On November 8, 1204, a ceremony was held in Tarnovo at which Tsar Kaloyan received a crown, scepter and banner from Cardinal Leo, the legate of Pope Innocent III. The papal representative blessed him and proclaimed him king – the title rex, used in Latin correspondence.
The event was the result of several years of negotiations between the Bulgarian ruler and the Church of Rome. Kaloyan sought international recognition for the restored Bulgarian state, as well as higher status for his church. At the same time, Pope Innocent III sought to expand Rome’s influence in the Balkans.
A day earlier, Basil was declared primate
On November 7, 1204, Cardinal Leo consecrated Tarnovo Archbishop Basil as primate of the Bulgarian Church. The following day, Kaloyan’s coronation took place. The sequence of the two ceremonies shows that the political agreement with Rome concerned both the ruler’s authority and the organization of the church.
According to a letter from Archbishop Basil to the pope, Cardinal Leo „crowned and blessed Tsar Kaloyan, lord of all Bulgarians and Vlachs,“ placed a crown on his head and presented him with a scepter. In one of his letters, Kaloyan described the insignia of power he received in these words: „he placed it on the head of my kingdom and put a scepter and banner in my hands.“
King according to the papal formula, tsar in the Bulgarian tradition
The discrepancy in the titles was not accidental. The Church of Rome granted Kaloyan the title of king because, in the Western political system, imperial dignity was associated with the supremacy of a single emperor. However, the Bulgarian ruler continued to present himself as tsar and emperor in his correspondence.
Thus, the coronation fulfilled Kaloyan’s main objective – to be recognized as the legitimate ruler and successor to the Bulgarian rulers of the First Bulgarian Empire. Despite the formula „king,“ he did not abandon his claim to imperial dignity. The pope also avoided an open dispute on the matter, because it was important to Rome for Bulgaria to remain within the orbit of the ecclesiastical agreement that had been reached.
The ceremony in Tarnovo took place only a few months after Constantinople was captured by the participants in the Fourth Crusade and the Latin Empire was established. In the new political situation, the ties with Rome gave Kaloyan an additional diplomatic tool. Just a year later, the Bulgarian army inflicted a crushing defeat on the Latins at Adrianople, and Emperor Baldwin I was captured.
Sources: bta.bg, old-news.bnr.bg, uni-vt.bg