History of BulgariaHistory of Bulgaria
Cut-out detail; background removed. Both sides of a gold coin of Michael III with Theodora, struck around 843–856. This is not a coin of Boris.
Michael III coin

Boris I and Christianisation · First Tsardom

Boris I: the cost of a new faith

What changed when Boris was baptised?

9 scenes · 4 min · Sources · 18

StartListen

Boris adopts Christianity. A revolt and questions to Rome follow. Two decades later, disciples of Cyril and Methodius help people learn the new faith in Slavonic.

Both sides of a gold coin of Michael III with Theodora, struck around 843–856. This is not a coin of Boris.

Part 1 · First Tsardom

Boris chooses a new faith

A gold coin shows Michael III, ruler of Byzantium, the Eastern Roman Empire. At baptism Boris also takes the name Michael. But why does he choose Christianity?

Christians already live in his lands. One historical explanation is that a shared faith could unite different people. It could also win recognition from Christian neighbours. Boris may also have held a personal religious conviction. We cannot know all his thoughts.

Later Byzantine accounts connect his conversion with war, famine and peace talks.

Listen to scene · 1

Synthetic voice · 0:31
Sources · 4
  1. Nicholas I; William L. North (translator and introduction) The Responses of Pope Nicholas I to the Questions of the Bulgars A.D. 866 (Letter 99) Fordham University, Internet Medieval Sourcebook
  2. John Robert Martindale (editor); King’s College London Boris 1 Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire I (641–867), online database · 2001
  3. Hincmar of Reims; Georg Heinrich Pertz (Latin editor); Страшимир Лишев (Bulgarian translation) Annales Bertiniani: entries for 864 and 866 PDF Латински извори за българската история II. София: БАН · 1960 · 286–288
  4. Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) Michael III with Theodora: gold solidus, c. 843–856 Wikimedia Commons
Geographic context, without historical bordersGeographic context, without historical borders123
Geographic context, without historical borders

Part 2 · First Tsardom

Letters between three cities

Pliska is Boris’s capital. Constantinople is the capital of Byzantium. Its patriarch is a senior church leader. Rome has the pope, the leader of its church. Both cities take part in negotiations over Bulgaria’s church.

Boris’s baptism is commonly placed in 864–865. The exact year remains disputed. He takes the name Michael, like the Byzantine emperor. Photius, the patriarch in Constantinople, writes about faith and a Christian ruler’s duties.

Who will choose the people who lead Bulgaria’s church?

Listen to scene · 2

Synthetic voice · 0:36
Sources · 6
  1. John Robert Martindale (editor); King’s College London Boris 1 Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire I (641–867), online database · 2001
  2. Boban Petrovski St. Clement of Ohrid, Khan/kniaz Boris-Mikhail and Kniaz/tsar Simeon: Historical Aspects Slověne = Словѣне. International Journal of Slavic Studies · 2016 · 5 · 10–53
  3. Hincmar of Reims; Georg Heinrich Pertz (Latin editor); Страшимир Лишев (Bulgarian translation) Annales Bertiniani: entries for 864 and 866 PDF Латински извори за българската история II. София: БАН · 1960 · 286–288
  4. Nicholas I; Ernst Perels (Latin edition); Димитър Дечев (Bulgarian translation, reprinted) Responsa Nicolai I papae ad consulta Bulgarorum (866), letter 99 PDF Латински извори за българската история II / Fontes Latini Historiae Bulgaricae II, eds. И. Дуйчев, М. Войнов, Б. Примов, С. Лишев. София: БАН · 1960 · 65–125
  5. Florin Curta Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500–1300) PDF Brill’s Companions to European History. Leiden/Boston: Brill · 2019 · 19 · 198–209
  6. Регионален исторически музей — Шумен Национален историко-археологически резерват Плиска
Folio 68v, a twelfth-century manuscript. A later depiction of baptism, not an eyewitness portrait.
Drawing
Illustrated Chronicle, book 13, page 414. A sixteenth-century depiction; it does not prove that Photius personally baptised Boris.
Drawing

Part 3 · First Tsardom

Boris in the painted font

This miniature, a small drawing in a manuscript, shows Boris in a font, a vessel for baptism. A churchman stands beside him. The artist shows the ceremony but did not witness it. The manuscript was made in Sicily in the twelfth century, centuries after Boris.

According to one legend, a painting of the Last Judgement frightened Boris and turned him towards Christianity. The Last Judgement means God’s final judgement of humankind in Christian belief. The legend does not establish why Boris made his decision.

1 · The font
The vessel around Boris’s body identifies the ceremony as baptism. The drawing does not prove what the real font looked like.
2 · The churchman
This figure reaches towards the head of the person being baptised. The image alone does not establish who performed the historical ceremony.
3 · Text and image
Lines of Greek writing surround the miniature. This is a page of historical narrative, not a surviving document signed by Boris at baptism.

Listen to scene · 3

Synthetic voice · 0:31
Sources · 5
  1. Biblioteca Nacional de España La BNE expone el Skylitzes Matritensis tras una investigación pionera en el campo del patrimonio bibliográfico español · 2024
  2. from the Middle Ages, unknown File:MadridSkylitzesFol68v.jpg Wikimedia Commons
  3. John Robert Martindale (editor); King’s College London Boris 1 Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire I (641–867), online database · 2001
  4. Anonymous Russian manuscript illuminators, 1560-1570s Facial Chronicle (Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible) (in 10 volumes: pdf, pdf with translation)Public domain image File:Facial Chronicle - b.13, p.414 - Photios baptising king of Bulgars.gif Wikimedia Commons
  5. Florin Curta Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500–1300) PDF Brill’s Companions to European History. Leiden/Boston: Brill · 2019 · 19 · 198–209

Part 4 · First Tsardom

Activity: what can the picture establish?

How should we use the miniature, the small drawing in the Madrid Skylitzes?

  1. As a later depiction of the baptism.
  2. As an eyewitness drawing from the ninth century.
  3. As an image made with Boris as the sitter.
Why is that?

The manuscript dates from the twelfth century. It shows how a later artist represented the event.

Correct · As a later depiction of the baptism.

  1. Biblioteca Nacional de España La BNE expone el Skylitzes Matritensis tras una investigación pionera en el campo del patrimonio bibliográfico español · 2024
  2. from the Middle Ages, unknown File:MadridSkylitzesFol68v.jpg Wikimedia Commons

Listen to scene · 4

Synthetic voice · 0:05
Sources · 2
  1. Biblioteca Nacional de España La BNE expone el Skylitzes Matritensis tras una investigación pionera en el campo del patrimonio bibliográfico español · 2024
  2. from the Middle Ages, unknown File:MadridSkylitzesFol68v.jpg Wikimedia Commons
Folio 68v, a twelfth-century manuscript. A later depiction of baptism, not an eyewitness portrait.
Drawing

Part 5 · First Tsardom

Boris punishes the rebels

Under 866, a chronicle, a record of events by year, describes a revolt against Boris. According to the papal reply, his opponents thought the new law bad and wanted another ruler.

The chronicle says Boris kills 52 leaders. The papal reply reports their children killed with them. The total death toll is unknown. Lower-ranking participants are spared.

Boris asks the pope whether he has sinned. Pope Nicholas I condemns killing innocent children. He urges Boris to admit his sin and seek forgiveness.

Listen to scene · 5

Synthetic voice · 0:32
Sources · 2
  1. Hincmar of Reims; Georg Heinrich Pertz (Latin editor); Страшимир Лишев (Bulgarian translation) Annales Bertiniani: entries for 864 and 866 PDF Латински извори за българската история II. София: БАН · 1960 · 286–288
  2. Nicholas I; Ernst Perels (Latin edition); Димитър Дечев (Bulgarian translation, reprinted) Responsa Nicolai I papae ad consulta Bulgarorum (866), letter 99 PDF Латински извори за българската история II / Fontes Latini Historiae Bulgaricae II, eds. И. Дуйчев, М. Войнов, Б. Примов, С. Лишев. София: БАН · 1960 · 65–125
Printed portrait of Pope Nicholas I, a 1910 reproduction of a drawing.
Drawing
Modern photograph of the Great Basilica. The tall arcade is restored; this is not an intact ninth-century church.
Great Basilica, Pliska, in 2007. Low stone remains in front of a restored wall with arches. Individual masonry phases have not been established here.

Part 6 · First Tsardom

Boris sends envoys

In 866 Bulgarian envoys take their questions to Rome. Pope Nicholas I sends Formosus and Paul. They are bishops, churchmen who oversee churches and priests within an area.

The Bulgars also ask for their own patriarch. Nicholas gives no final answer. He insists on Rome’s involvement in appointing the church head.

Negotiations continue. In 870 Bulgaria’s church receives an archbishop, a senior bishop, under Constantinople’s authority. He is promised considerable autonomy, meaning freedom to manage church affairs.

Listen to scene · 6

Synthetic voice · 0:34
Sources · 8
  1. Hincmar of Reims; Georg Heinrich Pertz (Latin editor); Страшимир Лишев (Bulgarian translation) Annales Bertiniani: entries for 864 and 866 PDF Латински извори за българската история II. София: БАН · 1960 · 286–288
  2. Nicholas I; Ernst Perels (Latin edition); Димитър Дечев (Bulgarian translation, reprinted) Responsa Nicolai I papae ad consulta Bulgarorum (866), letter 99 PDF Латински извори за българската история II / Fontes Latini Historiae Bulgaricae II, eds. И. Дуйчев, М. Войнов, Б. Примов, С. Лишев. София: БАН · 1960 · 65–125
  3. John Robert Martindale (editor); King’s College London Boris 1 Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire I (641–867), online database · 2001
  4. Florin Curta Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500–1300) PDF Brill’s Companions to European History. Leiden/Boston: Brill · 2019 · 19 · 198–209
  5. Unidentified print maker; Library of Congress (provider) File:Nicolaus I PP Romanus LCCN98508493.jpg Wikimedia Commons · 1910
  6. Klearchos Kapoutsis from Paleo Faliro, Athens, Greece File:The Great Basilica Klearchos 2.jpg Wikimedia Commons
  7. Svilen Enev File:Old Basilica in Pliska 4.JPG Wikimedia Commons
  8. ГИОКИН (Гражданска инициатива за опазване на културно-историческото наследство), open letter; reproduced by OFFNews ГИОКИН: Реставрацията на Голямата базилика в Плиска я обезличава и маргинализира OFFNews, reproduction of an open letter · 2017
Icon dated by Commons to the thirteenth–fourteenth century. A later religious depiction of Clement, not a lifetime portrait.
Drawing
Manuscript page with Glagolitic writing. Commons identifies Luke 14:19–24. The folio number is unknown.
Archive

Part 7 · First Tsardom

Clement reaches Boris

In 886 disciples of Cyril and Methodius find refuge in Bulgaria. Cyril and Methodius are teachers who spread Christianity in Slavonic.

A later Life, an account of a saint’s life, describes Clement arriving with two companions. They reach Boris in Pliska through Belgrade. They were expelled from Great Moravia, a medieval state in Central Europe.

Boris sends Clement to teach in the southwestern regions. The disciples train priests in Old Church Slavonic. This is the language of early Slavonic books, different from modern Bulgarian.

Listen to scene · 7

Synthetic voice · 0:35
Sources · 5
  1. Florin Curta Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500–1300) PDF Brill’s Companions to European History. Leiden/Boston: Brill · 2019 · 19 · 198–209
  2. Boban Petrovski St. Clement of Ohrid, Khan/kniaz Boris-Mikhail and Kniaz/tsar Simeon: Historical Aspects Slověne = Словѣне. International Journal of Slavic Studies · 2016 · 5 · 10–53
  3. Санкт-Петербургский институт истории РАН; Российская национальная библиотека (holding institution) Зографское евангелие; кон. X — нач. XI; РНБ, Глаг. 1 История письма европейской цивилизации, manuscript database
  4. Unknown medieval icon painter; reproduction creator not supplied File:Saint Clement of Ohrid (icon, 13th-14th century).jpg Wikimedia Commons
  5. Unknown manuscript maker; reproduction creator not supplied in Commons API File:Kodex.Zograf.JPG Wikimedia Commons; reported reproduction of J. Kurz, Učebnice jazyka staroslověnského (Praha, 1969); original textbook not independently consulted

Part 8 · First Tsardom

Activity: from baptism to teachers

Put these four events in order, earliest first.

  1. Boris is baptised
  2. Envoys go to Rome
  3. Bulgaria’s church receives an archbishop
  4. Disciples find refuge in Bulgaria
Why is that?

Baptism comes before the embassy to Rome. The archbishopric is established before the disciples arrive. The dating differences do not change this order.

Correct order

  1. Boris is baptised
  2. Envoys go to Rome
  3. Bulgaria’s church receives an archbishop
  4. Disciples find refuge in Bulgaria
  1. Boban Petrovski St. Clement of Ohrid, Khan/kniaz Boris-Mikhail and Kniaz/tsar Simeon: Historical Aspects Slověne = Словѣне. International Journal of Slavic Studies · 2016 · 5 · 10–53
  2. Hincmar of Reims; Georg Heinrich Pertz (Latin editor); Страшимир Лишев (Bulgarian translation) Annales Bertiniani: entries for 864 and 866 PDF Латински извори за българската история II. София: БАН · 1960 · 286–288
  3. Florin Curta Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500–1300) PDF Brill’s Companions to European History. Leiden/Boston: Brill · 2019 · 19 · 198–209

Listen to scene · 8

Synthetic voice · 0:03
Sources · 3
  1. Boban Petrovski St. Clement of Ohrid, Khan/kniaz Boris-Mikhail and Kniaz/tsar Simeon: Historical Aspects Slověne = Словѣне. International Journal of Slavic Studies · 2016 · 5 · 10–53
  2. Hincmar of Reims; Georg Heinrich Pertz (Latin editor); Страшимир Лишев (Bulgarian translation) Annales Bertiniani: entries for 864 and 866 PDF Латински извори за българската история II. София: БАН · 1960 · 286–288
  3. Florin Curta Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500–1300) PDF Brill’s Companions to European History. Leiden/Boston: Brill · 2019 · 19 · 198–209

Part 9 · First Tsardom

Activity: who does what?

Match each person to the action described in the story.

  1. Boris · Takes the name Michael at baptism.
  2. Photius · Writes from Constantinople about faith
  3. Nicholas I · Answers the Bulgarian questions from Rome.
  4. Clement · Teaches in the southwestern regions
Why is that?

These actions belong to different people. The church leaders in Rome and Constantinople are neither the Bulgarian ruler nor Clement the teacher.

  1. John Robert Martindale (editor); King’s College London Boris 1 Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire I (641–867), online database · 2001
  2. Nicholas I; Ernst Perels (Latin edition); Димитър Дечев (Bulgarian translation, reprinted) Responsa Nicolai I papae ad consulta Bulgarorum (866), letter 99 PDF Латински извори за българската история II / Fontes Latini Historiae Bulgaricae II, eds. И. Дуйчев, М. Войнов, Б. Примов, С. Лишев. София: БАН · 1960 · 65–125
  3. Boban Petrovski St. Clement of Ohrid, Khan/kniaz Boris-Mikhail and Kniaz/tsar Simeon: Historical Aspects Slověne = Словѣне. International Journal of Slavic Studies · 2016 · 5 · 10–53

Listen to scene · 9

Synthetic voice · 0:03
Sources · 3
  1. John Robert Martindale (editor); King’s College London Boris 1 Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire I (641–867), online database · 2001
  2. Nicholas I; Ernst Perels (Latin edition); Димитър Дечев (Bulgarian translation, reprinted) Responsa Nicolai I papae ad consulta Bulgarorum (866), letter 99 PDF Латински извори за българската история II / Fontes Latini Historiae Bulgaricae II, eds. И. Дуйчев, М. Войнов, Б. Примов, С. Лишев. София: БАН · 1960 · 65–125
  3. Boban Petrovski St. Clement of Ohrid, Khan/kniaz Boris-Mikhail and Kniaz/tsar Simeon: Historical Aspects Slověne = Словѣне. International Journal of Slavic Studies · 2016 · 5 · 10–53

A new find for your collection

The ruler’s baptism began a long change. It needed negotiations, teachers and books. It also brought loss of life.

Simeon and the Golden Age · PreslavSimeon: books and powerFollow how writing preserves knowledge and memory.Boyana Church · BoyanaThe faces of BoyanaGeorgi Ivanov · BaikonurInto orbit, without docking

People in this story

Boris ISimeonCyrilMethodiusClementNaumLuke the EvangelistMichael IIITheodoraPhotiusNicholas IFormosus of PortoPaul of PopuloniaJohn SkylitzesBoris I Michael · Rulers

Sources

  1. Hincmar of Reims; Georg Heinrich Pertz (Latin editor); Страшимир Лишев (Bulgarian translation) Annales Bertiniani: entries for 864 and 866 PDF Латински извори за българската история II. София: БАН · 1960 · 286–288
  2. Biblioteca Nacional de España La BNE expone el Skylitzes Matritensis tras una investigación pionera en el campo del patrimonio bibliográfico español · 2024
  3. Florin Curta Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages (500–1300) PDF Brill’s Companions to European History. Leiden/Boston: Brill · 2019 · 19 · 198–209
  4. Nicholas I; Ernst Perels (Latin edition); Димитър Дечев (Bulgarian translation, reprinted) Responsa Nicolai I papae ad consulta Bulgarorum (866), letter 99 PDF Латински извори за българската история II / Fontes Latini Historiae Bulgaricae II, eds. И. Дуйчев, М. Войнов, Б. Примов, С. Лишев. София: БАН · 1960 · 65–125
  5. Nicholas I; William L. North (translator and introduction) The Responses of Pope Nicholas I to the Questions of the Bulgars A.D. 866 (Letter 99) Fordham University, Internet Medieval Sourcebook
  6. John Robert Martindale (editor); King’s College London Boris 1 Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire I (641–867), online database · 2001
  7. Boban Petrovski St. Clement of Ohrid, Khan/kniaz Boris-Mikhail and Kniaz/tsar Simeon: Historical Aspects Slověne = Словѣне. International Journal of Slavic Studies · 2016 · 5 · 10–53
  8. Svilen Enev File:Old Basilica in Pliska 4.JPG Wikimedia Commons
  9. Klearchos Kapoutsis from Paleo Faliro, Athens, Greece File:The Great Basilica Klearchos 2.jpg Wikimedia Commons
  10. Unknown medieval icon painter; reproduction creator not supplied File:Saint Clement of Ohrid (icon, 13th-14th century).jpg Wikimedia Commons
  11. Anonymous Russian manuscript illuminators, 1560-1570s Facial Chronicle (Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible) (in 10 volumes: pdf, pdf with translation)Public domain image File:Facial Chronicle - b.13, p.414 - Photios baptising king of Bulgars.gif Wikimedia Commons
  12. Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) Michael III with Theodora: gold solidus, c. 843–856 Wikimedia Commons
  13. Unidentified print maker; Library of Congress (provider) File:Nicolaus I PP Romanus LCCN98508493.jpg Wikimedia Commons · 1910
  14. from the Middle Ages, unknown File:MadridSkylitzesFol68v.jpg Wikimedia Commons
  15. Unknown manuscript maker; reproduction creator not supplied in Commons API File:Kodex.Zograf.JPG Wikimedia Commons; reported reproduction of J. Kurz, Učebnice jazyka staroslověnského (Praha, 1969); original textbook not independently consulted
  16. Регионален исторически музей — Шумен Национален историко-археологически резерват Плиска
  17. ГИОКИН (Гражданска инициатива за опазване на културно-историческото наследство), open letter; reproduced by OFFNews ГИОКИН: Реставрацията на Голямата базилика в Плиска я обезличава и маргинализира OFFNews, reproduction of an open letter · 2017
  18. Санкт-Петербургский институт истории РАН; Российская национальная библиотека (holding institution) Зографское евангелие; кон. X — нач. XI; РНБ, Глаг. 1 История письма европейской цивилизации, manuscript database

Images

Photo

Classical Numismatic Group · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.5. Unmodified. Cut-out detail; background removed. Original object

Photo

Classical Numismatic Group · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Open source

Full attribution

Photo: Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.5. Unmodified. Processed image. Original object

Drawing

Unknown medieval artist · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Folio 68v, a twelfth-century manuscript. A later depiction of baptism, not an eyewitness portrait.

Open source

Full attribution

Unknown medieval artist. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Unmodified. Processed image. Document scan

Drawing

Unknown Russian manuscript artists, sixteenth century · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Illustrated Chronicle, book 13, page 414. A sixteenth-century depiction; it does not prove that Photius personally baptised Boris.

Open source

Full attribution

Unknown Russian manuscript artists, sixteenth century. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Unmodified. Processed image. Document scan

Drawing

Unidentified drawing artist · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Later print from the Library of Congress collection. It does not establish the pope’s appearance in the ninth century.

Open source

Full attribution

Unidentified drawing artist; Library of Congress. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Unmodified. Processed image. Printed reproduction of a drawing

Photo

Klearchos Kapoutsis from Paleo Faliro, Athens, Greece · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Modern photograph of the Great Basilica. The tall arcade is restored; this is not an intact ninth-century church.

Open source

Full attribution

Klearchos Kapoutsis from Paleo Faliro, Athens, Greece / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Unmodified. Processed image. Site today

Photo

Svilen Enev · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Great Basilica, Pliska, in 2007. Low stone remains in front of a restored wall with arches. Individual masonry phases have not been established here.

Open source

Full attribution

Svilen Enev / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Unmodified. Processed image. Site today

Drawing

Unknown icon painter · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Icon dated by Commons to the thirteenth–fourteenth century. A later religious depiction of Clement, not a lifetime portrait.

Open source

Full attribution

Unknown icon painter. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Unmodified. Processed image. Icon

Archive

Unknown manuscript maker · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Later manuscript with Glagolitic writing. The folio shown in this image is unidentified. This is not a book proven to have belonged to Clement.

Open source

Full attribution

Unknown manuscript maker; reproduction creator unidentified. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Unmodified. Processed image. Document scan

Geographic context, without historical borders

Tom Patterson · Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso · Public domain · Natural Earth

Open source

Full attribution

Tom Patterson · Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso