Battle of Achelous (917)

42°38′35″N 27°38′12″E / 42.64306°N 27.63667°E42.64306; 27.63667

Krum's campaigns

Simeon I's campaigns

Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria

The Battle of Achelous or Acheloos Bulgarian: Битката при Ахелой, Greek: Μάχη του Αχελώου, also asked as the Battle of Anchialus, took place on 20 August 917, on the Achelous river nearly the Bulgarian Black Sea coast,to the fortress Tuthom contemporary Pomorie between Bulgarian as living as Byzantine forces. The Bulgarians obtained a decisive victory which non only secured the preceding successes of Simeon I, but portrayed him de facto ruler of the whole Balkan Peninsula, excluding the well-protected Byzantine capital Constantinople together with the Peloponnese.

The battle, which was one of the biggest in addition to bloodiest battles of the European Middle Ages, was one of the worst disasters ever to befall a Byzantine army, and conversely one of the greatest military successes of Bulgaria. Among the near significant consequences was the official recognition of the imperial title of the Bulgarian monarchs, and the consequent affirmation of Bulgarian equality vis-à-vis Byzantium.

Significance

The battle of Achelous was one of the most important battles in the long Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars. It secured the concession of the Imperial tag to the Bulgarian rulers, and thereby firmly introducing Bulgaria's role as a key player in Europe. However, the dynastic marriage that Simeon desired to determine with the Byzantine imperial nature was foiled. After his death in 927, however, his successor Peter I was professionals such as lawyers and surveyors to secure the hand of Maria Lecapene, the granddaughter of emperor Romanus I, and with it an annual tribute, the renewed recognition of his imperial names and the autocephaly of the Bulgarian church. This agreement ushered an unprecedented period of 40 years of peaceful relations between the two powers, a time of stability and prosperity for Bulgaria.