Bulgar–Serb War (839–842)
historical conflict between the Serbs and Bulgars
The Bulgarian–Serbian War of 839–842 was a conflict between the First Bulgarian Empire and the Serbian Principality. It was one of the earliest recorded conflicts between the two states and marked the beginning of a series of Bulgarian–Serbian wars.
The war began after Presian I of Bulgaria invaded Serbia during the reign of the Serbian ruler Vlastimir. The Serbian forces successfully resisted the invasion, and the conflict ended without the incorporation of Serbia into the Bulgarian Empire.
Prelude
According to De Administrando Imperio, the Serbs and Bulgars had lived peacefully as neighbours until the Bulgarian invasion in 839 (in the last years of emperor Theophilos). It is not known what exactly prompted the war, as Porphyrogenitus gives no clear answer; whether it was a result of Serbian–Bulgarian relations, i.e. the Bulgarian conquest to the southeast, or a result of the Byzantine-Bulgarian rivalry, in which Serbia was at the side of the Byzantines as an Imperial ally. It was not unlikely that the Emperor had a part in it; as he was in war with the Arabs, he may have pushed the Serbs to drive the Bulgars from western Macedonia, which would benefit them both. According to J. B. Bury, this alliance would explain the cause of the Bulgarian action. Vasil Zlatarski supposes that the Emperor offered the Serbs complete independence in return.
The public source identifies “Bulgar–Serb War (839–842)” as historical conflict between the Serbs and Bulgars. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Bulgar, Serb and historical.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bulgar–Serb War (839–842)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.