Gavril Radomir of Bulgaria

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Gavril Radomir
Гаврил Радомир
Tsar of Bulgaria
Reign6 October 1014 – August 1015
PredecessorSamuel of Bulgaria
SuccessorIvan Vladislav of Bulgaria
Died1015
SpousesMargaret of Hungary
Irene of Larissa
IssuePeter Delyan?
DynastyCometopuli
FatherSamuel of Bulgaria
MotherAgatha

Gavril Radomir (Bulgarian: Гаврил Радомир; Greek: Γαβριὴλ Ρωμανός, romanizedGavriil Romanos; anglicized as "Gabriel Radomir"; died 1015) was the emperor (tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire from October 1014 to August or September 1015. He was the son of tsar Samuel (r. 997–1014).

Biography[edit]

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.[1]

Around the same time that Emperor Basil II 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, Gavril Radomir raided Byzantine territory, reaching as far as Constantinople. 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.[2] 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.

Family tree[edit]

The sarcophagi of Samuel, Gavril Radomir and Ivan Vladislav in Agios Achilios island in Litle Prespa lake.
Comita
Nikola
Ripsimia of Armenia
AronMosesDavidSamuelAgatha
Ivan
Vladislav
MiroslavaUnknown daughterUnknown daughterIrene of LarissaGavril
Radomir
Margaret of Hungary
several sons
& daughters
Peter Delyan?

See also[edit]

Sources[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Runciman, Steven (June 1980). "Preface". A history of the First Bulgarian Empire. Books About Macedonia. ISBN 978-0-404-18916-7. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  2. ^ Obolensky, Dimitry (1948). The Bogomils: A study in Balkan Neo-Manicheism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58262-8.
Preceded by Emperor of Bulgaria
1014–1015
Succeeded by