Editing Samuel of Bulgaria (section)

==The rise of the Cometopuli==
[[File:Map of the Balkans in the 10th century.png|300px|thumb|right|Bulgarian territory ca. 960.]]

===The Cometopuli===
{{See also|Cometopuli dynasty}}
Samuel was the fourth<ref>Stephen Runciman, ''A History of the First Bulgarian Empire'', pp. 217–218.</ref> and youngest son of [[Nicholas (komes)|count Nicholas]], a Bulgarian noble, who might have been the count of Sredets district (modern-day [[Sofia]]),<ref>{{cite book |last=Prokić |first=Božidar |title=Die Zusätze in der Handschrift des Johannes Scylitzes. Codex Vindobonensis hist. graec. LXXIV. |location=München |year=1906 |page=28 |language=de |oclc=11193528 }}</ref> although other sources suggest that he was a regional count of Prespa district in the region of [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]].<ref>Southeastern Europe in the early Middle Ages. Florin Curta. p. 241</ref> His mother was Rhipsime of Armenia.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Adontz |first=Nicholas |title=Samuel l'Armenien, roi des Bulgares |journal=Mar BCLSMP |issue=39 |year=1938 |page=37 |language=fr }}</ref> The actual name of the dynasty is not known. ''Cometopuli'' is the nickname used by Byzantine historians which is translated as "sons of the count". The Cometopuli rose to power out of the disorder that occurred in the Bulgarian Empire from 966 to 971.

=== Rus' invasion and the deposition of Boris II ===
{{main article|Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria}}
[[File:The Chronicle of Ioannis Skylitzis Preslav Attacked.jpg|300px|thumb|left|The Byzantines seize the capital [[Preslav]].]]
During the reign of [[Peter I of Bulgaria|Emperor Peter I]], Bulgaria prospered in a long-lasting peace with Byzantium. This was secured by the marriage of Peter with the Byzantine princess [[Eirene Lakapena|Maria Lakapina]], granddaughter of Byzantine Emperor [[Romanos I Lekapenos]]. However, after Maria's death in 963, the truce had been shaken and it was at this time or later that Peter I sent his sons [[Boris II of Bulgaria|Boris]] and [[Roman of Bulgaria|Roman]] to [[Constantinople]] as honorary hostages, to honor the new terms of the peace treaty.<ref>According to Zlatarski (''History of the Bulgarian state'', I, 2, [http://www.promacedonia.org/vz1b/vz1b_5_3.html pp. 544, 562.]) the sons of Peter I were sent in the Byzantine capital in 963 as one of the term to resettle the peace treaty of 927. According to other historians such as Andreev (''Who is who in Medieval Bulgaria'', p. 41.) the heirs to the Bulgarian throne became hostages per a Bulgarian-Byzantine agreement against the Kievan Rus' in 968.</ref> During these years the Byzantines and Bulgarians had entangled themselves in [[Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria|a war]] with [[Kievan Rus']] Prince [[Sviatoslav I of Kiev|Sviatoslav]], who invaded Bulgaria several times. After a defeat from Sviatoslav, Peter I suffered a stroke and abdicated his throne in 969 (he died the next year). Boris was allowed back to Bulgaria to take his father's throne, restore order and oppose Sviatoslav, but had little success. This was allegedly used by Nicholas and his sons, who were contemplating a revolt in 969.<ref>Skylitzes records:  He [Peter] himself died shortly afterwards, whereupon the sons were sent to Bulgaria to secure the ancestral throne and to restrain the 'children of the counts' from further t. David, Moses, Aaron and Samuel, children of one of the powerful counts in Bulgaria, were contemplating an uprising and were unsettling the Bulgars'</ref>

The Rus' invaded Byzantine Thrace in 970, but suffered a defeat in the [[Battle of Arcadiopolis (970)|Battle of Arcadiopolis]]. The new Byzantine Emperor [[John Tzimiskes]] used this to his advantage. He quickly invaded Bulgaria the following year, defeated the Rus, and conquered the Bulgarian capital Preslav. Boris II of Bulgaria was ritually divested of his imperial insignia in a public ceremony in Constantinople and he and his brother [[Roman of Bulgaria]] remained in captivity. Although the ceremony in 971 had been intended as a symbolic termination of the Bulgarian Empire, the Byzantines were unable to assert their control over the western provinces of Bulgaria. Count Nicholas, Samuel's father, who had close ties to the royal court in [[Preslav]],<ref>Blagoeva, B. ''For the origins of Emperor Samuel'' (''Za proizhoda na tsar Samuil'', ''За произхода на цар Самуил''), Исторически преглед, № 2, 1966, стр. 91–94</ref> died in 970. In the same year<ref name=Cometopuli>"They (the [[Cometopuli]]) make their first appearance under the government of Kekaumenos, the strategos of Larissa ... (980–983)": Adontz. "Samuel l'Armenien", 358.</ref> "the sons of the count" (the Cometopuli) [[David of Bulgaria|David]], [[Moses of Bulgaria|Moses]], [[Aron of Bulgaria|Aaron]] and Samuel rebelled.<ref>Ioannes Scylitzes. ''Historia''. 2, pp. 346–347</ref> The series of events are not clear due to contradicting sources, but it is sure that after 971 Samuel and his brothers were the ''de facto'' rulers of the western Bulgarian lands.

In 973, the Cometopuli (described by [[Thietmar of Merseburg]] simply as ''the Bulgarians'')<ref>Vasilka Tăpkova-Zaimova, Bulgarians by Birth: The Comitopuls, Emperor Samuel and their Successors According to Historical Sources and the Historiographic Tradition, East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450, Brill, 2018, {{ISBN|9004352996}}, p. 156.</ref> sent envoys to the [[Holy Roman Empire|Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] in [[Quedlinburg]] in an attempt to secure the protection of their lands.<ref name=delev>Delev, ''12. The decline of the First Bulgarian Empire'' ('' 12. Zalezat na Parvoto Balgarsko Tsarstvo'' ''12. Залезът на Първото българско царство'').</ref> The brothers ruled together in a [[tetrarchy]].<ref name="Guzelev314315">Bozhilov, Gyuzelev, 1999, pp. 314–315.</ref> David ruled the southernmost regions and led the defense of one of the most dangerous border areas, around [[Thessaloniki]] and [[Thessaly]].<ref name="Guzelev314315" /> The centres of his possessions were [[Prespa (medieval town)|Prespa]] and [[Kastoria]]. Moses ruled from [[Strumica|Strumitsa]],<ref name="Guzelev314315" /> which would be an outpost for attacks on the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] coast and [[Serres]]. Aaron ruled from Sredets,<ref name="Guzelev314315" /> and was to defend the main road from [[Edirne|Adrianople]] to [[Belgrade]], and to attack [[Thrace]]. Samuel ruled northwestern Bulgaria from the strong fortress of [[Vidin]]. He was also to organize the liberation of the conquered areas to the east, including the old capital Preslav.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Petrov |first=P |title=Rebellion of Peter and Boyan in 976 and struggle of the Cometopuli with Byzantium (Vosstanie Petra i Boyana v 976 i borba Komitopulov s Vizantiei, Восстание Петра и Бояна в 976 г. и борьба Комитопулов с Византией) |journal=Byzantinobulgarica |issue=1 |year=1962 |pages=130–132 |language=ru }}</ref> Some records suggest that David played a major role in this tumultuous period of Bulgarian history.<ref>Zlatarski, p. 615.</ref>

=== War with Byzantium ===
[[File:Tzimiskes returns.jpg|300px|thumb|left|The Byzantine Emperor [[John Tzimiskes]] returns in triumph in Constantinople with the captured [[Boris II]] and icons from Preslav.]]
After John I Tzimiskes died on 11 January 976, the Cometopuli launched an assault along the whole border. Within a few weeks, however, David was killed by [[Vlach]] vagrants and Moses was fatally injured by a stone during the siege of Serres.<ref>Skylitzes, pp. 334–335.</ref> The brothers' actions to the south detained many Byzantine troops and eased Samuel's liberation of northeastern Bulgaria. A local [[Uprising of Peter and Boyan|Bulgarian uprising broke there]],<ref>П. Хр. Петров, Восстание Петра и Бояна в 976 г. и борьба комитопулов с Византией, Byzantinobulgarica, I, Sofia, 1962, стр. 121–144.</ref> led by two boyars – Petar and Boyan, who became allies of the Cometopuli and submitted to their rule.<ref>Й. Иванов, „Български старини из Македония“, София, 1970, стр. 550</ref> The Byzantine army was defeated and retreated to [[Crimea]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Levchenko |first= М. V |title=Precious sources on the Russo-Byzantine relations in the 9th century (Tsenniy istochnih po vaprosu pussko-vizantiyskih otnosheniy v X veke, Ценный источних по вопросу русско-византийских отношений в X веке |year=1951 |pages=66–68 |language=ru }}</ref><ref>Nikolov, G., ''Centralism and regionalism in Bulgaria during the early Middle ages (end of the 7th{{mdash}} beginning of the 11th century'' (''Tsentralizam i regionalizam v rannosrednovekovna Balgariya (kraya na VII{{mdash}} nachaloto na XI v.)'', ''Централизъм и регионализъм в ранносредновековна България (края на VII{{mdash}} началото на ХІ в.)''), София 2005, p. 195.</ref> Any Bulgarian nobles and officials who had not opposed the Byzantine conquest of the region were executed, and the war continued north of the [[Danube]] until the enemy was scattered and Bulgarian rule was restored.<ref>{{cite book |last=Westberg |first=F |title=Die Fragmente des Toparcha Goticus (Anonymus Tauricus aus dem 10. Jahrhundert) |orig-year=1901 |page=502 |year=1951 |publisher=Zentralantiquariat der Dt. Demokrat. Republik |location=Leipzig |language=de |oclc=74302950 }}</ref>

After suffering these defeats in the Balkans, the Byzantine Empire descended into civil war. The commander of the Asian army, [[Bardas Scleros]], rebelled in [[Asia Minor]] and sent troops under his son Romanus in Thrace to besiege Constantinople. The new Emperor [[Basil II]] did not have enough manpower to fight both the Bulgarians and the rebels and resorted to treason, conspiracy and complicated diplomatic plots.<ref>Petrov, p. 133.</ref> Basil II made many promises to the Bulgarians and Scleros to divert them from allying against him.<ref>Petrov, pp. 133–134.</ref>  Aaron, the eldest living Cometopulus, was tempted by an alliance with the Byzantines and the opportunity to seize power in Bulgaria for himself. He held land in Thrace, a region potentially subject to the Byzantine threat. Basil reached an agreement with Aaron, who asked to marry Basil's sister to seal it. Basil instead sent the wife of one of his officials with the bishop of Sebaste. However, the deceit was uncovered and the bishop was killed.<ref>{{cite book |title=General history of Stephan from Taron (Vseobshaya istoriya Stepanosa Taronskogo, Всеобщая история Степаноса Таронского |pages=175–176 |language=ru }}</ref> Nonetheless, negotiations proceeded and concluded in a peace agreement. The historian Scylitzes wrote that Aaron wanted sole power and "sympathized with the Romans".<ref>Scylitzes, pp. 434–435. In this context, by "Romans" Skylitzes understands "Byzantines".</ref> Samuel learned of the conspiracy and the clash between the two brothers was inevitable. The quarrel broke out in the vicinity of [[Dupnitsa]] on 14 June 976 and ended with the annihilation of Aaron's family<!--in-laws?-->. Only his son, [[Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria|Ivan Vladislav]], survived because Samuel's son [[Gavril Radomir of Bulgaria|Gavril Radomir]] pleaded on his behalf.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Petrov |first=P |title=Formation and consolidation of the Western Bulgarian state (Obrazuvane i ukrepvane na Zapadnata Balgarska darzhava, Образуване и укрепване на Западната Българска държава) |journal=Гсуифф |volume=53 |issue=2 |year=1959 |pages=169–170 |language=bg}}</ref> From that moment on, practically all power and authority in the state were held by Samuel and the danger of an internal conflict was eliminated.

However, another theory suggests that Aaron participated in the [[battle of the Gates of Trajan]] which took place ten years later. According to that theory Aaron was killed on 14 June 987 or 988.<ref>Seibt, ''Untersuchungen'', p. 90.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rozen |first=V. R |title=Emperor Basil the Bulgar-slayer: extractions from Yuhia of Antioch's chronicles (Imperator Vasiliy Bolgaroboytsa: izvecheniya iz letopisi Yahi Antiohijskago, Император Василий Болгаробойца: извлечения из летописи Яхи Антиохийскаго) |publisher=Variorum Reprints |location=London |page=21 |language=ru |isbn=978-0-902089-39-6 |year=1972 }}</ref>