Boleron () was the name of a region and a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

province in southwestern

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The region is first mentioned in the mid-9th century ''Life of Saint Gregory of Dekapolis'', and designated the area enclosed between the Nestos River in the west, the Rhodope Mountains to the north, the Korpiles defile to the east, and the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

to the south. In the early 11th century, it became a distinct administrative unit, but had a chequered history: a '' dioikesis'' (fiscal district) in 1047, it is attested as a separate theme—with at least two known '' banda'', Mosynopolis and Peritheorion—in 1083, but most often it is found as part of a composite province along with the older themes of Thessalonica and Strymon. After the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire following the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

, the region fell to the Kingdom of Thessalonica and followed its fortunes until its conquest by the

Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea (), also known as the Nicene Empire, was the largest of the three Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by Walter Abel Heurtley, W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C ...

. In ca. 1246, John III Vatatzes reconstituted Boleron as the separate province of Boleron-Mosynopolis. In the early 14th century, under the

Palaiologos The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; , ; female version Palaiologina; ), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek Nobility, noble family that rose to power and produced th ...

emperors, it was again united with Strymon and Serres into a broader theme, but by 1344 it had declined in status, as a document dated to that year considers Boleron (along with Serres, Strymon, and other localities) a mere ''kastron'' (a small district centred on a fortified settlement), rather than proper themes.

References

Sources

* * {{coord missing, Greece Themes of the Byzantine Empire Medieval Thrace Historical regions in Greece Western Thrace Geography of medieval Thrace