Uprising of Petar Delyan

Uprising of Peter Delyan
Peter Delyan is proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria
Date 1040–1041 Location Balkan peninsula Result Byzantines quell the rebellion
Belligerents
Bulgarian rebels	Byzantine Empire Varangian Guard
Commanders and leaders
Peter Delyan Tihomir Alusian	Michael IV the Paphlagonian Harald Hardrada

 Byzantine Empire

Michael IV the Paphlagonian

The Uprising of Peter Delyan (Bulgarian: Въстанието на Петър Делян, Greek: Επανάσταση του Πέτρου Δελεάνου), which took place in 1040–1041, was a major Bulgarian rebellion against the Byzantine Empire. It was the largest and best-organised attempt to restore the former Bulgarian Empire until the rebellion of Ivan Asen I and Petar IV in 1185.

After Byzantine troops conquered Bulgaria in 1018, Basil II wisely decided not to change the Bulgarian taxation system in order to placate the population. Although the Bulgarian Patriarchate was downgraded to Archbishopric, its head remained an ethnic Bulgarian till Basil II's death in 1025. Under the rule of Emperor Romanos III the population was forced to pay its taxes in coin rather than in goods-in-kind, which caused poverty and widespread unrest.

In 1040, Peter Delyan, who claimed to be a descendant of Samuil of Bulgaria escaped from Constantinople and began roaming throughout the Bulgarian lands, eventually reaching Morava and Belgrade. The rebellion broke out in Belgrade, where Delyan was proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria assuming the name of the sainted Emperor Peter I. The Bulgarians moved southwards towards the last political centres of their Empire, Ohrid and Skopje. On their way the local population joined them, accepted Peter Delyan for its Emperor and killed every Byzantine they met. In the same time local Bulgarians from the Dyrrhachium area gathered around the soldier Tihomir and headed westwards to reach the old capitals. The existence of two separate rebel camps became an actual threat for the success of the rebellion. Petar Delyan wrote a letter to Tihomir to negotiate for joint actions and made a speech in which, in figurative language, he told the assembled people that as it was not possible for two parrots to the share a bush without discord, so two emperors could not share one country and that they should chose only one leader, either him or Tihomir. He deliberately used the parrots because the two parrots used to be the coat-of-arms of the Comitopuli House. As he had greater influence than his rival, Delyan was unanimously chosen as leader and Tihomir was killed.

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