Byzantine–Bulgarian Treaty of 815

The Treaty of 815 (Bulgarian: Договор от 815) was a 30-year peace agreement signed in Constantinople between the Bulgarian Khan Omurtag and the Byzantine Emperor Leo V the Armenian.

With the succession of Khan Krum on the Bulgarian throne in 803 began the last and decisive part of the prolonged succession of Byzantine–Bulgarian conflicts which started in 756. For a little over a decade until his death in 814, Krum achieved significant successes over the Byzantine Empire, seizing the important city of Serdica in 809 and decisively defeating the Byzantine armies at the Varbitsa pass and at Versinikia. His son and successor Omurtag tried to continue Krum's aggressive policy but his campaign in 814 was stopped by the Byzantines. As both countries were exhausted by the sustained military effort, peace negotiations began.

In the beginning of 815 Omurtag sent emissaries to Constantinople to negotiate the peace. The signing ceremony was a solemn event and performed in the presence of numerous people. The agreement envisaged that the Byzantine Emperor must vow according to the pagan Bulgarian customs and Omurtag's emissaries according to the Christian laws. The Byzantine historians were outraged by the emperor's actions. They recorded that the "most Christian" ruler had to pour out water on the ground from a cup, to personally turn round horse saddles, to touch triple bridle and to lift grass high above the ground. Another historian added that Leo V had to even cut up dogs as witnesses to his vow.

Byzantine records for the conditions of the treaty have not been preserved, but the first two of the treaty's four articles survive in the Greek-language Syuleymankyoy Inscription:

Although the treaty was in Bulgaria's favour, it was a welcome respite by the Byzantines, who had to regroup their forces after successive defeats, and who faced another round of internal turmoil because of the revival of iconoclasm. Bulgaria on the other hand also faced religious problems, as the growing number of Christians disturbed Omurtag: the Khan began anti-Christian persecutions, to which his eldest son Enravota also fell victim. The Bulgarians also had to restore their economy following the bloody conflicts of the first decade of the century, while their capital Pliska still lay in ruins.

...
Wikipedia