The riches hidden in the Eastern Rhodope had attracted the Bulgars since the late 7th century, when they first settled on the plain between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains to form the kernel of what was to become the first Bulgarian empire. Their expansionist ambitions were spurred on by the local population which, since the late 6th century, had been strongly permeated by Slavic elements. Indeed, contemporary Byzantine chroniclers claimed that the Bulgars' raids on the Rhodope were successful because the local tribes them gave them their support.

The Eastern Rhodope were finally conquered by the second Bulgarian empire soon after the brothers Asen and Peter, the first Bulgarian rulers of the House of Asen (1185-1280), launched a revolt to throw off Byzantine sovereignty. During the war between Kaloyan, their brother and successor, and the knights of the Fourth Crusade (1205-1207), the Eastern Rhodope became the southernmost Bulgarian stronghold from which the Bulgars raided the Aegean lowlands. The second Bulgarian empire reached its height during the reign of Tsar Ivan Asen II (1218-41). His successors, however, could not match his ability. In 1246, his son Koloman, still a child, died. His other son, Michael Asen, succeeded his brother under the de facto regency of his mother Irina. She was the daughter of the Byzantine emperor and willingly gave back the Bulgarian southern conquests, including

>>