History of Bulgaria: Primary Documents

EuroDocs > History of Bulgaria: Primary Documents

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• Short history of the Bulgarians

(transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Transformation Project by the European Union

Maps and images of transformations as seen through cultural artifacts.

Includes data on former Roman provinces found in modern countries, including Bulgaria.

Shows the emergence of a common culture in the northern provinces of the Roman Empire from Britain to the Black Sea.

Geographic and thematic approaches available in nine languages.

(Antiquity through 212 A.D.; maps and facsimile images)

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• Bulgarian legends

Legends about Bulgarian rulers and religion of the pre-Christian period.

(transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Pre-Bulgarian epigraphic monuments

Written sources from the pre-Bulgarian period.

(facsimiles in Greek and old Bulgarian)

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• Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor

Historical information about the Byzantine Empire, which had close relations with Bulgaria.

(284-813; commentaries and transcription in Russian)

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• Ljetopis' Popa Dukljanina

A history of the South Slavs and the Goths.

(5th to 12th centuries; commentaries and transcription in Russian)

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• Accounts of Bulgaria

Foreigners' accounts of Bulgaria

(5th to 12th centuries; facsimiles, transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Written language of ancient Bulgaria

Images and description of the Pliska Rosette, the oldest known artifact written in ancient Bulgarian.

(7th to 9th centuries; facsimiles in ancient Bulgarian)

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• Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans

Genealogy of Bulgarian rulers.

(681-767; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Madara Rider inscriptions

Transcription and translation of the Madara Rider inscriptions, which regard the reign of the Bulgarian ruler Tervel.

(700-721; transcription in Greek and translation in Bulgarian)

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• Battle of Anchialus

Map of the battle between Bulgarian ruler Tervel and the Byzantine Empire.

(708; transcription in English)

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• Translations from Byzantine Sources: The Imperial Centuries

Byzantine and Medieval sources in English translation.

(700-1204; transcription in English)

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• Expansion of the Bulgarian territory

Images, facts, and legends about the conquer of the Avars’ lands by the Bulgarian Khan Krum.

(803-814; facsimile, images, transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Territory of Bulgaria during the reign of Khan Krum

(803–814; map, transcription in Bulgarian and English)

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• Writings of the period of the reign of Khan Omurtag

(814-831; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Tarnovo Inscription of Khan Omurtag

Short article on the inscription made during the reign of Khan Omurtag on a column of the Holy Forty Martyrs Church.

(822; facsimile in Greek, translation in Bulgarian)

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• Law for people

Text of the first Bulgarian laws.

(after 865; commentaries, transcription in Russian)

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• The Responses of Pope Nicholas I to the Questions of the Bulgarian Prince Boris I

(866; commentary, transcription in English)

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• Image of Boris I

(866; facsimile)

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• Prince Vladimir-Rasate

Includes portions of documents about the reign of the prince.

(9th century; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Za Bukvete

Document written by the monk Chraber which contains information about creation of the Cyrillic alphabet.

(9th to 10th century; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Stamp of Peter I

(927-969; facsimile).

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• Praise to the Tsar Simeon I

Poetic praise to the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I.

(10th century; commentaries, transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Chronicles of the Simeon Lagotet

Fragment of the Chronicles of Simeon Lagotet about the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I.

(10th century; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• The letter of Nicholas I Mystikos

Counsel on animal sacrifice.

(10th century; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• “Biography of the Tsars” by successor of Theofan

Information about Byzantium and its relationship with Bulgaria.

(First half of 10th century; transcription in Russian)

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• “Review of the History” by Ioann Skilitsa

Information about wars of Kyivska Rus with Byzantium and Bulgaria.

(Latter part of the 10th century; transcription in Russian)

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• Letter of Byzantine Tsar Roman I Lakapin to Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I

(934; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Aseman’s Gospel

(Second half of the 10th century; image, fragment of the facsimile)

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• Bulgarian Records

Information about the religious and political situation in the country.

(10th to 11th centuries; facsimiles, images, transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Chronicles of Konstantin Monassass

Information about the relationship between Byzantium and Bulgaria.

(12th century; transcription in Russian)

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• Rebels proclaim Peter Delyan the tsar

(12th century; image, facsimile)

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• Records of monk Moksa

Information about the rulers and political situation in Bulgaria.

(12th to 15th centuries; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• The Conquest of Constantinople written by Geoffroi de Villehardouin

Information about the role of the Bulgarian tsar in the wars of the Crusaders.

(1204-1206; transcription in English)

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• Bulgaria under Tsar Boril

(1207-1218; map, transcription in English)

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• Map of Bulgaria during the reign of Ivan II Asen

(1218-1241; image, transcription in German)

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• Golden coin of the tsar Ivan II Asen

(1218-1241; image, facsimile)

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• Map of the uprising of Ivailo

(1277; image, transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Virginsky Deed

Document written by Tsar Konstantin Asen regarding the rights of the people of the city Scople.

(1300; transcription in Russian)

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• Ternovsky inscription

Inscription which is probably dedicated to Tsar Ivan Asen II.

(14th century; facsimile in old Bulgarian, transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Transfer of land to Zograf Monastery

Document transferring lands to the monastery by Bulgarian Tsar Mikhail Asen.

(1325; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Monograms of Mikhail III Shiman

(1323-1330; images, commentaries in Bulgarian)

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• Rylska Deed

Declaration of the rights of the monastery, written by Tsar Ivan Shiman.

(1378; transcription in Russian)

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• Anonymous record

Fragment of the record of the historical relationship between Osman Empire, Bulgaria, and Byzantine Empire.

(14th to 15th centuries; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Second destruction of Bulgaria

(16th century; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Portion of the Universal Chronicle of Wallachian monk Michael Moxa

This portion focuses on the years 1105-1489.

(1620; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Brief Political Geography for the Instruction of Bulgarian Youth

The first general geography textbook in Bulgarian.

(1835; facsimile book)

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• The Bulgarian National Library

List of digitized newspapers.

(1875-1945; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• April Uprising

Multiple fragments of the letters of the leaders of the nationalist movement.

(1875-1876; transcription in Bulgarian)

• April Uprising

Map of the Balkans.

(20 April 1876; transcription in Bulgarian)

• Oath of the participant in the April Uprising

(1876; facsimile, transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Address of Bulgarians to the Russian troops

Document details conditions of Bulgarians in Turkey.

(April 1877; transcription in Russian)

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• Report of Alexander II's stay with the Army of the Danube

Information about two days of the Siege of Plevna and the arrest of Osman-Pasha.

(28 to 29 November 1877; transcription in Russian)

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• Journal of the 55th Infantry Podolsk regiment

Information about the Russo-Turkish War.

(1877; transcription in Russian)

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• Journal of H. M. Rogge

Information about the Siege of Plevna written by an eyewitness, Hippolytus Mikhailovich Rogge.

(29 November 1877; transcription in Russian)

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• Treaty of Berlin

Document contains agreement between Germany, Russian, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey about territorial and political changes among Balkan countries, including Bulgaria.

(1878; transcription in Russian)

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• Code of the Eastern Rumelia

The code, territory, and population of the region.

(1878-1908; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Map of Eastern Rumelia

Map of Eastern Rumelia and its neighbors.

(1878-1908; image)

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• Constitution of the Principality of Bulgaria

(16 April 1879; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Manifesto of Knyaz Alexander of Bulgaria declaring the Serbo-Bulgarian War

(2 November 1885; image, facsimile in Bulgarian, translation in English)

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• Travels in Southeastern Europe

Searchable book-length travel reports digitized at the University of Michigan.

(19th to 20th centuries; hundreds of facsimiles in many languages)

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• Online Documents from the Bulgarian State Archives

Documents, maps, constitutions, manifestos, treaties, and so forth.

(19th to 20th centuries; facsimiles)

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• Air power in the Balkan Wars

(1912-1913; images, commentaries in Bulgarian)

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• Union between Bulgaria and Serbia

Conditions of the union between the two countries and the role of Turkey and Russia.

(13 March 1912; transcription in Russian)

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• Map of the Balkan peninsula before 1913

(before 1913; image, commentaries in Russian)

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• Peace Treaty

Document contains peace treaty between Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia on one side and Turkey on the other.

(17 May 1913; transcription in English)

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• World War I Document Archive

(pre-1914 to post-1918; translations and transcriptions)

• World War I

A collection of primary documents from the Internet Modern History Sourcebook.

(1914-1918; transcriptions and translations)

• Documents of World War I

Digital primary documents assembled at Mount Holyoke College.

(1914-1919; translations)

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• Boris III

Multiple documents about Bulgarian Tsar Boris III.

(3 October 1918 to 28 August 1943; image, facsimile in Bulgarian)

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• Ethnographic Map of the Balkan Peninsula

Map of the Balkans as they were organized at the end of World War I, after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

(1918; zoomable map)

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• Bulgarian war prisoners of World War I

Documents about prisoners of war of World War I.

(1920; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Order for Annexation of Vardar Macedonia to Bulgaria

(26 April 1941; facsimile in Bulgarian)

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• Constitution of the People's Republic of Bulgaria

(6 December 1947; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Guide to Law Online: Bulgaria

Library of Congress guide to constitutional, legal, and government documents.

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• Istorija Balkana

Digital Balkan History

An ambitious and fast-growing collection of e-books and sources, available only in a Serbo-Croatian interface.

Requires free registration in order to view sources (See especially "Izvori").

(Facsimiles, links and an online forum)

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• Note of Todor Zhyvkov

Information about the situation in Bulgaria.

(July 1956; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria

(18 May 1971; transcription in Bulgarian)

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• Historical Text Archive: Bulgaria

Includes primary and secondary documents, provided by Don Mabry.

(Transcriptions, facsimiles and commentaries, mostly in English)

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• Bulgaria's report to the European Union on development

2009 - 2010 and 2010 - 2011

(5 August 2010; facsimile in Bulgarian)

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• International Civic Coats of Arms: Bulgaria

Also contains a collection of coats of arms for other European countries and principalities.

(Facsimiles)

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EuroDocs > History of Bulgaria: Primary Documents

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EuroDocs Creator: Richard Hacken, European Studies Bibliographer,
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
Feel free to get in touch: eurodocs @ byu.edu
With special thanks to Natalya Georgiyeva for her help with this webpage.