Conflicts & Resolutions · War

Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria

968–1018 · 10th century

The Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria was the series of wars from 968 to 1018 in which the Byzantine Empire destroyed the First Bulgarian Empire. John I Tzimiskes took eastern Bulgaria and its capital Preslav in 971, and Basil II, after decades of war against Tsar Samuel, won at Kleidion in 1014 and annexed the remaining Bulgarian lands in 1018.

Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria
Image: from the Middle Ages, unknown · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Battles and settlements

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/byzantine-conquest-of-bulgaria
MLA
“Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/byzantine-conquest-of-bulgaria. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/byzantine-conquest-of-bulgaria.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/byzantine-conquest-of-bulgaria (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻