Battle of Skopje
Battle in 1004 near the Bulgarian city of Skopje From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battle in 1004 near the Bulgarian city of Skopje From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Battle of Skopje occurred in 1004 within the vicinity of the city of Skopje. The battled was waged between forces of the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire. The result was Byzantine victory.
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Battle of Skopje | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria | |||||||
Bulgarians put to flight by Ouranos at the Spercheios River from the Chronicle of John Skylitzes. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Byzantine Empire | Bulgarian Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Basil II | Samuel of Bulgaria |
In 1003, Basil II launched a campaign against the First Bulgarian Empire and after eight months of siege conquered the important town of Vidin to the north-west. The Bulgarian counter strike in the opposite direction towards Odrin did not distract him from his aim and after seizing Vidin he marched southwards through the valley of the Morava destroying the Bulgarian castles on his way. Eventually, Basil II reached the vicinity of Skopje and learned that the camp of the Bulgarian army was situated very close on the other side of the Vardar river.
Samuil of Bulgaria relied on the high waters of the river of Vardar and did not take any serious precautions to secure the camp. Strangely the circumstances were the same as at the battle of Spercheios seven years earlier, and the scenario of the fight was similar. The Byzantines managed to find a ford, crossed the river and attacked the heedless Bulgarians at night. Unable to resist effectively the Bulgarians soon retreated, leaving the camp and Samuil's tent in the hands of the Byzantines. During this battle Samuil managed to escape and headed east.
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.