The Battle of Kreta occurred in 1009 near the village of Kreta to the east of

Thessaloníki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region o ...

. Since the fall of the

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

capital

Preslav The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav ( bg, Велики Преслав, ), former Preslav ( bg, link=no, Преслав; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new ...

to the Byzantines in 971, there was a constant state of war between the two Empires. From 976, the Bulgarian noble and later Emperor Samuel successfully fought against the Byzantines but, from the beginning of the 11th century, fortune favoured Byzantium, which recovered from previous severe losses. From 1002 Basil II launched annual campaigns against Bulgaria and seized many towns. In 1009 the Byzantines engaged the

Bulgarian army The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were establishe ...

to the east of Thessaloníki. Little is known for the battle itself but the result was a Byzantine victory. Five years later, the Byzantines decisively defeated the Bulgarian army at Kleidion and by 1018 the country was thoroughly conquered by Basil II.''Nikolov'', Centralism and regionalism in early Medieval Bulgaria (end of the 7th – beginning of the 11th centuries) p. 130

References

Bibliography

* Gyuzelev, Vasil, Bulgaria from the second quarter of the 10th century to the beginning of the 11th century, (Balgaria ot vtorata chetvart na X do nachaloto na XI vek, България от втората четвърт на Х до началото на ХІ век), in Bulgarian, In: Dimitrov, Ilcho (Ed.), ''Short History of Bulgaria'' (''Kratka istoria na Balgaria, Кратка история на България''), in Bulgarian, Science and Arts Publishers, Sofia 1983 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kreta 11th century in Bulgaria 1000s in the Byzantine Empire Battles involving the First Bulgarian Empire Battles of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars in Thessalonica Conflicts in 1009 Battles of Basil II 1009 in Europe