Gavril Radomir (; ;

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

as Gabriel Radomir; died 1015) was the Emperor (

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

) of 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 ...

from October 1014 to August or September 1015. He was the son of tsar

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

().

Biography

During his father's reign, his cousin

Ivan Vladislav Ivan Vladislav (; ; died February 1018) served as the emperor (tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire from approximately August or September 1015 until February 1018. The precise year of his birth remains elusive; he was born at least ten years pri ...

and Ivan's entire family were all sentenced by Samuel to death for treason. Gavril's intervention saved at least his cousin. He is said to have saved his father's life in the disastrous defeat of the

Battle of Spercheios The Battle of Spercheios (, ) took place in 997 AD, on the shores of the Spercheios river near the city of Lamia in central Greece. It was fought between a Bulgarian army led by Tsar Samuil, which in the previous year had penetrated south into ...

, and he was described as a gallant fighter. Around the same time that 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 ...

captured the bulk of Samuel's army, Gavril and his forces

defeated Defeated may refer to: * "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee Defeated is an unincorporated community in Smith County, Tennessee ...

the army of Theophylact Botaneiates. Having inherited Samuel's war with the

Byzantine Empire 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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, Gavril Radomir raided Byzantine territory, reaching as far as

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 ...

. However, the Byzantines secured the assistance of Ivan Vladislav, who owed his life to Radomir. Vladislav murdered Radomir while hunting near Ostrovo, and then took the throne for himself. Some sources connect Gavril Radomir with the medieval dualist sect,

Bogomilism Bogomilism (; ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic, dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Peter I in the 10th century. It ...

, a popular heretic movement that flourished in the Bulgarian region of

Kutmichevitsa Kutmichevitsa () was an administrative region of the Bulgarian Empire during 9th-11th cent., corresponding roughly with the northwestern part of the modern region of Macedonia and the southern part of Albania, broadly taken to be the area includ ...

during his and his father's reign. Gavril married twice. His possible son Peter Delyan played a role in attempting to secure independence for Bulgaria several decades later. Ian Mladjov inferred that Agatha, the wife of

Edward the Exile Edward the Exile (c. 1016 – 19 April 1057), also called Edward Ætheling, was the son of King Edmund Ironside and of Ealdgyth. He spent most of his life in exile in the Kingdom of Hungary following the defeat of his father by Cnut. Exile Af ...

, was granddaughter of Agatha Cryselia, daughter of Gavril Radomir, by his short-lived first marriage to a Hungarian princess thought to have been the daughter of Duke Géza of Hungary. According to the ''

Polish–Hungarian Chronicle The Polish–Hungarian Chronicle or Hungarian–Polish Chronicle (from ) is a medieval Latin chronicle which exists in two redactions in five manuscripts kept in Polish libraries, including the Zamojski Codex from the second half of the 14th century ...

'', that princess was Adelaide, the daughter of

Doubravka of Bohemia Doubravka of Bohemia, Dobrawa (, ; ca. 940/45 – 977) was a Bohemian princess of the Přemyslid dynasty and by marriage Duchess of the Polans. She was the daughter of Boleslaus I the Cruel, Duke of Bohemia, whose wife may have been the myster ...

and

Mieszko I of Poland Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...

Family tree

Sources

История на българската държава през средните векове, Том I. История на Първото българско царство. Част II. От славянизацията на държавата до падането на Първото царство (852—1018). Васил Н. Златарски 4.Приемниците на цар Самуил и покорението на България от Василий II Българоубиец.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulgaria, Gavril Radomir Of 10th-century births 1015 deaths 11th-century Bulgarian tsars Bulgarian people of Armenian descent Cometopuli dynasty Murdered Bulgarian monarchs Bulgarian people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Burials at the Church of St Achillios (Lake Prespa) Sons of emperors

Biography

Family tree

See also

Sources

Footnotes