Simeon the Great Симеон І Велики | |
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![]() Statue of Simeon I in Vidin | |
Emperor of the Bulgarians and Romans | |
Reign | 893 – 27 May 927 |
Predecessor | Vladimir |
Successor | Peter I |
Born | 864/865 |
Died | 27 May 927 (aged 62 or 63) Preslav, Bulgaria |
Spouses | Unknown name (first spouse) Maria Sursuvul |
Issue | Michael Peter, Emperor of Bulgaria Ivan Rilski Benjamin |
Dynasty | Krum's dynasty |
Father | Boris I |
Mother | Maria |
Tsar Simeon (also Symeon)[1] I the Great (Church Slavonic: цѣсар҄ь Сѷмеѡ́нъ А҃ Вели́къ, romanized: cěsarĭ Sỳmeonŭ prĭvŭ Velikŭ; Bulgarian: цар Симеон I Велики, romanized: Simeon I Veliki[2] [simɛˈɔn ˈpɤrvi vɛˈliki]; Greek: Συμεών Αʹ ὁ Μέγας, romanized: Sumeṓn prôtos ho Mégas) ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927,[3] during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever,[4] making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern and Southeast Europe.[5] His reign was also a period of unmatched cultural prosperity and enlightenment later deemed the Golden Age of Bulgarian culture.[6]
During Simeon's rule, Bulgaria spread over a territory between the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Black Sea.[7][8] The newly independent Bulgarian Orthodox Church became the first new patriarchate besides the Pentarchy, and Bulgarian Glagolitic and Cyrillic translations of Christian texts spread all over the Slavic world of the time.[9] It was at the Preslav Literary School in the 890s that the Cyrillic alphabet was developed.[10][11][12] Halfway through his reign, Simeon assumed the title of Emperor (Tsar),[13] having prior to that been styled Prince (Knyaz).[14]
The Psalter and the Book of Prophets were adapted or "modernized" with special regard to their use in Bulgarian churches, and it was in this school that glagolitic writing was replaced by the so-called Cyrillic writing, which was more akin to the Greek uncial, simplified matters considerably and is still used by the Orthodox Slavs.