Abstract
The middle phase of the hegemonic wars concluded in 927 with a treaty forced on Lekapenos by Simeon’s successor Petŭr I granting unqualified Byzantine recognition of the Bulgarian ruler’s imperial title. The two imperial ruling houses were united through a marriage of Petŭr with Maria Lekapena. There followed 40 years of peace between the states. The traditional characterization of Bulgaria’s weakness and decline during that period under Petŭr is questioned. Amicable bilateral relations between the two empires collapsed in 966. Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas instigated the Kievan Rus’ to attack Bulgaria and, after two Rus’ invasions, Bulgaria was reduced to a client of Rus’ ruler Svyatoslav. Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes militarily expelled the Rus’ from the Balkans, occupied eastern Bulgaria, and proclaimed the Bulgarian Empire ended.
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