Battle of Velbazhd

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Battle of Velbazhd

Part of Bulgarian-Serbian Wars

A detail from a 16th century icon of Stefan Dečanski,

depicting the Battle of Velbazhd.

Date July 28, 1330

Location Kyustendil
Result Decisive Serbian victory[1]

Belligerents

Bulgarian Empire Kingdom of Serbia

Commanders and leaders

Michael III of Bulgaria † Stefan Decanski

Strength

c. 15,000 c. 18,000[2]

Casualties and losses

heavy heavy

The Battle of Velbazhd (Bulgarian: битка при Велбъжд, bitka pri Velbazhd; Serbian: Битка
на Велбужду, bitka na Velbuždu) is a battle which took place between Bulgarian and Serbian
armies on 28 July 1330, near the town of Velbazhd (present day Kyustendil).

The growing power of the Serbian Kingdom from the late 13th century raised serious
concerns in the traditional Balkan powers Bulgaria and Byzantium which agreed for joint
military actions against Serbia in 1327. Three years later the bulk of the Bulgarian and
Serbian armies clashed at Velbazhd and the Bulgarians were caught by surprise. Serbian
victory shaped the balance of power in Balkans in the next two decades. The Bulgarians did
not lose territory after the battle but were unable to stop the Serbian advance towards
Macedonia. Serbia managed to conquer Macedonia and parts of Thessaly and Epirus reaching
its greatest territorial extent ever. Their new King Stefan Dušan was crowned Emperor with
Bulgarian help in 1346.

However, after Dušan's death in 1355 his Empire disintegrated as did Bulgaria after the death
of Ivan Alexander in 1371 and both states were subsequently destroyed by the Ottoman Turks.

Contents
[hide]
 1 Origins of conflict
 2 Preparations
 3 Operations before the battle
o 3.1 Movements of the Bulgarian
army
o 3.2 Movements of the Serbian army

 4 The Battle and its Results

 5 Later Developments and Consequences
 6 See also
 7 References
 8 External links

 9 Footnotes

[edit] Origins of conflict

During the long but unsuccessful reign of Emperor Constantine Tikh Asen (1257–1277) the
Bulgarian Empire lost its possessions in northern Macedonia including Skopie, the original
feudal estate of the Emperor to the Byzantines. Both Empires were faced with serious external
and internal problems and from the 1280s the Serbs began to expand their Kingdom to the
south in northern Macedonia.
The situation in the Balkans and Asia Minor c. 1261.

During the internal war in Byzantium (1320–1328) waged between the aged emperor
Andronikos II Palaiologos and his ambitious grandson Andronikos III Palaiologos, the
Serbian King Stefan Uroš III (also known as Stefan Dečanski) actively supported the side of
old emperor and in the process gained some minor forts in Macedonia. After in 1328
Andronikos III won and deposed his grandfather. Serbia and Byzantium entered a period of
bad relations, closer to the state of undeclared war. On the other hand, the Bulgarian Emperor
Michael Asen III supported his brother-in-law Andronikos III. Previously, in 1324, he
divorced and ousted his wife and Stefan’s sister Anna Neda, and married Andronikos III’s
sister Theodora. During that time the Serbs captured some important towns such as Prosek
and Prilep and even besieged Ohrid (1329).[3]

The two Empires were seriously worried about the fast growth of Serbia and on 13 May 1327
settled a clearly anti-Serb peace treaty. After another meeting with Andronikos III in 1329, the
rulers decided to invade their common enemy; Michael Asen III prepared for joint military
operations against Serbia.[4] Michael Shishman desired to retake the north-western and south-
western Bulgarian lands which the Serbs had previously conquered.[5] The plan included the
thorough elimination of Serbia and its partition between Bulgaria and Byzantium.[6][7]
According to some Serbian chroniclers, he demanded the submission of the Serbian king and
threatened to "set up his throne in the middle of the Serbian land".

[edit] Preparations
Both sides took careful preparations. Michael called in his ally Basarab of Walachia who sent
him a strong unit, as well as detachments of Ossetians and Tatars, a total of 3,000 men.[8]
Michael's army was estimated by contemporaries to be 12,000 strong.[9] Stefan Uroš
strengthened his army by more Spanish and German mercenaries (1,000 soldiers each),[10]
experienced warriors which presented an elite unit of Serbian army which comprised a total of
18,000 fighters.

[edit] Operations before the battle

According to the plan the Bulgarians were to advance from the east and the Byzantines from
the south[11] and then to join forces somewhere in present day north Macedonia but their
coordination was feeble. In July 1330 Andronikos III invaded Macedonia but after he
captured Prilep and five minor fortresses[12][13] he halted his army and decided to await the
outcome of the decisive battle between Bulgarians and Serbs.[14] Serbian objective was to
prevent the joining of the allies and to fight in separate battles. Fearing an attack on Morava
valley by the way of Nish the Serbian King gathered his army in the field of Dobrich, on the
confluence of the Toplica river into the Morava.

[edit] Movements of the Bulgarian army

A coin of Stefan Decanski.

On 19 July[15] the Bulgarian army led by the Emperor himself set off from the capital Tarnovo,
marched through the Iskar Gorge and Sofia and entered the northern parts of the Struma
valley.[16] From there he continued towards Zemen[17] and set his camp in the village of
Shishkovtsi[18] On the next day the army reached the important border castle near the modern
village of Izvor. From there it was divided into two groups: the main forces under Michael
Shishman through the northern parts of the Konyavska mountain (along the border between
Bulgaria and Byzantium) and headed towards the Zemen gorge. The smaller part which
included the army support went through an easier but longer road through the mountain and
arrived between the villages of Konyavo and Dvorishte.[19]

Other Bulgarian forces under the command of the Emperor's brother Belaur set off from his
seat in Vidin but did not participate in the battle which was among the main reasons for the
following defeat.[20] According to some historians they were stationed as a reserve around the
Izvor castle[21] while others think that he arrived too late.

[edit] Movements of the Serbian army

From his camp on the confluence between the Toplica and the Morava rivers Stefan Decanski
expected an attack from Vidin to the north-east.[22] His purpose was to hinder a Bulgarian
advance to the interior of his state.[23] Upon the news for the Bulgarian presence in the Struma
valley the king marched southwards along the Bulgarian Morava and then the valley of the
river Pchinya until he reached the Staro Nagorichino village where stopped for a pray in a
nearby monastery. After that he continued to the Ioakim Osogovski Monastery where he
prayed again and advanced on Bulgarian territory near the Kamenitsa river[24] in the vicinity of
Velbazhd where his army encamped.[25]

[edit] The Battle and its Results

Plan of the battle of Velbazhd.

The Serbian army attended holy liturgy in the church of Saint George in Staro Nagoričane,
prior to the battle. The Serbian king buried the deceased Bulgarian emperor in crypt of the
church after he was slain in the battle.

The bulk of the two armies camped in the vicinity of Velbazhd but both Michael Shishman
and Stefan Decanski expected reinforcements and from 24 July they began negotiations which
ended with one-day truce. According to some historians there was a minor clash between the
armies near the village of Kopilovtsi in which the Serbs were repulsed and showed their King
that his forces were not enough to achieve success. The Emperor had other problems which
influenced his decision for the truce: the army supply units had not yet arrived and the
Bulgarians were in shortage of food. Their troops scattered around the country and the nearby
villages to search for provisions. Meanwhile, receiving a sizable reinforcement led by his son
Stefan Dušan during the night (including foreign mercenaries), the Serbian king broke his
word and attacked early on 28 July 1330[26][27] and caught the Bulgarian army by surprise. One
Serbian unit under the command of Decanski took the Spasovitsa heights while more Serb
troops including 1,000 heavily armoured Catalan mercenaries led by Stefan Dusan penetrated
the valley of the Dragovishtitsa river toward the village of Shishkovtsi. The main battle took
place between the village and the Spasovitsa heights in a locality called Bozhuritsa.[28]
According to a local legend the name derived from the flower bozhur (peony) which grew up
from the blood of the fallen Bulgarian soldiers.

Although caught by total surprise Michael Shishman attempted to bring his army to order but
it was too late and the outnumbered Bulgarian units were crushed.[29] The battle was bloody
because the remaining Bulgarian forces on the battlefield stiffly resisted and according to
some chroniclers the river reddened.[30] Both sides suffered heavy casualties and the Bulgarian
camp was looted by the Serbs.[31][32] The Emperor himself was badly wounded, his horse killed
under him and was captured by the coming enemy soldiers. He was taken to the Serbian camp
where he probably expired from his wounds on the fourth day of his captivity, on 31 July.[33]
Some other theories suggest that he perished on the battlefield or was killed by order of Stefan
Dusan.[34] The body of the ill-fated Emperor Michael was brought to King Stefan and was
consequently buried in the monastery of Staro Nagoričane (village Staro Nagoričane, near
Kumanovo). On the place where he spent his last night praying in his tent, Stefan built a
church (still existent to this day).

On the second day after the battle (30 July)[35] the Serbs advanced towards the Konyavska
mountain[36] but it was impossible for them to achieve any success because more Bulgarian
troops under Michael's brother Belaur and the governor of Lovech Ivan Alexander were
concentrated around the Izvor castle and blocked the way to the interior of the country. Near
Izvor Belaur met King Stefan Decanski and they concluded a peace. The Bulgarians agreed to
accept as their ruler the underage Ivan Stefan, the son of Michael Shishman and Stefan’s sister
Anna Neda. There were minor territorial changes along the current border of the two states
but after the battle Bulgaria could not prevent the Serbian invasion of Macedonia.

[edit] Later Developments and Consequences

Map of the Balkans in 1355. Serbia had reached its greatest expansion ever following the
battle of Velbazhd.

Hearing the news of his ally’s death, Andronikos decided to abandon the war with Serbia and
headed to take advantage of the Bulgarian weakness. However in 1332 the Bulgarians
defeated the Byzantines in the battle of Rusokastro and regained many territories in Thrace.
King Stefan reached Macedonia and regained the towns that were taken by Byzantines at the
beginning of the campaign. After a successful end of the war Stefan returned at to building the
Visoki Dečani monastery, his grand edifice in the region of Metohija, which he bestowed with
many villages in a charter issued at the end of the year.

In the beginning of the year 1331 young king Stefan Dušan rebelled after his father, possibly
on the course of further actions against Byzantium. In stark contrast with his pious father,
juvenile Dušan was aggressive and was supported by those Serbian nobles who desired wider
exploits of the victory by Velebuzhd. During the rebellion (January to April), Bulgarian nobles
dethroned Ivan Stefan and brought to rule Ivan Alexander (1331–1371) cousin of Michael.

In the long run Velbuzhd opened a period of around 20 years in which Serbia rose to be the
strongest state in South-Eastern Europe. War with Byzantium was an open matter and when
Dushan succeeded in taking over of the throne later in 1331 he launched attacks on Byzantine
possessions taking them one by one. Bulgaria and Serbia kept friendly relations and in 1346
Stefan Dusan was crowned Emperor with the help of Ivan Alexander.

[edit] See also

 Second Bulgarian Empire
 Bulgarian-Serbian Wars
 Medieval Bulgarian Army

[edit] References