Seal of Andronikos, protospatharios and krites of Boleron, Strymon, and Thessalonica (Schlumberger, 1891)

Boleron ( el, Βολερόν) was the name of a region and a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

province in southwestern

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

during the

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

. The region is first mentioned in the mid-9th century ''Life of Saint

Gregory of Dekapolis Saint Gregory of Dekapolis or Gregory Dekapolites ( el, Όσιος Γρηγόριος ο Δεκαπολίτης; before 797 – 20 November 842 or earlier) was a 9th-century Byzantine monk, notable for his miracle-working and his travels across th ...

'', and designated the area enclosed between the Nestos River in the west, the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder i ...

to the north, the Korpiles defile to the east, and the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans an ...

to the south. In the early 11th century, it became a distinct administrative unit, but had a chequered history: a ''

dioikesis In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

'' (fiscal district) in 1047, it is attested as a separate theme—with at least two known ''

banda Banda may refer to: People *Banda (surname) *Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician *Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor *Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician *Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh warr ...

'',

Mosynopolis Mosynopolis ( el, Μοσυνόπολις), of which only ruins now remain in Greek Thrace, was a city in the Roman province of Rhodope, which was known until the 9th century as Maximianopolis (Μαξιμιανούπολις) or, to distinguish it ...

and

Peritheorion Anastasiopolis-Peritheorion is an archaeological site located in northern Greece, southeast of the village of Amaxades in the Rhodope regional unit in Western Thrace. Parts of the fortification walls of the ancient city of Anastasiopolis (5th � ...

—in 1083, but most often it is found as part of a composite province along with the older themes of

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region ...

and Strymon. After the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire following the Fourth Crusade, the region fell to the

Kingdom of Thessalonica The Kingdom of Thessalonica () was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over conquered Byzantine lands in Macedonia and Thessaly. History Background After the fall of Constantinople to the crusaders in 1204, Bonif ...

and followed its fortunes until its conquest by the

Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...

. In ca. 1246,

John III Vatatzes John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes ( el, Ιωάννης Δούκας Βατάτζης, ''Iōannēs Doukas Vatatzēs'', c. 1192 – 3 November 1254), was Emperor of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known ...

reconstituted Boleron as the separate province of Boleron-Mosynopolis. In the early 14th century, under the

Palaiologos The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; grc-gre, Παλαιολόγος, pl. , female version Palaiologina; grc-gre, Παλαιολογίνα), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek f ...

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