Ivats () or Ibatzes was a Bulgarian nobleHistory of the Byzantine Empire from DCCXVI to MLVII, George Finlay, BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2009, , p. 385. and military commander in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. He served three Bulgarian Emperors – Samuil (997–1014);

Gavril Radomir Gavril Radomir (; ; anglicized as Gabriel Radomir; died 1015) was the Emperor (Tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire from October 1014 to August or September 1015. He was the son of tsar Samuel (). Biography During his father's reign, his cousin ...

(1014–1015) and

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 ...

(1015–1018). In 1015, he defeated 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 ...

army in the

battle of Bitola The Battle of Monastir took place near the town of Bitola, Macedonia (then known as Monastir) during the First Balkan War, between Serbian and Ottoman forces from 16 to 19 November 1912. It resulted in a Serbian victory after heavy fighting n ...

and stopped the disastrous campaign of

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 ...

in the heart of the

Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire may refer to: * 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 b ...

. After the death of Ivan Vladislav and the surrender of the Empress, the

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

and many nobles to the Byzantines, he chose to continue the struggle along the sons of the dead Emperor and several other nobles. His stronghold was the fortress '' Tomornitsa'' in

Mount Tomor Tomorr is a mountain chain in the region of Berat and Skrapar, in Albania. It reaches an elevation of above sea level at the Çuka e Partizanit, which is the highest peak in central Albania. Mount Tomorr is one of Albania's biggest water-col ...

, modern south-eastern

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 ...

. The fortress was soon besieged by Basil II but the 55-day siege was unsuccessful for the Byzantines. In August 1018 he was treacherously blinded by the Byzantine ''strategos''

Eustathios Daphnomeles Eustathios Daphnomeles (, early 11th century) was a Byzantine and patrician who distinguished himself in the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria. He ranks as one of the most prominent and successful generals in the thirty-year war between Emperor ...

References

10th-century births 11th-century deaths 10th-century Bulgarian people 11th-century Bulgarian people Medieval Bulgarian nobility Medieval Bulgarian military personnel Bulgarian people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Medieval history of Albania {{Bulgaria-bio-stub