The Battle of Dyrrhachium in February 1018 was a part of the

Byzantine–Bulgarian wars The Byzantine–Bulgarian wars were a series of conflicts fought between the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria which began after the Bulgars conquered parts of the Balkan peninsula after 680 AD. The Byzantine and First Bulgarian Empire continued to ...

. It happened as the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Vladislav tried to establish his power on the southeastern coast of the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. He led an army against Dyrrhachium (present-day

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

, in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

) and besieged it, but was killed during a counterattack of the city’s defenders. This was the final battle of the centuries long struggle between the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...

and

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

. Within months after Vladislav’s death most of his realm was subjugated by the Byzantine emperor

Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus (; 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (, ), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but t ...

, with the last independent region (

Sirmium Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous province of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrians ...

) subdued in 1019.

Historical background

After the battle of Kleidion and the death of tsar Samuil in 1014 the Bulgarian state was destabilized by internal turmoil. In the year that followed, tsar Gavril Radomir, Samuel’s son and heir, was killed by his cousin, Ivan Vladislav, at the instigation of the Byzantine emperor. The new Bulgarian ruler negotiated a brief peace as he promised to submit to Basil II in return for the control over Dyrrhachium.Stephenson, Paul: Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204, Cambridge University Press, 2000, , p. 74 Neither side kept its promises and the war broke out again in the autumn of 1015. While Vladislav attacked Dyrrhachium, Basil II captured his capital Ohrid, but later, as a result of the Battle of Bitola, was forced to abandon it. The war continued for two more years without a decisive outcome. In 1017 Basil defeated the Bulgarians at Setina, near Edessa, but failed to exploit his victory and returned to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. Vladislav took advantage of this to launch another assault against Dyrrhachium, which was defended by the strategus Nicetas Pegonites. In the battle that ensued after a sortie of the garrison the Bulgarian tsar was killed and his troops were forced to retreat. This event prompted the majority of the Bulgarian nobles (

boyars A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russian nobility, Russia), Boyars of Moldavia and Wallach ...

) to surrender to Basil. The isolated resistance was suppressed and Bulgaria became a Byzantine province.Runciman, Steven: A history of the First Bulgarian Empire, G. Bell & Sons, London 1930, pp. 248-251; ;

References

Sources

* John Skylitzes, ''Synopsis Historion''
Excerpt describing the conquest of Bulgaria in 1014-1018
(Bozhinov, V. and L. Panayotov: ''Macedonia. Documents and Materials'', Sofia 1978; online editio
Books about Macedonia
retrieved on September 20, 2008) * ''Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja'' (partial translation by Paul Stephenson)

- an alternative account, according to which Vladislav was killed by Saint John Vladimir (retrieved on September 20, 2008) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dyrrhachium (1018) 1018 in Europe 11th century in Bulgaria 1010s in the Byzantine Empire Military history of Albania Battles involving the First Bulgarian Empire Battles of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Conflicts in 1018 History of Durrës Albania under the Byzantine Empire