80 chapter one
the probable answers, at least) can be found only if we study in general
the problem of Christianity in Bulgaria prior to 864 A.D. Since various
aspects of this problem have already been examined by a number of
scholars,^253 I will try to synthesize their general points and to give my
answer to the above-mentioned question.
Until the beginning of the ninth century Asparukh’s successors
had permanent control over the territories to the north of Haemus
Mountain and no signifi cant Christian (Byzantine) population was
attested (or it is not possible to be proved) within the boundaries of
the Bulgar state. It is also hard to prove the real existence of a network
of bishoprics at the sites located along the Danube (Novae, Ratiaria,
Durostorum, etc.),^254 which would have been a base for an intensifi ed
preaching and promotion of Christianity among the Bulgars. How-
ever, the territorial expansion to the south in the early ninth century
changed the situation and, as it is well known, quite a high number of
Byzantine Christians were included within the borders of the state, a
fact that gives reason for P. Schreiner to assume “an existence of con-
stant Christian communities” among the former Krum’s captives.^255
Did they expand the Christian faith? It is hard to give a simple answer
to this question but the answer is “no”, if we speak about purposeful
actions for this goal.
Th e overall politics of Krum and his successors until 864 A.D. made
it clear that the Bulgar elite used the resources (knowledge, specifi c
skills, etc.) of the captives and the voluntary Byzantine settlers in Bul-
garia to strengthen their own (e.g. Bulgar) identity through imitating
and adapting some Byzantine elements to the Bulgar reality, ideology,
etc., i.e. aft er a process of necessary interpretation through the prism
(^253) For instance see, Schreiner 2004, 215–224; Venedikov 1996; Nikolov 2000, 325–
364; Browning 1988, passim; Rashev 2004, passim. Especially for the church architec-
ture (in the lands of Bulgaria) during Late Antiquity, as proving the serious place of
Christianity there see, Chaneva-Dechevska 1999; another related proof are the reli-
quaries found in Bulgarian lands and dated to the fourth-sixth centuries. For them
see, Minchev 2003. For early Christianity in the Rhodope Mountains, now in Bulgaria
and in Greece see, Vaklinova 1999, 51–72; Vaklinova 2002, 159–179, who claims that
church building was stopped in the region aft er the sixth century and began again
only in the tenth century.
(^254) Following Darrouzès’ “Notitiae episcopatuum ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae”
Peter Schreiner is not inclined to claim such a thing, too. Details see in, Shrainer
[Schreiner] 2004, 219. 255
Shrainer [Schreiner] 2004, 220. Also see, Nikolova 1995, 190–191; Dujchev 1972,
136.