🚩 Thanks Morning Brew for my daily news briefing - sign up for free here: morningbrewdaily.com/historymarche - trying out Morning Brew also helps our channel. 🚩 In this video we're heading back to the 9th century. The Battle of Pliska in 811 AD marked the first time since the death of Emperor Valens in 378 AD, that a Roman emperor fell in battle.
Further evidence linking the Balkan Bulgar state to Turkic cultural traditions was the nature of the Bulgars' primary settlement at Pliska, with its resemblance to a steppe encampment, and a Bulgar tradition of stone relief carvings and inscriptions found scattered throughout the eastern Danubian Plain. P. Hupchick, D., 2017. The Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony. Cham: Springer International Publishing. Bulgaria at this time had acquired some traits typical of a barbarian state, because the bellicose tribe of the Bulgars had imported the Turkic traditions of the great steppe into the Balkans. The Old Testament in Byzantium Edited by Paul Magdalino Robert S. Nelson Washington, D.C. :Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection : Distributed by Harvard University Press, c2010. pp. 255
Very sad, but a lot of corruption, immature, uneducated under trained weak leaders lead to slow decline of The Roman Empire. The best example was battle of Manzikert 1071.
I'd heard of this battle. You could say this is almost the Byzantine version of the Teutoberg forest disaster the Roman's suffered many centuries before this battle. Minus the traitor in the ranks. Great video.
It is shame that Eastern European history is so underrated and underrepresented in the West. Poland-Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria have so many great stories yet most people barely know about them. Props to HistoryMarche channel for giving them the dedication they deserve
So many possibilities. They’ve already done Michael the Brave as well I think. But there’s still John Hunyadi, Mircea the Elder, Vlad Tepes, Stefan Lazarovic, etc.
Interesting fact: The polish name for skull is czaszka. In bulgarian the word чаша (tschascha or czasza) means cup, like a cup of tea, something to drink of. So the question is: Did the polish name got its meaning from this design idea for an emperors skull?
Curiously enough, in latin languages, one of the names for 'cup' is 'taça', 'taza' or 'tasse'. Which in turn also mean 'trophy' (at least in portuguese). However, the etymology for 'taça' says it is derived from vulgar arab 'tasâ'. Nonetheless, an emperor's skull turned into a cup is a damn nice trophy
@@FernandoRF50Bulgarian is the oldest language in the world, "tasa" or "taca" , whatever comes from old Bulgarian, Arabic is derived from old Bulgarian.
I think it's worth noting several things about this battle and Krum's era (and what an era, btw - the times of Charles the Great/Charlemagne, of Krum the Terrifying [not the quidditch player], and of Harun al Rashid of 1001 Nights fame): - Krum's reinforcements didn't only include local Slavs, but also Avar mercenaries and even women who "were armed like men". Some even believe that it's precisely the female militia that captured Nikephoros in his tent. - Krum, known in modern Bulgaria with the nickname Strashni (the Fearsome/Terrifying), might appear like just some skull-drinking barbarian to those unfamiliar with his reign, but here he's also known as the Lawgiver and the ruler whose laws and administrative reforms began the centralization of the state (setting it on the path from a tribal union to an actual empire) and the unification of his Slavs and Bulgars into a common Bulgarian nation. - Furthermore, he was quite active in recruiting new talents - f.e. he is known to have recruited a Christian Arab engineer in Byzantine service, as well as another Byzantine engineer named Eumathios, who helped him expand his siege park significantly (and just a year after this battle, in 812, he captured Messembria on the Black Sea coast, along with some 30+ syphons for Greek fire). From his inscriptions, we also see a number of Greek/Christian names placed as high-ranking strategoi in his "sarakt" (state or army). In fact, his own sister was married to a certain Constantine Patzikos, so Krum's brother-in-law was himself a Byzantine. - Krum offered peace several times, not only before the battle of Pliska/Varbitsa, but even after it. And the Byzantines kept refusing, even after this defeat. In 813 he routed the next emperor, Michael Rangabe, near Versinikia, which led to the latter's abdication. And when he then besieged Constantinople and Leo V finally offered negotiations before the walls of the City, the Byzantines actually ambushed him and tried to assassinate him (though the hidden archers managed only to wound him), succeeding only in capturing his brother-in-law (the aforementioned Patzikos) and nephew (the son of Patzikos and Krum's sister). Needless to say, that led to a great devastation of Thrace, the capture of Adrianople, and the deportation of its people to the Bulgarian lands north of the Danube (including, according to the story, the future emperor Basil I who was still a child and to whom Krum supposedly gave an apple). A century later, when Tsar Simeon was again invited to similar negotiations before the walls of Constantinople, his men thoroughly searched the area before signaling for the tsar to arrive. - Interestingly enough, Krum died in somewhat mysterious circumstances while amassing a massive siege park for a final siege of the City. Likewise, a bit over a century later, Tsar Simeon died in similar circumstances as well, with one Byzantine legend linking it to a magic ritual suggested to the Byzantine emperor by his astrologer, where one statue in Constantinople that supposedly looked like Simeon was beheaded by the emperor's men during the night and Simeon supposedly died of a heart attack at that same instant. Both Krum and Simeon were then succeeded by their sons who signed "eternal peace" (of 30 years) with Byzantium and were recognized as emperors in return.
Did the female guard were trained from childhood because fighting in heavy equipment without any training is near impossible for some with low level of strength.
@@SafavidAfsharid3197 This is still the Early Middle Ages - heavy equipment was quite rare. Though it is theoretically possible that the Bulgar women might have had some basic training or practice with weapons, in order to defend themselves while the men are away. Probably nothing too significant though - in this case they were levied out of necessity, they weren't a regular fighting force.
Fun fact: Krum is also famous in Bulgaria for destroying all vineyards some years before this battle. After the battle He abolished the ban on the vineyards.
Imagine him bathing naked in front of the inhabitants of Constantinople, while his soldiers were executing prisinors, demanding virgins from the emperor.. That my friend is badass!!
A well designed, composed and consistent video, congrats! I hope you'll make more videos about Bulgarian history, it's full of very interesting moments!
Khan Krum was such a badass. Also the incompetence on the Roman’s part here was staggering. They could SEE the Bulgarians getting into position, and that they were trapped in a narrow mountain pass. And yet seemingly did nothing to prepare?
Not to detract from the quality of research and visuals in the least, but I particularly like the narrator for no definable reason. Excellent video, as always.
Me being Bulgarian I can say this is a very well structured and presented depiction of the battle and the reasons behind it, from a westerner pov. I also like that you didn't skip the colorful story of the skull-cup reward.
I think that to fully understand the nature and the reasons for this conflict one needs to be aware of the geopolilical situation at that time. As the Avar khaganate declined it left a void, so to speak, that had to be filled. Franks and Bulgarians showed eagerness to participate in the distribution of the Avar legacy. It would be very naive to assume that the Byzantine empire wouldn't intervene in that contest and try to reclaim its long lost provinces in that region - Sirmium, Singidunum (Belgrade). That's why Serdica was a key city cause it opened the door to Panonia. All that gold that Krum captured, it wasn't just salaries for the border garnisons, it was most likely meant to finance a campaign to fight for the Avar legacy. So for Bulgaria to cut off the Romans from participating in the resolution of the Avar matter was seen as outragious and very offensive in Constantinople. That is at the core of this 811 war. Most likely the battle didn't take place in the Varbitsa pass but somewhere west of Pliska (probably in Tarnovo region). There are accounts from surviving romans who state that they were ambushed en route to Serdica ( which makes sense from geopolitical standpoint for abovementioned reasons) which means they were moving west, not back south through the Balkans mountain.
The comment wil confuse people to why they use the pass then and there is the battle and for sure it isn't near Tarnovo the battle. In term of logistics and the fact they were still in enemy territory for the Byzantine empire's army is better to go from the south through the mountain and then go to Serdica.
This was a campaign without planning to encounter any resistance and planning for supply lines/ retreat by small passes. Small passes are even without an ambush and only blockaded disastrous in case of a retreat. I do not know much about the education level of this time, but I think this was already part of the warfare 101 for many strategists.
Not a regional power, but a great power. During the 9th and the first quarter ot the 10th century, Bulgaria was one of the top three European powers along with Frankish Empire and Eastern Roman Empire. Khan Krum's successor, Khan Omurtag, even defeated the Franks in a border conflict two decades later. Bulgaria still exists to this day and with the same name, a feat none of the Medieval great powers can claim.
When bullgaeerians disappeared in 13th century because Turkey, they were called trnava, after being the serbian empire lapdog for 100 years by that time that is. Until the ottoman defeat at the hands of Muntenia+Moldavian union (Romania) bulgarians were Turkish eunuchs
He's talking specifically about the Balkan region, not the entire world because before the Romans were the regional power but after their defeat here, the Bulgarians became the regional power in the Balkans
@@sezione Serbia lost to Bulgaria on almost every single occasion ? Serbia never occupied Bulgarian city while bulgarians drank their coffee in Belgrade while the austro hungarians were shouting at them to leave cus serbians were under the ground as always. Serbia was part of Bulgaria for centuries, no wonder why serbian is so close to bulgarian. Serbia has cities named by bulgarians, language close like a dialect to bulgarian and its history was more like a province of Bulgaria. We are vvery much alike, brother. Serbian empire couldnt last same as yugoslavia, you are good at failing what you have :( Maybe we need another march on Belgrade but without any great power saving Serbia this time, would be fun, like good old times, chilling in Belgrade also beautiful women, i admire
@@sezione they weren't even close to a Serbian lapdog and not even close to a 100 years, get your sources checked out. Not to mention that the Tsardom of Tarnovo was only one of 3 divided states in what is considered the peak of Balkan feudalism. Also this is the First Bulgarian Empire, which was actually a Great Power in Europe.
This battle is one of the most shameful defeats of the Romans. We already know that it is very rare for a Roman emperor to die in battle, especially when a cup is made from his skull…
I would rank this defeat just a tier below those of Manzikert, Adrianople and Yarmouk for the worst Eastern Roman defeats, the reason I cut off a tier is due to the fact that the catastrophe of Pliska would eventually be reversed
I wouldn't say it would be fully reversed tbh since even after the Romans conquered the Bulgarian lands, their control in especially the Northeastern part of Bulgarian lands was more or less nominal, due to the many nomadic incursions in the region + still the vast Bulgarian population present there.
Yeah this Battle pushed the Byzantine resurgence in the Balkans back 200 years, the beat down Krum would lay after this would cause Byzantine expansion to completely stop for 40 years. But the amount of territorial, manpower and economic lost can’t be compared to the above 3 mentioned battles
Well they catastrophe of pliska was fully reserved with the conquest of the first Bulgarian empire which remained a Byzantine province for nearly 200 years
Thank you very much for this video.I really appreciated it As a Bulgarian I had learned when I was a little for this battle in the history lessons in school. If you don't want peace your are going to get axe.
Few things to add. Telerig seeked protection in the emperors court a while after he killed the Byzantine spies. Krum is one of the biggest figures in Bulgarian history. He was both a good general and administrator. Except this battle he is known for the first written legal codex Bulgaria ever had. The legend says that he was shocked by how a mighty state such as the Avar khaganate could fell into pieces and after speaking with an Avar captive, he learned that the root-cause was the erosion of the Avar society. For the Varbitsa/Varbishki pass he was in a dire situation. He didn't have enough time to gather a significant power, the resources of Bulgaria, although being an empire, were small, compared to the Byzantines, so he had to use every person that was capable of fighting. And amongst his soliders there were women. After the battle he did lots of campaigns in Thrace. It is even said that the reason for his sudden death is a Byzantine plot.
argh, this video gave me goosebumps 😎. Great channel, thank you for your hard work of making all those videos.
2 роки тому+125
When one talks about the military history of the Romans, one is impressed by the number of battles and wars won, which led them to be the largest empire of the time; however, when talking about the Byzantines, it is incredible the number of defeats they had and still managing to maintain their existence until the end of the Middle Ages. So one realizes that the Romans' ability to win wars pales in comparison to the Byzantines' ability to save their state through diplomacy. XD
They still managed to maintain their existence and flourished during the 1000 years of history because they had many victories and not only defeats which many people seem to focus on just to diminish this great empire
It was THE Roman empire,so they just adapted to deal with the new threats.And did it great, the empire lasted for another 1000 years despite the fall of the first capitol in Rome.
Muh Byzantineeeees. No stop coping, they are Romans! Muhhh 476 is a myth. When you talk exclusively about their defeats and rarely if ever mention their victories, then of course it all seems impossible.
Did the Eastern Romans have a cloning facility or something? The amount of battles and manpower they kept loosing is insane...how they've managed to survive for as long as they did is beyond me...kinda impressive.
Anatolia was more populous than the entire Balkan Peninsula at the time( and is today). Besides you need to realize there is decades of peace between major wars or minor raids. It would be 80 years before they lose another big army to Bulgaria
@@Michael_the_Drunkard yeah. "one of the most humiliating defeats", it was just 9k vs 12k. The byzantines had seen worse ones, especially against the Arabs for a hundred years until Constantine V finally did something.
HistoryMarche, You did a great job with this story! Although many have accepted this whole "khan" thing for Bulgarian rulers, it is a 20th century invention. There is no primary historical mention or any historical document or artifact mentioning "Khan" for any Bulgaria ruler! BULGARIAN EMPIRE MAPPING should have known better and advised you correctly. The only title in the records associated with Krum is Archon. I don't know why this still persists. I know wikipedia promotes it, but there is no basis in fact.
Considering all the Northern incursions by Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Pechenegs, Cumans, we can savely assume that the Danube had the worst offers of invaders for the Eastern Roman empire
Поправка! Крум не е влизал в битка при Маркели лично. Единствено при Плиска Крум оставя гарнизон от 12000 като той не е в столицата, а чака аварско подкрепление. Иначе браво. Труда трябва да се оцени. 🙂 Видеото е супер
There was no battle near Pliska.Pliska was abandoned by purpose so Eastern Romans get demoralized by looting treasure and drinking the wine left there . Batlle happened at VARBITZA PASS some 93 km away from Pliska. And it is known as battle at Varbitza pass by real historians. A pseudo-historian in YT called it battle at Pliska by mistake and the rest repeat that with moronic stubbornness. Krum annexed 80% of Avar khaganate territory as it is visible on the map but OK . We can accept he took '' a little bit of land left under Avar control '' 6:05
Mountain pass ambush was probably the first thing Bulgarian military leaders learned in this era. Eastern Romans and Crusaders aside, they pulled one off against the Mongols too.
It's pretty curious the amount of roman emperors who died in battle in a pretty miserable way. For example, Valerian was captured and skinned, Valens was burned alive and Nikephoros I had his skull turned into a drinking-coup
Valerian was captured and taken into Persia, that's all we know for sure. His torture, let alone flaying were most likely inventions by later Christians who despised him due to his persecutions.
Well it's not every day that a Roman emperor dies at the battlefield,so it must be memorable.I think Krum made it pretty memorable, if only Nikephoros knew that his head would be served every time the Bulgarians have a party.
I Just enjoyed this vid more than others. Is that because it is about Bulgaria or ofc it is well made. Btw, I'm Serbian not Bulgarian. Hope this channel make some vids about medieval serb dynasty of Nemanjic. Love and thx to whole crew and narator of this vid.
Maybe a video about Tsar Dusan, or the battle at Velbazhd. As a Bulgarian I think it'll be cool to cover the Serbian Empire too, we must do it in a respective way to both groups tho.
Krum's army was evolved in today's territories of Hungary, after his campaign, he had to wait for around a month for his bulgarian and avars army to arrive! That was wath Nickiphoros was missing!
Nope the creation of the Varangian guard started during the reign of basil the second some 2 centuries later and the purpose of its existence was to keep safe the emperor from assassinations attempts the native troops were into politics ( the palace guards ) something that the foreigners didn't with the right amount of gold
@@Montechristoss it says on wikipedia that "The Rus' provided the earliest members of the Varangian Guard. They were in Byzantine service from as early as 874. "
Everyone talking about "the song of Roland this, chivalry of Roland that"....such an honorable man that would participate in sacking the Basque lands and killing its people. Thet got their revenge and humiliated Charlemagnes army. Francophiles gushing over Roland's sacrifice ignoring a heroic story of justice. The Franks were lucky the Basques didn't bring a full force to bear, or they would have been annihilated!
Nikephoros was such a good and bad emperor at the same time, love his financial reforms and how he managed to recover much of modern day Greece, but he sure as hell made a lot of enemies not least of which the church, and of course, he kinda lost pliska lol
Every single documentary I see about the Byzantines includes at least several battles in which they end up getting ambushed and completely destroyed,and they still ended up existing for a 1000 years
because they were freaking good at Diplomacy! that's why they survived for so long, making dirty deals with Croats, Serbs, Hungarians, Russians, Pechenegs to stab Bulgaria in the back. Byzantines had support because they were rich
🚩 Thanks Morning Brew for my daily news briefing - sign up for free here: morningbrewdaily.com/historymarche - trying out Morning Brew also helps our channel.
🚩 In this video we're heading back to the 9th century. The Battle of Pliska in 811 AD marked the first time since the death of Emperor Valens in 378 AD, that a Roman emperor fell in battle.
you guys are doing the remaining Hannibal vs Rome videos? i have been waiting forever. hope you guys didn't forget.
@@Danny-mg1hu many channels have videos of Hannibal vs Roman Empire.
Further evidence linking the Balkan Bulgar state to Turkic cultural traditions was the nature of the Bulgars' primary settlement at Pliska, with its resemblance to a steppe encampment, and a Bulgar tradition of stone relief carvings and inscriptions found scattered throughout the eastern Danubian Plain.
P. Hupchick, D., 2017. The Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars for Early Medieval Balkan Hegemony. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Bulgaria at this time had acquired some traits typical of a barbarian state, because the bellicose tribe of the Bulgars had imported the Turkic traditions of the great steppe into the Balkans.
The Old Testament in Byzantium Edited by Paul Magdalino Robert S. Nelson Washington, D.C. :Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection : Distributed by Harvard University Press, c2010. pp. 255
@@navneetshyam1335 Other channels are not HistoryMarche
@@Danny-mg1hu true but BazBattles, Epic History TV, House of History, Knowledia etc are history channels.
Khan Krum: I'm not trapped in here with you, *YOU'RE* trapped in here with me!
THAT IS SO RIGHT MATE 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
That made me chuckle! 🤣🤣
Nice.
😂😂😂dam
@@begemod1743Rohrschach reference
Not all cups are "Made in China"
Bulgaria also makes cups , but only for special occasions.
Hello Guys, Welcome to “Romans get Surrounded and Destroyed” Part 18.
They really were shitty scouts. If you add up all the times the Legions bumbled their way into an ambush, it would be Part 118
You would think they would learn by now but nah romans seems to made it into tradition lol
Very sad, but a lot of corruption, immature, uneducated under trained weak leaders lead to slow decline of The Roman Empire.
The best example was battle of Manzikert 1071.
Are u mad at Gaius sorry I had to say it
And then bounce back.
The lenghts people go to just to get a slightly better cup
Best spoiler ever! Gave me a proper laugh.
It was a nice cup tho
I'd heard of this battle. You could say this is almost the Byzantine version of the Teutoberg forest disaster the Roman's suffered many centuries before this battle. Minus the traitor in the ranks. Great video.
No need for one, ERE was doing a damn good job destroying itself
@@hannibalburgers477---Yeah I get what you mean
The Byzantines were romans 😅 they never called themselves Byzantines, they thought of themselves as Romans.
@@streetscholar3539---Um yeah. I know now. But when I typed this comment 2 years ago. Not so much.
@@brokenbridge6316fair enough dude 👍
It is shame that Eastern European history is so underrated and underrepresented in the West. Poland-Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria have so many great stories yet most people barely know about them. Props to HistoryMarche channel for giving them the dedication they deserve
Hahahahah albania hahahaha
@@VeniceQueen1811 I think there is already one on Skanderbeg
Least nationalistic serb☝️🐺🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸
So many possibilities. They’ve already done Michael the Brave as well I think.
But there’s still John Hunyadi, Mircea the Elder, Vlad Tepes, Stefan Lazarovic, etc.
Dedication? This channel only covers their defeats lmao and flatout puts out misinformation on them.
16:04 "If you don't want want the pax (peace), you will have my axe" makes me laughing so hard....
Actually in bulgarian language is also rime - mIRA /peace/ sekIRA - /axe/
Това е вярно/that's a true 😁👍
Interesting fact: The polish name for skull is czaszka. In bulgarian the word чаша (tschascha or czasza) means cup, like a cup of tea, something to drink of. So the question is: Did the polish name got its meaning from this design idea for an emperors skull?
Curiously enough, in latin languages, one of the names for 'cup' is 'taça', 'taza' or 'tasse'. Which in turn also mean 'trophy' (at least in portuguese). However, the etymology for 'taça' says it is derived from vulgar arab 'tasâ'. Nonetheless, an emperor's skull turned into a cup is a damn nice trophy
@@FernandoRF50Bulgarian is the oldest language in the world, "tasa" or "taca" , whatever comes from old Bulgarian, Arabic is derived from old Bulgarian.
@@DaniilDimitrovbro what💀
It's from Proto-Slavic.
@@FernandoRF50 Just because it sounds similar doesn't mean it's related. In case of Slavic languages it is.
Fantastic as always ! Hope to see HistoryMarche’s version of the battle of Ongal eventually between the Roman’s and the Bulgars
Eventually. Patience friend, patience :)
@@HistoryMarche hahaha 👍🏻👍🏻
@@HistoryMarche Hello! Put the Albanian subtitles in the photo so that the Albanian followers will know what is said in this documentary.
@@HistoryMarche will you cover Basil the second's conquest of bulgaria?
YES I love the movie they made about way back it’s called khan asparuh you can find it on UA-cam would recommend
I think it's worth noting several things about this battle and Krum's era (and what an era, btw - the times of Charles the Great/Charlemagne, of Krum the Terrifying [not the quidditch player], and of Harun al Rashid of 1001 Nights fame):
- Krum's reinforcements didn't only include local Slavs, but also Avar mercenaries and even women who "were armed like men". Some even believe that it's precisely the female militia that captured Nikephoros in his tent.
- Krum, known in modern Bulgaria with the nickname Strashni (the Fearsome/Terrifying), might appear like just some skull-drinking barbarian to those unfamiliar with his reign, but here he's also known as the Lawgiver and the ruler whose laws and administrative reforms began the centralization of the state (setting it on the path from a tribal union to an actual empire) and the unification of his Slavs and Bulgars into a common Bulgarian nation.
- Furthermore, he was quite active in recruiting new talents - f.e. he is known to have recruited a Christian Arab engineer in Byzantine service, as well as another Byzantine engineer named Eumathios, who helped him expand his siege park significantly (and just a year after this battle, in 812, he captured Messembria on the Black Sea coast, along with some 30+ syphons for Greek fire). From his inscriptions, we also see a number of Greek/Christian names placed as high-ranking strategoi in his "sarakt" (state or army). In fact, his own sister was married to a certain Constantine Patzikos, so Krum's brother-in-law was himself a Byzantine.
- Krum offered peace several times, not only before the battle of Pliska/Varbitsa, but even after it. And the Byzantines kept refusing, even after this defeat. In 813 he routed the next emperor, Michael Rangabe, near Versinikia, which led to the latter's abdication. And when he then besieged Constantinople and Leo V finally offered negotiations before the walls of the City, the Byzantines actually ambushed him and tried to assassinate him (though the hidden archers managed only to wound him), succeeding only in capturing his brother-in-law (the aforementioned Patzikos) and nephew (the son of Patzikos and Krum's sister). Needless to say, that led to a great devastation of Thrace, the capture of Adrianople, and the deportation of its people to the Bulgarian lands north of the Danube (including, according to the story, the future emperor Basil I who was still a child and to whom Krum supposedly gave an apple). A century later, when Tsar Simeon was again invited to similar negotiations before the walls of Constantinople, his men thoroughly searched the area before signaling for the tsar to arrive.
- Interestingly enough, Krum died in somewhat mysterious circumstances while amassing a massive siege park for a final siege of the City. Likewise, a bit over a century later, Tsar Simeon died in similar circumstances as well, with one Byzantine legend linking it to a magic ritual suggested to the Byzantine emperor by his astrologer, where one statue in Constantinople that supposedly looked like Simeon was beheaded by the emperor's men during the night and Simeon supposedly died of a heart attack at that same instant. Both Krum and Simeon were then succeeded by their sons who signed "eternal peace" (of 30 years) with Byzantium and were recognized as emperors in return.
Did the female guard were trained from childhood because fighting in heavy equipment without any training is near impossible for some with low level of strength.
Ah, that was a helpful addition. I thought you were referencing the real historical quidditch player.
I think by now it is save to say that it was Krum's son-Omurtag and not Krum the one who centralised Bulgaria and codified it's law
@@tonit4233 Omurtag carried out the bulk of the reforms, but the reforms themselves began with Krum.
@@SafavidAfsharid3197 This is still the Early Middle Ages - heavy equipment was quite rare. Though it is theoretically possible that the Bulgar women might have had some basic training or practice with weapons, in order to defend themselves while the men are away. Probably nothing too significant though - in this case they were levied out of necessity, they weren't a regular fighting force.
So happy that you are covering Bulgarian history more and more 😀
The Balkans - real game of thrones..☦🇧🇬
Fr
Brother,
You are 100 times more thorough and better than kings and generals
By 811 Krum had already won like 50 sieges including Serdica, which is now the capital of Bulgaria (and is called Sofia).
Благодарим ви!
Thank you very much.
I highly appreciate your work, so thank you!
Fun fact: Krum is also famous in Bulgaria for destroying all vineyards some years before this battle. After the battle He abolished the ban on the vineyards.
Is there a badder history line than, “If you don’t want the Pax, You will have my Axe”? Cold.
Khalid's, Yarmouk 636 AD
"Ако не щеш Мира, на ти секира" 🎉
I'm impressed by how well you pronounced Staurakios!
That Krum sounds like a total badass!!
Imagine him bathing naked in front of the inhabitants of Constantinople, while his soldiers were executing prisinors, demanding virgins from the emperor..
That my friend is badass!!
A well designed, composed and consistent video, congrats! I hope you'll make more videos about Bulgarian history, it's full of very interesting moments!
Khan Krum was such a badass.
Also the incompetence on the Roman’s part here was staggering. They could SEE the Bulgarians getting into position, and that they were trapped in a narrow mountain pass. And yet seemingly did nothing to prepare?
Its not like they can observe the Bulgarian movements,any scout would have been cut down from far away.Old mountain is a big trap by itself.
The name Krum is of Turkic origin like old original Bulgars and means "governor prince" (from kurum "rule, leadership, administration").
@@ignatiuscianci4440 Random turanists not mentioning something turkic about Bulgaria's history challenge (Impossible).
Soldiers are expected to only follow orders. Someone above them has to take decisions...
@blorghised 🤲🏿🤲🏿🤲🏿🍼🍼🍼
Bulgaria and France with common border. Very nice.
Not to detract from the quality of research and visuals in the least, but I particularly like the narrator for no definable reason.
Excellent video, as always.
Great video, as always! And finally we're getting more content on parts of history which is usually not well know to people.
Good stuff!
Finally, the best history channel makes a video about the most epic victory of my country! Thank you!
Glad you liked it!
Me being Bulgarian I can say this is a very well structured and presented depiction of the battle and the reasons behind it, from a westerner pov. I also like that you didn't skip the colorful story of the skull-cup reward.
Love the video. I've studied this at the officer academy in Bulgaria and this does it justice.
Deep thank you, as a Bulgarian your film made me relive one of the most important days in our history 🙏❤
I think that to fully understand the nature and the reasons for this conflict one needs to be aware of the geopolilical situation at that time. As the Avar khaganate declined it left a void, so to speak, that had to be filled. Franks and Bulgarians showed eagerness to participate in the distribution of the Avar legacy. It would be very naive to assume that the Byzantine empire wouldn't intervene in that contest and try to reclaim its long lost provinces in that region - Sirmium, Singidunum (Belgrade). That's why Serdica was a key city cause it opened the door to Panonia. All that gold that Krum captured, it wasn't just salaries for the border garnisons, it was most likely meant to finance a campaign to fight for the Avar legacy. So for Bulgaria to cut off the Romans from participating in the resolution of the Avar matter was seen as outragious and very offensive in Constantinople. That is at the core of this 811 war. Most likely the battle didn't take place in the Varbitsa pass but somewhere west of Pliska (probably in Tarnovo region). There are accounts from surviving romans who state that they were ambushed en route to Serdica ( which makes sense from geopolitical standpoint for abovementioned reasons) which means they were moving west, not back south through the Balkans mountain.
The comment wil confuse people to why they use the pass then and there is the battle and for sure it isn't near Tarnovo the battle. In term of logistics and the fact they were still in enemy territory for the Byzantine empire's army is better to go from the south through the mountain and then go to Serdica.
These are awesome and informative bits of military and political history. Great job
Although I already saw the battle of bliska on Kings and generals I can't resist this one
Thanks for stopping by Zaid. Always great to see you.
Brother
You are much better than Kings and Generals
I m getting goosebumps every time I watch one of your clips. You are the best.
Good video, Thank you. I knew very little of the Bulgarian Empire.
This channel really deserves to be more popular
Your the only channel whos not got into global propaganda, thank you, HistoryMarche.
Tell me about it. It's sad seeing so many people cucked.
Thanks! The video is very good! I hope that you will make up more videos about Bulgarian history, it is a rich and interest source.
Please continue the series about Krum and his dynasty. It is fascinating! :)
The Narrator Always win my heart. Thank you HistoryMarche
This was a campaign without planning to encounter any resistance and planning for supply lines/ retreat by small passes.
Small passes are even without an ambush and only blockaded disastrous in case of a retreat.
I do not know much about the education level of this time, but I think this was already part of the warfare 101 for many strategists.
Always an amazing job with the narrative and the build up!
Not a regional power, but a great power. During the 9th and the first quarter ot the 10th century, Bulgaria was one of the top three European powers along with Frankish Empire and Eastern Roman Empire. Khan Krum's successor, Khan Omurtag, even defeated the Franks in a border conflict two decades later. Bulgaria still exists to this day and with the same name, a feat none of the Medieval great powers can claim.
Least delusional Bulgarian
When bullgaeerians disappeared in 13th century because Turkey, they were called trnava, after being the serbian empire lapdog for 100 years by that time that is. Until the ottoman defeat at the hands of Muntenia+Moldavian union (Romania) bulgarians were Turkish eunuchs
He's talking specifically about the Balkan region, not the entire world because before the Romans were the regional power but after their defeat here, the Bulgarians became the regional power in the Balkans
@@sezione Serbia lost to Bulgaria on almost every single occasion ? Serbia never occupied Bulgarian city while bulgarians drank their coffee in Belgrade while the austro hungarians were shouting at them to leave cus serbians were under the ground as always. Serbia was part of Bulgaria for centuries, no wonder why serbian is so close to bulgarian. Serbia has cities named by bulgarians, language close like a dialect to bulgarian and its history was more like a province of Bulgaria. We are vvery much alike, brother. Serbian empire couldnt last same as yugoslavia, you are good at failing what you have :( Maybe we need another march on Belgrade but without any great power saving Serbia this time, would be fun, like good old times, chilling in Belgrade also beautiful women, i admire
@@sezione they weren't even close to a Serbian lapdog and not even close to a 100 years, get your sources checked out.
Not to mention that the Tsardom of Tarnovo was only one of 3 divided states in what is considered the peak of Balkan feudalism.
Also this is the First Bulgarian Empire, which was actually a Great Power in Europe.
Ευχαριστούμε!
Thanks so much Nikos!
16:06 quote of the century
It is nice how they made it rhyme in English as the old saying in Bulgarian also has it.
@@gergister yeah :D
I beg you please make a video about Tervel (bulgarian ruler) who stopped the arabian conquest of Eastern Roman Empire. Please.
Very important war for all Europe!
This battle is one of the most shameful defeats of the Romans. We already know that it is very rare for a Roman emperor to die in battle, especially when a cup is made from his skull…
@Nik Demoulin The guy was already dead he did not agree to anything.
@Nik Demoulin We have a green one here! :p
И латинският император Балдуин е заловен и хвърлен в тъмница в Търното, след поражението на рицарите при Адрианопол от цар Калоян.
a wonderful history coverage video //allot thanks history marche channel
Glad you enjoyed it
I would rank this defeat just a tier below those of Manzikert, Adrianople and Yarmouk for the worst Eastern Roman defeats, the reason I cut off a tier is due to the fact that the catastrophe of Pliska would eventually be reversed
I wouldn't say it would be fully reversed tbh since even after the Romans conquered the Bulgarian lands, their control in especially the Northeastern part of Bulgarian lands was more or less nominal, due to the many nomadic incursions in the region + still the vast Bulgarian population present there.
Basil II sure did his best though.
@@michaelsinger4638 right lol they nicked named him the Bulgar slayer for Christ sake lol
Yeah this Battle pushed the Byzantine resurgence in the Balkans back 200 years, the beat down Krum would lay after this would cause Byzantine expansion to completely stop for 40 years.
But the amount of territorial, manpower and economic lost can’t be compared to the above 3 mentioned battles
Well they catastrophe of pliska was fully reserved with the conquest of the first Bulgarian empire which remained a Byzantine province for nearly 200 years
Thank you very much for this video.I really appreciated it As a Bulgarian I had learned when I was a little for this battle in the history lessons in school. If you don't want peace your are going to get axe.
Few things to add. Telerig seeked protection in the emperors court a while after he killed the Byzantine spies.
Krum is one of the biggest figures in Bulgarian history. He was both a good general and administrator. Except this battle he is known for the first written legal codex Bulgaria ever had. The legend says that he was shocked by how a mighty state such as the Avar khaganate could fell into pieces and after speaking with an Avar captive, he learned that the root-cause was the erosion of the Avar society.
For the Varbitsa/Varbishki pass he was in a dire situation. He didn't have enough time to gather a significant power, the resources of Bulgaria, although being an empire, were small, compared to the Byzantines, so he had to use every person that was capable of fighting. And amongst his soliders there were women.
After the battle he did lots of campaigns in Thrace. It is even said that the reason for his sudden death is a Byzantine plot.
argh, this video gave me goosebumps 😎.
Great channel, thank you for your hard work of making all those videos.
When one talks about the military history of the Romans, one is impressed by the number of battles and wars won, which led them to be the largest empire of the time; however, when talking about the Byzantines, it is incredible the number of defeats they had and still managing to maintain their existence until the end of the Middle Ages. So one realizes that the Romans' ability to win wars pales in comparison to the Byzantines' ability to save their state through diplomacy. XD
They still managed to maintain their existence and flourished during the 1000 years of history because they had many victories and not only defeats which many people seem to focus on just to diminish this great empire
they’re the same
It was THE Roman empire,so they just adapted to deal with the new threats.And did it great, the empire lasted for another 1000 years despite the fall of the first capitol in Rome.
Τhe Eastern Roman Empire lived much longer than the Western Roman Empire. How about that?
Muh Byzantineeeees. No stop coping, they are Romans! Muhhh 476 is a myth.
When you talk exclusively about their defeats and rarely if ever mention their victories, then of course it all seems impossible.
Always love your videos. Keep up the good work.
Good work as usual 👏 thank you.
Wow. Always outstanding.
Excellent as always!
Ok. Just subbed! It baffles me how many campaigns in history, armies would forgo the basics such as scouting or get caught in stretched out lines.
Did the Eastern Romans have a cloning facility or something? The amount of battles and manpower they kept loosing is insane...how they've managed to survive for as long as they did is beyond me...kinda impressive.
Anatolia was more populous than the entire Balkan Peninsula at the time( and is today).
Besides you need to realize there is decades of peace between major wars or minor raids.
It would be 80 years before they lose another big army to Bulgaria
It's obvious that they also won a lot amount of battles, to be able to survive so long.
Their defeats are overstated, why their victories are understated or even downplayed .
All thanks to the absurdly high walls of Constantinople. Without that city, the ERE woulda been a goner long time before.
@@Michael_the_Drunkard yeah. "one of the most humiliating defeats", it was just 9k vs 12k. The byzantines had seen worse ones, especially against the Arabs for a hundred years until Constantine V finally did something.
Excellent work as always
HistoryMarche, You did a great job with this story! Although many have accepted this whole "khan" thing for Bulgarian rulers, it is a 20th century invention. There is no primary historical mention or any historical document or artifact mentioning "Khan" for any Bulgaria ruler! BULGARIAN EMPIRE MAPPING should have known better and advised you correctly. The only title in the records associated with Krum is Archon. I don't know why this still persists. I know wikipedia promotes it, but there is no basis in fact.
Great content
Considering all the Northern incursions by Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Pechenegs, Cumans, we can savely assume that the Danube had the worst offers of invaders for the Eastern Roman empire
At this point, a Walled Danube wouldn't be a bad idea for the ERE
@blorghised Really? I didn't know that. Do you know how damaged were those cities after Basil's the II Conquest?
@blorghised So, Northern Bulgaria was devastated after the war and it would recover later?
@blorghised it makes sense I guess.
Interesting fact: all of these nomads ( Pechenegs,Avars,Bulgars,Huns,Cumans) have the same origin..😉☝
great video, thanks
Поправка! Крум не е влизал в битка при Маркели лично. Единствено при Плиска Крум оставя гарнизон от 12000 като той не е в столицата, а чака аварско подкрепление. Иначе браво. Труда трябва да се оцени. 🙂 Видеото е супер
Loved this video! Superb story telling.
There was no battle near Pliska.Pliska was abandoned by purpose so Eastern Romans get demoralized by looting treasure and drinking the wine left there . Batlle happened at VARBITZA PASS some 93 km away from Pliska. And it is known as battle at Varbitza pass by real historians. A pseudo-historian in YT called it battle at Pliska by mistake and the rest repeat that with moronic stubbornness. Krum annexed 80% of Avar khaganate territory as it is visible on the map but OK . We can accept he took '' a little bit of land left under Avar control '' 6:05
Amazing video!!
Krum the chad. Beheads a Roman emperor then quips a one liner that evern rhymes. He's like an 80's action hero.
You're the disease and I'm the cure.
The saying rhymes in Bulgarian as well, which I find amusing.
Wow! And he also was a great and famous quidditch player too, impressive!
Byzantines: We have imperial armies.
Bulgarians: We have mountain passes.
Amazing as usual!
Mountain pass ambush was probably the first thing Bulgarian military leaders learned in this era. Eastern Romans and Crusaders aside, they pulled one off against the Mongols too.
Thank you for uploading
Great channel thank you for sharing 🍀☀️🌺
Thanks for visiting
That was a well-prepared most excellent Ambush never learned of that particular one before thank you
It's pretty curious the amount of roman emperors who died in battle in a pretty miserable way. For example, Valerian was captured and skinned, Valens was burned alive and Nikephoros I had his skull turned into a drinking-coup
Valerian was captured and taken into Persia, that's all we know for sure. His torture, let alone flaying were most likely inventions by later Christians who despised him due to his persecutions.
Well it's not every day that a Roman emperor dies at the battlefield,so it must be memorable.I think Krum made it pretty memorable, if only Nikephoros knew that his head would be served every time the Bulgarians have a party.
I Just enjoyed this vid more than others. Is that because it is about Bulgaria or ofc it is well made. Btw, I'm Serbian not Bulgarian. Hope this channel make some vids about medieval serb dynasty of Nemanjic. Love and thx to whole crew and narator of this vid.
Thanks! 😃
Maybe a video about Tsar Dusan, or the battle at Velbazhd. As a Bulgarian I think it'll be cool to cover the Serbian Empire too, we must do it in a respective way to both groups tho.
Огромная благодарность Вам Джэнтэльмены за эту работу,ну и за титры на русском,отдельно.в нынешних реалиях это просто подарок судьбы.
Капец сколько у них субтитров! Вот это работа!
@@AmirSatt ну сделал бы лучше,ты капиталист и про конкуренцию ничего не слышал чтоль?
@@NoName-lw8ih чего?
@@AmirSatt интеллегент не включай дуру окей?ты все прекрасно понял что я выше тебе написал,на твой сарказм....парируй
@@NoName-lw8ih ты думал что я что то критиковал? Лол
Salut fratilor nostri de la sud de Dunare!!💪😎🇧🇬🇷🇴
Romania betrayed Bulgaria tho durning second balkan war and made Bulgaria hate Romania and attacxk them later occupying Bucharest
I love the map improvement.
Another week another amazing collab!
Hey KHK, missed you at the premiere! Thanks a lot for watching.
Yeah unfortunately i missed it, next one for sure
What a terrific video!⚔🙏
Krum's army was evolved in today's territories of Hungary, after his campaign, he had to wait for around a month for his bulgarian and avars army to arrive! That was wath Nickiphoros was missing!
THANK U FOR UR WORK
this could have been part of what led to the varangian guard, that they needed to recruit foreigners to refill their ranks
Nope the creation of the Varangian guard started during the reign of basil the second some 2 centuries later and the purpose of its existence was to keep safe the emperor from assassinations attempts the native troops were into politics ( the palace guards ) something that the foreigners didn't with the right amount of gold
@@Montechristoss it says on wikipedia that "The Rus' provided the earliest members of the Varangian Guard. They were in Byzantine service from as early as 874. "
@@stayhungry1503 as mercenaries not as an elite regiment
Recent events create an interest in the history of the area
Being Bulgarian, thank you for the video. It's very informative and correctly presented
thanks for the video (благодаря за видеото!)
Top quality video
Love these. We can learn a lot.
Everyone talking about "the song of Roland this, chivalry of Roland that"....such an honorable man that would participate in sacking the Basque lands and killing its people.
Thet got their revenge and humiliated Charlemagnes army. Francophiles gushing over Roland's sacrifice ignoring a heroic story of justice. The Franks were lucky the Basques didn't bring a full force to bear, or they would have been annihilated!
Brother,
What is the Basque side of the story?
Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job
Nikephoros was such a good and bad emperor at the same time, love his financial reforms and how he managed to recover much of modern day Greece, but he sure as hell made a lot of enemies not least of which the church, and of course, he kinda lost pliska lol
I always wonder how these videos are made is it just drawing or really good CGI? Because I have no clue how you make these great videos
Basil the Second: hold my beer
Great content thank you
Every single documentary I see about the Byzantines includes at least several battles in which they end up getting ambushed and completely destroyed,and they still ended up existing for a 1000 years
because they were freaking good at Diplomacy! that's why they survived for so long, making dirty deals with Croats, Serbs, Hungarians, Russians, Pechenegs to stab Bulgaria in the back. Byzantines had support because they were rich
Bulgaria is steel here 1350 years.Onley we are here!All enemies are vanishing.
I get a giggle at how the tone in David McCallion's solemn voice changes when he's reading the advertisement copy
Krum: "I WENT FOR THE HEAD"
IKEA: Hmmmmmm....
Keep up the good work!