Tzar
Peter I of Bulgaria (927-969), the son of Tzar Simeon the Great of
Bulgaria, was married to Maria Irena, the granddaughter of Byzantine
Emperor Romanus I Lecapenus. He ruled for over 40 years and was
succeeded by their son Boris II.
Peter I's reign is usually
considered a period of decline, but this is largely due to the less
frequent notices about Bulgaria in Byzantine chronicles - a natural
consequence of the peaceful relations which reigned between the two
countries in his time.
Under Peter I the Christianization of the
country went even further, which led to religious dissent in the face
of the Bogomil heresy and to social tensions between high clergy and
laity, as described by Peter's contemporary Cosmas Presbyter.
To keep peace with the Byzantine Empire, Peter married the
grand-daughter of Romanus Lecapenus and signed a thirty-year peace
treaty under the acknowledged title of Tsar. Two of Peter's brothers,
Michal and John tried to overthrow him. His youngest brother had the
Turkic name of Baiannes and allegedly practiced shamanism. Losing the
Serb lands early in his reign, he was unable to handle Bulgaria's
external enemies, the Pechenegs repeatedly raided and plundered
Dobrudja.
Transylvania was lost to the Magyars and the South
Carpathians became the northern border of the state. In the same time,
a Bulgarian religious mission was the first one successful in
converting Magyar princes. In 966, Peter concluded an alliance with the
Magyars directed against Byzantium and this provoked major response.
Near
the end of his reign, Boris and Roman, his sons, were taken hostage in
Constantinople. In 968, Prince Svyatoslav of Kiev attacked Bulgaria's
northeastern border, encouraged to do so by Emperor Nicephorus Phocas.
Peter's army suffered a defeat in Dobrudja, and the Russians took
eighty fortresses. Tsar Peter I took monastic vows and passed away in
January 969. His country would be invaded again by Svyatoslav, in 970,
and conquered by Emperor John Tzimisces, in 971.
Soon after his death, Peter was canonized as a saint by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
info by Wikipedia