On May 27, 927, during preparations for war with Byzantium, Tsar Simeon I the Great died of a heart attack.
Simeon's successful wars against Byzantium and the Serbs led to the temporary expansion of Bulgaria over most of the Balkan Peninsula and dominance in Southeast Europe.
Simeon I the Great is the only Bulgarian ruler
who is spoken of abroad with true reverence and undisguised admiration. He was most likely born in 864 and is therefore called the “child of peace”. Simeon is the third son of Boris. He is the first among all Bulgarian rulers and among the sons of Prince Boris, who was raised entirely in the Christian tradition. He was sent to study at the best educational institution of his time - the Magnaur School (around 878), because it was expected that one day he would become the head of the Bulgarian Church. Instead, however, after the attempt of his brother Vladimir Rasate to return paganism to Bulgaria - it was precisely "the one who devoted himself to holy asceticism", i.e. the monk Simeon, who became a monk, who was called to sit on the throne of the Bulgarian kings.
His ascension took place in 893 and was in connection with the significant Preslav Church Council (893). During the council, a decision was made in the Bulgarian Church to perform divine services in the native language instead of Greek.
Tsar Simeon the Great was the main ideologist of Bulgaria becoming the "state of the spirit" in Medieval Europe. Thanks to him, our country in the 10th century became the first Slavic-speaking empire in history. In our country, a new European Christian civilization began to develop, based on the Old Bulgarian language, which over the centuries would become a relentless rival, but also a necessary partner of the older (Greek-speaking and Latin-speaking) Christian civilizations. Simeon's “Golden Age“, consciously or not, became a role model for centuries to come, recalls the website “On the Square”.
When the Serbs recall in detail their most glorious times, during their ruling dynasty Nemanji (12th – 14th century), and the Russians - the successes of their Romanovs (17th – 20th century): they are practically telling about what Bulgaria had already achieved under Simeon. The first Bulgarian tsar established his Slavic-speaking empire, his state of the spirit, and for the first time he spoke of the “Golden Age“ of Slavic writing and culture. After him come the achievements of other Slavic-speaking Orthodox Christians - Serbs and Russians. It is in connection with these events that our national poet Ivan Vazov will exclaim: “And we have given something to the world and to all Slavs books to read.“
The greatness of Simeon's reign is due mainly to the personal virtues of the king. It is said about Simeon in written sources that “he loved books more than anything“. His education is magnificent. This is recognized even by his great military opponents, the Byzantines, who call him “half-Greek“ because of his broad knowledge. The Patriarch of Constantinople, Nicholas the Mystic, who was in close contact with Simeon, wrote about him that he "lived like a proper monk and never tasted wine in his life."
What gives reason to claim that Simeon received the royal title (equal in rank to the imperial one) and that it was during his time that the Bulgarian kingdom became an empire? First of all - Simeon's ambitions were imperial. He was aware of what Byzantium (Byzantine universalism) meant in legal terms - a common state of all the Romans, i.e. of the Orthodox "Romans", speaking the Greek language, regardless of their origin (Armenian, Greek, Bulgarian, etc.). Byzantium therefore cannot voluntarily accept the Bulgarian ruler as an equal, because it considers it its inherent right to exercise its superiority over the Bulgarians, who use its Greek language in the Bulgarian administration, initially in the Bulgarian church and among aristocratic circles. Byzantium must be forced to forcibly grant recognition.
And here is this “half-Greek“ Simeon, a graduate of the Magnaur School in Constantinople,
sees the only way for Bulgaria to leave the Byzantine orbit once and for all. This way is through the dominance of the native language and the suppression of Hellenism: in the same way that our native language - Old Bulgarian (Church Slavonic) must become equal to Greek. Thus, the Bulgarian title of ruler and the Bulgarian state structure must correspond to the Byzantine ones. It can be concluded that this attitude of Simeon was inspired by the Christian precepts of his faith. It is no coincidence that Simeon was initially prepared to head the Bulgarian church. And since he knows that “the sun shines for all equally“, Simeon cannot allow the Bulgarian people to remain “blind and deaf“ and to forever bow their heads before Byzantine superiority.
How specifically does Simeon succeed? There are three paths. The recognition of his title can be said to be the fastest and easiest. It requires at least once that the Byzantines perform a symbolic act, according to which Simeon will be accepted as equal to their rulers in honor, and then our king will simply hold on to what has already been acquired. Byzantine recognition comes in August 913.
Then Simeon undertakes a major campaign against Constantinople. He reaches the walls of the Byzantine capital without hindrance. Thus, the Byzantines are forced to beg for peace from him and succeed, but with one condition. That is to organize a celebration in honor of Simeon in the capital city of the empire. All the most distinguished Bulgarians and Byzantines feast together at the festive table. The finale of the celebration comes when the Byzantine patriarch Nicholas the Mystic performs the symbolic coronation of Tsar Simeon. Finally, “honored with countless and excessive gifts, Simeon and his sons returned to their own country“.
Naturally, in the following years, the Byzantines recoiled from the shameful act of crowning Simeon. But the ruler of the Bulgarians insisted on the honor once bestowed upon him and sought confirmation of his royal dignity whenever he communicated with the Byzantines. He did not tolerate them treating him disdainfully, quite the opposite. He made them feel vile for not giving him his due. Simeon committed some of the greatest military massacres in the entire history of Byzantium.
For the battle of Bulgarofigon (896), the sources testify that the Roman troops “were completely defeated and all perished“. And nearly half a century after the defeat at Achelous on August 20, 917, Leo the Deacon would write: “And now you can still see the piles of bones at Anchialos, where the fleeing army of the Romans was ignominiously slaughtered.“
The second way to increase Simeon's imperial self-confidence and dignity was through his claims to territories where not only Bulgarians lived. As is known, empires are collective formations in ethnic terms. That is why Simeon declared himself “king of Bulgarians and Greeks“: in this way he recognized that his lands included diverse subjects. Thus, the principle from Simeon's time was realized - – “Bulgaria on three seas“. This is something unknown to his predecessors, those from the pagan period, who emphasized that they were Bulgarian rulers only in the “land in which they were born“ (Omurtag), but had no claims to foreign lands.
The third, most difficult and exhausting path to the affirmation of Bulgarian civilization is through the word in the native language. Here Simeon's entire talent and excellent preparation are evident. The Bulgarian ruler, even in his youth, before leaving to study in Byzantium, entered into close relations with the students of Cyril and Methodius, who received a warm welcome in our country by Prince Boris.
After assuming power,
Simeon sent Clement of Ohrid – the first bishop in the Bulgarian language,
to spread the word of God and prepare students in the southwestern Bulgarian lands. Simeon knew and was friends with the brightest minds of the era - with the ideologists of Bulgarianness. As mentioned, the idea of equalizing the native language (Old Bulgarian) with the other "sacred languages" (Greek and Latin) meant that "high" literature, characteristic of the era in Medieval Europe, should also appear in Old Bulgarian. This literature was largely translated and related to the Holy Scriptures, but there were also original works and commentaries. The Old Bulgarian writers Clement of Ohrid, John the Exarch, Nahum, Konstantin of Preslav, Chernorizets the Brave, with their works brought the "golden" glory of Simeon's "Golden Age".
In 913, Simeon I reached the walls of Constantinople.
Byzantium was forced to recognize his title of Tsar of the Bulgarians, although it annulled it the following year. Then the Bulgarian troops invaded Eastern Thrace again and captured Edirne.
On August 20, 917, in the Battle of Acheloi, the Byzantine army was surrounded and massacred. A second defeat followed at Katasyrti, and Patriarch Nicholas the Mystic appealed for an end to the war and the signing of peace. Meanwhile, Byzantine diplomacy managed to mobilize the Serbs behind Prince Simeon. Simeon sent an army against the Serbs led by the Caucasian Theodore Sigritsa and Marmias. They captured the Serbian prince Petar Gojnikovich and placed Prince Pavel Branovich on the throne.
In 918 Bulgarian troops reach the Peloponnese and the Aegean Islands.
A church council was convened, at which Simeon I was proclaimed emperor of the Romans, and the Bulgarian archbishop was proclaimed patriarch.
In 921, a Bulgarian army reached the Dardanelles, conquered the Gallipoli Peninsula and tried to cross to the Asia Minor coast.
In 923, Tsar Simeon I again reached the walls of Constantinople. Byzantium wanted to begin peace negotiations, and although peace was not concluded, the Bulgarians lifted the siege. During the reign of Simeon I the Great, Bulgaria reached its greatest political, military, and cultural power.
His father, Prince Boris I, made every effort to prepare his son for patriarchy and therefore sent him to study at the Magnaur School in Constantinople - the most prestigious school in the Byzantine Empire, founded in 425.
The attempt of his eldest son Vladimir to return the country to paganism forced Boris I to depose him and in his place to elevate Simeon.
The greatest cultural flowering of Christian Bulgaria, called the Golden Age, is associated with the name of Simeon the Great, which ensured the flourishing of literature, architecture, and the arts. Tsar Simeon not only supported the work of Bulgarian writers, but also actively participated in it as a creator. He compiled several collections with encyclopedic content, known as “Simeon's Collections“.
He personally selected and translated some of the words of the Byzantine theologian St. John Chrysostom. During the reign of Tsar Simeon, a rich literature was translated and created, intended for both highly educated people and the common people.
It contains works with information from all aspects of life at that time - history, theology, geography, animal world, nature. Simeon was the first to bear the title of "King of the Bulgarians", which best testifies to the final fusion of the Proto-Bulgarians and Slavs into one people in language, faith, and state consciousness.
Simeon the Great died on May 27, 927, in the palace in Preslav. It is assumed that he suffered a heart attack. He was succeeded on the throne by his son Peter I, who began his reign under the regency of his uncle George Sursuvul.