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taken by the Greek clergy and especially by the Greek bishops. The proclamation of Theodore Angelus as the Emperor of the Romans was considered very seriously; Thessalonica, which had passed over into his hands, was contrasted with Nicaea; Constantinople was openly indicated to him as the nearest goal of his ambition and as a certain gain; in speech, thought, and writing, it was the common opinion that he was destined to enter St. Sophia and occupy there the place of the Orthodox Roman emperors where the Latin newcomers were sitting illegally. The realization of such dreams did not lie beyond the limits of possibility; it was even easier to take Constantinople from Thessalonica than from Nicea."58

The proclamation of Theodore's coronation as the Emperor of Thessalonica and his anointment by the archbishop Demetrius Chomatenus must have brought about the political rupture between Thessalonica and Nicaea as well as the ecclesiastical rupture between the western Greek hierarchs and the patriarchate of Nicaea, which was called the patriarchate of Constantinople.

In the course of a rather long period after the fall of the Latin kingdom of Thessalonica, several West-European princes related to the family of Montferrat continued to use in the West the extinct title of King of Thessalonica. They were the so-called "titulary" kings of Thessalonica, as, after the fall of the Latin Empire in 1261, there were to be "titulary" Latin emperors in western Europe.

Thus, from 1222,59 when the Empire of Thessalonica was proclaimed and refused to recognize the Empire of Nicaea, there were in the Christian East three Empires: the two Greek Empires of Thessalonica and of Nicaea, and the Latin Empire in Constantinople which was becoming weaker every year. The further history of the thirteenth century is concerned with the relations between these Empires, in whose destinies the Bulgarian Kingdom of John Asen II was the decisive factor.

60

5 Vasilievsky, The Regeneration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate, I, 18-19 (in Russian). 50 Sometimes the year 1223 is given for the foundation of the Empire of Thessalonica.

60 We shall not discuss the Empire of Trebizond.

Thessalonica and Nicaea. The role of Bulgaria in the Christian East under the Tsar John Asen II. The Greco-Bulgarian alliance between John III Ducas Vatatzes and John Asen II.-The two Greek Emperors, John Vatazes and Theodore Angelus, had one common foe in the Emperor of Constantinople. But the Greek rulers could not come to an agreement concerning the Latin Emperor, for each of them wished at all costs to seize Constantinople for himself. In their opinion, only one of them could be the restorer of the Byzantine Empire. Therefore they had to fight separately against the Latin Empire, and finally clashed with each other.

Tidings of the growth of Nicaea and Epirus reached Western Europe and aroused alarm on behalf of the Latin Empire. In a letter (May 1224) to Blanche, the queen of France, the mother of Louis IX, Pope Honorius III, speaking of the powerful Empire of Romania and the fact "that recently there has been created a sort of new France", warns the queen that "the strength of the French (in the East) has decreased and is decreasing while their adversaries are growing considerably stronger, so that, unless speedy help is given the Emperor, it is to be feared that the Latins may be menaced by irreparable damage to both men and means." Honorius III proceeds to appeal to the King of France, asking him to help the Latin Emperor.61

Soon after his ascension to the throne, John Vatatzes opened successful hostilities against the Latins in Asia Minor; then, by means of the fleet which was already at the disposal of the Emperor of Nicaea, he seized some islands of the Archipelago, Chios, Lesbos, Samos, and some others, and after that, having been asked by the inhabitants of Hadrianople to free them from the Latin yoke, he transferred hostilities to Europe. He sent towards Hadrianople an army which seems to have occupied this important point without a battle. To John Vatatzes the possession of Hadrianople might open the gates of Constantinople. One of the rivals seemed to be not far from his cherished goal.

But at the same time, Theodore Angelus set out from Thes

Bouquet, Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France (Paris, 1833), XIX, 754

salonica and conquered a major part of Thrace; then in 1225, approaching Hadrianople, he caused the army of John Vatatzes to withdraw. To the latter's plans, the loss of Hadrianople was a severe blow. Meanwhile, Theodore seized some other places and with his troops reached the very walls of Constantinople. It was a critical moment for the Latins. The Emperor of Thessalonica was on the point of becoming the real restorer of the Byzantine Empire. His dominions extended from the Adriatic almost to the Black Sea.

But Theodore was compelled to give up hope of further successes in his fight against the Latins, for he himself began to be seriously menaced from the north by John Asen II of Bulgaria, who had also a claim upon Constantinople.

John Asen II (1218-1241), the greatest of the Asens, was the son of John Asen I. "Though not himself a conqueror", to quote the well-known historian Jireček, "he expanded the boundaries of the kingdom which he had received in a disorganized state, to limits that it had not reached for several centuries and which it never achieved afterward."62 Tolerant in religious matters, well educated, and clement, he left a good name not only among the Bulgars, but also among the Greeks. A Greek historian of the thirteenth century, George Acropolita, wrote of him: "All considered him a wonderful and happy man because he did not resort to the sword in his dealings with his subjects and did not stain himself with the murders of Romans, like the Bulgarian kings who had preceded him. Therefore he was beloved not only by the Bulgars, but also by the Romans and other peoples."63

In the history of Byzantium, John Asen II was very important as the representative of the idea of the Great Bulgarian Kingdom which, it seemed, should unify the whole orthodox population of the Balkan peninsula and establish its capital at Tsargrad (Constantinople). Such plans, undoubtedly, were opposed to the vital interests of both Greek Empires and must have

62 C. Jireček, A History of the Bulgars, transl. from Bulgarian into Russian by Bruun and Palauzov (Odessa, 1878), p. 333.

63 Georg. Acropol., ch. 25 (ed. Heisenberg, p. 43).

brought about hostilities. But the course of events seemed to facilitate the realization of the Bulgarian Tsar's plans.

On the death of the Latin Emperor Robert de Courtenay (1228), the throne was supposed to pass to his brother, Baldwin II, a boy of eleven. The question of regency arose. Some proposed as a regent John Asen, who was related to Baldwin; and to strengthen the ties of friendship between the two countries, the betrothal of Baldwin to Asen's daughter was suggested. Realizing all the advantages of the proposed agreement and hoping to capture Constantinople without bloodshed, Asen accepted the proposition and promised Baldwin that he would free the lands occupied by his enemies, especially Theodore of Epirus. The Latin knights and clergy, however, stubbornly resisted the candidature of a deadly foe of the Latin Empire and insisted upon the election as regent of the Empire, of a Frenchman, the "titulary" King of Jerusalem, who at that time was in Western Europe, John of Brienne, a man of eighty. Thus Asen's first chance of taking Constantinople ended in failure.

After the capture of Hadrianople, the chief role in the Balkan peninsula was played by Theodore of Epirus, Emperor of Thessalonica, who concluded an alliance with Asen. But their friendly relations did not last long. The plan concerning John Asen's regency in Constantinople aroused serious suspicions in Theodore. He treacherously broke his alliance with Asen and opened hostilities against the Bulgars. The decisive battle was fought in 1230 at a place called Klokotinitza (Clocotinitza), now Semidje, between Hadrianople and Philippopolis, and ended in a complete victory for John Asen, who was vigorously supported by the Cuman cavalry.64 Theodore Angelus was captured. At first mildly treated, he plotted later against Asen's life and on the discovery of his plot was blinded.

The battle of Klokotinitza, in 1230, was one of the turning points in the history of the Christian East in the thirteenth century. It destroyed the Western Greek Empire and the Western

64 George Acropolita calls this cavalry the Scythians. Georg. Acropol., ch. 25 (ed. Heisenberg, p. 42). Others think them the Moldo-Wallachs (Vlachs). See O. Tafrali, Thessalonique des origines au XIV siècle (Paris, 1919), pp. 217-18.

Greek centre, which seemed to be on the point of restoring the Byzantine Empire. The short-lived Western Empire (1222-1230) practically ceased to exist, and Manuel, the brother of Theodore Angelus, who was taken prisoner, ruled Thessalonica thereafter, some historians think, not with the title of emperor but with that of despot. But this is doubtful: he continued to sign his decrees with red ink, as befitted the imperial dignity, and called himself in the documents emperor. In the further history of the thirteenth century, Thessalonica and Epirus, two separate dominions, played no role of any importance. From that time on, the struggle for Constantinople was carried on, not between three rivals, but two: John Vatatzes and John Asen.

65

After the victory over Theodore of Epirus, the Tsar of Bulgaria occupied Hadrianople without a struggle, as well as almost the whole of Macedonia and Albania as far as Dyrrhachium (Durazzo). In the hands of the Greeks remained Thessalonica, Thessaly, and Epirus.

An inscription on a white marble column in the church of the Forty Martyrs at Trnovo (Bulgaria), has come down to us. In this inscription, the Tsar of Bulgaria tells of the results of his victory in this inflated style: "I, John Asen, in Christ God the faithful Tsar and Autocrat of the Bulgars, son of the old Tsar Asen . . . set forth on a march upon Romania and defeated the Greek troops, and I have captured the Emperor himself, Theodore Comnenus, with all his boyars (nobles), and taken all the countries from Hadrianople to Durazzo, the Greek territory, as well as the Albanian and Serbian territories. The Latins (Franks) have kept only the cities round Tsargrad itself, but even they have become subject to the power of my Majesty, for they have no king but myself, and only thanks to me have they continued their existence."66 From a charter granted by Asen at the same time to the Ragusan merchants concerning the freedom of their commerce in his realm, it is shown that the whole of European

See, for example, Drinov, in Viz. Vrem., II, 3, and note 1 (in Russian). Tafrali, op. cit., p. 219.

66 See, for example, A. Pogodin, A History of Bulgaria (St. Petersburg, 1910), p. 87 (in Russian). Jireček, op. cit., p. 337 (in Russian).

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