- Battle of Arcadiopolis (1194)
Infobox Military Conflict
caption=
conflict=Battle of Arcadiopolis
partof=theByzantine-Bulgarian Wars
date=1194
place=nearLule 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=HeavyThe battle of Arcadiopolis ( _bg. Битkа при Аркадиопол) occurred in 1194 near the contemporary town of
Lule Burgas inTurkey between the Bulgarian Empire andByzantine Empire s. TheBulgarians were victorious.Origins of the conflict
After the major Bulgarian success in the
battle of Tryavna in 1190 their troops launched frequent attacks onThrace 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 ofSofia and the surrounding areas as well as the upper valley of theStruma 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 takeBelgrade , Branichevo and eventuallyVidin 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 brotherAlexios III Angelos and that campaign failed as well. In the next year the Byzantines were defeated in thebattle of Serres .References
*Йордан Андреев, Милчо Лалков, Българските ханове и царе, Велико Търново, 1996.
Footnotes
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