The Battle of the Bosnian Highlands was fought between the huge armies of the two most powerful Balkan rulers of the time: Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I, the great victor of the Battle of Anchialus over the Byzantine Empire ten years earlier, and King Tomislav of Croatia, the first king of the growing Croatian state. May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ... Events Hubaekje sacks the Silla capital of Gyeongju and places King Gyeongsun on the throne. ... Approximate borders between Bosnia (marked light) and Herzegovina (marked dark) Historically and geographically, the region known as Bosnia (natively Bosna/Босна) comprises the northern part of the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... Bosnia and Herzegovina (also variously written Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bosnia-Hercegovina) is a mountainous country in the western Balkans. ... Casus Belli is a New Latin expression meaning occasion of war. ... This is the history of Croatia. ... First Bulgarian Empire Second Bulgarian Empire This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... King Tomislav of Croatia Tomislav (died in 928?) was the first king of Croatia. ... Cavalry is also a common misspelling of the Biblical hill Calvary. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme, First World War. ... ... Tsar Simeon the Great (ruled 893-May 27, 927) was 27 when he took the throne of Bulgaria from his brother Vladimir, the son of Prince Boris, who was deposed and blinded by his own father after his attempt to return Bulgaria to paganism. ... The Battle of Anchialus refers to three battles between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire. ... Byzantine Empire (Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων) is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... King Tomislav of Croatia Tomislav (died in 928?) was the first king of Croatia. ...

According to Theophanes Continuatus (The Continuer of Theophanes`s Chronicle) and other historians, the battle took place on May 27, 927 and was fought in the area of the highlands of Eastern Bosnia near the Drina River, the border area between the Kingdom of Croatia and Bulgarian Empire. The Drina is a river on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro. ...

The Bulgarian ruler, Symeon, was a wise and able man with a restless and insatiable spirit. He spent his entire life fighting battles with neighboring countries. His basic aim was to defeat the Byzantine Empire and conquer Byzantium. To achieve his aim, Symeon overran the eastern and central Balkans several times, occupied Serbia and finally atacked Croatia. The Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија) is a republic in southeastern and central Europe, which is united with Montenegro in a loose commonwealth known as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. ...

Events preceding the war

After long wars and great success, capturing a larger part of Byzantine territory in Europe, Symeon the Great proclaimed himself Emperor and took the title "Emperor of the Bulgarians and Greeks" at the beginning of 925. According to the juridical reasoning of the time, only the Pope and the Byzantine Emperor could bestow royal or imperial titles, and an emperor might be crowned only by a patriarch. Byzantine Emperor Romanus Lecapenus protested bitterly against Symeon`s usurpation of the imperial title. Patriarch of Constantinople, Nicolas Mysticus, did the same. In such a predicament, Symeon begged Pope John X (914-928) to send him an imperial crown and to recognize the head of the Bulgarian church as Patriarch. Naturally, Symeon had to promise to recognize the papal primacy in the Church. John X accepted Symeon`s request and sent a solemn mission to Bulgaria, headed by Cardinal Madalbertus and John, illustrious Duke of Cumae. The papal mission reached Bulgaria at the end of summer or during the fall of 926, carryng a crown and scepter with which they would crown Symeon as Bulgarian Emperor. Events Alfonso IV the Monk becomes king of Leon Ha-Mim proclaims himself a prophet among the Ghomara of Morocco Tomislav, duke of the Croatian duchies of Pannonia and Dalmatia, is crowned King of Croatia at Duvno field. ... John X, pope from 914 to 928, was deacon at Bologna when he attracted the attention of Theodora, the wife of Theophylact, the most powerful noble in Rome, through whose influence he was elevated first to the see of Bologna and then to the archbishopric of Ravenna. ... Events Town of Warwick, England founded on the River Avon Vikings conquer much of Ireland Byzantine Empire battles with Bulgaria over city of Adrianople, which changes hands several times Reconstruction of Nanjing after a long dissertation; it marked the beginning of contemporary Nanjing City. ... Events Dao Kang Di succeeds Gong Hui Di and is followed in the same year by Tai Zu, all of the Dali Gu Dynasty in southeast China. ... Events Bohai is conquered by the Khitan Births Emperor Murakami of Japan Deaths Categories: 926 ...

When the papal mission arrived in Preslav, Madalbertus started long negotiations with Symeon and the representatives of the Bulgarian church. Probably, Madalbertus convoked a church synod in Bulgaria as he later did in Split, in Croatia, on his way back to Rome in 928. The negotiations regarding ecclesiastical matters were successful, and Archbishop Leontius was created Patriarch in Preslav, still during Symeon`s reign. Preslav ( Bulgarian: Преслав) was capital of the First Bulgarian Empire from 893 to 972. ... Split (Italian: Spalato, Latin: Aspalathos) is the largest and most important city in Dalmatia, the administrative center of Croatias Split-Dalmatia county. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,553,873 almost 4,300,000 1. ...

Reasons for the war

Meanwhile, Symeon undertook imposing preparations for his crowing during the summer of 927. All of a sudden, he decided to wage a war against the Kingdom of Croatia.

The reason might have been that Tomislav received and protected the Serbs who were expelled by Symeon from Rascia. In all probability, however, the main reason was that Symeon, if crowned by Papal Legate, feared an attack from Byzantine Emperor supported by Tomislav. Emperor Romanus Lecapenus won the friendship of Tomislav some years previously, handing over the Byzantine Dalmatia to Tomislav and recognizing him as King of Croatia (Pope John X recognized Tomislav as King of Croatia in 925). During the summer of 926, Tomislav sent his troops to Italy to expel Saracens, from the city of Sipontus, which belonged to the Byzantine province of Langobardia. This event could have been a sufficient proof to Symeon that the Croats took the side of the Byzantine Emperor and that they would support him actively in the future. Therefore, when in the next spring Symeon sent a great army against the Croats, Bulgarians were met by Tomislav`s army in the mountainous region of Eastern Bosnia on May 27, 927. Serbs (in the Serbian language Срби, Srbi) are a south Slavic people living chiefly in Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... Raška (Raschka, Rascia, Rassa) was the central and most successful medieval Serbian state (or župa, area ruled by a župan) that unified neighboring Serbian tribes into the main medieval Serbian state in Balkans. ... Dalmatia (Croatian Dalmacija, Italian Dalmazia) is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, (mostly) in modern Croatia, spreading between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. ... For the rugby club Saracens see Saracens (rugby club) The term Saracen comes from Greek sarakenoi. ... Croats (Croatian: Hrvati) are a south Slavic people mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. ...

The battle

According to Byzantine historian Constantine Porphyrogenitus, King Tomislav had an army of 160,000 soldiers (60,000 cavalry and 100,000 infantry). This was likely the greatest European army of the Middle Ages. The strength of Simeon's army is unknown but was probably as large as the Croatian army. The commander of the Bulgarian forces in this battle was Duke (Dux) Alogobotur. Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos (the Purple-born) ( 905 – November 9, 959) was the son of Byzantine emperor Leo VI and nephew of Alexander III. He earned his nickname as the legitimate (or more accurately legitimized) son of Leo, as opposed to the others who claimed the throne during his lifetime. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

According to all historic sources, the Croatian forces under the leadership of their king completly decimated the Bulgarian army, cutting them down to a man. A key of Tomislav's triumphant victory was likely the choice of terrain on which the battle took place; Croatian soldiers were probably far more skilled in fighting on mountainous terrain of Bosnian highlands. A huge Croatian cavalry was probably also a decisive factor against Bulgarians. Though we have no evidence about size or shape of Bulgarian armys, it would be reasnoble to conjecture it was composed mainly of foot soldiers, as most of European armies of time. Large, heavy cavalry was just being introduced into the warfare at the time.

The defeat was a military catastrophe for the Bulgarians, and meant an end for Symeon's imperialistic dream, the conquest of Constantinople. The Bulgarian emperor died soon afterwards, and his dominion crumbled shortly afterwards.