page_title: Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927
section_title: Later years
hierarchical_section_title: Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927 / Later years
caption_attribution_description: Български: Миниатюра 61 от Манасиевата летопис, 14 век: Опожаряване на църквата "Света Богородица при Извора" край Константинопол, по повеля на цар Симеон. English: Miniature 61 from the Constantine Manasses Chronicle, 14 century: Incineration of the church "Saint Mary at the Spring" near Constantinople, under the orders of tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria.
context_page_description: The Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927 was fought between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire for more than a decade. Although the war was provoked by the Byzantine emperor Alexander's decision to discontinue paying an annual tribute to Bulgaria, the military and ideological initiative was held by Simeon I of Bulgaria, who demanded to be recognized as Tsar and made it clear that he aimed to conquer not only Constantinople but the rest of the Byzantine Empire, as well.
  In 917, the Bulgarian army dealt a crushing defeat to the Byzantines at the Battle of Achelous, resulting in Bulgaria's total military supremacy in the Balkans. The Bulgarians again defeated the Byzantines at Katasyrtai in 917, Pegae in 921 and Constantinople in 922. The Bulgarians also captured the important city of Adrianople in Thrace and seized the capital of the Theme of Hellas, Thebes, deep in southern Greece. Following the disaster at Achelous, Byzantine diplomacy incited the Principality of Serbia to attack Bulgaria from the west, but this assault was easily contained.
context_section_description: After the failure to secure an alliance with the Arabs, in September 923 or 924 Simeon I once again appeared in Byzantine Thrace. The Bulgarians pillaged the outskirts of Constantinople, burned the Church of St. Mary of the Spring and set up camp at the walls of Constantinople. Simeon I demanded a meeting with Romanos I in order to establish a temporary truce to deal with the Serbian threat. The Byzantines, eager to cease hostilities, agreed. Prior to the meeting at the suburb of Kosmidion, the Bulgarians took precautions and carefully inspected the specially prepared platform – they still remembered the failed Byzantine attempt to assassinate Khan Krum (r. 803–814) during negotiations at the same place a century earlier, in 813.
  ...Simeon arrived with a large army, divided into many units, some armed with golden shields and golden spears, others with silver shields and silver spears, others with arms in every colour, and all of them were covered in iron.
  — Theophanes Continuatus on the Bulgarian army at Constantinople
  Romanos I arrived first; Simeon I appeared on a horse surrounded by elite soldiers who shouted in Greek "Glory to Simeon, the Emperor". According to the Byzantine chronicles, after the two monarchs had kissed, Romanos I demanded that Simeon I stop spilling Christian blood in an unnecessary war and delivered a small sermon to the ageing Bulgarian ruler asking how he could face God with all that blood on his hands. Simeon I had nothing to respond. However, historian Mark Whittow notes that those accounts were nothing but official Byzantine wishful thinking, composed after the event. The only hint of what really happened was an allegoric story that at the moment the meeting concluded, two eagles were seen flying high in the sky, then they engaged and immediately separated, one headed northwards to Thrace, the other flying to Constantinople. This was seen as a bad omen representing the fates of the two rulers. The portent of two eagles is a rhetorical implication that in the meeting Romanos I recognized Simeon I's imperial title and his equal status to the emperor in Constantinople. However, Romanos I never ratified the agreement in Simeon I's lifetime, and the contradictions between the two sides remained unresolved. In a correspondence dated from 925, the Byzantine emperor criticized Simeon I for calling himself "Emperor of the Bulgarians and the Romans" and demanded the return of the conquered fortresses in Thrace.
  In 926 the Bulgarians sent an army to invade the Kingdom of Croatia in order to secure their rear for a new offensive on Constantinople. Simeon I saw the Croatian state as a threat because king Tomislav (r. 910–928) was a Byzantine ally and harboured his enemies. The Bulgarians marched into Croatian territory but suffered a complete defeat at the hands of the Croats. Though peace was quickly restored through Papal mediation, Simeon I continued to prepare for an assault on the Byzantine capital. It was evident that the Bulgarian losses had not been significant because only a small portion of the whole army had been sent to fight the Croats. The Bulgarian monarch seemed secure in the belief that king Tomislav would honour the peace. However, like his predecessor Krum, Simeon I died in the midst of the preparations for an attack on Constantinople on 27 May 927, aged sixty–three.
caption: The Bulgarians burn the Church of St. Mary of the Spring, Manasses Chronicle
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