The Battle of Kleidion (also Clidium, "the key", or Belasitsa) took place on July 29, 1014 between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire. July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... Events February 14 - Pope Benedict VIII recognizes Henry of Bavaria as King of Germany July 29 - Battle of Kleidion: Basil II inflicts not only a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, but his subsequent savage treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of shock... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Casus belli is a Latin expression from the international law theory of Jus ad bellum. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... Painting of Basil II, from an 11th century manuscript. ... Alternate usage: Samuil of the Britons Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria (c. ... July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... Events February 14 - Pope Benedict VIII recognizes Henry of Bavaria as King of Germany July 29 - Battle of Kleidion: Basil II inflicts not only a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, but his subsequent savage treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of shock... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ...

Prelude

The Byzantines and Bulgarians had been at war for decades. The largest phase of the war began in 1002, as Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria attempted to expand his territory into Byzantine Greece. Samuil successfully captured land as far south as Athens. Byzantine emperor Basil II wanted to stop this expansion and take back the land that had been lost to the Bulgarians in previous decades and centuries. Every year, Basil marched into Bulgaria to pillage the land, and by 1005 he had recaptured Thessaly, Macedonia, and Greece, and formed an alliance with the Serbs. Events November 13 - English king Ethelred gives order to kill all Danes in England, leading to the St. ... Alternate usage: Samuil of the Britons Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria (c. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína; IPA ) is the capital of Greece, and of the Attica prefecture of Greece. ... This is a list of Byzantine Emperors. ... Painting of Basil II, from an 11th century manuscript. ... Events Malcolm II succeeds Kenneth III as king of Scotland. ... Thessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalía; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The battle

The culmination of years of war came in 1014 when Basil finally faced the entire Bulgarian army in battle, which he had been unable to do in the previous 12 years. Samuil had built ditches along the frontier and had fortified many of the valleys and passes with walls and towers, especially the pass of Kleidion on the Strymon River, which Basil would most likely need to march through to reach the heart of Bulgaria. While leading his troops towards Kleidion Basil was frequently attacked by Bulgarian raiders, but the Bulgarians were defeated by a detachment of Byzantine troops under Theophylactus Botaniates, the strategos (duke) of Thessalonika. The Struma (Bulgarian: Струма, Greek: Strimonis, Turkish: Karasu (meaning black water in Turkish)) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. ... The term strategos (plural strategoi) is used in Greek to mean general. In the Byzantine Empire the term was also used to describe a military governor (see Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

At Kleidion Basil besieged the fortifications, but was unable to pass through the valley, which was defended by about 15-20,000 Bulgarians. Basil's general Nicephorus Xiphias (the strategos of Philippopolis) then took his forces around Mt. Belasitsa and ambushed the Bulgarians from behind, trapping them in the valley. The Bulgarians abandoned their towers to face this new threat, and Basil was able to break through. In the confusion, thousands of Bulgarians were killed; according to the account of Byzantine historian John Skylitzes, Samuil was present at the battle and was able to escape only with the help of his son's horse. Ancient Theater, Plovdiv International Fair, Plovdiv Plovdiv is a city in Bulgaria and the capital of the Plovdiv Oblast (district). ...

The prisoners

Botaniates was ambushed and killed by more Bulgarian raiders after the battle. Skylitzes also records that Basil completely routed the rest of the Bulgarians and took 14 000 prisoners. Basil then divided them into groups of 100 men, blinded 99 men in each group, and left one man in each with one eye so that he could lead the others home; this was possibly done in response to the death of Botaniates. Stylitzes says that Samuil died of a heart attack as he saw his forces march past on July 31, although other sources say Samuil was not present at the battle and lived until October 6. July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 153 days remaining, as the final day of July. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in Leap years). ...

Aftermath

Because of his victory Basil gained the nickname Bulgaroktonos, "the Bulgar-slayer." Despite Skylitzes' account, the Bulgarians under Samuil's successors must have had some army left, as Basil did not immediately capture the rest of Bulgaria. The war lasted another four years, until Bulgaria was completely defeated in 1018. In that year Bulgaria's last stronghold at Dyrrhachium was captured, and Bulgaria became a province of the Byzantine Empire till the successful uprising led by the Asen brothers in 1185. Events Bulgaria becomes part of the Byzantine Empire. ... Durrës (Italian: Durazzo; see also different names) is the most ancient and one of the most economically important important cities of Albania. ... The Asen dynasty ruled the Second Bulgarian Empire between 1187 and 1280. ...

Sources

• John Skylitzes, Synopsis Historion, translated by Paul Stephenson. [1]
• Warren T. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8047-2630-2