A history of the Second Bulgarian Empire, for everyone

Why this exists

The medieval history of Bulgaria is rich, but it is scattered — locked inside academic books, foreign-language chronicles, museum catalogues, and specialist journals. Much of it never reaches the people who would most enjoy it. A student writing an essay, a traveller standing before a fortress, a grandparent telling a grandchild about the old tsars — all of them deserve accurate history that does not require a university library to reach.

The goal of this project is to close that gap: to collect the scattered pieces into a single, well-organised whole, and to present them clearly, honestly, and beautifully.

Written to be understood

Good history should not be hard to read. We take academic scholarship seriously and stay faithful to it — but we do the work of translating it into clear, plain language, so that understanding never depends on already being an expert.

The ambition is that the same subject can be met at whatever level suits you: a short, vivid summary for a younger reader or a first encounter, and deeper detail and original sources a click away for anyone who wants them. History belongs to everyone, and it should be told in a way that welcomes everyone.

Grounded in the sources

Wherever possible, what you read here is built on primary sources — medieval chronicles, charters, seals, coins — and on the standard scholarly catalogues of the rulers and institutions. Sections such as the biographies and the family tree draw directly on that record, and the Books section lets you read many of the original texts for yourself.

A note on accuracy

This is a living project, always being expanded and refined. Some articles are compiled and drafted with the help of AI working from the sources, and then reviewed and corrected. History is also full of genuine uncertainty and honest scholarly disagreement. If you spot an error or have a suggestion, we would genuinely like to hear from you.