Town government
Town government in the Second Bulgarian Empire is poorly documented and cannot be reconstructed as a clearly organized institution. Thirteenth- and fourteenth-century charters distinguish towns from surrounding territorial districts, while the account of St Sava’s burial in 1236 mentions particular officials or leaders of Tarnovo. This evidence suggests that towns possessed some administrative distinctiveness, but it does not demonstrate the existence of self-governing urban communes.
“Town government” is a modern umbrella term rather than a securely attested medieval office. The evidence comes mainly from royal charters and narrative works. In the Dubrovnik and Virgin Charters, “town” is listed separately from chora, a word meaning a country, land, or territorial district in this context. Since these are official documents, the distinction was probably administrative rather than merely a description of settlements and landscape. A broader geographical usage cannot, however, be entirely excluded.
The treaty concluded by Tsar Michael II Asen with Dubrovnik in 1253 likewise refers separately to Serbian and coastal lands and towns. Although this passage does not directly describe the organization of Bulgaria, it shows that a town could be regarded as a distinct element of territorial administration. The treaty also lists taxes and berii, various fiscal exactions from which Dubrovnik’s merchants were exempted. Towns thus appear not only as markets and commercial centres but also as places where administrative and fiscal authority was exercised. The Rila Chrysobull of Tsar Ivan Shishman, issued in 1378, was a solemn royal charter and declared that the town of Stob had no authority over the dependants of the Rila Monastery. Such a provision implies the existence of urban jurisdiction whose reach could be curtailed by a monastic privilege.
The most direct notice of town authorities concerns the death of St Sava of Serbia at Tarnovo in 1236. In his Life of the saint, Theodosios the Hilandarian relates that Patriarch Joachim I came to the funeral accompanied by bishops, abbots, and the “leaders of the town” (nachalniki grada). The plural may denote a group of officials in the capital or people recognized as its leaders. A single reference cannot reveal whether they were representatives of the tsar, local officeholders, or simply influential notables. Nothing is known about their appointment, position in the official hierarchy, precise powers, or any seals, insignia, or coins associated with them.
Vladislav the Grammarian’s later account of an attempt by Tarnovo’s leading men to prevent the removal of the relics of St John of Rila cannot be treated as direct evidence for the Second Bulgarian Empire. The event belongs to the fifteenth century, when Tarnovo was already under Ottoman rule, and the men were probably prominent Christians living alongside the Ottoman administration rather than members of a surviving Bulgarian institution. There is no basis for identifying Bulgarian town authorities as the beginnings of a Western European or Italian commune—an autonomous corporate urban community with its own government. Nor can their organization be securely derived from a particular Byzantine model, while comparisons with Byzantium, Wallachia, Moldavia, or the western Balkans cannot compensate for the lack of Bulgarian evidence. The most cautious conclusion is that at least the capital, and probably certain other towns, possessed their own administrative leadership or a distinct jurisdiction. Its composition, functions, and subsequent fate remain unknown.