Theodore Svetoslav, following his coronation as Emperor of Bulgaria in 1300, seeks revenge for the Tatar attacks on the state in the previous twenty years.

The traitors are punished first, including his former benefactor, Patriarch Joakim III, who is found guilty of helping the enemies of the crown and executed.

Pursuing a ruthless course of action, the emperor punishes all who stand in his way.

The reign of Theodore Svetoslav is connected with the internal stabilization and pacification of Bulgaria, the end of Mongol overlordship, the reassertion of relatively effective central control over outlying provinces, and the recovery of portions of Thrace lost to Constantinople’s empire since the wars against Ivailo of Bulgaria.