The Komnenian restoration describes the military, financial and territorial recovery of the East Roman, or Byzantine, Empire under the Komnenian dynasty, from the accession in 1081 of Alexios I Komnenos, to the death in 1180 of Manuel I Komnenos.

The Komnenian restoration is also closely linked to the establishment of the Komnenian imperial army.

Most Polabian Slavs see Jesus as a "German god" and remain pagan, despite the efforts of Christian missionaries.

In the Great Slav Rising in 983, the pagan Slavs revolt against their subjugation to the Kingdom of the Eastern Franks, aka East Francia.

The Slavic Lutici and Obotrite people, who live to the east of the Elbe in modern northeast Germany, defeat Emperor Otto II in at the Battle of Stilo in 982, then rebel against the Germans the following year.

The Hevelli and Lutici destroy the Bishoprics of Havelberg and Brandenburg., and some Slavs advance across the Elbe into Saxon territory, but retreat when the Christian Duke of the Polans, Mieszko I, attacks them from the East.

The Holy Roman Empire retains only nominal control over the Slavic territories between the Elbe and the Oder.

Eastern Southeast Europe (976–987 CE): Byzantine Revolts and Intensified Bulgarian Conflict

Settlement and Migration Patterns

Stability Amidst Turmoil

From 976 to 987 CE, Eastern Southeast Europe experienced continued demographic stability despite significant military and political upheaval stemming from Byzantine internal revolts and intensified conflict with Bulgaria.

Political and Military Developments

Byzantine Internal Revolts (976–989 CE)

The Byzantine Empire faced significant internal challenges during this era, notably marked by widespread revolts (976–989 CE) that weakened central authority. These rebellions underscored internal power struggles and factional divisions, temporarily disrupting Byzantine military effectiveness.

Bulgarian-Byzantine War and the Battle of the Gates of Trajan (981–1018 CE)

The Bulgarian-Byzantine conflict intensified significantly, highlighted by the Battle of the Gates of Trajan in 986 CE. The Bulgarian forces achieved a notable victory, temporarily halting Byzantine advances and demonstrating Bulgaria’s continuing resilience despite its previous territorial losses.

Byzantine Reconsolidation Efforts

Despite internal and external challenges, Byzantine forces under Emperor Basil II began a determined campaign to reconsolidate territories lost during the revolts and stabilize the Empire, setting the stage for a prolonged conflict aimed at the complete conquest of Bulgaria.

Economic and Technological Developments

Economic Strain and Resilience

The Byzantine revolts and ongoing Bulgarian-Byzantine war strained regional economies, disrupting trade and agricultural production. Despite these challenges, core economic activities persisted, demonstrating notable resilience in face of continuous conflict.

Enhanced Military Infrastructure

In response to the intensified military conflicts, significant investments continued in fortifications, particularly along critical conflict zones, strengthening territorial defenses and safeguarding economic resources.

Cultural and Artistic Developments

Sustained Cultural Activities

Cultural and artistic traditions continued to flourish despite political disruptions, maintaining regional artistic identity through ongoing craftsmanship, literary production, and manuscript preservation in Byzantine educational institutions and Bulgarian cultural centers.

Intellectual Resilience

Intellectual activities persisted robustly, particularly in scholarly communities and scriptoria, preserving classical and theological knowledge amid political and military upheaval.

Social and Religious Developments

Continued Religious Influence

Orthodox Christianity remained the region's predominant religious and social influence, providing stability and cohesion during this turbulent period. Religious institutions played critical roles in maintaining community stability amid political instability and military conflicts.

Bogomil and Local Religious Movements

Bogomilism continued its influence, shaping rural religious practices and societal structures. This dualistic, evangelical reform movement persisted as an important element of regional religious life.

Long-Term Consequences and Historical Significance

The period from 976 to 987 CE saw significant internal and external challenges for the Byzantine Empire, marked by revolts, the pivotal Battle of the Gates of Trajan, and intensified Bulgarian-Byzantine conflicts. These developments significantly shaped the geopolitical landscape, setting the stage for prolonged Byzantine military campaigns and reshaping regional power dynamics for subsequent decades.

The Cometopuli brothers, based in the unconquered western regions of the Bulgarian Empire, will lead Bulgarian resistance is led until its fall in 1018 under East Roman (Byzantine) rule and its end as a state.

One of the brothers, Samuel, establishes the Macedonian, or Western Bulgarian, Empire.

A revolt against Constantinople, led by the four sons of Macedonian governor Nicholas, had spread to become a war of liberation.

Samuel is the fourth and youngest son of count (comita) Nikola, a Bulgarian noble, who might have been the Count of Sredets (Sofia), although other sources suggest that he was a regional count somewhere in the region of today Macedonia.

His mother was Ripsimia of Armenia.

The actual name of the dynasty is not known.

“Cometopuli” is the nickname which is used by Byzantine historians to address rulers from the dynasty as its founder.

Samuel and the Cometopuli had risen to power out of the disorder that had occurred in the Bulgarian Empire from 966 to 971.

After Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies on January 11, 976, the Cometopuli launch an assault along the whole border with the Empire.

Within a few weeks, however, David is killed by Vlach vagrants and Moses is fatally injured by a stone during the siege of Serres.

The brothers' actions to the south detain many imperial troops and ease Samuel's liberation of northeastern Bulgaria; the imperial commander is defeated and retreated to Crimea.

Any Bulgarian nobles and officials who had not opposed Constantinople’s conquest of the region are executed, and the war continues north of the Danube until the enemy is scattered and Bulgarian rule is restored.

After suffering these defeats in the Balkans, the Empire descends into civil war.

The commander of the Asian army, Bardas Skleros, rebels in Asia Minor and sends troops under his son Romanus in Thrace to besiege Constantinople.

The new Emperor Basil II does not have enough manpower to fight both the Bulgarians and the rebels and resorts to treason, conspiracy and complicated diplomatic plots.

Basil II makes many promises to the Bulgarians and Scleros to divert them from allying against him.

Aaron, the eldest living Cometopulus, is tempted by an alliance with Constantinople and the opportunity to seize power in Bulgaria for himself.

He holds land in Thrace, a region potentially subject to the imperial threat.

Basil reaches an agreement with Aaron, who asks to marry Basil's sister to seal it.

Basil instead sends the wife of one of his officials with the bishop of Sebaste.

However, the deceit is uncovered and the bishop is killed.

Nonetheless, negotiations proceed and conclude in a peace agreement.

Samuel learns of the conspiracy and the clash between the two brothers is inevitable.

The quarrel breaks out in the vicinity of Dupnitsa on June 14, 976, and ends with the annihilation of Aaron's family.

Only his son, Ivan Vladislav, survives because Samuel's son Gavril Radomir pleads on his behalf.

From this moment on, practically all power and authority in the state is held by Samuel and the danger of an internal conflict has been all but eliminated.

However, another theory suggests that Aaron participated in the battle of the Gates of Trajan which will take place ten years later.

According to that theory, Aaron was killed on June 14, 987 or 988.

John I Tzimisces had taken most of Palestine from the Fatimid caliphate, but before he is able to recapture Jerusalem for the Empire, he dies, probably of typhoid, on January 10, 976.

At the news of the emperor's death, Constantinople’s forces cease hostilities and withdraw, bringing to an abrupt close the war with the Fatimids.

The eunuch Basil the Chamberlain has taken control of the throne for John’s two grandnephews and co-emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII.

An immediate challenge to the chamberlain’s authority and that of eighteen-year-old Basil II has come from two generals who covet the position of senior emperor.

Both related to emperors, they belong to powerful landed families and command outside support from Georgia and from the ‘Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, who most of the Islamic world still acknowledge as the supreme spiritual authority, despite temporal power having long since devolved to independent hereditary Muslim rulers from India to Spain.

The powerful imperial general Bardas Skleros, a brother-in-law of the late Emperor, had been demoted from eastern commander to governor of Mesopotamia.

His troops and the Arabs of Melitene proclaim him emperor in summer 976 and seize considerable imperial territory in Asia Minor and Syria.

Roman is the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria by his marriage with Maria (renamed Eirene) Lekapene, the granddaughter of the Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos.

It is possible that he had the double name Roman-Simeon, but this may be due to confusion with another man in the sources.

He was born around 930, and had probably visited Constantinople with his mother and older brothers soon after 931.

We know nothing about Roman's life until 968, when he joined his older brother Boris in Constantinople to negotiate a peace agreement between Bulgaria and the Empire, during which they apparently served as honorary hostages at the imperial court.

On their father's abdication in 969, Boris and Roman had returned to Bulgaria, where Boris II had succeeded as emperor.

Roman may have been proclaimed co-emperor in accordance with imperial Greek usage, but the evidence for that is vague.

In Bulgaria, Roman probably had shared his brother's destiny, becoming first a pawn in the hands of Prince Sviatoslav I of Kiev and then in those of the Emperor John I Tzimiskes.

After the latter's victory in 971, Roman had been taken to Constantinople together with his brother's family.

To ensure that the Bulgarian royal dynasty will die out (Boris II apparently has only daughters), the emperor has Roman castrated.

Boris and Roman had remained in honorary captivity at the imperial palace until after the death of the emperor in 976.

At this point the raids of the Kometopouloi into Constantinople’s possessions in Macedonia lead to an imperial stratagem intended to divide the leadership of the still-unconquered Bulgarian lands in the west.

After the Empire’s plan to use Aaron to cause instability in Bulgaria fails, they try to encourage the rightful heirs to the throne, Boris II and Roman, to oppose Samuel.

Basil II hopes that they will win the support of the nobles and isolate Samuel or perhaps even start a Bulgarian civil war.

Temporarily jailed, Boris and Roman are allowed to escape in 977.

During their attempt to cross the Bulgarian border, Boris II is taken for an enemy and killed by a guard who had been misled by Basil’s clothing.

Roman, who is walking some distance behind, manages to identify himself to the Bulgarian patrols, and is taken to Vidin, where he is proclaimed Emperor of Bulgaria.

Samuel becomes his first lieutenant and general and together they gather an army to fight the Empire.

Samuel is certain to eventually succeed Roman.

The new emperor entrusts Samuel with the state administration and becomes occupied with church and religious affairs.

Skleros, defeating imperial forces and killing their commander Peter Phokas, marches on Constantinople in 978.

Basil the Chamberlain calls on Bardas Phokas, earlier exiled for an attempted usurpation that had been stopped by Skleros for the late Emperor.

Phokas gathers forces at his family power center of Caesarea, forcing his rival to turn back from the capital in March, 979, when his army, aided by a large contingent of Georgian cavalry, defeats Skleros in single combat near Amorium in May 979, with Skleros cutting the right ear of Phokas' horse with his lance before sustaining a grave wound in the head.

Skleros flees to …

…Baghdad to the court of his friend, the caliph.