Battle of Arcadiopolis (1194)

Infobox Military Conflict


caption=
conflict=Battle of Arcadiopolis
partof=the Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars
date=1194
place=near Lule Burgas, Turkey
result=Bulgarian victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=Ivan Asen I
commander2=Alexios Gid Basil Vatatsi †
strength1=Unknown
strength2=Very large army
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=Heavy

The battle of Arcadiopolis ( _bg. Битkа при Аркадиопол) occurred in 1194 near the contemporary town of Lule Burgas in Turkey between the Bulgarian Empire and Byzantine Empires. The Bulgarians were victorious.

Origins of the conflict

After the major Bulgarian success in the battle of Tryavna in 1190 their troops launched frequent attacks on Thrace and Macedonia to liberate all Bulgarian lands. The Byzantines could not face the fast Bulgarian cavalry which attacked from different directions on a vast area. Towards 1194 Ivan Asen I had taken the important city of Sofia and the surrounding areas as well as the upper valley of the Struma River from where his armies advanced deep into Macedonia. [Nicetas Choniata. Historia, p. 573]

The battle

To distract his attention the Byzantines decided to strike in eastern direction. They assembled the Eastern army under its commander Alexios Gud and the Western army under its domestikos Basil Vatatsi to stop the dangerous rise of Bulgarian power. Near Arcadiopolis in Eastern Thrace they met the Bulgarian army. After a fierce battle the Byzantine armies were annihilated. Most of Gid's troops perished and he had to flee for his life, while the Western army was fully slaughtered and Basil Vatatsi was killed on the battlefield.

Aftermath

After the defeat Isaac II Angelos had to plee the Hungarian King Bela III for help. Byzantium had to attack from the south and Hungary was to invade the north-western Bulgarian lands and take Belgrade, Branichevo and eventually Vidin but the plan failed. In March 1195 Isaac II managed to organize a campaign against Bulgaria [Nicetas Choniata. Historia, p. 587-589] but he was deposed by his brother Alexios III Angelos and that campaign failed as well. In the next year the Byzantines were defeated in the battle of Serres.

References

*Йордан Андреев, Милчо Лалков, Българските ханове и царе, Велико Търново, 1996.

Footnotes