On this day in Byzantine history: The death of Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros.

By roberthorvat

July 26th 811 CE

The battle of Varbitza Pass and the death of Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros.

There have been many Byzantine Emperors who had died in battle – Emperors Julian, Valens and famously Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last emperor who couldn’t hold back the might of the Ottomans in 1453. But not many are familiar with the story relating to the death of Emperor Nikephoros and the desecration of his dead body by the Khan of Bulgaria, Krum.

Emperor Nikephoros came to power in 802, with the aim of restoring the Byzantine Empire to its former glory. He deposed Irene and immediately worked to resolve the empire’s running battle surrounding the recognition of Charlemagne as Western emperor. He tacitly acknowledged Charlemagne as Western emperor, probably only so that he could concentrate on the dire state of the empire’s treasury, and the growing concern of the expansion of Bulgarian territories, that had encroached upon on Byzantine sovereignty, north of Constantinople. This was no more evident than by the Khan of Bulgaria’s brazen attack that sacked the city of Sardica and massacred the garrison stationed there in 808.
Spurred on by his angry subjects in Constantinople, Nikephoros sacked and destroyed Krum’s capital of Pliska (which was practically undefended) in retaliation. He even managing to pause to rebuild Sardica without exerting himself on his way back home. However, Nikephoros wasn’t entirely pleased because Krum managed to successfully steered clear of the Byzantines during the whole attack, which inevitably made Nikephoros more determined to crush him, launching a new assault in 811, with an enormous army.
Marching into Bulgar territory, the Byzantine army advanced into Pliska and destroyed the city again. Know one knows why, but if we are to believe the historian Theophanes, Nikephoros lost his composure and ordered that the population be slain without mercy.
Gaining the upper hand, Krum sued for peace, but the emperor would not listen. Krum was forced to retreat and grabbed every man at his disposal, setting up a trap in the high mountains, which the Emperor would inevitably have to pass through to get home.
On July 25th 811, without making any attempt at reconnaissance, the Byzantines fell into the Bulgars trap. Krum’s soldiers had built a wooden wall across the pass at each end. Escape was impossible and to make matters even more stressful, the Byzantines were felt to ponder their fate for an entire day, as Krum reinforced his fortifications.
It was in the early morning of the 26th, that the Bulgars finally struck. Nikephoros apparently cried out, “Even if we were birds, we could not hope to escape”. The slaughter continued throughout the day and into the night, as soldiers tried in vain to escape by climbing over the wall. Many unfortunately fell to their death into the huge ditch on the other side filled with burning logs.
The Battle of Varbitsa Pass (also often referred to as Battle of Pliska) was one of the worst defeats in Byzantine history with casualties and losses of almost the entire army including its emperor. Krum turned out to be no more merciful in victory than the emperor. He ordered that the dead body of the emperor be brought before him, where he next beheaded the emperor and stuck the head on a spike. Once the flesh had rotted off, he had it fashioned into a drinking goblet lined with silver. Legend has it that Krum apparently drank from it until the day he died.

Emperor Nikephoros and his son, co-emperor Staurakios (right), on a gold solidus probably struck in 803-811 CE. Staurakios, interestingly participated in his father’s ill fated campaign against Krum in 811. He was badly wounded, managed to escape, but died a little over two months later in early October 811.
Photo credits: The header image is from the Manasses chronicle which shows Krum, Khan of Bulgaria, celebrating his victory over Nikephoros, as a servant brings to him a cup fashioned from the dead emperor’s skull. The image of the Nikephoros solidus is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.