History Of Bulgaria: Part I Quiz | European

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In what year was the First Bulgarian Empire established?

Answer: 681

A peace treaty with Byzantium, preceded by hostilities, led to the formation of the First Bulgarian Empire south of the Danube. After being defeated by the Bulgarians, the Byzantine Empire had no choice but to acknowledge the existence of the country (in fact, under this agreement Byzantium was obliged to pay annual impost as protection money to the Bulgars).

2. What was the name of the first Bulgarian ruler, credited for being the state's founder?

Answer: Asparukh

Asparukh was one of the sons of Kubrat, a ruler of Great Bulgaria, which covered vast territories in the steppes of modern-day Ukraine. Asparukh belonged to the Dulo clan. Historical sources claim 701 as the year of his reign's end.

3. Which Bulgarian khan deserved the nickname of 'the Saviour of Europe' for leading the Bulgarian army that crushed the Arabs during the Siege of Constantinople?

Answer: Tervel

The Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans states that Tervel's rule lasted 20-21 years between 701 and 721. In 705 he was given the title of Caesar, becoming the first foreign monarch to receive such a title from the Byzantine Empire.

4. The death of Sevar marked the end of the foremost period in the history of the First Bulgarian Empire. He was also the last lord of the Dulo dynasty to govern the country until 768, when Tervel's son Telerig was crowned. The period between those two events (Sevar's death in 753 and Telerig's coming to power in 768) was a time of internal conflicts and political instability for the country. During this term several monarchs were given the khan title, with most of them being dethroned shortly after. So, what was the exact number of the men that ruled over Bulgaria between 753 and 768 (excluding Sevar and Telerig, of course)?

Answer: 7

Kormisosh reigned between 753 and 756, when he was deposed. Vinekh was the next khan to rule, but he was murdered in 762. His successor Telets shared his unlucky fate in 765. Sabin was deposed by a People's Council and fled to Byzantium in 766. Umor ruled for only 40 days, before being dethroned, after which he also sought Constantinople's protection. Toktu was slaughtered by the opposition in the forests of the Danube in 767. Khan Pagan was killed by his servants near Varna.

5. Krum the Fearsome is deservedly considered one of Bulgaria's most notable monarchs. During the time of his reign the country doubled its size, spreading from the middle Danube to the Dnieper and from Odrin to the Tatra Mountains. He is also credited with being the author of the first written laws in the khanate. Krum's army defeated the Avarian Khaganate, which resulted in the ascertainment of a common border between Bulgaria and the Frankish Empire. Military conflicts with the Byzantine Empire also marked his rule. This led to the Byzantine emperor losing his life in the battle of the Varbica Pass. Which Byzantine potentate was killed there?

Answer: Nikephoros I Genikos

It is said that Nikephoros's skull was turned into a drinking cup for Krum in accordance with the Bulgarian belief for acquiring one's strength and adding it to your own by this ritual.

6. Which of these men is famous for being the first Bulgarian Christian martyr and also the earliest Bulgarian saint to be canonized?

Answer: Enravota

Because of his Christian faith Enravota was disinherited by his father Omurtag. Omurtag's second son, Zvinica, died very young. The crown passed to his youngest son, Malamir, who ordered Enravota's murder. Presian I is thought to have been Zvinica's son.

7. Boris I was the Bulgarian ruler responsible for the Christianization of the country. A large group of Bulgarian boyars (local aristocrats) initiated a revolt. Boris ruthlessly repressed it and had them all killed together with their entire extended families. How many aristocratic families were slain?

Answer: 52

This happened in the summer of 865. Boris had converted himself to Christianity a year before these events. He accepted the Christian title 'knyaz' (an eastern version of the term king) and changed his name to Michael as a tribute to his godfather, Byzantine emperor Michael III.

8. Boris abdicated the throne in 889. Another pagan rebellion was started by his son Vladimir-Rasate. Boris came out of his retirement (he had meanwhile become a monk) and defeated the rebels. But what happened to Vladimir?

Answer: he was blinded and put in a dungeon

The information we have left about Vladimir pretty much ends with his imprisonment. What we do know is that his wife was shaved and sent to a monastery.

9. Vladimir-Rasate's brother Simeon was enthroned during the Council of Preslav, despite of being prepared for the priesthood before this. During his reign Bulgaria reached its greatest territorial extent. Known for his successful raids against the Magyars, the Serbs and Byzantium, he proclaimed himself "Emperor of the Bulgarians and the Romans". The Byzantine Empire, of course, recognized him only as an emperor of the former. His governance is referred to as "the Golden Age of Bulgarian culture". After his death in 927, he was succeeded by one of the following men. Which?

Answer: Petar (Peter) I

Petar's 42-year rule is the longest in Bulgarian history. He wasn't as successful in military affairs as his father and during the period of his kingship Bulgaria lost both lands and prestige and became an object of plunder by external aggressors such as Sviatoslav I of Kiev.

10. Who was the last emperor (tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire?

Answer: Ivan Vladislav

In order to become emperor he had killed his cousin Gavril Radomir. Ivan Vladislav died at the Battle of Dyrrhachium (nowadays in Albania) in 1018. This led to the annexation of Bulgaria by the Byzantine Empire. Ivan Vladislav's descendants became part of the Byzantine peerage.

Many of them received high military ranks. Two women became empresses. One of his scions was even crowned an emperor (John II Komnenos who ruled between 1118 and 1143).

11. The Uprising of Asen and Peter led to the creation of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185. Those two men were brothers, but the latter's birth name was actually different (he had adopted the name Peter just like two Bulgarian revolt leaders before him). So what was his real name?

Answer: Theodore

In 1190 he gave the throne to his younger brother Asen, who was actually murdered by Ivanko (one of Asen's military commandants who is also said to have been his wife's lover).

12. Time for some facts. Bulgaria's coasts bordered three seas - the Adriatic, the Aegean and the Black Sea - twice in Bulgarian history (once during the time of the First Bulgarian Empire and once during the existence of the Second). Which Bulgarian monarchs made this possible? Note: FBE means First Bulgarian Empire, SBE - Second Bulgarian Empire.

Answer: Simeon (FBE) and Ivan Asen II (SBE)

You already read what happened to Bulgaria after the end of Simeon's reign - the country lost a lot of its territories throughout Petar's kingship. After Ivan Asen II died, there was some political instability in the country (mainly because he had sons from few different women, each of who wanted her offspring to inherit the throne), but yet Bulgaria managed to defend its borders and seemed quite stronger than after the demise of Simeon.

13. Which Bulgarian emperor, known for defeating the Byzantines and making the Mongol forays to Bulgaria stop, is also famous for ordering the execution of a Bulgarian patriarch in the early 14th century?

Answer: Theodore Svetoslav

Chaka was actually the son of the Mongol chieftain Nogai, who had some supporters in the Bulgarian nobility, and thus became imperial of Bulgaria in 1299. Theodore Svetoslav organized a cabal which led to Chaka's dethronement in 1300. He was imprisoned and strangled the same year.

Theodore Svetoslav was proclaimed emperor and dealt with the mavericks in the aristocracy including his uncle. The patriarch, Joakim III, wasn't spared too.

14. Rulers of which dynasty that governed medieval Bulgaria were of Cuman origin?

Answer: Terter

All of the incorrect answers belong to the time of the First Bulgarian Empire. Vokil and Ugain were clans that arrived on the Balkans with other Bulgar kins like Dulo, Ermi, etc. The Cometopuli were of mixed descent (Bulgarian on their father's side and Armenian on their mother's). Samuel's father count Nikola pertained to the Bulgarian nobility and was married to Ripsimia of Armenia. Cuman settlement in Bulgaria began in the 11th century, when some of them who served as mercenaries of Byzantium, populated in various parts of the country (Bulgaria). During the next 300 years their migrations became more massive.

The Terters were of Cuman origin. The Shishman dynasty that ruled over the country between 1323 and 1396 was partially of Cuman origin.

A hypothesis claims that the Asen dynasty might also have been of Cuman descent judging by the names of some of its members derived from Cuman language. Even nowadays the surname Kumanov is quite common in Bulgaria.

15. To whom was the fortress of Tarnovo entrusted in the spring of 1393 in order to hold it against the Ottoman Turks?

Answer: Patriarch Euthymius

Tsar Ivan Shishman had led the remnants from his array to Nikopol which also witnessed some of the major clashes between the Bulgarian and the Ottoman forces. Ivan Shishman was beheaded by the Ottomans in one of the battles of Nikopol on June 3, 1395.

His half-brother reigned in Vidin (their father had divided the country between the two of them which is a precedent in Bulgarian history) and was imprisoned at Bursa where they strangled him. Kera Tamara was sent to the harem of Murad I as Shishman thought that this would provide him peace with the Ottoman Turks, but was mistaken. Tarnovo, defended by patriarch Euthymius and its citizens as best they could, fell on 17 July 1393. German troops, along with Bulgarian, Hungarian, French, Wallachian and Burgundian (assisted by the Venetian navy) participated in the battle of Nikopol on 25 September 1396 which was also won by the Ottomans and their vassal Serbian ruler Stefan Lazarevic.

Source: Author blackandgreen

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

History Of Bulgaria: Part I Trivia Quiz

The quiz focuses on the history of Danube Bulgaria. Countries with the same or similar name, established by the Bulgars, are recognized to have existed before, but on different territories. Good luck!

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