page_title: Boris I of Bulgaria
section_title: Military campaigns
hierarchical_section_title: Boris I of Bulgaria / Reign / Military campaigns
caption_attribution_description: English: Sources: 1. P.M. Barford, The Early Slavs. Culture and Society in Early Medieval Eastern Europe, ISBN&#160;0-8014-3977-9 2. John Fine, Jr., The Early Medieval Balkans, ISBN&#160;0-472-08149-7 3. D. Hupchik, The Balkans. From Constantinople to Communism, ISBN&#160;1-4039-6417-4&#160;Invalid ISBN 4. H.E. Stier (dir.), Grosser Atlas zur Weltgeschichte, Westermann publ., Braunschweig 1985, ISBN&#160;3-14-100919-8, pp. 54-59. Borders were often fluctuant, and those represented here are based on discussions contained within the above books. Hxseek (talk) 03:42, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
context_page_description: Boris I, also known as Boris-Mihail and Bogoris, was the ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire in 852–889. At the time of his baptism in 864, Boris was named Michael after his godfather, Emperor Michael III. The historian Steven Runciman called him one of the greatest persons in history.
  Despite a number of military setbacks, the reign of Boris I was marked with significant events that shaped Bulgarian and European history. With the Christianization of Bulgaria in 864 paganism was abolished. A skilful diplomat, Boris I successfully exploited the conflict between the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Papacy to secure an autocephalous Bulgarian Church, thus dealing with the nobility's concerns about Byzantine interference in Bulgaria's internal affairs.
  When in 885 the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius were banished from Great Moravia, Boris I gave them refuge and provided assistance to develop the Cyrillic script and the Slavic literature. After he abdicated in 889, his eldest son and successor tried to restore the old pagan religion but was deposed by Boris I.
context_section_description: Boris I was the son and successor of Presian I of Bulgaria. In 852 he sent emissaries to Eastern Francia to confirm the peace treaty of 845. At the time of his accession he threatened the Byzantines with an invasion, but his armies did not attack, and he received a small area in Strandzha to the southeast. The peace treaty was not signed, however, although both states exchanged temporary delegations. In 854 the Moravian Prince Rastislav persuaded Boris I to help him against East Francia. According to some sources, some Franks bribed the Bulgarian monarch to attack Louis the German. The Bulgarian-Slav campaign was a disaster, and Louis scored a great victory and invaded Bulgaria. At the same time the Croats waged a war against the Bulgarians. Both peoples had coexisted peacefully up to that time, suggesting that the Croats were paid by Louis to attack Bulgaria and distract Boris' attention from his alliance with Great Moravia. Kanasubigi Boris could not achieve any success, and both sides exchanged gifts and settled for peace. As a result of the military actions in 855, the peace between Bulgaria and Eastern Francia was restored, and Rastislav was forced to fight against Louis alone. In the meantime, a conflict between the Byzantines and Bulgarians had started in 855–856, and Boris, distracted by his conflict with Louis, lost Philippopolis (Plovdiv), the region of Zagora, and the ports around the Gulf of Burgas on the Black Sea to the Byzantine army led by Michael III and the caesar Bardas.
caption: Bulgaria under rule of Boris I
exif: {}