Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria

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Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria bigraphy, stories - Bulgarian emperor

Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria : biography

– 1018

Ivan Vladislav () ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from August or September 1015 to February 1018. The year of his birth is unknown; he was born at least a decade before 987, but probably not much earlier than that.

Saved from death by his cousin Gavril Radomir, the Bulgarian Emperor, in 976, Ivan Vladislav murdered him in October 1015 and seized the Bulgarian throne. Due to the desperate situation of the country following the decades-long war with the Byzantine Empire and in an attempt to consolidate his position, he tried to negotiate truce with the Byzantine emperor Basil II. After the failure of the negotiations he continued the resistance, attempting unsuccessfully to push the Byzantines back. During his period of rule, Ivan Vladislav tried to strengthen the Bulgarian army, reconstructed many Bulgarian fortresses and even carried out a counter-offensive, but died at the Battle of Dyrrhachium in 1018. After his death his widow, Empress Maria, the Patriarch and most of the nobility finally surrendered to Basil II, who soon suppressed the last remnants of resistance and brought about the end of the First Bulgarian Empire.

Ivan Vladislav left a mixed heritage, varying from a reputation of being ruthless murderer to a hero defending his country as best as he could. The descendants of Ivan Vladislav entered the Byzantine nobility and rose to the highest ranks of the hierarchy. Two women of his family became empresses of the Byzantine Empire and others became military commanders or high-ranking officials. He was an ancestor of the Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos.

Life before the accession of the throne

Ivan Vladislav was the son of Aron, the brother of Emperor Samuel (r. 997–1014) of the Cometopuli dynasty. In 976 or 987 Samuel ordered his brother Aron executed for treason together with his entire family near Razmetanitsa. Ivan Vladislav was the only survivor, being spared through the intercession of his cousin, Samuel’s son Gavril Radomir.Kazhdan, p. 1071Wasilewski, p. 71 His life during the subsequent decades and until his accession is unknown.

Assumption of power

By 1015, Bulgaria had been embroiled in almost thirty years of war with the Byzantine Empire, and Gavril Radomir had succeeded Samuel, who died on 6 October 1014 after the disastrous Battle of Kleidion. However, from the outset Radomir’s position was insecure: Ivan Vladislav, as a son of the elder of the Cometopouli brothers, could lay claim on the throne based on seniority.Zlatarski, p. 705 During that time the Byzantine king Basil II campaigned deep into Bulgarian territory. He retook the previously lost town of Voden (Edessa) and laid siege to the massive fortress of Maglen, situated to the north-west. Gavril Radomir did not have enough forces and was unable to interfere and could only watch the course of the events from the nearby Lake Ostrovo. His inability to cope with the Byzantine threat aroused discontent among the nobility and Ivan Vladislav became their chosen leader. The fall of Maglen sealed Gavril Radomir’s fate—in the late summer of 1015, while hunting near Ostrovo (Arnissa), he was murdered by his cousin,Runciman, pp. 242–244 perhaps at the behest of Byzantine agents. Ivan Vladislav then seized the Bulgarian throne and took steps to ensure his position against potential rivals.Zlatarski, p. 713

Legacy

Living more than one hundred years after Ivan Vladislav, the historian known as the Priest of Duklja, who wrote from a Dukljan perspective, was outraged by the murder of Jovan Vladimir, and wrote that after the Tsar died, he was "forever connected with the angels of Satan".Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, ch. XXXVI, p. 341. Many modern Bulgarian historians, including Vasil Zlatarski, also criticize the emperor, claiming that his actions hastened the fall of Bulgaria and that instead of raising the morale of the nation he turned into a murderer and was unable to cope with the intrigues and the corruption in court.Zlatarski, p. 718 Steven Runciman is also critical of the emperor, noting that his assassination of Gavril Radomir unleashed a general confusion where each noble started looking out for his own personal interests, but nevertheless credits him with "a considerable ruthless energy". Jordan Andreev is more favourable to Ivan Vladislav, noting that he had reasons for his acts—he had to revenge the murder of his family according to the old Bulgarian pagan beliefs, but he only killed Gavril Radomir and his wife without harming the rest of Gavril Radomir’s family. He had to cope with Jovan Vladimir who, as a husband of one of Samuel’s daughters, was a threat to his position, and had also attempted a compromise with the Byzantines. According to Andreev, Ivan Vladislav’s struggle to defend the Bulgarian state and his heroic death serve to mitigate his ill deeds. He cites a Byzantine historian who claimed that during Ivan Vladislav’s reign the Byzantine state "hanged in the balance, because that barbarian like Goliath resisted the Romans and they were all despaired by that invincible foe."Andreev, pp. 134–135 The Polish historian Kazimierz Zakrzewski also writes with sympathy for the last ruler of the First Empire, in light of the fact that Ivan Vladislav managed to sustain a guerilla war which he skilfully run until his death.Zakrzewski, History of Byzantium, p. 229