Nestoritsa ( bg, Несторица) was a
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 ...
noble and general during the reign of Emperors
Samuil
Samuel (also Samuil; bg, Самуил, ; mk, Самоил/Самуил, ; Old Church Slavonic: Самоилъ; died October 6, 1014) was the Tsar (''Emperor'') of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 977 to 997, he was ...
(997-1014);
Gavril Radomir
Gavril Radomir ( bg, Гаврил Радомир; el, Γαβριὴλ Ρωμανός, Gavriil Romanos; anglicized as "Gabriel Radomir"; died 1015) was the emperor (tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire from October 1014 to August or September 101 ...
(1014–1015) and
Ivan Vladislav
Ivan Vladislav ( cu, Їѡаннъ Владиславъ; bg, Иван/Йоан Владислав; died February 1018) ruled as emperor (tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire from August or September 1015 to February 1018. The year of his birth is ...
(1015–1018). He was one of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
's most skillful military commanders.
In 1014 when the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Emperor
Basil II
Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...
was stopped by the wooden palisade around the village of
Klyutch, Samuil decided to draw Basil's attention from there and sent Nestoritsa with a large army to strike in southern direction. Nestoritsa marched through the
Vardar
The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...
valley to the second-biggest Byzantine city,
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
. In the vicinity of the city the Bulgarians were engaged by enemy forces under the governor of Thessaloniki
Theophylactus Botaniates and his son Michail.
The battle was bloody with heavy casualties for both sides but in the end the Byzantines emerged victorious and captured many soldiers and weapons. Soon after that followed the major defeat in the
battle of Kleidion
The Battle of Kleidion ( grc-gre, Κλειδίον; or Clidium, after the medieval name of the village of Klyuch, "(the) key"; also known as the Battle of Belasitsa) took place on July 29, 1014, between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian E ...
[''Zlatarski'', History of Bulgaria in the Middle Ages, Vol. I, Part 2, pp. 732–734]...
Despite the defeat the Bulgarian resistance continued for four more years until the death of Emperor Ivan Vladislav finally broke the spirit for struggle and many noble decided to surrender keeping their title. Nestoritsa was among them surrendered with his troops to Basil II in the late 1018 along with Lasaritsa and Dobromir.
References
Sources
*
John Skylitzes
John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes, la, Johannes, label=none, la, Iōannēs, label=none Scylitzes ( el, Ἰωάννης Σκυλίτζης, ''Iōánnēs Skylítzēs'', or el, Σκυλίτση, ''Skylítsē'', label=none ; la, ...
''Synopsis Historion'' translated by Paul Stephenson.
*
{{refend
Medieval Bulgarian nobility
10th-century births
11th-century deaths
10th-century Bulgarian people
11th-century Bulgarian people
Bulgarian people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars
Medieval Bulgarian military personnel