidate handpicked by Boris.

Bulgaria's adoption of the Orthodox rite, if not a foregone conclusion, was always the most likely outcome. Physical proximity alone assured the Byzantines a predominant influence. Boris was also attracted to the caesaropapist doctrine of state over church, whereas Rome insisted on submission to the pope in all affairs.

Boris, however, had no intention of turning his domain into a cultural satellite of Byzantium. In 881, he briefly played host to Saint Methodius (c. 825-884), one of the original Orthodox apostles to the Slavs. Four years later, Boris gave permanent refuge to Methodius's followers, who had been driven from Moravia by Latin persecution. These men brought with them the Slavic Cyrillic alphabet, which freed the Bulgars from their dependence on Greek as a written and liturgical language. As a result, Bulgaria soon became the center of a flourishing Slavonic Christian culture. Boris had succeeded in using Christianization and Slavicization as means to unify his realm. His six children (by his Christian wife) were all given Slavic or biblical names. Boris himself largely abandoned the title khan in favor of the Slavic kniaz (prince) or Greek arkhon (sovereign).

Nearly sixty years old and in declining health, Boris surrendered the throne in 889 and retired to the monastery of St. Panteleimon at Preslav. He was succeeded by his eldest son Vladimir, who showed no intention of following in his father's footsteps. Vladimir attempted to revive the pagan cults and actively courted the support of the old boyar hierarchy. The situation grew so chaotic that in 893 the aged Boris was forced to intervene against his son; Vladimir was quickly overthrown and blinded. Boris, however, did not resume the throne, but elevated his remaining son Simeon, a monk. Boris returned to the monastery, but until his death in 907, he remained Simeon's closest adviser. Soon after his death, Boris was canonized by the Bulgarian church.

Significance

Boris I inherited an embattled pagan kingdom, ruled by tribal custom and devoid of a unified or literate culture. During his reign of almost forty years, he transformed his domain into a powerful and respected Christian state under a strong central monarchy and made it the center of a vital Slavic culture.

Like many other successful ruler-reformers, Boris was both a visionary and an opportunist. His conversion to Christianity, for example, was an act of both sincere piety and practical political necessity. He openly embraced much of the style and organization of the Byzantine Empire, yet carefully avoided becoming a mere imitator or puppet. Boris was patient and, when necessary ruthless in the pursuit of his goals. His effort to establish an autonomous Bulgarian church took almost twenty years, and his goal was finally achieved without alienating or unduly provoking the powerful Byzantine Empire.

Boris's changes laid the foundation for the first Bulgarian Empire, which would endure for another hundred years. More important, however, Boris created the foundations of a unique Bulgarian culture and nation that would later survive centuries of foreign domination and reemerge as an independent state in the late nineteenth century.

Czars of Bulgaria, 852-1018

Reign

• Czar

852-889

• Boris I

865

• Boris converts to Christianity

889-893

• Vladimir

893-927

• Simeon I the Great

927-969

• Peter I

969-972

• Boris II

971

• Bulgaria conquered by John I Tzimisces

1018

• Basil II annexes Bulgaria to Macedonia

Bibliography

Anastasoff, Christ. The Bulgarians, from Their Arrival in the Balkans to Modern Times: Thirteen Centuries of History. Hicksville, N.Y.: Exposition Press, 1977. A useful general survey of Bulgarian history with a good chapter on the early medieval period. Particularly useful for putting Boris’s reign into perspective with later Bulgarian history.

Crampton, R. J. A Concise History of Bulgaria. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Contains a brief but useful treatment of Boris in the chapter on medieval Bulgaria, as well as an extensive bibliography.

Fine, John V. A., Jr. The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1983. Contains a concise but informative discussion of Boris’s reign. Overall, a good description of the character and conditions of the Balkans in this formative period.

Hussey, J. M., ed. The Cambridge Medieval History/Middle Ages. Vol. 4. London: Cambridge University Press, 1966-1967. Vol. 4 of this standard reference work concentrates on the Byzantine Empire, but it does contain an excellent chapter on the early Bulgarian state and Boris’s reign.

Lang, David Marshall. The Bulgarians: From Pagan Times to the Ottoman Conquest. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1976. This readable survey of medieval Bulgarian history offers a generous treatment of Boris and his time. Contains numerous illustrations, plates, maps, and an excellent bibliography.

Obolensky, Dmitri. The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500-1453. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971. Chapters 2 and 3 contain an objective and informative discussion of Boris, the early Bulgarian state, and Bulgar-Byzantine relations.

Runciman, Steven. A History of the First Bulgarian Empire. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1930. Still probably the best work on Boris and early medieval Bulgaria. Its style and its bibliography are dated, but the critical analysis of contemporary and modern sources is excellent. Also contains several useful appendices.

Tzvetkov, Plamen S. A History of the Balkans: A Regional Overview from a Bulgarian Perspective. 2 vols. Lewiston, N.Y.: E. Mellen Press, 1993. One of the most comprehensive histories of Bulgaria available in English, this set includes significant treatment of medieval Bulgaria and Boris’s rule.