"Macedonian nation" myth during middle ages from a Bulgarian perspective

[Ptolemy]

This is taken from bulgaria com/ VMRO/ document.htm and exposes also the ludicrus FYROMian propaganda.
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586 A.D. >From the "Miracles of St. Demetrius of Salonika, I ": "...For if one was to imagine them in a heap, not only the Macedonians gathered in Salonika... Certainly he who inspired the Macedonians with courage..." Mirac. I, 13, p.1285-14; 1313

This passages is deliberately taken out of the context. By Macedonians the author means the inhabitants of the old region Macedonia (see this map) and more precisely the Hellenized Romanoi (Romei in Bulgarian) who at that time fought against the Slavs whose descendants nowaday Macedonians are in fact.

758-759 A.D. >From the Chronographia of Theophanes the Confessor "That year Constantine plundered the Sclavinii throughout Macedonia and subjugated the rest." Theoph., I, p.430, 21-22.

This does not prove the existance of a Macedonian ethnos. Macedonia was settled by the Slavs (Sclavi in Greek) and was called Sclavinii (lands of the Slavs).

>From the Chronographia Tripertita by Anastasius Bibliothecarius: "In the eighteenth year of his reign, Constantine enslaved the Sclavinii of Macedonia and he subjugated the rest." A. B., p.282, 20-21.

This does not prove the existance of a Macedonian ethnos. Macedonia was settled by the Slavs (Sclavi in Greek) and was called Sclavinii (lands of the Slavs).

8th Century >From Strabonos Epithomatus: "And now, in that way almost all of Epirus, Hellada, the Peloponnese and Macedonia have also been settled by the Skiti-Slavs." C. Muller, Geographi graeci minores, Paris 1882, p.574.

The Skiti-Slavs are probably a mix of Slavo-Bulgarians. The Slavs settled all around those regions and assimilated the Bulgarians of Khouber who conqered the field of Pelagonia (end of the 7th century) and even tried to take Salonika (Solun). The authors of that time referred to the Bulgars as sciti (Scythians) because they came from the land the ancient Scythians had originally inhabited (the regions north of the Black Sea).

821-823 A.D. >From the letter of Michael II to the honorable Ludwig: "Thomas...having gathered our barges and dromon, had the opportunity to arrive in (some) parts of Thrace and Macedonia." Mansi, Michaelis Belbi et Theophilii....Florentinae, 1759

Macedonia here is the Byzantine theme of Macedonia (the region around Adrianople and Philipopolis). Thrace is the theme norht of the Marmara and Aegean Seas. Thomas was everywhere described as a Slav and not as a "Macedonian". The inclusion of this passage as evidence for the existence of a "Macedonian" ethnos only proves the stupidity of those who did that.

904 >From On the Capture of Salonika by John Cametinae: "...I introduce you to the same, the great and the first city of the Macedonians..." J.K. Begunov, Kozma Prezviter v slavjanskih literaturah, Sofia 1976, p. 297

This passages is deliberately taken out of the context. By Macedonians the author means the inhabitants of the old region Macedonia (see this map) and more precisely the Hellenized Romanoi (Romei in Bulgarian).

First half of 10th C. >From On the Themes by Constantine Porphyrogenitus: "... So from a kingdom Macedonia turned into a province and now it has reached the position of a theme and strategy." C. Porfirogenito, De thematibus, Citta del Vaticano, 1952.

Yes, that is right, but what does it prove? The ancient Macedonian people's kingdom was conquered by the Romans and it became a province. The Macedonians there were Hellenized and Romanized. Then they were almost wiped out by the barbaric incursions. The survivors were resettled in the region of Adrianople which was later turned into a theme (a Byzantine administrative unit) and a strategy. It bore the name Macedonia from the 8th to the end of the 12th century (see here). The dynasty of Basil II the Bulgaroctonos came from there and was called the Macedonian dynasty. So the Macedonian emperor Basil II vanquished the "Macedonian" kingdom of Samuil!!!

986 >From the History of Leo the Deacon: "...since they robbed the region of the Macedonians mercilessly, destroying all adults.". Leonis Diaconi Historiae, Paris 1864, p. 311.

Deliberately and misleadingly taken out of the context! The Macedonians here are the inhabitants of the theme Macedonia. And guess what - they were robbed by the Bulgarians of Samuil!

1041 >From the Annals of Bari: "...he had already written to Sicily from where the unfortunate Macedonians, Paulicians and Calbrians arrived." G.H. Pertz, Annales Barenses, Monumenta Germaniae historica, Scriptores V, p.53.

Deliberately and misleadingly taken out of the context! The Macedonians here are the inhabitants of the theme Macedonia.

1064 >From the Chronicle of John Zonaras: "The Uzians...invaded Macedonia and plundered it, and reached Hellada". Ioannis Zonorae Epitomae historiarum, Vol. VIII, Ed. Th. Buttner-Wobst, Bonnae 1897, p.678.

Nobody denies the existence of a region called Macedonia.

1072-1073 >From the History of Necephorus Vryenius: "...for the Scythians were carrying out sudden attacks in Thrace and Macedonia." Nicephori Bryenii commentarii, Ed. A. Meicke, Bonnae 1836, p.100, 102.

Nobody denies the existence of a region called Macedonia. Besides the Uzians did not invade the mountains of today's Macedonia (they were horsemen) but rather the plains of the themes Macedonia nad Thrace (roughly the nowaday European part of Turkey).

1083-1085 >From De expeditione Yerosolymitana by Radulfo Cadonis: "...Beomund Guiscard sailed across the Adriatic and occupied Macedonia." Tancredi in expeditione Yerosolymitana ....Paris, 1854, p.499.

For the western historians Macedonia is the ancient land of the ancient Macedones. But we do not see any clues in the above passage that can make anybody think that at that time (1083 -1085) it was inhabited by people of Macedonian ethnicity, distinct from the Byzantines and the Bulgarians.

c. 1106 >From the letter of Theophylactes of Ohrid to Gregorius Camaterus: "...do not retain such a man in the narrow regions of our Macedonia...". Theophylacti, col. 496, B-C.

So?

Beginning of 12th C. >From the Byzantine satire Timarion: "The day of Saint Demetrius in (Salonika) is as great a festival as the Panathinei in Athens or Panionii in Miletus; it is a grand Macedonian celebration in which not only the Macedonian people gather, but people of all sorts and from all directions: Greeks from different regions of Hellada, the Mizian tribes...". Vizantiiski Vremenik, Moscow VI 1953, p. 367.

The compiler of this list of historical documents have made a HUGE mistake with this passage. Obviously they are not experienced falsifiers. All scholars know that at that time the Bulagarians were called Mizians (Moesians) by the archaizing Byzantine writers. So the Mizians also lived around Salonika because Macedonia was inhabited mostly by Bulgarians.

1185 "Woe, woe, the city of Salonika is captured, I say, the metropolis of the Macedonians." Ephraimi Chronologici caesares; Ed. J.P. Migne - PG 143 , Paris 1891, p.198.

Again the author refers to the inhabitants of Macedonia archaically as Macedonians.

Beginning of 13th C. >From the synod records of the Ohrid Archibishopric: "Ivan Ierakar by birth Macedonian". J. Pitra, Analacta sacra et classica specilegio Solesmensi parta, t. VI Juris ecclesiastici graecorum selecta paralipomena. Parissis et Romae 1891, col. 315.

This is not enough to prove the existence of a Macedonian ethnicity. It probably states that this person was born in Macedonia but not that he speaks a distinct Macedonian language. In any case all other evidence about the ethnicity of the Macedonians in the Middle Ages contradict this.

II

1246 Ser was one a large city, but the Bulgarian Ivan had demolished when besieging it and other Macedonian cities. Georgii Acropolitae Opera, Recensuit A. Haisenberg vol. I, Lipsiae 1903, p.74-75, 77

1282-1321 ...that king's alliance is certain and unanswering, just as long as he can settle near to Macedonia. While he was spending his time on these (matters), the protostrator Theodore Sinadinus, once freed from the West, arrived in Byzantium. He governed Prilep, the neighbouring regions and the lower Macedonian towns. Ioan Cantacuzeni Historiarum libri IV, Ed. J.P.Migne - PG Paris 1866, p.94

The previous two passages do not speak of a Macedonian ethnos. The towns are Macedonian because they are situated in the region of Macedonia. Ivan Assen II took the city of Serres from the Greeks (the Epyriots).

1326 ...I beleive you know that Strimon...is the largest of all those that biscet Thrace and Macedonia... Nicephore Gregoras, Correspondence. Paris 1927, p.30-50.

So?

Middle 14th C. ...Stefan became king of the Tribals. After he had set off from the region of the Ionian Sea, he razed Epidamnus to the ground, went into Macedonia and made Skopje the capital... The king left the city of Skopje, taking with him men experienced in battle and a strong army and subordinated to his rule the places in the vicinity of Kastoria. Then having moved camp, he subjugated all of Macedonia, except for Terma... Laonici Chalcocondiae Historiarum. Ed. J. P. Migne - PG t.CLIX (Paris, 1866) col. 36, B-37, C.

Where is the Macedonian nation here?

1349 (Code of) the honorable and Christ-loving Macedonian Tsar Stefan, Serbian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Dalmation, Arbanasian, Hungarian Wallachian and indipendent ruler of many other regions and lands... Lj. Stojanovic, Stari srpski zapisi i natpisi. Knj. III, Beograd 1905, p. 41 (nbr.4949).

Indipendent is spelled independent. Stefan called himself Bulgarian king because he ruled over the Bulgarians of Macedonia. He did not rule over any other Bulgarians. It is very unlikely that he called himself a Macedonian king. He called Macedonia Romania at that time. The Serbian scholar falsifies the document.

Middle of the 14th C. A Slav inscription from the church of St. George at Upper Kozjak in which a man called Bratan signs himself as being from Macedonia. Z. Rosolkovska-Nikolovska, Crkvata Sv. Georgi vo Goren Kozjak vo svetlinata na novite ispituvanja - Zbornik "Kiril Solunski", Kn. I, Skopje, MANU 1970, p. 222.

Yes, he signs himself as being from Macedonia like many other Bulgarian writers from the late Middle Ages who considered themselves Bulgarian by nationality. One of them says that he was born in Sofia and is "from the Macedonian borders". Being from Macedonia does not mean being Macedonian by nationality.

15th C. I remember the great subordination under which the Turk holds the emperor in Constantinople and all the Greeks, Macedonians and Bulgarians....As I said earlier, there are many Christians who are forced to serve the Turk, such as Greeks, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Albanians, Esclavinians, Rasians and Serbians... Bertrand de la Brocuiere, Putovanje preko mora, Beograd 1950, p.134-135, 140-141.

Bertrandon de la Broquiere never passed through Macedonia as we know it today. His route was Constantinople - Adrianople - Plovdiv - Sofia - Nish - Belgrade, etc. If you care to read his whole book, you will see that what he calls Greece is nowaday European Turkey (the regions around Constantinople and Adrianople), what he calls Macedonia is the area around Plovdiv (the nowaday Upper Thracian plain in Bulgaria) and what he calls Bulgaria are the western Bulgarian lands around Sofia and Nish. For Plovdiv he writes: "Phillipopolis [the old name of Plovdiv, given by Philip II of Macedonia (362 -336 B.C.)] - the main city of Macedonia". His Macedonia is roughly between the Rhodope mountains to the South, the Tundja river to the East, the Balkan mountains to the North and the Trajanovi Vrata pass near Ihtiman separates it from "Bulgaria". Obviously de la Broquiere uses archaic geographic names. Macedonia was the name of the region he describes in the 8th - 12th centuries. His Bulgaria is the same Bulgaria that the historians of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Crusades described. Esclavinians is an old name of the South Slavs as a whole used in the 6th - 8th centuries. Rasians is the old name of the Serbs. As we see, nowhere can be found traces of a Slavic Macedonian ethnos within the borders of today's Macedonia in this text.

III

1461-1462 (?) When the enemy forces are battered, no one doubts that the whole of Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, Greece or Attica and the Peloponnese will return to the faithful....Inspired by this example the Thessalians, the Greeks, the Poloponnesians, the Epirans and the Macedonians will all rebel and will win ... Jovan Radonic, Gjurac Kastriot Skenderbeg i Arbanija u XV veku - Spomenik XCV (1942), p. 128-129.

If we assume that the Macedonians are mentioned as a separate nationality here, we have to admit that there is also a Thessalian, an Epiran and a Peloponessian nationality.

1470 August 8th, 1470. The Sultan stopped and spent the night ...in afield that represented the Macedonian border...The River Vardar is nearby, which flows through Macedonia...of which some are Greeks, others Macedonians, Wallachs and even Italians, as well as other nations....Greeks and Macedonians live there... Gio Mario degli Angiolelo, A. Matkovski i P. Angelkova, Nekolku kratki patopisi za Makedonija, Glasnik na INI, VXI/1 (1972), p. 246-247.

This is an outright falsification! These RoMian scholars have altered the text.

1557 ...It is located in Thessaly, which borders on Macedonia, where the plague has reduced much of the population... Nbljudeni na mnozhestvo redki i zabelezhitelni neshta, videni v Grcija, Azija, Judea, Egipet, Arabia i drugi chuzhdi strani ot Pierre Belon d'Man, Sofia 1953, p.132-133; Frenski patepisi za Balkanite, XV-XVIII v. Sofia 1975, p. 95- 98.

Where is the Macedonian ethnos here?

1566 ...called Jakov; I laboured for much time and many years for this work (in order to contribute) to the holy books. I came out of Macedonia, my fatherland, and I entered.... Lj. Stojanovich, Stari srpski zapisi i natpisi I, p. 203- 204.

The person mentioned here was a Bulgarian from Macedonia. The passage is deliberateky taken out of the context.

1579 German ruler Rudolph II to the Pope: ..the deliverer of this letter, don Petar Crnovic...born in Salonika and the other parts of Macedonia... A. Theiner, Vitera monumenta Slavorum meridionalium illustrantia. II. Zagrabiae 1875, p. 70.

Where is the Macedonian ethnos here?

1589 Gavril, Archbishop of Ohrid to Archduke Ferdinand of Habsburg: ...the Turk, who from day to day has pursued and blackmailed us and our ancestors ....in the whole of Macedonia, Greece and the nearby countries...then among our countries we have Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, Oltenia... Landesregierungsarchive - Innsbruck, VI 50.

Bulgaria is separate from Macedonia here but since the second half of the 13th century only the regions north of the Balkan mountains (Stara Planina) were called Bulgaria. The archbishop lists the provinces in his diocese.

IV

1593 Project by Alexander Komulovic to expel the Ottomans from the Balkans ...In other parts of Epirus and Macedonia almost all are Christians of the Greek ritual... Biblioth. Barberiana cod. mnc. LVIII, 33, - Starine (Zagreb), Knj. XIV (1882), p. 86-87.

So?

August 11th, 1607 The Duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel I, sends his own man of trust to Macedonia. ...who had arrived from Albania and Macedonia... V. Makrusev, Istoriski spomenici Juznih Slovena i okolnih naroda, Beograd 1882, p. 297-299.

So?

April 6-24, 1618 (Senato Secreta. 337. Macedonia) ...The nobility of Macedon do not wish to have anything to do with the king of Spain... Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts relating to English Affairs existing in the Archives and Collections of Venice and other libraries in Northern Italy, London 1864, Vol XV, p. 201-202.

The nobility of Macedonia were Greeks. There is not a word of a Macedonian ethnos in the passage.

1624 A letter from Pope Urban VIII to the Archbishop of Ohrid, Porphyrius Palaelogus To the respected brothers Porphyrius Paleologus, Patriarch of Justiniana Prima of Ohrid and the other subordinate archbishops, bishops of Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania and of the other side of Macedonia. A. Theiner, Vetera monumenta Slavorum II, (Zagrebiae 1875), p. 123.

Bulgaria is separate from Macedonia here but since the second half of the 13th century only the reions north of the Balkan mountains (Stara Planina) were called Bulgaria.

1690 Manifesto of the Austrian Emperor Leopold I to the Nations of the Balkans ...Therefier we kindly call all the people who live throughout Albania, Servia, Mysia, Bulgaria, Silistria, Illyria, Macedonia and Rashka... J. Radonjic and M. Kostic, Srpske privilegije od 1690 do 1792. SAN, Posebna izdanja CCXXV, Beograd 1954, p. 26-27.

We can see that the regions mentioned do not coincide with the ethnic boundaries. The are based more on the ancient historical areas and the Turkish provinces. For example, Servia, Rashka and Ilyria are all Serbian lands and Silistria (the Silistra sandjak), Bulgaria (the Nikopol sandjak), Mysia (Moesia) and Macedonia are Bulgarian lands. The passage does not mention separate Macedonian nationality.

April 26th, 1690 Letter of protection from Leopold I. ...This is to inform you that two Macedonians, Marko Kraida born in Kosana and Dimitri Georgi Popovic, born in Macedonian Salonika, have told us that the Macedonian people, with respect for our most righteous task, with devotion and zeal towards our service....we graciously accept them under our imperial and royal mercy and in any case and way the above mantioned Macedonian people, cordially recommending to each and all of our willing commanders not to attack the Macedonian people....Issued in Vienna, April 26th, 1690. Representatives: defenders of the Macedonian people.... J. Radonic, Prilozi za istoriju Srba u Ungarskoj u XVI, XVII and XVIII veku. Knj. I, Matice srpske, nbr 25 and 26, Novi Sad 1908, p. 52-53.

First of all, this passage is tedenciously given by a biased Serbian scholar and might be falsified. Also the Macedonian people mentioned there might not have been perceived by the Austrians as a separate nationality but as the Christian population of Macedonia, including Bulgarians, Greeks, Vlachs, Albanians, etc.

1704 The French treveller and writer Paul Luca on Macedonia ...and hour after midnight for Kavalla, which is six miles away and once was a large Macedonian city by the sea coast. We should note that almost all the villages in Macedonia are full of Christians and there are few Turks. A. Matkovski and P. Angelakova, Patuvanjata na francuskiot petepisec Pol Luka niz Makedonija od 1704 do 1714-Istorija v/2 (1969). p. 101.

Where is the Macedonian nation here?

End of 18th C. Reports by the French Consul in Salonika, Felix de Beaujour, about Macedonia. The pashalik of Salonika includes the whole of Lower Macedonia and covers 700 sq. miles....it must be noted that here I am only speaking about the most populated part of Macedonia; since Upper Macedonia and Epirus are less populated....In Macedonia, as in Poland, the peasants die from hunger, while the masters live in abundance of gold... Felix de Beaujour, Voyage militaire dans l'Empire Othoman, I, Paris 1829, p. 127-128. n.1; p.130, 132.

Where is the Macedonian nation here?

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For more about the skopjan "proofs" and their refutation check also http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/for...ome-laugh.html