The Revolt of Peter Delyan, the Besiege of Thessaloniki (1040 AD)
In 1040, Peter Delyan, grandson of Samuel is proclaimed Bulgarian tsar in Belgrade
(present capital of Serbia). For two years he succeded in liberating Bulgarian lands. At
the end he is treacherously blinded by one of his relatives on the sold of Bysance
Emperor.
Petar Delyan was the son of Gavril
Radomir and grandson of Samuel, King of Bulgarians. When Radomir occupied Larissa, he fell
in love with a beautiful slave named Irene, and because of her turned out his pregnant
wife, the daughter of the Hungarian king. She returned back to her father in Hungary and
hence, Delyan was born there. Such was recorded by Michail of Devol in the Vienna
supplement to the Chronicle of Skylitzes. The Hungarian historian G. Fecher suggests that
when Samuel was still alive Gavril Radomir did in fact turn out his wife (the Hungarian
princess), not because of Irene, a legend, but because of cool relations between Samuel
and her young brother, King Stephen of Hungary. Samuel had entered into alliance with
Prince Ayton of the Banat, Hungary's enemy, an indication that he had turned against the
politics of his daughter-in-law's brother. Petar Delyan was born in the female monastery
of Wespremvoldi, where the pregnant Hungarian princess stayed after her return from
Bulgaria. Petar remained there until his coming to the Hungarian court, where he received
the title of ban (governor).
The historian Michael Psellus in his Chronography writes: "That tribe of Bulgarians,
formerly a cause of numerous dangers and battles... and now weakened in every respect...
made efforts to restore its former haughtiness: for some time it did not initiate a public
uprising, but when one of those who were ready to incite its impertinence arrived, already
strong determination for an uprising had emerged. They were induced to such insanity by a
monster, whom they considered to be of their own kin... He, after finding out that the
entire people intended to renounce the Romaeans ... at first presented himself as the most
worthy and sincere in his counseling, and then as the most experienced in military
skill."
Bulgarian forces besieging Thessaloniki. Their leader, Petar Deljan, (reclining)wears a blue turban, while those of the other important figures are red.
In 11-th century the financial policy of Byzantium
led to the gradual impoverishment of the Bulgarian population. The burden of rent in
labor, or angaria (forced labor), was imposed by the state on the entire population, but
further imposed by the feudal lords on the peasantry. The castrochityssia, unpaid labor to
repair or raise fortresses, was the hardest angaria: people used draft animals to carry
construction material to the site where the fortress was being erected or repaired. The
population was also engaged in repairing roads and bridges and in building boats without
remuneration. Beside the angaria, payments in kind were also imposed: tithes of harvest,
fish, livestock, etc.
All this was supplemented by rent in money: after the monetary reform of 1040, payment in
currency was generally substituted for payments in kind. In general, taxation of the
Bulgarian population was considerably increased in the 11th century, the motive for
continuous organized and spontaneous resistance against Byzantine rule. Michael Psellus
wrote that not "a long time" had passed since Emperor Basil II destroyed
Samuil's state and "in such a defeated condition incorporated it under Romaean
authority", when the subjugated people began to demonstrate their "former
impertinence" again. The Byzantine historian Skylitzes wrote that the people
"who had just bent their heads in slavery ... strongly sought freedom. ... The people
of Ohrid were ready to arm themselves and to rise against Byzantium immediately after the
fall of the town to Byzantine authority." Likewise, in his letters Theophylact of
Ohrid often emphasized such desires in his congregation, stressing that the province was
always faced with "the ghost of war", as "the barbarians [Bulgarians] never
stopped thinking about their glorious times."
The substitution of payment in kind by payment in currency, imposed by John the
Orphanographer in 1040, was the last straw, and the peasantry rose up in outrage.
"The local population could not endure it easily and, therefore, when a favorable
moment presented itself with the coming of Petar Delyan, renounced Romaean rule and
returned to their former laws," writes Skylites.
In 1040, in Bulgarian town of Belgrade (at present capital of Serbia) Petar Delyan was
appointed tsar "after he had been lifted on a shield by the army." He was met
there by representatives of the insurgents who had come from distant Bulgaria. His uncle,
King Stephen, was probably also involved in obtaining the title of tsar for Delyan. From
Belgrade, Delyan set off to occupy Nish and Skopje and, when victorious, advanced to
Thessaloniki where Emperor Michail IV was receiving a medical treatment. Frightened the
course of events, the emperor escaped to Constantinople, leaving power and his treasury in
the hands of Michail Ivec in Thessaloniki, most likely a son of Ivec, one of King
Samuel’s generals. It is therefore understandable why Ivec the Younger joined
Samuel’s grandson immediately, taking with him much of the emperor's wealth. The
turning of coats took place in the vicinity of Thessaloniki rather than inside the town
itself, as Delyan's insurgents were not able to occupy the town. But the remainder of
Bulgaria was taken, as well as the regions around Vitosha, Osogovo and Thessaly, and
Epirus and Albania revolted against Byzantine rule. Lacking the necessary strength to
resist Delyan, Byzantium undertook a cunning and typical Byzantine stratagem in order to
eliminate the new danger. Michael Psellus writes that "The war was still going on
when something amazing happened: one of Aron's sons, called Aleutian [a personal
acquaintance of Psellus], a man of gentle disposition and brilliant mind, successful and
of great importance, became most deserving of the tsar's throne ...When he heard about his
people's problem, and found that they, having no imperial descendant, had chosen an
illegitimate son to rule over them, he left his children, rejected his wife's love and had
the impertinence to set out from the far east to the west ..."
In fact, Aleutian, the grandson of Aron (the brother of Samuel) and as a great-nephew of
Samuel, was chosen by Michail IV and sent to reap discord among the insurgents. He was
welcomed by Petar Delyan as a close relative and, according to Skylitzes, even given
40,000 soldiers to besiege Thessaloniki. The siege was raised by the Byzantines and the
army defeated, while Aleutian himself had a narrow escape. Defeated, he returned to
Ostrovo, a town between Kostur and Prespa. One day, at a dinner, he "suddenly caught
him [Delyan] cut off his nose, poked his eyes out, doing it all with a kitchen
knife", Psellus writes.
Being of Samuel’s blood, Aleutian was proclaimed tsar by the army. The new leader
secretly advised the Byzantine emperor of this, and at a convenient moment deserted the
army for the Byzantine capital: the insurgents, left without a leader, were easily
defeated.
In Constantinople the traitor was granted great honors and wealth, while the blinded
Delyan was captured and sent to Thessaloniki without giving any resistance. After he
conquered and subjugated the Bulgarians to his authority, wrote Psellus, and after he
appointed strategists in each of the themes, the emperor returned to the capital taking
many prisoners with him, among them their illegitimate leader with his nose cut off and
his eyes gouged out. The consequences of the uprising were severe, and Bulgaria was
completely devastated. A considerable number of its inhabitants were enslaved by the
emperor, and many lost their estates. In order to break up the ethnic unity of the
Bulgarians, Constantinople settled foreign colonists in the region.
Bulgarian troops (right) behind a barricade. The Byzantines, under Emperor Michael IV, are on the left.
An additional, small uprising in Larissa, Thessaly, was begun in 1066 by the Vlach population. In a familiar, cycle, the Larissa uprising was also betrayed by its leader, Nikulitsa Delphin, a feudal lord, who took the first opportunity to surrender to Emperor Constantine X Ducas. Although unsuccessful, this revolt sought to spread and include the Bulgarian population as well, and did succeed in assisting the beginnings of a latter uprising in Skopje under the leadership of Georgi Voyteh. In 1072, only six years after the uprising in Thessaly, Bulgaria was shaken anew by a rebellion triggered by new financial policies of Byzantium following its defeats in Italy and Asia Minor. At the battle of Manzikert, Byzantium was defeated by the Seljuq Turks and thus lost the rich lands of Asia Minor; the occupation of Bari by the Normans cost Byzantium its last possessions in southern Italy. To respond to these emergencies heavy taxation was levied throughout the empire, cutting deeply into the Bulgarian population. The uprising of 1072 centered in Skopje and was led by Georgi Voyteh. The insurgents gathered in Prizren and sought the aid of Michail, King of Zeta, who was related to Samuil: Michail was the son of Prince Stephan Voislav, the son of Samuel’s daughter Kossara (who had married Prince Jovan Vladimir). King Michail was thus the great-grandson of Samuel and the rebels, respecting his bloodline, applied to him for aid. He had promised in the past that he would support their desire to restore Samuel’s empire; he now gathered 300 soldiers and sent them to Prizren, accompanied by his son Constantine Bodin. There Bodin was proclaimed as tsar, changing his name from Constantine to Petar in honor of Petar Delyan.
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