Petyo Ivanov
D-r Petyo Ivanov – 20 Еlementary school „Todor Minkov“
(Summary)
After the subjugation of the state centre by the troops of the Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes in 971, a process of consolidation of the Bulgarian aristocracy began around the sons of Comes Nicholas. The available sources do not allow clarifying all the details about the nature of the military command until the official coronation of Samuel in 997. Three of the four brothers are attested to the role of warlords, without it being clear whether there was any hierarchy between them. The opinion that each of the brothers ruled part of the realm is not based on serious evidentiary material, but on the other hand, the statement that after the death of David and Moses, Aron was appointed to lead the military structures in the region of the Upper Struma River and the Sofia field is not without grounds. Tsar Roman, who had returned from captivity, also became part of the high command of the army, but as far as can be judged from the data in the work of Yahya of Antioch, he stood lower in the hierarchy than Samuel. After the death of the tsar and the coronation of Samuel, the practice of the high command being in the hands of the ruler of the state was restored. Despite the well-documented attempts of the Cometopouloi to continue the traditions previous to 971, there is rather a discontinuity in the field of military leadership. The kavkhan and the ichirgu boil were replaced by the heir to the throne and some individual confidants of the ruler. The military structures of the state in the period under consideration were organized on the main military-administrative areas, which became free after 971. The fortress governors, occupying an important place in the administration and in the previous period, acquired greater autonomy in making decisions related to military actions. Each of them had a personal army, which was made up of volunteers and professional units. In the peripheral territories of the realm, these commanders of fortresses were subordinate to regional governors, and it seems that in the southern limitrophe territories an organization bearing the characteristics of a military border was established. The available information leaves no room for doubt that the main source of human potential for the army was the Bulgarians themselves, inhabiting most of the realm. At the same time, soldiers were recruited from the captured Byzantine and Armenian population, as well as from the Vlachs and probably the Serbs, who also fell under the rule of the Bulgarian Tsars.
Keywords: Bulgarian army, military structures, Cometopouloi, Tsar Samuil, fortress governors
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