page_title: Diplomacy
section_title: Byzantine Empire
hierarchical_section_title: Diplomacy / History / Europe / Byzantine Empire
caption_attribution_description: English: Skyllitzes Matritensis, fol. 35r, detail. Miniature: The Bulgarian ruler Mortagon (Omurtag) receives envoys from the Byzantine Emperor Michael II (s. Tsamakda) or sends envoys to Michael II (s. Божилов). Text from the Chronicle of John Skylitzes: "... Meanwhile, the word having gone out through the whole world that the Roman emperor lay besieged and confined within his own walls, Mortagon, king of the Bulgars, sent him a secret message announcing that he would send help of his own free will and conclude a treaty with him. Either because he really did have pity on his fellow country men or because he resented the expense (he was the most parsimonious emperor there ever was), Michael thanked the Bulgar for his intentions but refused the proferred aid. ..." (Translated by John Wortley, in: John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811-1057: Translation and Notes, p. 40) References: Ioannis Scylitzae Synopsis Historiarum. Editio Princeps. Rec. Ioannes Thurn, p. 37, in: Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 5 Series Berolinensis, 1973 Tsamakda V.: The illustrated chronicle of Ioannes Skylitzes in Madrid, p. 75-76 Божилов Ив.: Българите във Византийската империя, p. 169 Grabar A., Manoussacas M.: L'illustration du manuscript de Skylitzes de Madrid, p. 36 Божков А.: Миниатюри от Мадридския ръкопис на Йоан Скилица, p. 195-196 Deutsch: Skyllitzes Matritensis, Fol. 35r, Detail Miniatur: Der Khan der Bulgaren Mortagon (Omurtag) empfängt Gesandte des byzantinischen Kaisers Michael II. oder sendet Gesandte zu ihm. Text aus der Chronik von Johannes Skylitzes: "... Während es um beide so stand, sandte der Bulgarenkaiser Mortagon heimlich einen Unterhändler zu Michael und trug ihm aus freien Stücken ein Hilfscorps und Bündnis an. Die Kunde, daß der rhomäische Kaiser in seiner Residenzstadt eingeschlossen sei und sich einer Belagerung zu erwehren habe, war über die Erde verbreitet worden. Michael, sei es, daß er tatsächlich die große Masse seiner Landsleute schonen wollte, sei es aus Sparsamkeit (er war nämlich filziger als alle Kaiser vor vor ihm), zollte dem Entschluß des Bulgaren Anerkennung, verbat sich aber eine Hilfe. ..." (Synopsis Historion S. 37 übersetzt von Hans Thurn, in: Byzantinische Geschichtsschreiber 15, S. 68) Български: Skyllitzes Matritensis, л. 35r, детайл. Миниатюра: Тълкованието на миниатюрата е спорно. Според Божилов тя изобразява Омуртаг изпращащ вестоносци до Михаил II. Според Цамакда това са вестонците на Михаил, които съобщават на Омуртаг, че византийският император отказва предложената му помощ. Цитат от хрониката на Йоан Скилица: "... При това положение на нещата (навред по целия свят се бил вече пръснал слухът, че императорът на ромеите е затворен в стените на Цариград и обсаден) царят на българите Мортагон тайно изпратил някого при [Михаил], за да му съобщи, че по свой почин желае да му прати помощ и подкрепление. Михаил пък, било че действително съжалявал сънарадниците си, било че пестял парите (защото от всички императори дотогава той бил най-големия скъперник), похвалил предложението на българите, но отказал помощта. ..." (Scylitzes-Cedrenus – Скилица-Кедрин. Превод на В. Тъпкова-Заимова, в: ГИБИ VI, стр. 233)
context_page_description: Diplomacy is the practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of states or groups. It entails influencing the decisions and conduct of foreign governments and officials through dialogue, negotiation, and other nonviolent means. It usually refers to international relations carried out through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to a full range of topical issues.
  Diplomacy is the main instrument of foreign policy, which represents the broader goals and strategies that guide a state's interactions with the rest of the world. International treaties, agreements, alliances, and other manifestations of foreign policy are usually the result of diplomatic negotiations and process. Diplomats may also help shape a state's foreign policy in an advisory capacity.
  Since the early 20th century, diplomacy has become increasingly professionalized; the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, ratified by most of the world's sovereign states, provides a framework for diplomatic procedures, methods, and conduct.
context_section_description: The key challenge to the Byzantine Empire was to maintain a set of relations between itself and its sundry neighbors, including the Georgians, Iberians, the Germanic peoples, the Bulgars, the Slavs, the Armenians, the Huns, the Avars, the Franks, the Lombards, and the Arabs, that embodied and so maintained its imperial status. All these neighbors lacked a key resource that Byzantium had taken over from Rome, namely a formalized legal structure. When they set about forging formal political institutions, they were dependent on the empire. Whereas classical writers are fond of making a sharp distinction between peace and war, for the Byzantines diplomacy was a form of war by other means. With a regular army of 120,000-140,000 men after the losses of the seventh century, the empire's security depended on activist diplomacy.
  Byzantium's "Bureau of Barbarians" was the first foreign intelligence agency, gathering information on the empire's rivals from every imaginable source. While on the surface a protocol office—its main duty was to ensure foreign envoys were properly cared for and received sufficient state funds for their maintenance, and it kept all the official translators—it clearly had a security function as well. On Strategy, from the 6th century, offers advice about foreign embassies: "[Envoys] who are sent to us should be received honourably and generously, for everyone holds envoys in high esteem. Their attendants, however, should be kept under surveillance to keep them from obtaining any information by asking questions of our people."
caption: Omurtag, ruler of Bulgaria, sends delegation to Byzantine emperor Michael II (Madrid Skylitzes, Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid).
exif: {}