Editing Macedonia (region) (section)

===Medieval Macedonia===
{{Further|Byzantine Empire|Bulgaria (theme)|Macedonia (theme)|Strymon (theme)|Thessalonica (theme)}}

Despite the Byzantine empire's power, from the beginning of the 6th century the Byzantine dominions were subject to frequent raids by various [[Early Slavs|Slavic tribes]] which, in the course of centuries, eventually resulted in drastic demographic and cultural changes in the Empire's Balkan provinces. Although traditional scholarship attributes these changes to large-scale colonizations by Slavic-speaking groups, it has been proposed that a generalized dissipation of Roman identity might have commenced in the 3rd century, especially among rural provincials who were crippled by harsh taxation and famines. Given this background, penetrations carried by successive waves of relatively small numbers of Slavic warriors and their families might have been capable of assimilating large numbers of indigenes into their cultural model, which was sometimes seen as a more attractive alternative{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}. In this way and in the course of time, great parts of Macedonia came to be controlled by Slavic-speaking communities. Despite numerous attacks on Thessaloniki, the city held out, and Byzantine-Roman culture continued to flourish, although Slavic cultural influence steadily increased.

The Slavic settlements organized themselves along tribal and territorially based lines which were referred to by Byzantine Greek historians as "Sklaviniai". The Sklaviniai continued to intermittently assault the Byzantine Empire, either independently, or aided by [[Bulgars|Bulgar]] or [[Pannonian Avars|Avar]] contingents. Around 680 AD a "Bulgar" group (which was largely composed of the descendants of former Roman Christians taken captive by the Avars), led by Khan [[Kuber]] (theorized to have belonged to the same [[Dulo clan|clan]] as the Danubian Bulgarian khan [[Asparukh]]), settled in the [[Pelagonia|Pelagonian plain]], and launched campaigns to the region of Thessaloniki. When the Empire could spare imperial troops, it attempted to regain control of its lost Balkan territories. By the time of [[Constans II]] a significant number of the Slavs of Macedonia were captured and transferred to central Asia Minor where they were forced to recognize the authority of the Byzantine emperor and serve in his ranks. In the late 7th century, [[Justinian II]] again organized a massive expedition against the Sklaviniai and Bulgars of Macedonia. Launching from Constantinople, he subdued many Slavic tribes and established the ''Theme of Thrace'' in the hinterland of the Great City, and pushed on into Thessaloniki. However, on his return he was ambushed by the Slavo-Bulgars of Kuber, losing a great part of his army, booty, and subsequently his throne.<ref>The Early Medieval Balkans. John Fine. Page 71: "In 688/89 the emperor Justinian II marched through Thrace where at least enough Byzantine rule had been restored for a theme administration to be established.... The purpose of the campaign was to punish the Bulgars and Slavs. Justinian successfully subdued many Slavs (taking many captives) and reached Thessaloniki. On his return toward Constantinople in 689 he was ambushed by the Bulgars who wiped out most of his army"</ref> Despite these temporary successes, rule in the region was far from stable since not all of the Sklaviniae were pacified, and those that were often rebelled. The emperors rather resorted to withdrawing their defensive line south along the Aegean coast, until the late 8th century. Although a new theme—that of "Macedonia"—was subsequently created, it did not correspond to today's geographic territory, but one farther east (centred on Adrianople), carved out of the already existing Thracian and Helladic themes.

There are no Byzantine records of "Sklaviniai" after 836/837 as they were absorbed into the expanding [[First Bulgarian Empire]]. Slavic influence in the region strengthened along with the rise of this state, which incorporated parts of the region to its domain in 837. In the early 860s [[Saints Cyril and Methodius]], two [[Byzantine Greek]] brothers from Thessaloniki, created the first Slavic [[Glagolitic alphabet]] in which the [[Old Church Slavonic]] language was first transcribed, and are thus commonly referred to as the apostles of the Slavic world. Their cultural heritage was acquired and developed in medieval Bulgaria, where after 885 the region of [[Ohrid]] (present-day Republic of North Macedonia) became a significant ecclesiastical center with the nomination of the Saint [[Clement of Ohrid]] for "first archbishop in Bulgarian language" with residence in this region. In conjunction with another disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius, [[Saint Naum]], Clement created a flourishing Slavic cultural center around Ohrid, where pupils were taught theology in the [[Old Church Slavonic]] language and the Glagolitic and [[Cyrillic script]] at what is now called [[Ohrid Literary School]]. The Bulgarian-Byzantine boundary in the beginning of 10th century passed approximately {{convert|20|km|0|abbr=on}} north of Thessaloniki according to the inscription of Narash. According to the Byzantine author [[John Kaminiates]], at that time the neighbouring settlements around Thessaloniki were inhabited by "Scythians" (Bulgarians) and the Slavic tribes of [[Drugubites]] and [[Sagudates]], in addition to Greeks.

At the end of the 10th century, what is now the Republic of North Macedonia became the political and cultural heartland of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]], after Byzantine emperors [[John I Tzimiskes]] conquered the eastern part of the Bulgarian state during the [[Rus'–Byzantine War (970–971)|Rus'–Byzantine War of 970–971]]. The Bulgarian capital [[Preslav]] and the Bulgarian Tsar Boris II were captured, and with the deposition of the Bulgarian regalia in the [[Hagia Sophia]], Bulgaria was officially annexed to Byzantium. A new capital was established at Ohrid, which also became the seat of the [[Bulgarian Patriarchate]]. A new dynasty, that of the [[Comitopuli]] under Tsar [[Samuil of Bulgaria|Samuil]] and his successors, continued resistance against the Byzantines for several more decades, before also [[Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria|succumbing]] in 1018. The western part of Bulgaria including Macedonia was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire as the province of Bulgaria ([[Theme of Bulgaria]]) and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was reduced in rank to an [[Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid|Archbishopric]].

Intermittent Bulgarian uprisings continued to occur, often with the support of the Serbian princedoms to the north. Any temporary independence that might have been gained was usually crushed swiftly by the Byzantines. It was also marked by [[Byzantine-Norman Wars|periods of war]] between the [[Normans]] and Byzantium. The Normans launched offensives from their lands acquired in southern Italy, and temporarily gained rule over small areas in the northwestern coast.

At the end of the 12th century, some northern parts of Macedonia were temporarily conquered by [[Stefan Nemanja]] of [[Grand Principality of Serbia|Serbia]]. In the 13th century, following the [[Fourth Crusade]], Macedonia was disputed among [[Byzantine Greeks]], [[Latin Empire|Latin]] crusaders of the short-lived [[Kingdom of Thessalonica]], and the [[Second Bulgarian Empire|revived Bulgarian state]]. Most of southern Macedonia was secured by the [[Despotate of Epirus]] and then by the [[Empire of Nicaea]], while the north was ruled by Bulgaria. After 1261 however, all of Macedonia returned to Byzantine rule, where it largely remained until the [[Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347]]. Taking advantage of this conflict, the Serb ruler [[Stefan Dushan]] expanded his realm and founded the [[Serbian Empire]], which included all of Macedonia, northern and central Greece – excluding Thessaloniki, Athens and the Peloponnese. Dushan's empire however broke up shortly after his death in 1355. After his death local rulers in the regions of Macedonia were despot [[Jovan Uglješa]] in eastern Macedonia, and kings [[Vukašin Mrnjavčević]] and his son [[Marko Mrnjavčević]] in western regions of Macedonia.