At the beginning of the 14th century the Second Bulgarian Empire was still a major power in the Balkans,
A.
Though its importance rapidly waned after the Serbian victory at Velbuzhd in 1330 until, fragmented among several princes following Tsar Ivan Alexander’s death in 1371, it was unable to withstand the ensuing Ottoman attacks and was swiftly reduced to vassalage (1372). Finally, in 1393 Bulgaria lost the last vestiges of its independence and became an Ottoman pashalik or province, the last tsar, Ivan III, being executed in 1395. Only Vidin held out a little longer, as an Ottoman vassal under Ivan Stracimir, finally being occupied in 1396 after the defeat of the crusader armies at Nicopolis. For brief details of Bulgarian organisation see Armies of Feudal Europe (2nd Edition).
Of the figures depicted here, 80 and 81 are taken from a copy of the ‘Chronicle of Manasses’ made for Tsar Ivan Alexander in 1344-45. 80 portrays basic Bulgarian dress, which bears a close likeness to that worn by Cumans settled in Hungary (see figure 85). It comprises a tunic reaching to the knee or just below, under a long coat which could have extremely long sleeves, sometimes shown pulled down over the hands to hang down as far as the knees; possibly such sleeves were slit or had a vent for the arms to pass through, as with those of the Albanians and Turks. Close-fitting hose, short boots and a fur or felt cap completed the costume, the latter assuming a variety of forms including many similar to those depicted in 85a-c. That worn here is black with a brown upturned brim, while others are tall and pointed. Regarding clothing colours, this manuscript would seem to indicate that blue, red, brown and to a lesser extent green predominated, with duller or darker colours for hose and boots. Following Byzantine tradition, narrow bands generally appeared on the upper arm, and similar bands occur at cuffs, collar, hem, and sometimes the waist too; on this particular figure they are black, the coat being deep red. The quiver and shield are added from other figures.
81 portrays an armoured horseman. Most such figures in this ms. are coloured blue, doubtless indicating mail, but some wear green, brown or red tunics over their body-armour as here, where it is concealed beneath a long-sleeved, tan-coloured tunic so that only the mail coif is visible. Other figures have brown quilted leather coifs instead, or a combination of mail and quilt (see 82). Helmets depicted in the ms. are of two types, either the tall prointed chichak worn by figure 153, or the bascinet shown here, the latter frequently surmounted by a small red or blue plume. Others appear to be worn under a sort of Phrygian cap, as is confirmed by 14th century frescoes (see next figure), which also indicate that a few kettle-helmets were worn. His shield, suspended from a guige-strap, is painted blue-grey with a dark red rim and crescent and a light red flower (acanthus?). Frescoes contemporary with the ms. depict both bucklers and almond shields in use, with bucklers predominating; several bucklers held by a central hand-grip also appear in Manasses (e. g. that of 80, shown held by a tsar) and in the ‘London Bible’ of 1355-56. Some 13th-14th century frescoes also show Western European ‘heater’ shields, often coloured brown with iron rims, while others occasionally depict rectangular shields similar to the Serbian example shown in figure 73c. The frescoes would seem to indicate that yellow was a popular Bulgarian shield colour, though the Manasses ms. most often depicts them white or blue-grey with dark red/brown or blue (presumably iron) rims.
82 is from a mural at Berende probably dating to c. 1325. The Byzantine-style armour it portrays, complete with breastband and pteruges, is characteristic of that found in all 14th century Bulgarian frescoes as well as in the Manasses ms., so can be assumed to be a reasonably faithful reproduction of contemporary equipment. The combined mail and quilt coif mentioned above can be seen clearly here, as can the characteristic shape of the cap worn over the helmet, with its several folds here at the front where other sources sometimes depict them at the back (as in 82a, from Manasses). 82b shows a variant of the cap, and 82c the type of helmet worn under it, all from the same fresco. The pattern on his shield is from the Manasses ms. and is red on a white background, with a blue (iron) rim.
In both the Manasses ms. and the ‘London Bible’ such Bulgarian heavy cavalry are shown riding with long stirrups western-fashion, though it seems likely that light cavalry like figure 80 still rode with short stirrups; spurs are evident on many, but not all, figures in both these sources. Saddles are predominantly red or brown. The majority of figures in the Manasses ms. are armed with lances like 81, which they seem to have couched underarm, but occasionally such heavy cavalry are armed with a bow instead, when presumably a buckler was substituted for the large almond shield.
Where they appeared at all, infantry would have been archers and to a lesser extent spearmen, probably provided by Bulgar and Wallachian peasants and Greek town militiamen respectively, the latter of whom would probably have resembled figure 52. In one scene in the Manasses ms. an archer defending a castle wall is shown armed with a stirrup crossbow.
There is no known evidence for the use of artillery or handguns in Bulgaria during the 14th century, and significantly the modern Bulgarian words for cannon, gunpowder, bullet, etc., are all of Turkish origin. However, it is interesting to note that one of the earliest references to the alleged use of artillery by the Ottomans was during their campaign against the Karamanlis in 1387, on which occasion the greater part of the Ottoman army was comprised of Christian auxiliaries, including Serbs and Byzantines but predominantly made up of the troops of Bulgarian vassal princes (Bulgaria being obliged to provide the Ottomans with auxiliary troops after 1371/2).
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