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Birth:          BEF  931 
Death:           977 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_II_of_Bulgaria
Boris II (Bulgarian: ????? II) was emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 969 to 977 (in 
Byzantine captivity from 971).

Reign[edit]

Boris II was the eldest surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria and Maria 
(renamed Eirene) Lekapena, a granddaughter of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos of 
Byzantium. Boris had been born by 931, when he had visited Constantinople together 
with his mother.

Nothing else is known of Boris II's life until 968, when he went to Constantinople 
again to negotiate a peace settlement with Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, and 
apparently to serve as an honorary hostage. This arrangement was intended to put an 
end to the conflict between Bulgaria and Byzantium, who would now join forces 
against Prince Sviatoslav I of Kiev, whom the Byzantine emperor had pitted against 
the Bulgarians. In 969 a new Kievan invasion defeated the Bulgarians again and Peter 
I abdicated to become a monk. In circumstances that are not entirely clear, Boris II 
was allowed to return to Bulgaria and sit on his father's throne. (The later Byzantine 
chronicle of John Skylitzes confounds this with a later event, in which Boris and his 
brother escaped Constantinople after the so-called rebellion of the Kometopouloi in 
Macedonia.)
Boris II was unable to stem the Kievan advance, and found himself forced to accept 
Sviatoslav of Kiev as his ally and puppet-master, turning against the Byzantines. A 
Kievan campaign into Byzantine Thrace was defeated at Arkadioupolis in 970, and the 
new Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes advanced northwards. Failing to secure the 
defense of the Balkan passes, Sviatoslav allowed the Byzantines to penetrate into 
Moesia and lay siege to the Bulgarian capital Preslav. Although Bulgarians and Ruses 
joined in defending the city, the Byzantines managed to set afire the wooden 
structures and roofs by missiles, and took the fortress. Boris II now became a captive 
of John I Tzimiskes, who continued to pursue the Kievan Army, besieging Sviatoslav 
in Drastar (Silistra), while claiming to act as Boris' ally and protector, and treating the 
Bulgarian monarch with due respect. After Sviatoslav had come to terms and set out 
for Kiev, the Byzantine emperor returned to Constantinople in triumph. Far from 
liberating Bulgaria as he had claimed, John brought along Boris II and his family, 
together with the contents of the Bulgarian imperial treasury in 971. In a public 
ceremony in Constantinople, Boris II was ritually divested of his imperial insignia and 
was given the Byzantine court title of magistros as compensation. The Bulgarian lands 
in Thrace and lower Moesia now became part of the Byzantine Empire and were 
placed under Byzantine governors.

Although the ceremony in 971 had been intended as a symbolic termination of the 
Bulgarian empire, the Byzantines were unable to assert their control over the western 
provinces of Bulgaria. These remained under the rule of their own governors, and 
especially of a noble family led by four brothers called the Kometopouloi (i.e., "the 
sons of the Count"), named David, Moses, Aron, and Samuel. The movement was 
regarded as a "revolt" by the Byzantine emperor, but it apparently saw itself as a sort 
of regency for the captive Boris II. As they began to raid neighboring territories under 
Byzantine rule, the Byzantine government resorted to a stratagem intended to 
compromise the leadership of this "revolt". This involved allowing Boris II and his 
brother Roman to escape from their honorary captivity at the Byzantine court, in the 
hope that their arrival in Bulgaria would cause a division between the Kometopouloi 
and other Bulgarian leaders. As Boris II and Roman entered the region under Bulgarian 
control in 977, Boris II dismounted and went ahead of his brother. Mistaken for a 
Byzantine notable due to his attire, Boris was shot in the chest by a deaf and mute 
border patrol. Roman managed to identify himself to the other guards and was duly 
accepted as emperor.

Family[edit]

By his marriage to an unknown woman, Boris II had several children, as the Byzantine 
historian Kedrenus refers to Emperor John I Tzimisces finding "cum coniuge et liberis 
Borises Bulgarorum rex" among the Russian prisoners when he invaded Bulgaria.[1] 
His children may include:
(possibly) Maria, wife of Tsar Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria; this descent has been 
proposed by Christian Settipani based on prosopographical and onomastic elements 
which appear to link Maria to the Krum dynasty.[2]
An unnamed daughter, engaged to the Byzantine Emperor Basil II in 968
An unnamed daughter, engaged to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VIII in 968

Parents
____ Peter I (ABT  910 - 30 Jan  970)
LEKAPENE Irene (ABT  910 - ABT  966)

Siblings
____ Boris (BEF  931 -  977)

Marriage To ----- ----- ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by ----- ----- 
____ Maria (ABT  960 - )

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