България и българите в съчинението на византийския историк Дука
Bulgaria and the Bulgarians in the Historical Work of Doukas

Summary/Abstract: The predominating information on Bulgaria and the bulgarians in the work of Doukas “Turkish-byzantine history” concerns some events that happened during the first half of the 15th century around some Bulgarian towns such as Philipopolis, Sofia, Varna and Mesemvira. In most cases Doukas was satisfied with the role of registrar of events. In the first place, the fragmentariness of his information on the Bulgarian history could be explained by the fact that the time Doukas lived in was separated by more than a half century from the events he described. The memory of these events had already faded and the stories and what had been written by witnesses had not always been accessible to him. Another reason for being presented in such a laconic way is a certain neglect to the “conquered”, as the Bulgarians already were. Of course, it should not be ruled out that this brevity might have been due also to the fact that in comparison with the other Balkan peoples, the Bulgarians had been the best known to the Byzantines, with whom they had been coexisting for nearly eight centuries already. As a general conclusion it may be stated that the data about the Bulgarians in Doukas’ work, though not very numerous compared to what was written about other Balkan peoples, is unique and thus complements the narratives of the other 15th century Byzantine historians. All this makes “Turkish-byzantine history” an invaluable source for a period, marking the political decline of the Balkan Christian world.

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