Fun fact of the day: there were actually two Bulgarias at one point in history - the Danube one (that exists to this day) and the Volga one that was conquered in the 13th century. Volga Bulgarians were also known as White or Silver Bulgarians since, at the height of their power, their borders spread from the Black Sea in the south up to the Sea of Kara in the north and anyone from Central or Eastern Asia that wanted to trade with Europe had to pass through their territory and pay a tax.
Also, the Volga Bulgaria was known as 'Bulgaria major' and our Danubian Bulgaria was 'Bulgarian minor' because the other one was way bigger as a teritory (and probably as population).
One thing to address: these are the Silver Bulgarians. The White Bulgarians are Asparuh's Bulgarians while the Black Bulgarians are these of Bayan. Fun fact - if we follow my mother's lineage only, I'm basically a half-Bayan Bulgar.
@@Boykofan well they did establish a government if you will :D .Alcek even build a fortress and ruled it like a governor for years over the specific villages his ppl settled (Gallo Matese, Sepino, Boiano and Isernia) . i count him and his bulgairnas as a state too, just obv way more small one and it did survive for the course of 14 centuries there. they should be acknowledged to. here is pic of his Statue in Celle i bulgheria www.dunavmost.com/novini/italianski-grad-pochita-prabalgarskiya-vladetel-kan-altsek
The reference for Cambyses II dying from a wound sustained while mounting a horse is from Ancient Greek historian Herodotus, "The Histories", Third Book, Chapter 64: "[3] As he sprang upon his horse, the cap fell off the sheath of his sword, and the naked blade pierced his thigh, wounding him in the same place where he had once wounded the Egyptian god Apis; and believing the wound to be mortal, Cambyses asked what was the name of the town where he was. [4] They told him it was Ecbatana. Now a prophecy had before this come to him from Buto, that he would end his life at Ecbatana; Cambyses supposed this to signify that he would die in old age at the Median Ecbatana, his capital city; but as the event proved, the oracle prophesied his death at Ecbatana of Syria. [5] So when he now inquired and learned the name of the town, the shock of his wound, and of the misfortune that came to him from the Magus, brought him to his senses; he understood the prophecy and said: “Here Cambyses son of Cyrus is to die.” (translation A.D. Godley) While Herodotus, who lived in the 5th Century BC, about 100 years after Cambyses, was not an always reliable source, he is probably the best ancient source for the history of the early Persian empire up to the Battles of Marathon and Salamis. It is probable that Herodotus used oral or written traditions which contained some historical truth, even though his way of telling history contains some exaggerations and inventions.
Such a wonderful video. Thank you for your hard work! Some things to point out: 1. Cheers to Spirit for telling us the Bulgars were semi-nomadic but NOT going the wikipedia rout and attributing them to a certain ethno-linguistic group of peoples. Who's ethno-nationalists keep harping on about it to an annoying degree. Kudos! 2. Before Asparukh, Kuber came to the Balkans and established himself in modern day Northern Italy and Albania. We know from sources that Tervel the guy who helped the Byzantines beat back the Arabs is reported to have spoken to his "cousins" who rejected a Byzantine offer to basically be bought out. This means that during the first Bulgarian Empire's early years we had a unique case where we had basically two countries of the same people though not under the same monarch, yet on friendly and brotherly terms. Even today there are lots of places in northern Italy and last names of people that are basically Bulgarian. 3. The title "khan" is probably not historically used by the Bulgars, but you probably used it for convinience without opening a whole new can of controversy like on #1 4. The alphabet is Bulgarian basically but Cyrill and Methodius developed the Glagolic aplhabet that proved to be too difficult. 5. Bulgarians DID use crossbows since there is plenty of archeological evidence especially in large medieval urban centers and castles of trigger mechanisms. In Bulgarian at the time the crossbow was know as a "Samostrel" (self-shooter) and they were employed at least after the 12th century. Why the devs ommited the Xbows and not just the Arbalest is something that will hopefully be rectofied in a patch. GIVE THE BULGARIANS CROSSBOWS!!!! 6. Ivaylo was most likely not a peasant but a very powerful despot who just ceased opportunity of the weakened monarchy to take power. The pig part comes from a Byzantine mistranslation of probably his heraldic charge which might have been a wild boar 7. Volga Bulgaria was great regional and territorial power until the Mongols took it over. Unlike it's Balkan counterpart the people were Muslim. What is interesting is that the two nations seem to have been on good terms despite religious differences, as small populations of Volga Bulgarians came to the Balkans. However the large distance between both nations limited any long standing and influencial relationships 8. The Bogomils (a religious splinter group which you meet in one of the Ivaylo missions) also originated from Bulgaria and went on to reach Western Europe. 9. The Bulgarian naval question is also under dispute now since apparantly the Bulgarian navy managed to beat the Milanese too. Thats quite the feet for such a underdog navy. 10. The main tower of the Krepost is inspired by the Donjon of the Rila Monastary in Bulgaria, a truly magnificent example of Bulgarian medieval architecture of which very few survive unfortunately. 11. The three lions and the modern crest are pretty much the same thing. It is puzzling why the shield is round however, a kite shield would've been better though. 12. The original Age of Kings devs wanted to add the Bulgars in the base game all the way back in 1997.
Yes, Kuber first went to Panonia (Romania nowadays) and then was forced to move to Macedonia. But the youngest brother Alcek at first went to Northern Italy then he moved to Southern Italy.
To be strict, the Catholic-Orthodox divide didn't exist officially in 850 AD. There was certainly a cultural and political Latin-Greek divide between the countries, but the Church was united at that point.
@@JM-qv7fe Some holidays are very important for catholics, other for orthodox, some texts in the Bible may be different, customs too and the point that of anything different from the west Russia has to have influence for better or worse.
@@JM-qv7fe There is a very important distinction in the theology of both churches. The schism happened mostly due to the interpretation of the so-called filioque, you can look up that word, along with the dogma of papal primacy. Reunification is possible from the position of the Catholics due to Vatican II, but I don't think the Orthodox Church is willing to accept the changes of the same Vatican II.
@@JM-qv7fe I know quite a few greeks who have very strong opinions on being a papist. Not positive ones either. There's a large history of conflict and blood shed between the two sides that are not easily forgotten. Not saying that maybe someday there's won't be a union between the two churches, but I doubt it especially with the social political positions that the current pope is taking. Hell I know Catholics who think that the pope is heretical or at least tolerate heresy. Just look up about Pachamama idol worship in rome.
So the real Bulgarians built Kreposts to keep their territories safe from outsiders and fittingly enough in AOE2 you get to drop a Krepost right on your opponent's head in the middle of their town so that you can push them off their farms and resources.
You mean you build a late Krepost in your own territory, which the enemy blatantly occupied with their starting TC. I see no issue with this act of defense.
The Bagains tech also has a similar flavor to the Malian Farimba: an attempt to convey powerful-but-less-developed by making units that aren't fully upgraded still viable as core military units.
Bulgaria is a beautiful country and has such an interesting history, it is the oldest country in Europe (681) and has been the dominant force in the Balkan States for lots of years, it is sad that a lot of people dont know about it, so thanks for the video Spirit.
@@НиколаМирчев-щ6о yes and no. It "became" France long before the 9th century. In the 9th-10th century, parts of the frankish empire became the HRE, but since 481 there has always been a France of some sort. Bulgaria was annexed by the Byzantines between 1018 and 1181, and later conquered by the Turks. But it is most certainly a very nice and historic country I hope to visit one day. (Plus, you invented the yoghurt, that's someting to celebrate 😉)
Great video! As a half-Bulgarian, I'd encourage you to look up Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the 2nd Bulgarian empire. It might be one of the most beautiful places on earth. :-)
Very important hystorical moment is in the 13th century, when Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan helped the Byzantines to crush the Fourth Crusade, which at some point conquered the Byzantine empire.
Thanks for creating this video, and bringing a quick information about our history to so many people. I have found that too few people know about Bulgaria at all, let alone that we have some interesting history here!
6:23 - A quick FYI, the Serbians were a Bulgarian Vassal from about 800 AD to late 1200 AD, and they only became a real nuisance in 1300 AD during the Reign of the Serbian Ruler Tsar Dushan, who gained his power and influence by marrying the then Princess Helena of Bulgaria, not to mention that Dushan was half Bulgarian from his mothers side who was the Bulgarian Empress Theodora. Dushan crippled any stability that existed in the Balkan region built up by the Bulgarian Empire, and ultimately was instrumental in helping the Ottomans claim all of the Balkans for 500 years shortly after his insignificant 10 year reign... Tsar Dushan should be known as "The Divider of peoples", while the Bulgarian motto is "Strength in Unity"
@@RLDragonStrider I don't think Yugoslavia could, should or would ever be a thing again. In order for Yugoslavia to be successful, history needs to be resolved and people shouldn't be angry with facts such as what I mentioned - this is something that is HIGHLY unlikely to occur.
How much of a MADMAN was the guy that went from peasant to king in two missions defeating their own nobility, turks AND MONGOLS Edit: guys i'm latin american, i have no clue of bulgarian history. Sorry if my meme comment is "innacurate"
When people need leaders, they are created. Napoleon was an Italian nobody, Spartak was a slave, Genghis Khan was a son of a tribal khan among hundreds of warring tribes , Ivailo was a pig farmer...
THE REASON he did this was the weakness of the Tsar and his nobility at that time. Not to mention other social and cultural factors. it is funny that Communists used this name- Ivailo, during lessons at schools/ univ. around 1950-1970 and to CLAIM that HE WAS THE FIRST communist in history. This is absurd, ofc. But they wished people believe it
@@Милошелики No, that was the glagolitic. The Cyrillic alphabet was created by St. Clement of Ohrid - a Bulgarian student of Cyril. He named it after his teacher.
@@Милошелики Kiril and Methody are not greeks !!! The fact that they are born in city which is in today's greece doesnt mather becausr back then this was Bulgarian teritory
@@Милошелики The greeks monks are Ciril and Methodius but they created the Glagolithic alphabet, their students who came to Bulgaria from Moravia improved by making the Cyrilic. One was in Preslav and the other in Ohrid.
I cant stress enough how nice and wholesome this video is. Spirit combines his (ours) love for beautiful video game with educational content and creates something that is fun to watch, that is creative, that has the best animations and is overall great online video. Thanks Spirit!
The flail actually was seemingly rarely used if at all throughout history. It has more drawbacks than benefits when in use (since for example if you miss a swing, it retains momentum and can strike the wielder, and you would have a rather long recovery time from a missed swing). Whilst depictions in fiction are abound and readily available, it just doesn’t seem like a viable weapon compared to others and I’m not sure why it was preferred for the Bulgarians, especially on horseback since it seems like the problem of the flail would be amplified.
There have been flails excavated in Bulgaria, wheter or not the devs knew and went with it or decided to make stuff up for weapon variety is up for debate.
thanks so much for this awesome video Bulgarians have been one of my favourite civs since DE came out, but I had no idea where/how they fit into history at all, so this was super interesting to watch
Man, I simply love this "vs History" series of yours. Thank you so much for taking your time and making these videos! Also, consider doing Slavs next some time in the future, pretty please! :)
Awesome video as always Spirit! This is my fav civ and I can't wait for your review of it, although I must admit, I resent not having the last archer armour upgrade so I pretty much never use archers. I'm all about that hussar / konnik strategy. But if I'm honest, I think they only became my favourite civ because of their starting song. So damn good!
yea i i was like :D. wait so Volga bulgaria ho at its prime in 13 centory was way more bigger then even my bulgaria(Asparux) ever even was in its own prime in the time of tzar Ivan asen 2 bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Втора_българска_държава#/media/Файл:Bulgaria-Ivan_Asen_2.png facebook.com/741663149204831/photos/a.741757472528732/803799769657835/?type=1&theater dosent count ?:D
Glad to see a video so well representing my country. Thank you. I should note that when we were conquered by the Ottomans for near 500 years there was no a 'Bulgarian state' because 99.99% of our aristocracy and intelligence was slaughtered or forced to emigrate. Also what the devs DIDN'T capture is that Bulgaria and Byzantine stand on the Silk Road. Both civs were amongst the world's most developed cultures. But neither their market nor uni or farms are buffed.
It's kind of ironic that the Bulgarian unique unit gets up and continues fighting after having its horse shot out from under it, while the Ivaylo campaign begins with the story of a Bulgarian tsar who became a paraplegic after being thrown from his horse.
Strirups are needed for shock cavalry Alexander’s Companion cavalry and Kataphractoi have entered the chat Also, saddles during Caesar’s time included the “four-horned saddle”, which the reinactor was wearing, the four horns prevent the rider from being pushed forwards or backwards from the saddle
Great video! Regarding 7:10 - When Khan Tervel helped with repelling the Arab invasion, he was pronounced Savior of Europe by the biggest empires in Europe at that time ^^
As I am Bulgarian and I played Age of Empires II when I was kid it is very pleasing for me to see that our nations historical might is aknowledged in such way. And I get goos bums every time when I see someone play Bulgarians in AOE II DE. I want to say that I would love to see the video where you compare the campaign storyline with the real historical events. Fun fact! This school year I had to make a project to tell the story of Ivaylo and I used the playthrough of the campaign that The Viper made as a part of the presentation to tell the story of the pig farmer that became The Tsar and held seven armies on every border of his kingdom for a little bit over two years with scares resources and manpower only to be betrayed by his nobles and killed by the invaders while seeking help. P.S: I am sorry if I wrote something wrong. "Съединението прави силата", пожелавам на всички да сте живи и здрави в тези страшни времена, благодаря ти "Дух на закона" (Spirt of the Law) че разказа част от нашата история.
That was an awesome description. All i want to say is that there were 32 byzantine-Bulgarian wars (By some accounts 34 because of the uprisings between 1040 and 1072 which were very large) and Bulgaria was mostly victorious 26 of those wars were victory. Although Byzantium conquered Bulgaria it is worth mentioning that Byzantium only conquered half of Bulgaria, the other half was taken by Hungary, Kievan Rus, Pechenegs, Uzes and so on since Bulgaria had 50 years long war with all of its neighbors. Byzantium of course conquered the core but it was not really a full conquest in 1018 the tsar usurper Joan Vladislav died in a duel and after that the nobility just surrendered. Basil stopped campaigning after 1016.
@@pyroshrimp4073 I think Vladislav announced himself as Byzantine vassal and try to buy the peace with Byzantium by paying tribute to Constantinople. But Basil started supporting other candidates for the throne from the shadows and in one such battle Vladislav died and the Emperor restarted the campaigns, however, instead of facing any opposition the widow empress and the nobles surrendered at the border.
Good overview, but I'd like to correct some things that I noticed. Note that I'm not a historian, I'm just going with what I've read, and there might be other inaccuracies that I can't pick up on. The Great Schism happened in 1054 AD, Orthodoxy didn't exist in 850 AD yet. There was a shared Slavic script before Cyrillic, the Glagolitic. The pronunciation of some words is wrong. Konnik is pronounced with a long N, not just konik, i.e. kon-nik. The final H in Asparuh is also pronounced (like the H in hello), and the U is like oo in moo or oops, just short. Bagain isn't like gain, but every syllable is pronounced, like ba-ga-in. Ba like in bar, ga like Gaga, and in like the preposition in.
I had a girlfriend who was Croatian and as SotL and I are both Canadian, I can tell you that pronouncing Slavic languages is very very difficult. I apologize from us Westerners in advance (but we are trying!)
@@jamesaltonfilms I agree they are hard but I think that the most easy for west people from Slav would be Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian becouse they are close to Romanian which is Romance language. I think Bulgarian is the easy one but only if you know over 500 worlds and can read Cyrilic and this is not easy task for a westerner and i respect every westerner who try to speak Slav language.
@@m136dalie I wouldn't say so. It's not a matter of mimicking the sounds (even though English has the exact same sounds), but more that he's reading them as if they are English words and follow English spelling rules (if those exist). He drops entire syllables that should be pronounced, no matter what your accent is. Either way, I didn't mean anything bad or malicious by it, I'm just noting that it's incorrect in case anyone cares. I don't know if he actually can even find a source where these words are pronounced since Google doesn't offer that.
I can't begin to describe to you how happy this video makes me feel as a Bulgarian. Outsiders care to learn more about our history that the Bulgarian population today and it's sad, as we've almost completely lost our national spirit and our population rapidly dying out.
@@saulgoodman9278 Bulgaria's population is rapidly shrinking - I think, no other country's population is decreasing that fast ( at least among the members of the European Union ). The only factor that helps the statistical numbers not to look too bad, is the presence of gypsies ( Bulgarian - Romanian gypsies, not to be confused with the gypsies in the other parts of Europe ). A lot of them are having too many kids, and while they are still a minority today, they might end up, being the majority within a few generations. Then, they can seize the power and rename the country to Gypsy land, or whatever name they like. Apologies for the late reply! Tip: when you write a comment, press the like button as well. By some reason UA-cam stopped notifying the people, when someone comments on their posts, but it still notify them, when they get a like. Greetings from Bulgaria! :)
There were at least two empires by the Bolgars - Danube Bulgaria and Volga Bulgaria. Both were long lasting empires and quite influential in the Middle Ages.
Thank you for making this video, Spirit Of The Law, although there were some very minor inaccuracies, it was well-rounded and well-written, and for someone that isn't familiar with the Bulgarian history - it's an amazing place to start. That being said I would also like to mention how on the 26th of July 811, Khan Krum killed the Byzantian emperor (Nikephoros I) in battle, chopped his head off, and made a silver-encrusted cup out of his flayed skull. Although this sounds savage as hell (and it kind of is), this happened in the Varbishki mountain pass, after Krum offered peace to Nikephoros I several times, and the emperor sacked several cities on his way inside Bulgaria. Long story short - he was caught out in the aforementioned mountain pass while retreating, most of his army was slaughtered, the emperor got killed, the emperor's heir barely managed to escape, but later died from his wounds. The casualties for the Bulgarian armies were minimal. So yeah, don't poke the wasp's nest even if you are an empire, I guess. :D
I got to say, I love these history videos. I am a huge history nerd, yet I am really learning a lot from these videos. You are doing a great job! Keep it up!
The Arkani and Bagain were new things to me, I haven'y heard of them before, so great job, Spirit! I would say that you covered our history quite well!
This video shows the true meaning of "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" So can you stop saying that bulgarians are a broken civ! Thank you! Anyway, amazing video, Spirit, I am looking forward for more! Much love from Bulgaria
Very good video overall! They were some inaccuracies as well as information seen as controversial due to propaganda and multiple changes of our history, but - again - overall, great job! I can see that the aforementioned inaccuracies and controversial info have been discussed by others in the comment section, and even some arguments over the different theories have started, so I won't dig into such details. Just to mention for the people who have been wondering about the use of the stirrup - while might not help a lot for the fight with spears from the back of the horse, it helps a lot after the initial charge is over. Most of the bulgarian horsemen (including the horse archers) have had a side weapon - usually a long blade or something heavier :) While their counterparts could only strike while sitting, the Bulgarians could use the stirrups to rise up, and to strike their enemies from above. This gave them a significant advantage. As for the game representation - quite accurate overall, although I have to mention, that the Proto-Bulgarian cavalry archers and heavy cavalry archers were some of the best in the early medieval, so it should have been fair to give them some bonus, or at least the last armour upgrade, but I guess, the devs decided not to do this for balancing reasons. I'm not good with cavalry archers anyway, so it doesn't matter for me anyway :) The UU might have been inspired by the chigots - the guards of the Proto-Bulgarian ruler (the unit was used during the early years of the Danube Bulgaria as well). Those men were so elite, that they could even fight dismounted! :D Proto-Bulgarian army was pretty much all about cavalry, so I guess those chosen 200 men were really special - they could fight not just on horse back but as infantry as well! ;) Greetings from Bulgaria!
As the number of evidence of linguistic, ethnographic and socio-political nature show that Bulgars belonged to the group of Turkic peoples.[36][24][26][30] The Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians[40]) were a semi-nomadic people of Turkic descent, originally from Central Asia, who from the 2nd century onwards dwelled in the steppes north of the Caucasus and around the banks of river Volga (then Itil). en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bulgaria Bulgars (< Turkic bulgha- ‘to mix, stir up, disturb’, i.e. ‘rebels’) A Turkic tribal union of the Pontic steppes that gave rise to two important states: Danubian-Balkan Bulgaria (First Bulgarian Empire, 681-1018) and Volga Bulgaria (early 10th century-1241). They derived from Oghuric-Turkic tribes, driven westward from Mongolia and south Siberia to the Pontic steppes in successive waves by turmoil associated with the Xiongnu (late 3rd cent. ... ... www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-820 Many Slavic tribes lived within the boundaries of the state, together with the proto-Bulgarians, a tribe of Turkic origin that had settled in the Balkan Peninsula at the end of the 7th century. www.britannica.com/biography/Boris-I The Bulgars were a Turkic tribal confederation that gave rise to the Balkan Bulgar and Volga Bulgar states.The ethynonym derives from the Turkish bulgha-,”to stir,mix,disturb,confuse.” books.google.com.tr/books?id=c788wWR_bLwC&pg=PA354&redir_esc=y&hl=tr#v=onepage&q=Bulgars&f=false (Harvard University Press) The Volga Bulgars, a Turkish tribe then living on the east bank of the Volga River, ... the laws of Islam to the Bulgars, who had recently converted to the religion. www.bookrags.com/research/ahmad-ibn-fadlan-ued/#gsc.tab=0
Amazing video, as a Bulgarian I thank you for making it (especially since you did not mention protobulgarians were turkic people - a common misconceptions due to early western historian view of bulgarians in the 18-19th centuary if i remember correctly - as genetics prove that is not the case and is a bit of a sore point for us due to history) and to add just a bit of trivia - Early protobulgarians (commonly known as Bulgars in Latin spelling) army was also compromised not only by heavy cavalry which if I remember correctly was the Khan's (another fun point - it is up to debate whether that title was actually used by protobulgarians) personal army (kind of like imperial guard) but also heavily compromised of horse archers even before they started employing mercenaries from the Cuman Khanate. One last piece of interesting trivia - the siege techniques that bulgarians would use would often come from roman engineers that would defect to Bulgaria due to treatment from the Roman political scene and probably the most overlooked fact was that Krum actually acquired Greek fire at some point, however due to how much of a secret the creation was even among the romans (only the basileus and very and I mean very few other people knew how it was actually produced) he was not able to utilize it.
At 3:10 there is a small mistake. Morning star is just a ball with spikes. So last one is morning star mace and first looks like morning star flail. But great video and i would love to see more like this
One small correction, Bulgaria was not a vassal state of the ottomans since there was no ruler... it was a millet... I.e. a province of the ottoman empire. Also forgot to mention that Cumans that came to Bulgaria were integrated as well... it is depicted in one of the Cumans missions in AoE2.
The Turkic languages are clearly interrelated, showing close similarities in phonology, morphology, and syntax. Historically, they split into two types early on, Common Turkic and Bolgar Turkic. The language of the Proto-Bolgars, reportedly similar to the Khazar language, belonged to the latter type. Its only modern representative is Chuvash, which originated in Volga Bolgarian and exhibits archaic features. The Proto-Bulgarians had a somewhat eventful history prior to their arrival on the Balkan Peninsula. The earliest written sources indicate that they inhabited the region to the north of the Caucasus in the 4th century A.D. and had close contact with the Georgians and Armenians. They belonged to the Turkic ethno-linguistic group and their language resembled that of the Huns, Khazars, Avars and other tribes. (How the bulgarian state was founded-Dimiter Angelov) The Oghur, or Onogur or Ogur[3] languages (also known as Bulgar, Pre-Proto-Bulgar,[4]or Lir-Turkic and r-Turkic), are a branch of the Turkic language family. The only extant member of the group is the Chuvash language. The first to branch off from the Turkic family, the Oghur languages show significant divergence from other Turkic languages, which all share a later common ancestor. Languages from this family were spoken in some nomadic tribal confederations, such as those of the Onogurs or Ogurs, Bulgars, and Khazars.[5]Some scholars consider Hunnic a similar language[6] and refer to this extended grouping as Hunno-Proto-Bulgarian.[7] The only surviving language from this linguistic group is believed to be Chuvash.Harvard Professor Omeljan Pritsak in his study "The Hunnic Language of the Attila Clan" (1982)[10] concluded that the language of the Bulgars was from the family of the Hunnic languages, as he calls the Oghur languages.[11] According to Antoaneta Granberg : " the data is insufficient to clearly distinguish Huns, Avars and Bulgars one from another" - introduction, the second paragraph Bolgars are still Turk in Volga region.Mahmud al kashgari wrote bulgar language in his diwan lughat al turk before 1000 years. Even ilovelanguages made video about bulgar language(volga bulgar poet from Diwan Lughat al Turk)
Just a friendly addition to the history part Spirit (an awesome job btw). Bulgaria has never referred to itself as an empire, nor has a Bulgarian ruled ever been called an emperor (at least not from a Bulgarian standpoint). From 680 - 855 we were a khanate, from then on until the early 920s - a knyazdom ( the ruler was given the title of knyaz after the conversion to christianity) and from then on until 1946 (barring the ottoman and byzantine conquests) -a tsardom. The first tsar in history was Simeon the Great, way before the Russians adopted it. It is a Bulgarian play on the word caesar, and it was used as sort of a bragging tool (Simeon styled himself as tsar of bulgarians and romans, though of course the romans didnt recognize him as such). A fun fact for you would be that the last tsar ever in the history of the world is called Simeon the Second (currently alive and named after Simeon the Great) whom the communists kicked out of Bulgaria after world war 2 at a very young age, having reigned via regency for 3 years or so.
@Pesho Goshevski Nope, Tzar is not equivalent to an emperor, it is a separate title, it comes from "caesar". It was used by its creator, Simeon the First, to claim lordship over both romans and bulgarians. Look it up and you will see that Simeon styled himself this way as well as Stefan Dusan of Serbia, who also used the tzar title only in his case for Serbians and Romans. Both titles are definitely not equal or interchangeable.
@@RLDragonStrider Well, how would you call a country ruled by a khan ? Principality - ruled by prince, dutchy - ruled by a duke, empire - emperor, tsardom - tsar and the list goes on.
@@steel4o from the Indo-European *su- and baga-, i.e. *su-baga (an equivalent of the Greek phrase ὁ ἐκ Θεοῦ ἄρχων, ho ek Theou archon, which is common in Bulgar inscriptions).[4] This titulature presumably persisted until the Bulgars adopted Christianity.[5] Some Bulgar inscriptions written in Greek and later in Slavonic refer to the Bulgarian ruler respectively with the Greek title archon or the Slavic title knyaz.[6] ΚΑΝΑΣΥΒΗΓΥ, какви ханове те гонят бе мойто момче???????????
In the end there is a reason the called themselves bulgars not just turks, keep it in mind. As to achievements ,because I don't think you would care if they were losers, are their own and they didn't believe in Islam as you can guess.
3:24 - 3:30 top tier animation.
Don't forget about 4:21
I love how that horse is charging a foot soldier not just on some field but on the Windows XP desktop field.
4:19 i demand more animations like that
I laughed so hard when I saw that.
It reminded me of the intro from the Mongol Civ Overview :)
Fun fact of the day: there were actually two Bulgarias at one point in history - the Danube one (that exists to this day) and the Volga one that was conquered in the 13th century. Volga Bulgarians were also known as White or Silver Bulgarians since, at the height of their power, their borders spread from the Black Sea in the south up to the Sea of Kara in the north and anyone from Central or Eastern Asia that wanted to trade with Europe had to pass through their territory and pay a tax.
Also, the Volga Bulgaria was known as 'Bulgaria major' and our Danubian Bulgaria was 'Bulgarian minor' because the other one was way bigger as a teritory (and probably as population).
One thing to address: these are the Silver Bulgarians. The White Bulgarians are Asparuh's Bulgarians while the Black Bulgarians are these of Bayan. Fun fact - if we follow my mother's lineage only, I'm basically a half-Bayan Bulgar.
NERRRRRD!!
SergeantTypical. 5 don’t forget the 5 son of Kubrat, Alcek ho settled with his ppl(60000) Bulgarians in today Italy
@@Boykofan well they did establish a government if you will :D .Alcek even build a fortress and ruled it like a governor for years over the specific villages his ppl settled (Gallo Matese, Sepino, Boiano and Isernia) . i count him and his bulgairnas as a state too, just obv way more small one and it did survive for the course of 14 centuries there. they should be acknowledged to. here is pic of his Statue in Celle i bulgheria www.dunavmost.com/novini/italianski-grad-pochita-prabalgarskiya-vladetel-kan-altsek
The reference for Cambyses II dying from a wound sustained while mounting a horse is from Ancient Greek historian Herodotus, "The Histories", Third Book, Chapter 64:
"[3] As he sprang upon his horse, the cap fell off the sheath of his sword, and the naked blade pierced his thigh, wounding him in the same place where he had once wounded the Egyptian god Apis; and believing the wound to be mortal, Cambyses asked what was the name of the town where he was. [4] They told him it was Ecbatana. Now a prophecy had before this come to him from Buto, that he would end his life at Ecbatana; Cambyses supposed this to signify that he would die in old age at the Median Ecbatana, his capital city; but as the event proved, the oracle prophesied his death at Ecbatana of Syria. [5] So when he now inquired and learned the name of the town, the shock of his wound, and of the misfortune that came to him from the Magus, brought him to his senses; he understood the prophecy and said: “Here Cambyses son of Cyrus is to die.” (translation A.D. Godley)
While Herodotus, who lived in the 5th Century BC, about 100 years after Cambyses, was not an always reliable source, he is probably the best ancient source for the history of the early Persian empire up to the Battles of Marathon and Salamis. It is probable that Herodotus used oral or written traditions which contained some historical truth, even though his way of telling history contains some exaggerations and inventions.
Thanks for sharing this!😊
Yeah, you don't get a better source for something as ancient as that
Such a wonderful video. Thank you for your hard work!
Some things to point out:
1. Cheers to Spirit for telling us the Bulgars were semi-nomadic but NOT going the wikipedia rout and attributing them to a certain ethno-linguistic group of peoples. Who's ethno-nationalists keep harping on about it to an annoying degree. Kudos!
2. Before Asparukh, Kuber came to the Balkans and established himself in modern day Northern Italy and Albania. We know from sources that Tervel the guy who helped the Byzantines beat back the Arabs is reported to have spoken to his "cousins" who rejected a Byzantine offer to basically be bought out. This means that during the first Bulgarian Empire's early years we had a unique case where we had basically two countries of the same people though not under the same monarch, yet on friendly and brotherly terms.
Even today there are lots of places in northern Italy and last names of people that are basically Bulgarian.
3. The title "khan" is probably not historically used by the Bulgars, but you probably used it for convinience without opening a whole new can of controversy like on #1
4. The alphabet is Bulgarian basically but Cyrill and Methodius developed the Glagolic aplhabet that proved to be too difficult.
5. Bulgarians DID use crossbows since there is plenty of archeological evidence especially in large medieval urban centers and castles of trigger mechanisms.
In Bulgarian at the time the crossbow was know as a "Samostrel" (self-shooter) and they were employed at least after the 12th century. Why the devs ommited the Xbows and not just the Arbalest is something that will hopefully be rectofied in a patch. GIVE THE BULGARIANS CROSSBOWS!!!!
6. Ivaylo was most likely not a peasant but a very powerful despot who just ceased opportunity of the weakened monarchy to take power. The pig part comes from a Byzantine mistranslation of probably his heraldic charge which might have been a wild boar
7. Volga Bulgaria was great regional and territorial power until the Mongols took it over. Unlike it's Balkan counterpart the people were Muslim. What is interesting is that the two nations seem to have been on good terms despite religious differences, as small populations of Volga Bulgarians came to the Balkans. However the large distance between both nations limited any long standing and influencial relationships
8. The Bogomils (a religious splinter group which you meet in one of the Ivaylo missions) also originated from Bulgaria and went on to reach Western Europe.
9. The Bulgarian naval question is also under dispute now since apparantly the Bulgarian navy managed to beat the Milanese too. Thats quite the feet for such a underdog navy.
10. The main tower of the Krepost is inspired by the Donjon of the Rila Monastary in Bulgaria, a truly magnificent example of Bulgarian medieval architecture of which very few survive unfortunately.
11. The three lions and the modern crest are pretty much the same thing. It is puzzling why the shield is round however, a kite shield would've been better though.
12. The original Age of Kings devs wanted to add the Bulgars in the base game all the way back in 1997.
RLDragonStrider amazing input, thank you!
Bravo
Yes, Kuber first went to Panonia (Romania nowadays) and then was forced to move to Macedonia. But the youngest brother Alcek at first went to Northern Italy then he moved to Southern Italy.
To be strict, the Catholic-Orthodox divide didn't exist officially in 850 AD. There was certainly a cultural and political Latin-Greek divide between the countries, but the Church was united at that point.
We went to war for that, we made negotiations with the Pope but Byzantines went to war and won so we had to use their way of christianity.
Today I do not understand why that division exists. Maybe there were some fair points for that division in history but today? I don think so.
@@JM-qv7fe Some holidays are very important for catholics, other for orthodox, some texts in the Bible may be different, customs too and the point that of anything different from the west Russia has to have influence for better or worse.
@@JM-qv7fe There is a very important distinction in the theology of both churches. The schism happened mostly due to the interpretation of the so-called filioque, you can look up that word, along with the dogma of papal primacy. Reunification is possible from the position of the Catholics due to Vatican II, but I don't think the Orthodox Church is willing to accept the changes of the same Vatican II.
@@JM-qv7fe I know quite a few greeks who have very strong opinions on being a papist. Not positive ones either. There's a large history of conflict and blood shed between the two sides that are not easily forgotten. Not saying that maybe someday there's won't be a union between the two churches, but I doubt it especially with the social political positions that the current pope is taking. Hell I know Catholics who think that the pope is heretical or at least tolerate heresy. Just look up about Pachamama idol worship in rome.
Spirit of the Law content is exactly what we needed during this quarantine
true
Agree
Amazing summary! Sincerely, a fan from Bulgaria.
Добър вечер
Благодаря(Thank you)!With love from Bulgaria!
So the real Bulgarians built Kreposts to keep their territories safe from outsiders and fittingly enough in AOE2 you get to drop a Krepost right on your opponent's head in the middle of their town so that you can push them off their farms and resources.
In-game you also build Krepost to protect... to protect the enemy farms and mines 11....
This is what khan Krum would call “aggressive defense” while sipping from Nikephoros’ skull
@@rush4in
Kaloyan would do that later as well.
Obviously these lands were yours to begin with, so you drop a krepost to make them get off your lawn.
You mean you build a late Krepost in your own territory, which the enemy blatantly occupied with their starting TC. I see no issue with this act of defense.
Keep these videos up, I love the historical ones even more than the normal AoE content.
This are the only classes we want
2:00 *Red Glowing Eyes* It's Crusader Kings time.
DEUS VULT!
The Bagains tech also has a similar flavor to the Malian Farimba: an attempt to convey powerful-but-less-developed by making units that aren't fully upgraded still viable as core military units.
Bulgaria is a beautiful country and has such an interesting history, it is the oldest country in Europe (681) and has been the dominant force in the Balkan States for lots of years, it is sad that a lot of people dont know about it, so thanks for the video Spirit.
Clovis, king of the Franks (from 481-511) : hold my cervoise.
@@takix2007 well yes, but the Frankish empire stopped existing in the 9th century
And also this makes Bulgaria the only country in Europe that hasnt changed its name since its foundation
@@НиколаМирчев-щ6о yes and no. It "became" France long before the 9th century. In the 9th-10th century, parts of the frankish empire became the HRE, but since 481 there has always been a France of some sort. Bulgaria was annexed by the Byzantines between 1018 and 1181, and later conquered by the Turks.
But it is most certainly a very nice and historic country I hope to visit one day.
(Plus, you invented the yoghurt, that's someting to celebrate 😉)
San-Marino - 301 AD
Great video! As a half-Bulgarian, I'd encourage you to look up Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the 2nd Bulgarian empire. It might be one of the most beautiful places on earth. :-)
Very important hystorical moment is in the 13th century, when Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan helped the Byzantines to crush the Fourth Crusade, which at some point conquered the Byzantine empire.
Thanks for creating this video, and bringing a quick information about our history to so many people. I have found that too few people know about Bulgaria at all, let alone that we have some interesting history here!
3:55
Ouch my Gluteus Maximus
- Julius Caesar. 52 BC
6:23 - A quick FYI, the Serbians were a Bulgarian Vassal from about 800 AD to late 1200 AD, and they only became a real nuisance in 1300 AD during the Reign of the Serbian Ruler Tsar Dushan, who gained his power and influence by marrying the then Princess Helena of Bulgaria, not to mention that Dushan was half Bulgarian from his mothers side who was the Bulgarian Empress Theodora. Dushan crippled any stability that existed in the Balkan region built up by the Bulgarian Empire, and ultimately was instrumental in helping the Ottomans claim all of the Balkans for 500 years shortly after his insignificant 10 year reign... Tsar Dushan should be known as "The Divider of peoples", while the Bulgarian motto is "Strength in Unity"
Shhhh you will get the Serbs mad!
@@RLDragonStrider People shouldn't be mad about the facts... it is what it is.
@@bulgariansounds6672 You have a better chance of re-establishing Yugoslavia friend. But thanks for dropping down dem str8 fax.
@@RLDragonStrider I don't think Yugoslavia could, should or would ever be a thing again. In order for Yugoslavia to be successful, history needs to be resolved and people shouldn't be angry with facts such as what I mentioned - this is something that is HIGHLY unlikely to occur.
@@bulgariansounds6672 It was only a metaphor though.
How much of a MADMAN was the guy that went from peasant to king in two missions defeating their own nobility, turks AND MONGOLS
Edit: guys i'm latin american, i have no clue of bulgarian history. Sorry if my meme comment is "innacurate"
Fede Medina
He waz kings
If the king in the first mission was crippled but still rekt your army like nothing. How would he be if he were not crippled?
When people need leaders, they are created. Napoleon was an Italian nobody, Spartak was a slave, Genghis Khan was a son of a tribal khan among hundreds of warring tribes , Ivailo was a pig farmer...
THE REASON he did this was the weakness of the Tsar and his nobility at that time. Not to mention other social and cultural factors. it is funny that Communists used this name- Ivailo, during lessons at schools/ univ. around 1950-1970 and to CLAIM that HE WAS THE FIRST communist in history. This is absurd, ofc. But they wished people believe it
He researched Supremacy.
Insert Spanish sound here.
So cyrillic originated from east Bulgaria. Thats a very specific new information I can bother my friends with. Thanks!
TheSuperMagnesium little known fact!
@@Милошелики Learn latin pussy
@@Милошелики No, that was the glagolitic. The Cyrillic alphabet was created by St. Clement of Ohrid - a Bulgarian student of Cyril. He named it after his teacher.
@@Милошелики Kiril and Methody are not greeks !!! The fact that they are born in city which is in today's greece doesnt mather becausr back then this was Bulgarian teritory
@@Милошелики The greeks monks are Ciril and Methodius but they created the Glagolithic alphabet, their students who came to Bulgaria from Moravia improved by making the Cyrilic. One was in Preslav and the other in Ohrid.
Yeah booii!
Bulgarians History Episode. I really enjoy your vids on the history side of things man. Fun, humorous and succinct.
I can't wait for all the other civs vs history to come out. Amazing work spirit i love the content.
I cant stress enough how nice and wholesome this video is. Spirit combines his (ours) love for beautiful video game with educational content and creates something that is fun to watch, that is creative, that has the best animations and is overall great online video.
Thanks Spirit!
Much love from Bulgaria
I'm from Bulgaria and thank you for making this video :)
The flail actually was seemingly rarely used if at all throughout history. It has more drawbacks than benefits when in use (since for example if you miss a swing, it retains momentum and can strike the wielder, and you would have a rather long recovery time from a missed swing). Whilst depictions in fiction are abound and readily available, it just doesn’t seem like a viable weapon compared to others and I’m not sure why it was preferred for the Bulgarians, especially on horseback since it seems like the problem of the flail would be amplified.
There have been flails excavated in Bulgaria, wheter or not the devs knew and went with it or decided to make stuff up for weapon variety is up for debate.
thanks so much for this awesome video
Bulgarians have been one of my favourite civs since DE came out, but I had no idea where/how they fit into history at all, so this was super interesting to watch
I really appreciate the correct identification of the flail. I hope the history videos keep coming!
Man, I simply love this "vs History" series of yours. Thank you so much for taking your time and making these videos! Also, consider doing Slavs next some time in the future, pretty please! :)
Awesome video as always Spirit! This is my fav civ and I can't wait for your review of it, although I must admit, I resent not having the last archer armour upgrade so I pretty much never use archers. I'm all about that hussar / konnik strategy.
But if I'm honest, I think they only became my favourite civ because of their starting song. So damn good!
If you lile good songs see the knights of honor it a great Bulgarian game
“Only one of those sons would go and establish a lasting empire though”
*confused in Volga Bulgarian*
well it didn't survive
V P It did last half a millennia, nothing to sneeze at
@@aquamirrorX it survived longer than the first or second bulgarian empire.
@@KekusMagnus The country of Bulgaria is still around today and Volga Bulgaria is gone
yea i i was like :D. wait so Volga bulgaria ho at its prime in 13 centory was way more bigger then even my bulgaria(Asparux) ever even was in its own prime in the time of tzar Ivan asen 2 bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Втора_българска_държава#/media/Файл:Bulgaria-Ivan_Asen_2.png facebook.com/741663149204831/photos/a.741757472528732/803799769657835/?type=1&theater dosent count ?:D
7:10 excellent horse expressions
I swear that one in the middle is rolling his eyes.
All the horses seem fed up with war.
This has literally been my favorite civ!
Glad to see a video so well representing my country. Thank you. I should note that when we were conquered by the Ottomans for near 500 years there was no a 'Bulgarian state' because 99.99% of our aristocracy and intelligence was slaughtered or forced to emigrate. Also what the devs DIDN'T capture is that Bulgaria and Byzantine stand on the Silk Road. Both civs were amongst the world's most developed cultures. But neither their market nor uni or farms are buffed.
It's kind of ironic that the Bulgarian unique unit gets up and continues fighting after having its horse shot out from under it, while the Ivaylo campaign begins with the story of a Bulgarian tsar who became a paraplegic after being thrown from his horse.
Love these videos! Merging gameplay with history in a much better way than the old in-game "History" section did.
Strirups are needed for shock cavalry
Alexander’s Companion cavalry and Kataphractoi have entered the chat
Also, saddles during Caesar’s time included the “four-horned saddle”, which the reinactor was wearing, the four horns prevent the rider from being pushed forwards or backwards from the saddle
And also about the horse archery.
All in all, the stirrups bumped the cavalry from an auxiliary to main battle force for a ten centuries or so.
Great video! Regarding 7:10 - When Khan Tervel helped with repelling the Arab invasion, he was pronounced Savior of Europe by the biggest empires in Europe at that time ^^
As I am Bulgarian and I played Age of Empires II when I was kid it is very pleasing for me to see that our nations historical might is aknowledged in such way. And I get goos bums every time when I see someone play Bulgarians in AOE II DE. I want to say that I would love to see the video where you compare the campaign storyline with the real historical events. Fun fact! This school year I had to make a project to tell the story of Ivaylo and I used the playthrough of the campaign that The Viper made as a part of the presentation to tell the story of the pig farmer that became The Tsar and held seven armies on every border of his kingdom for a little bit over two years with scares resources and manpower only to be betrayed by his nobles and killed by the invaders while seeking help.
P.S: I am sorry if I wrote something wrong. "Съединението прави силата", пожелавам на всички да сте живи и здрави в тези страшни времена, благодаря ти "Дух на закона" (Spirt of the Law) че разказа част от нашата история.
That was an awesome description.
All i want to say is that there were 32 byzantine-Bulgarian wars (By some accounts 34 because of the uprisings between 1040 and 1072 which were very large) and Bulgaria was mostly victorious
26 of those wars were victory. Although Byzantium conquered Bulgaria it is worth mentioning that Byzantium only conquered half of Bulgaria, the other half was taken by Hungary, Kievan Rus, Pechenegs, Uzes and so on since Bulgaria had 50 years long war with all of its neighbors. Byzantium of course conquered the core but it was not really a full conquest in 1018 the tsar usurper Joan Vladislav died in a duel and after that the nobility just surrendered. Basil stopped campaigning after 1016.
Old comment but is there a reason he stopped after 1016?
@@pyroshrimp4073 I think Vladislav announced himself as Byzantine vassal and try to buy the peace with Byzantium by paying tribute to Constantinople. But Basil started supporting other candidates for the throne from the shadows and in one such battle Vladislav died and the Emperor restarted the campaigns, however, instead of facing any opposition the widow empress and the nobles surrendered at the border.
Volga Bulgaria was something of a regional power too, until the Mongol invasion at least.
Good overview, but I'd like to correct some things that I noticed. Note that I'm not a historian, I'm just going with what I've read, and there might be other inaccuracies that I can't pick up on. The Great Schism happened in 1054 AD, Orthodoxy didn't exist in 850 AD yet. There was a shared Slavic script before Cyrillic, the Glagolitic. The pronunciation of some words is wrong. Konnik is pronounced with a long N, not just konik, i.e. kon-nik. The final H in Asparuh is also pronounced (like the H in hello), and the U is like oo in moo or oops, just short. Bagain isn't like gain, but every syllable is pronounced, like ba-ga-in. Ba like in bar, ga like Gaga, and in like the preposition in.
I had a girlfriend who was Croatian and as SotL and I are both Canadian, I can tell you that pronouncing Slavic languages is very very difficult. I apologize from us Westerners in advance (but we are trying!)
@@jamesaltonfilms I agree they are hard but I think that the most easy for west people from Slav would be Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian becouse they are close to Romanian which is Romance language. I think Bulgarian is the easy one but only if you know over 500 worlds and can read Cyrilic and this is not easy task for a westerner and i respect every westerner who try to speak Slav language.
Bit unfair to expect a native english speaker to be able to pronounce slavic words correctly
@@m136dalie furthermore google translate is very poor when come to slav languages pronouncing except Russian which is also hard!
@@m136dalie I wouldn't say so. It's not a matter of mimicking the sounds (even though English has the exact same sounds), but more that he's reading them as if they are English words and follow English spelling rules (if those exist). He drops entire syllables that should be pronounced, no matter what your accent is. Either way, I didn't mean anything bad or malicious by it, I'm just noting that it's incorrect in case anyone cares. I don't know if he actually can even find a source where these words are pronounced since Google doesn't offer that.
This is genuinely fascinating. I had no idea the aoe2 devs stuck this close to actual history. please keep going with vids like this
Thank you for this. Never understood the choice for Ivaylo as a campaign thought. So insignificant among the others.
More history lessons during the quarantine plz!!!
I can't begin to describe to you how happy this video makes me feel as a Bulgarian.
Outsiders care to learn more about our history that the Bulgarian population today and it's sad, as we've almost completely lost our national spirit and our population rapidly dying out.
What do you mean by "dying out"?
@@saulgoodman9278 Bulgaria's population is rapidly shrinking - I think, no other country's population is decreasing that fast ( at least among the members of the European Union ). The only factor that helps the statistical numbers not to look too bad, is the presence of gypsies ( Bulgarian - Romanian gypsies, not to be confused with the gypsies in the other parts of Europe ). A lot of them are having too many kids, and while they are still a minority today, they might end up, being the majority within a few generations. Then, they can seize the power and rename the country to Gypsy land, or whatever name they like. Apologies for the late reply!
Tip: when you write a comment, press the like button as well. By some reason UA-cam stopped notifying the people, when someone comments on their posts, but it still notify them, when they get a like. Greetings from Bulgaria! :)
There were at least two empires by the Bolgars - Danube Bulgaria and Volga Bulgaria. Both were long lasting empires and quite influential in the Middle Ages.
Really enjoyable to watch with all that map visualization etc. :)
Actually a great video about my country and people! Thanks a lot man! Wish you all the best from Bulgaria!
Thank you for making this video, Spirit Of The Law, although there were some very minor inaccuracies, it was well-rounded and well-written, and for someone that isn't familiar with the Bulgarian history - it's an amazing place to start.
That being said I would also like to mention how on the 26th of July 811, Khan Krum killed the Byzantian emperor (Nikephoros I) in battle, chopped his head off, and made a silver-encrusted cup out of his flayed skull. Although this sounds savage as hell (and it kind of is), this happened in the Varbishki mountain pass, after Krum offered peace to Nikephoros I several times, and the emperor sacked several cities on his way inside Bulgaria. Long story short - he was caught out in the aforementioned mountain pass while retreating, most of his army was slaughtered, the emperor got killed, the emperor's heir barely managed to escape, but later died from his wounds. The casualties for the Bulgarian armies were minimal.
So yeah, don't poke the wasp's nest even if you are an empire, I guess. :D
I got to say, I love these history videos. I am a huge history nerd, yet I am really learning a lot from these videos. You are doing a great job! Keep it up!
Wow, great video! Keep up the "vs History" Content, its fascinating
I like the civ vs history videos, I think you should definitely do more!
I hope you make a overview like you used to do for all the new civs.
I know other did but yours are best
Woohoo! Spirit vids for quarantine!
This video is a great birthday gift! Please do more of these history tie ins!
Baz battles did a very good video on Asparuh, worth a watch
This format is so satisfying and original! I enjoy it a lot and its very informative. Please do Magyars next
These are really great. I'm glad you added this type of content
These are great! Even if i knew many things mentioned i still get to learn a lot more!!
Another very informative video making the games civilizations all the more interesting. Thank you for doing these.
Your videos and commentary, especially during the gameplay, are very awesome. Keep this channel alive.
Big fan from pakistan :)
These are always fun videos to watch. You do a great job covering the historical contexts of the game. Looking forward to future videos.
The Arkani and Bagain were new things to me, I haven'y heard of them before, so great job, Spirit! I would say that you covered our history quite well!
Also the hooked pikemen
Love historical facts like this, I really do. But still, Inner me says "Me want math, me want numbers"
i really love these videos. As someone who doesn't actually play AoE but studies history its perfect!
Please more of those videos, as well as Campaign vs History, I love them
Dam that animation at 3:27; so fine
I have been watching you for a long time and Your channel is becoming just like the game fun and educational
Keep up the good work 👌👍👍👌💪💪💪💪
Great video, thanks for making it.
Really enjoy these historical videos, and I really hope you wont stop after the new civs introduced in DE but keep going for as many as you seem fit.
Love these, glad this series is continuing.
Wow good stuff Spirit. Would love to see more history about AOE2 cubs.
This video shows the true meaning of "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger"
So can you stop saying that bulgarians are a broken civ! Thank you!
Anyway, amazing video, Spirit, I am looking forward for more! Much love from Bulgaria
Very good video overall! They were some inaccuracies as well as information seen as controversial due to propaganda and multiple changes of our history, but - again - overall, great job! I can see that the aforementioned inaccuracies and controversial info have been discussed by others in the comment section, and even some arguments over the different theories have started, so I won't dig into such details. Just to mention for the people who have been wondering about the use of the stirrup - while might not help a lot for the fight with spears from the back of the horse, it helps a lot after the initial charge is over. Most of the bulgarian horsemen (including the horse archers) have had a side weapon - usually a long blade or something heavier :) While their counterparts could only strike while sitting, the Bulgarians could use the stirrups to rise up, and to strike their enemies from above. This gave them a significant advantage. As for the game representation - quite accurate overall, although I have to mention, that the Proto-Bulgarian cavalry archers and heavy cavalry archers were some of the best in the early medieval, so it should have been fair to give them some bonus, or at least the last armour upgrade, but I guess, the devs decided not to do this for balancing reasons. I'm not good with cavalry archers anyway, so it doesn't matter for me anyway :) The UU might have been inspired by the chigots - the guards of the Proto-Bulgarian ruler (the unit was used during the early years of the Danube Bulgaria as well). Those men were so elite, that they could even fight dismounted! :D Proto-Bulgarian army was pretty much all about cavalry, so I guess those chosen 200 men were really special - they could fight not just on horse back but as infantry as well! ;) Greetings from Bulgaria!
As the number of evidence of linguistic, ethnographic and socio-political nature show that Bulgars belonged to the group of Turkic peoples.[36][24][26][30]
The Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians[40]) were a semi-nomadic people of Turkic descent, originally from Central Asia, who from the 2nd century onwards dwelled in the steppes north of the Caucasus and around the banks of river Volga (then Itil).
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bulgaria
Bulgars (< Turkic bulgha- ‘to mix, stir up, disturb’, i.e. ‘rebels’)
A Turkic tribal union of the Pontic steppes that gave rise to two important states: Danubian-Balkan Bulgaria (First Bulgarian Empire, 681-1018) and Volga Bulgaria (early 10th century-1241). They derived from Oghuric-Turkic tribes, driven westward from Mongolia and south Siberia to the Pontic steppes in successive waves by turmoil associated with the Xiongnu (late 3rd cent. ... ...
www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-820
Many Slavic tribes lived within the boundaries of the state, together with the proto-Bulgarians, a tribe of Turkic origin that had settled in the Balkan Peninsula at the end of the 7th century.
www.britannica.com/biography/Boris-I
The Bulgars were a Turkic tribal confederation that gave rise to the Balkan Bulgar and Volga Bulgar states.The ethynonym derives from the Turkish bulgha-,”to stir,mix,disturb,confuse.”
books.google.com.tr/books?id=c788wWR_bLwC&pg=PA354&redir_esc=y&hl=tr#v=onepage&q=Bulgars&f=false (Harvard University Press)
The Volga Bulgars, a Turkish tribe then living on the east bank of the Volga River, ... the laws of Islam to the Bulgars, who had recently converted to the religion.
www.bookrags.com/research/ahmad-ibn-fadlan-ued/#gsc.tab=0
Eastern Bulgars , Bulgars Ancient Turkic people originating in the region n and e of the Black Sea.
www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/balkan-states
Volga Bulgaria was a northeastern European Turkic state that formed during the 9th century and continued into the first four decades of the 13th century.
www.readcube.com/articles/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe009
www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/social-science/cultures/other/bulgars-eastern
referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-slavic-languages-and-linguistics-online/*-COM_031941
www.thefreedictionary.com/Proto-Bulgar+languages
xn--80ad7bbk5c.xn--p1ai/en/content/brief-history-suvar-bulgars
bulgarizdat.ru/index.php/book1/article1-1
Bulgars, Eastern bŭl´gärz, -gərz [key], Turkic-speaking people, who possessed a powerful state (10th-14th cent.) at the confluence of the Volga and the Kama, E European Russia.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press.
Cambridge University Press
books.google.com.tr/books?id=Ylz4fe7757cC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=proto+bulgars&source=bl&ots=vvGsuu2J3g&sig=ACfU3U2YuPKKdgVQKhoUi2fyDiC99n4N_Q&hl=tr&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRqIaDlNvmAhWM-yoKHW38DDI4FBDoATAAegQIBRAB#v=onepage&q=proto%20bulgars&f=false
Population genetic analysis indicated that Conquerors had closest connection to the Onogur-Bulgar ancestors of Volga Tatars.
www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-53105-5
hizliresim.com/stAHqu
More Sources
1drv.ms/w/s!ArU3juYblIHghhn2C4hh-bLC8FRi
these videos are really interesting, good job buddy
Spirith, when will you fight against big ones and upload it here?... you have the level... respect, Sir.
Great job Spirit I really enjoyed this video and how it's represented in one of the most awesome game of all times.
Thank you
Mate...please do more of these vids!
Amazing video, as a Bulgarian I thank you for making it (especially since you did not mention protobulgarians were turkic people - a common misconceptions due to early western historian view of bulgarians in the 18-19th centuary if i remember correctly - as genetics prove that is not the case and is a bit of a sore point for us due to history) and to add just a bit of trivia - Early protobulgarians (commonly known as Bulgars in Latin spelling) army was also compromised not only by heavy cavalry which if I remember correctly was the Khan's (another fun point - it is up to debate whether that title was actually used by protobulgarians) personal army (kind of like imperial guard) but also heavily compromised of horse archers even before they started employing mercenaries from the Cuman Khanate. One last piece of interesting trivia - the siege techniques that bulgarians would use would often come from roman engineers that would defect to Bulgaria due to treatment from the Roman political scene and probably the most overlooked fact was that Krum actually acquired Greek fire at some point, however due to how much of a secret the creation was even among the romans (only the basileus and very and I mean very few other people knew how it was actually produced) he was not able to utilize it.
Bulgarians are not even Bulgars learn the difference then open your mouth balkan farmer
Spirit of the Law, eternal champion of knowledge!
Love these history videos! So many things I've never heard before, must take quite a lot of research.
Very realistic, very great video !!! Bravo! Поздрави от България!
As a architecture pervert i must say i like that building more than the hagia sophia.
i learn so much watching your vids, thank you so much!
great ! as a historian, I find this content refreshing. thx
YES! Thank you very much for that video!
At 3:10 there is a small mistake. Morning star is just a ball with spikes. So last one is morning star mace and first looks like morning star flail. But great video and i would love to see more like this
One small correction, Bulgaria was not a vassal state of the ottomans since there was no ruler... it was a millet... I.e. a province of the ottoman empire.
Also forgot to mention that Cumans that came to Bulgaria were integrated as well... it is depicted in one of the Cumans missions in AoE2.
Great video as usual :) I wish to see more animations like those at 3:24
This is a fantastic video!!!
The Turkic languages are clearly interrelated, showing close similarities in phonology, morphology, and syntax. Historically, they split into two types early on, Common Turkic and Bolgar Turkic. The language of the Proto-Bolgars, reportedly similar to the Khazar language, belonged to the latter type. Its only modern representative is Chuvash, which originated in Volga Bolgarian and exhibits archaic features.
The Proto-Bulgarians had a somewhat eventful history prior to their arrival on the Balkan Peninsula. The earliest written sources indicate that they inhabited the region to the north of the Caucasus in the 4th century A.D. and had close contact with the Georgians and Armenians. They belonged to the Turkic ethno-linguistic group and their language resembled that of the Huns, Khazars, Avars and other tribes.
(How the bulgarian state was founded-Dimiter Angelov)
The Oghur, or Onogur or Ogur[3] languages (also known as Bulgar, Pre-Proto-Bulgar,[4]or Lir-Turkic and r-Turkic), are a branch of the Turkic language family. The only extant member of the group is the Chuvash language. The first to branch off from the Turkic family, the Oghur languages show significant divergence from other Turkic languages, which all share a later common ancestor. Languages from this family were spoken in some nomadic tribal confederations, such as those of the Onogurs or Ogurs, Bulgars, and Khazars.[5]Some scholars consider Hunnic a similar language[6] and refer to this extended grouping as Hunno-Proto-Bulgarian.[7]
The only surviving language from this linguistic group is believed to be Chuvash.Harvard Professor Omeljan Pritsak in his study "The Hunnic Language of the Attila Clan" (1982)[10] concluded that the language of the Bulgars was from the family of the Hunnic languages, as he calls the Oghur languages.[11]
According to Antoaneta Granberg : " the data is insufficient to clearly distinguish Huns, Avars and Bulgars one from another" - introduction, the second paragraph
Bolgars are still Turk in Volga region.Mahmud al kashgari wrote bulgar language in his diwan lughat al turk before 1000 years.
Even ilovelanguages made video about bulgar language(volga bulgar poet from Diwan Lughat al Turk)
Just a friendly addition to the history part Spirit (an awesome job btw). Bulgaria has never referred to itself as an empire, nor has a Bulgarian ruled ever been called an emperor (at least not from a Bulgarian standpoint). From 680 - 855 we were a khanate, from then on until the early 920s - a knyazdom ( the ruler was given the title of knyaz after the conversion to christianity) and from then on until 1946 (barring the ottoman and byzantine conquests) -a tsardom. The first tsar in history was Simeon the Great, way before the Russians adopted it. It is a Bulgarian play on the word caesar, and it was used as sort of a bragging tool (Simeon styled himself as tsar of bulgarians and romans, though of course the romans didnt recognize him as such). A fun fact for you would be that the last tsar ever in the history of the world is called Simeon the Second (currently alive and named after Simeon the Great) whom the communists kicked out of Bulgaria after world war 2 at a very young age, having reigned via regency for 3 years or so.
A Bulgarian Khanate never existed in name.
@Pesho Goshevski Nope, Tzar is not equivalent to an emperor, it is a separate title, it comes from "caesar". It was used by its creator, Simeon the First, to claim lordship over both romans and bulgarians. Look it up and you will see that Simeon styled himself this way as well as Stefan Dusan of Serbia, who also used the tzar title only in his case for Serbians and Romans. Both titles are definitely not equal or interchangeable.
@@RLDragonStrider Well, how would you call a country ruled by a khan ? Principality - ruled by prince, dutchy - ruled by a duke, empire - emperor, tsardom - tsar and the list goes on.
@@steel4o Title khan was not used by bulgarian rulers of that period.
@@steel4o from the Indo-European *su- and baga-, i.e. *su-baga (an equivalent of the Greek phrase ὁ ἐκ Θεοῦ ἄρχων, ho ek Theou archon, which is common in Bulgar inscriptions).[4] This titulature presumably persisted until the Bulgars adopted Christianity.[5] Some Bulgar inscriptions written in Greek and later in Slavonic refer to the Bulgarian ruler respectively with the Greek title archon or the Slavic title knyaz.[6] ΚΑΝΑΣΥΒΗΓΥ, какви ханове те гонят бе мойто момче???????????
Love these, please keep doing more!
I love this. Honestly should do this for every civ.
Great video man! Thanks!
Great video! Well done...
Bulgarians are Slavic peoples but Bulgars are Turkic who found volga,old and first bulgaria(dulo clan)
In the end there is a reason the called themselves bulgars not just turks, keep it in mind. As to achievements ,because I don't think you would care if they were losers, are their own and they didn't believe in Islam as you can guess.