Medieval Thrace

Bogomilism (; ; ) was a Christian neo-Gnostic, dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Peter I in the 10th century. It most likely arose in the region of Kutmichevitsa, today part of the region of Macedonia.

Bulgarian ruler

civil war in the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine successor state under Theodore Komnenos Doukas

Process by which 9th-century medieval Bulgaria converted to Christianity

Byzantine noble

Byzantine district (theme)

diocese of the Roman Empire

1185 uprising against Byzantine rule in the eastern Balkans

Byzantine district (theme)

Momchil (, , ;  – 7 July 1345) was a 14th-century Bulgarian brigand and local ruler. Initially a member of a bandit gang in the borderlands of Bulgaria, Byzantium and Serbia, Momchil was recruited by the Byzantines as a mercenary. Through his opportunistic involvement in the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, where he played the various sides against each other, he became ruler of a large area in the Rhodopes and western Thrace.

Byzantine statesman

historical region in Bulgaria

The Smolyani (; in Byzantine sources Smolenoi or Smoleanoi) were a medieval Slavic tribe that settled in the Rhodope Mountains, the valley of the Mesta River and the region around Blagoevgrad Province, possibly in the 7th–8th century. The tribe revolted against the Byzantine authorities of Constantinople in 837 and were supported by Bulgarian ruler Presian, who, together with his deputy Kavhan Isbul, crossed the lands of the Smolyani and conquered the territory as far south as Philippi, including most of Macedonia. Their name etymologically derives from the Proto-Slavic word *smola ('resin'),

civil war in the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine general

Tsepina () or Tzepaina () was a castle and town in the western Rhodope mountains, southern Bulgaria, now in ruins. It is from the Dorkovo village in the north-eastern part of the Chepino Valley. Tsepina is above sea level.

1207 battle

Anastasiopolis-Peritheorion is an archaeological site located in northern Greece, southeast of the village of Amaxades in the Rhodope regional unit in Western Thrace. Parts of the fortification walls of the ancient city of Anastasiopolis (5th – 9th centuries) and Peritheorion (9th century) are still visible. It is unclear whether these are two different cities or a single one that has been renamed in the meantime. The ancient city was an important port on the Aegean Sea and station on the Via Egnatia.

Byzantine pretender

diocese in East Thrace (5 century - 14 century)

1049–1053 revolt

Sinnion (; undetermined origin, perhaps Iranian) was the chieftain of the Kutrigurs, a Turkic nomadic tribe of the Pontic–Caspian steppe.