Alusian appears before Peter Delyan and the Bulgarian camp

Alusian ( bg, Алусиан, el, ) was a Bulgarian and

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 ...

noble who ruled as emperor (

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

) 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 Macedo ...

for a short time in 1041.

Life

The Thessalonians pursue the Bulgarian besiegers under Alusian, 1040

Alusian was the second son of Emperor Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria (r. 1015–1018) by his wife

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

. Together with his older brother Presian II he attempted to resist Bulgaria's annexation by the

Byzantine Empire 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 ...

in 1018 but eventually had to surrender to 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 ...

(r. 976–1025) in the same year in Tomornitsa. In the Byzantine Empire Alusian joined the ranks of the court aristocracy and was appointed governor ('' stratēgos'') of the theme of Theodosioupolis. Alusian increased his wealth by marrying a rich member of the

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

n nobility, but in the later 1030s he lost the favor of Emperor

Michael IV the Paphlagonian Michael IV the Paphlagonian ( el, , ''Mikhaēl ho Paphlagōn''; c. 1010 – 10 December 1041) was Byzantine Emperor from 11 April 1034 to his death on 10 December 1041. The son of a peasant, Michael worked as a money changer until he was fou ...

(r. 1034–1041) and his brother, the powerful '' parakoimomenos''

John the Orphanotrophos John the ''Orphanotrophos'' ( gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Ὀρφανοτρόφος), was the chief court eunuch ('' parakoimomenos'') during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Romanos III (r. 1028–1034). John was born in the region of Paphlagoni ...

. Alusian was deprived of certain estates and fined a hefty amount for alleged misdeeds. Hearing of the successful uprising of his second cousin

Peter Delyan Petar II Delyan (reigned 1040–1041) ( bg, Петър II Делян, Greek: Πέτρος Δελεάνος) was the leader of an uprising against Byzantine rule in the Theme of Bulgaria during the summer of 1040. He was proclaimed Tsar of Bulgari ...

against the emperor in 1040, Alusian fled the Roman court and joined Peter's ranks.Kazhdan (1991), p. 70 Alusian was welcomed by Peter, who gave him an army with which to attack

Thessalonica 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 of ...

. The siege however was raised by the Romans, and the Bulgarian army was

defeated Defeated may refer to: * "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee, an unincorporated community *''The Defeated ''The Defeated'', al ...

. Alusian barely escaped and returned to Ostrovo. Alusian has Delyan blinded at a banquet

One night in 1041, during dinner, Alusian took advantage of Peter's inebriation and cut off his nose and blinded him with a kitchen knife. Since Alusian was of the blood of Tsar Samuel (r. 997–1014), he was quickly proclaimed emperor in Peter's place by his troops, but conspired to desert to the Byzantines. As the Bulgarian and Byzantine troops were preparing for battle, Alusian deserted to the enemy, surrendering the blinded Peter Delyan to the emperor. As a reward, his possessions and lands were restored to him and he was given the high court rank of ''

magistros The ''magister officiorum'' (Latin literally for "Master of Offices", in gr, μάγιστρος τῶν ὀφφικίων, magistros tōn offikiōn) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early cent ...

''. The same title had been granted earlier to other deposed emperors of Bulgaria, namely Boris II in 971 and Presian II in 1018. Alusian's subsequent fate is unknown, but his descendants, the Alousianoi, continued to prosper in the ranks of the

Byzantine aristocracy Through the 5th century Hellenistic political systems, philosophies and theocratic Christian-Eastern concepts had gained power in the eastern Greek-speaking Mediterranean due to the intervention of Important religious figures there such as ...

until the 14th century.

Family

By his marriage to an Armenian noblewoman from the theme of Kharsianon, Alusian had several children, including: # Basil, an Eastern Roman general, governor of Edessa # Samuel, an Eastern Roman officer in the

Armeniac theme The Armeniac Theme ( el, , ''Armeniakoi hema'), more properly the Theme of the Armeniacs (Greek: , ''thema Armeniakōi'') was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in northeastern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). History The Armen ...

# An unnamed daughter, who married the future Eastern Roman Emperor

Romanos IV Diogenes Romanos IV Diogenes (Greek: Ρωμανός Διογένης), Latinized as Romanus IV Diogenes, was a member of the Byzantine military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, was crowned Byzantine Em ...

References

External links

Detailed List of Bulgarian Rulers

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alusian of Bulgaria 10th-century births 11th-century deaths 11th-century Bulgarian people 11th-century Byzantine people Medieval Bulgarian nobility 11th-century Bulgarian monarchs Alusian Bulgarian princes Byzantine generals Cometopuli dynasty Bulgarian people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Medieval Bulgarian military personnel Magistroi Byzantine people of Bulgarian descent Uprising of Peter Delyan Sons of emperors