Gavril Radomir (; ;
anglicized
Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
as Gabriel Radomir; died 1015) was the Emperor (
Tsar
Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...
) of the
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...
from October 1014 to August or September 1015. He was the son of tsar
Samuel
Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...
().
Biography
During his father's reign, his cousin
Ivan Vladislav and Ivan's entire family were all sentenced by Samuel to death for treason. Gavril's intervention saved at least his cousin. He is said to have saved his father's life in the disastrous defeat of the
Battle of Spercheios, and he was described as a gallant fighter.
Around the same time that Emperor
Basil II
Basil II Porphyrogenitus (; 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (, ), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but t ...
captured the bulk of Samuel's army, Gavril and his forces
defeated the army of
Theophylact Botaneiates. Having inherited Samuel's war with the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
, Gavril Radomir raided Byzantine territory, reaching as far as
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. However, the Byzantines secured the assistance of Ivan Vladislav, who owed his life to Radomir. Vladislav murdered Radomir while hunting near
Ostrovo, and then took the throne for himself.
Some sources connect Gavril Radomir with the medieval dualist sect,
Bogomilism, a popular heretic movement that flourished in the Bulgarian region of
Kutmichevitsa during his and his father's reign.
Gavril married twice. His possible son
Peter Delyan played a role in attempting to secure independence for Bulgaria several decades later.
Ian Mladjov inferred that
Agatha, the wife of
Edward the Exile, was granddaughter of Agatha Cryselia, daughter of Gavril Radomir, by his short-lived first marriage to a Hungarian princess thought to have been the daughter of
Duke Géza of Hungary. According to the ''
Polish–Hungarian Chronicle'', that princess was Adelaide, the daughter of
Doubravka of Bohemia and
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...
.
Family tree
See also
*
History of Bulgaria
*
Cometopuli dynasty
*
Bitola inscription
Sources
История на българската държава през средните векове, Том I. История на Първото българско царство. Част II. От славянизацията на държавата до падането на Първото царство (852—1018). Васил Н. Златарски 4.Приемниците на цар Самуил и покорението на България от Василий II Българоубиец.
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulgaria, Gavril Radomir Of
10th-century births
1015 deaths
11th-century Bulgarian tsars
Bulgarian people of Armenian descent
Cometopuli dynasty
Murdered Bulgarian monarchs
Bulgarian people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars
Burials at the Church of St Achillios (Lake Prespa)
Sons of emperors