Battle of Bitola (1015)
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| Battle of Bitola | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Byzantine–Bulgarian wars | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Bulgarian Empire | Byzantine Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Ivats |
George Gonitsiates Orestes | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Heavy | ||||||
The battle of Bitola (Bulgarian: Битка при Битоля) took place near the town of Bitola,[1] in Bulgarian territory, between a Bulgarian army under the command of the voivode Ivats and a Byzantine army led by the strategos George Gonitsiates. It was one of the last open battles between the First Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire. The Bulgarians were victorious and the Byzantine Emperor Basil II had to retreat from the Bulgarian capital Ohrid, whose outer walls were by that time already breached by the Bulgarians. However, the Bulgarian victory only postponed the fall of Bulgaria to Byzantine rule in 1018.
In the battle of Kleidion on 29 July 1014 the bulk of the Bulgarian army was destroyed. The death of Tsar Samuil soon after that (6 October) further weakened the state. In the autumn of 1014 Basil II penetrated deep into Bulgarian territory and burned the palaces of Samuil's successor Gavril Radomir in the vicinity of Bitola.[2][3] The hostilities were renewed in the spring of 1015. The Byzantine Emperor headed towards the heart of Bulgaria (around Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa) and systematically seized every town or fortress on his way. The immediate reason for that campaign was the secession of Voden and its reincorporation to Bulgaria in the beginning of 1015. Basil II swiftly seized the town in the spring and resettled its inhabitants.[2][4] In the summer the Byzantines conquered another important town, Moglena. During its siege they captured kavkhan Dometian and many soldiers.[2][5]
Gavril Radomir's attempts to settle peace failed.[2][6] Basil II continued the war and simultaneously encouraged a successful conspiracy of Ivan Vladislav to murder his cousin Radomir and take the throne.[7][8] After Ivan Vladislav took the crown in August 1015, he pretended to agree to surrender to the Byzantines.[2][9][10] Basil II did not trust him and prepared another plot to murder the new Bulgarian Tsar. The new conspiracy failed and led the negotiations to an end.[2][11]