Battle of Tryavna

Date	Spring 1190
Location	near Tryavna, Bulgaria
Result	Bulgarian victory

Belligerents

Bulgarian Empire

Byzantine Empire

Commanders and leaders

Ivan Asen I

Isaac II Angelos
John Doukas
Manuel Kamytzes

Strength

Unknown

Casualties and losses

Unknown

Heavy

The Battle of Tryavna (Bulgarian: Битка при Трявна) occurred in 1190, in the mountains around the contemporary town of Tryavna, central Bulgaria. The result was a Bulgarian victory over the Byzantine Empire, which secured the successes achieved since the beginning of the Rebellion of Asen and Peter in 1185.

After his second campaign in Moesia and the fruitless siege of Lovech in 1187, the Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angelos was forced to conclude a truce, thus de facto recognizing the independence of Bulgaria. Until 1189, both sides observed the truce. The Bulgarians used this time to further organize their administration and military. When the soldiers of the Third Crusade reached the Bulgarian lands at Niš, Asen and Peter offered to help the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick I Barbarosa, with a force of 40,000 against the Byzantines. However, the relations between the Crusaders and the Byzantines smoothed, and the Bulgarian proposal was evaded.

The Byzantines prepared a third campaign to avenge the Bulgarian actions. Like the previous two invasions, they managed to overcome the passes of the Balkan mountains. They made a bluff indicating that they would pass near the sea by Pomorie, but instead headed west and passed through the Rishki Pass to Preslav. The Byzantine army next marched westwards to besiege the capital at Tarnovo. At the same time, the Byzantine fleet reached the Danube in order to bar the way of Cuman auxiliaries from the northern Bulgarian territories.

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