A Land of the Blessed

Between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, Bulgarian communities lived permanently in Moesia, Thrace, and Macedonia, although political borders changed frequently. In the twelfth century William of Tyre described Bulgaria as extending from the Danube to Constantinople and from the Danubian lands to the Adriatic. Since much of this territory was then under Byzantine rule, his account reflects the distribution of the Bulgarians rather than the borders of a state.

The political ideal of the Tarnovo Empire was to unite these regions under a single ruler. Ivan Asen II came closest to achieving it: his influence extended from Belgrade to Adrianople and the Aegean, and in the other direction from Dobruja to Dyrrhachium. Unity weakened after his death. By the end of the fourteenth century Hans Schiltberger distinguished “three Bulgarias,” centred on Vidin, Tarnovo, and Kaliakra. This political fragmentation did not erase the broader meaning of the name Bulgaria.

Medieval geographical names do not correspond exactly to modern ones. The regions north of the Balkan Mountains were known as “Zagore.” Bulgarians often used “Macedonia” for Thrace, which could also be called “Romania,” meaning the land of the Romans—the medieval East Romans or Byzantines. Present-day Macedonia was frequently designated “Bulgaria,” the “Lower Land,” or the “Lower Land of Ohrid.”

The Balkan Mountains crossed the Bulgarian lands from west to east. The Byzantines called the range Haemus, the Slavs Veriga, while the Bulgar name Balkan gradually prevailed. Foreign soldiers and writers emphasized its steep passes, forests, marshes, fog, snow, and fortresses standing on high rocks. A participant in the Third Crusade even portrayed the fog as almost tangible. Such accounts exaggerated the range’s inaccessibility: in a suitable season and along a properly chosen route it could be crossed, particularly where water and pasture for draught animals were available.

Climatic changes affected settlement. The eleventh and twelfth centuries were comparatively warm, while cooling began around the start of the thirteenth century; the difference in average temperature between the periods has been estimated at about two degrees. Warmer conditions probably made higher ground easier to settle. Raids from the north also mattered, as they made the plains of Moesia less secure. Anna Komnene described parts of the region in the eleventh century as almost deserted and mainly suitable for hunting, while fortified settlements appeared in the mountain belt.

The Balkan range was at once a refuge, a defensive barrier, and an inhabited economic landscape. Byzantine armies repeatedly discovered that conquering the country required control of the mountain passes. Tarnovo rose in the Podgorie, the district immediately below the mountains. Its natural defences, fortifications, location among the Asen family’s estates, and role in the uprising of the late twelfth century all contributed to its selection as capital.

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Tarnovo was presented as the foremost Bulgarian city—populous, wealthy, and difficult to capture. In the second half of the fourteenth century Patriarch Callistus I of Constantinople compared it to Constantinople. From the late thirteenth century the form “Tsarigrad Tarnov,” or “Imperial City of Tarnovo,” came into use, giving the capital imperial and ecclesiastical prestige. This symbolism expressed an ambition for Tarnovo to become a central city for Orthodox peoples whose literary and liturgical language was Slavonic.

North of the mountains lay Zagore, described as an exceptionally fertile country. Joasaph of Vidin associated it with abundance, while Western and Ottoman writers listed cultivated hills, vineyards, streams, springs, forests, and oak woods. The region produced or exported grain, meat, fish, honey, butter, sheep, wax, and silk; silver and gold are also mentioned. These reports do not prove that every household lived comfortably, but they indicate a varied output from farming, animal husbandry, and crafts.

The Danube bordered Zagore to the north and served simultaneously as a route, an economic resource, and a political frontier. At the beginning of the thirteenth century it flowed through the middle of the restored empire, but after Tarnovo lost authority over Wallachia in the first decades of the fourteenth century, it became the state’s northern boundary. Belgrade, Vidin, Drastar, and Nikopol stood along its banks. Al-Idrisi described Drastar as a busy commercial city with many markets and good houses. Ivan Shishman likewise emphasized its size, wealth, and fortifications, while near the end of his reign he sought his final refuge behind the walls of Nikopol.

Overland travel was slow and uncertain. Between Belgrade and Niš stretched the famous silva bulgarica, the “Bulgarian forest,” a dense belt broken only by meadows and valleys. Under Byzantine rule, cutting trees beside the strategic road had been forbidden in order to preserve its defensive value. Crusaders had difficulty passing through and frequently clashed with the local population. Even at a rapid pace, the journey between Belgrade and Niš took about eight days.

Beyond Niš, the road entered the Sofia Plain and reached the fortress of Sredets; the name Sofia appeared only in the final decades of the fourteenth century. Gregory Antiochos portrayed the region as cold, rainy, and unpleasant, filled with the sounds of sheep, goats, oxen, and pigs. His contemporary al-Idrisi, however, saw a city of many quarters surrounded by fields and fruit trees. Later evidence speaks of a temperate and healthy climate, cold mountain water, vineyards, fruit of many kinds, plentiful grass, timber, and numerous livestock. Wolves, jackals, and roe deer are also mentioned. The contradiction shows how strongly personal experience and literary purpose could shape the description of a region. Patriarch Euthymius of Tarnovo counted Sredets among the most important cities in the European lands.

A branch of the main road led towards the “Lower Land.” The Vardar, called Axios by the Byzantines, was represented as a broad river whose middle course could be navigated. Spring snowmelt turned it into a violent torrent, while its valley yielded varied agricultural produce. The Struma had a reputation as a dangerous river that was difficult to cross. Ohrid was among the principal cities, a fortified centre with active commerce. On the nearby lake, fishermen used boats, providing a rare concrete glimpse of everyday work in the region.

The fortresses of the Lower Land illustrate both the defensive advantages and the discomforts of mountain life. George Akropolites knew Prosek personally, set among sheer rocks and surrounded by the Vardar. A single narrow, steep road approached it, while a wall closed the accessible entrance. There were woods and ample space inside, but no spring or well. The inhabitants had to descend to the river and carry water uphill in vessels—a serious burden in ordinary life and especially during a siege. Military security did not guarantee peaceful living, since some local governors were remembered for violence and extravagant feasting.

Strumitsa stood high above cultivated land filled with vineyards and gardens. Melnik likewise occupied a rocky and almost inaccessible site, but around it lay a dense network of villages, fields, and farmland. During the fourteenth century Velbazhd, modern Kyustendil, grew in importance because of the nearby silver deposits. Mountain towns thus combined defence, an agricultural hinterland, commerce, and sometimes mining.

Thrace was regarded as the richest agricultural region. The Maritsa and other waters sustained fields, meadows, orchards, and vineyards, while the sources mention large villages, populous cities, and well-built houses. Everyday food and trade rested on grain, fruit, wine, and animal products. Fertility came at a high price, however: the plain was continually disputed between Bulgaria and Byzantium and frequently suffered battles, plunder, and the destruction of crops.

The principal Thracian city was Plavdin, modern Plovdiv, called Philippopolis by the Byzantines. Its fortress occupied three hills protected by walls, with a ditch on the side facing the open plain. One crusading account claims that an enormous army occupied only half of the city’s houses; the figure is plainly exaggerated, but it conveys the impression of a large and populous centre. Boruy, also known to the Bulgarians as Zheleznik, was celebrated for its wheat, barley, flour, wine, oxen, and sheep. The roads leading to it passed villages, vineyards, orchards, and herds.

The Rhodope Mountains enclosed Thrace to the south. Bulgarian shepherds and swineherds used the pastures in their valleys, while the Sub-Balkan fields between the Sredna Gora and the Balkan range offered irrigated and continuously cultivated land. To the east, the Bulgarian territories reached the Black Sea. Medieval Bulgarians distinguished the Black, White, and Blue seas—the Black Sea, Aegean, and Adriatic respectively. One map labels the Black Sea “Our Sea,” which may suggest a Bulgarian compiler, although this is uncertain. Despite the long coastline, the sea remained an environment less fully mastered than the plains, rivers, and mountain passes.