On October 8, 927, one of the most significant weddings in medieval Bulgarian history took place in Constantinople. The Bulgarian king Peter I married Maria Lakapina – granddaughter of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lakapin and daughter of his son Christopher.
The ceremony was held in the church of “Holy Mother of God“ at Pigi near the Byzantine capital. The wedding was officiated by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Stephen II. After the marriage, Maria took the name Irina, which means “peace” – a sign of new relations between the two states.
The marriage ends the long conflict
The wedding was part of the peace agreement concluded between Bulgaria and Byzantium after the death of Tsar Simeon the Great in May 927. His successor Peter I began his reign in conditions of prolonged war, but soon directed his efforts towards a diplomatic settlement of relations with Constantinople.
The peace treaty was an important success for the Bulgarian ruler. Byzantium recognized the title of “tsar“ of Peter I, and the Bulgarian Church was recognized as autocephalous, headed by a patriarch. The treaty also provided for the payment of an annual tax by Byzantium to Bulgaria and regulated territorial relations between the two states.
The agreement was presented as a thirty-year peace. It ended the military conflict between Bulgaria and Byzantium and created conditions for a long period of relative stability in the Balkans.
Maria becomes Bulgarian ruler
The marriage had not only dynastic but also clear political significance. For the Byzantine court it meant a union with the Bulgarian ruler, and for Bulgaria – recognition by Constantinople of her imperial status and ecclesiastical independence.
The Byzantine chronicler Simeon Logothetes describes Maria's separation from her family and her arrival in Bulgaria with the words that she rejoiced because she had united with “a male king“ and was called ruler of the Bulgarians.
Peter I ruled Bulgaria until 969 and remains the longest-ruling ruler in the history of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. His wedding to Maria Lakapina became a symbol of peace, achieved after decades of wars between Bulgaria and Byzantium.
Sources: bta.bg, old-news.bnr.bg