International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Plamen Pavlov 
University of Veliko Tarnovo “Ss. Cyril and Methodius”, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria; 
[e-mail]
Presian ІI – The Last Ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire (1018) 
and Pretender for Byzantine Crown
Presian, the great son of Tsar Ivan Vladislav (1015-1018) in fact is the last ruler of First 
Bulgarian Empire. In the spring and the summer of 1018 he is the leader of the resistance to 
Byzantine conquest in Albanian mountain Tomor. Eventually Presian II and his brothers were 
forced to surrender, and were integrated into the court nobility in Constantinople. There Presian 
was granted the high court title of magistros, like the previous ruler of Bulgaria to be deposed by the 
Byzantines, Boris II (969-971).
About a decade later, in the late 1026 and 1030, Presian became involved in the conspiracy 
against Emperors Constantin VIII and Romanos III Argyros. Presian was once again implicated in a 
plot, together with his mother Marija. This time Presian was planning to marry princesse Theodora, 
a daughter of Constantine VIII, and to usurp the throne. This is an attempt of the bulgarians to 
defeat the Byzantium from “inside”. The plot was discovered, and Presian was blinded and tonsured 
as monk in 1030.
His subsequent fate is unknown, but the gravestone of a certain “Prince Presian” found in 
Michalovce / Mihald, Slovakia (then part of Huhgary) may indicate that he immigrated to Hungary 
and died there in 1060/1061. In Presian’s actions appear the Bulgarian political ideology from the 
X-XI century.
Rumen Yordanov
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria; 
[e-mail]; [e-mail]
Magistros Presiyan the Bulgarian and His Role in the Byzantine Empire 
(1018‒1030)
The purpose of this short message is to present the Bulgarian uprisings and resistance 
movements against Byzantine rule in the 11
th
century. After the death of Emperor Basil ΙΙ (976 – 
1025) Byzantium was rocked by a series of shocks. Spoke coups, attempted secession of parts of 
the empire. The boundaries of the empire are exposed to constant attacks. Two biggest Bulgarian 
uprisings in (1040-1041) and (1071-1072) profoundly shaken European possessions. The actions of 
Bulgarians are widely reflected in Byzantine sources.

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