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Birth:          ABT  865 
Death:           927 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_II_of_Bulgaria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_I_of_Bulgaria
Simeon (also Symeon)[1] I the Great (Bulgarian: ?????? I ??????, transliterated 
Simeon I Veliki[2] [sim?'?n 'p??rvi v?'liki]) ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927,[3] 
during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the 
Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever,
[4] making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern Europe.[5] His reign was 
also a period of unmatched cultural prosperity and enlightenment later deemed the 
Golden Age of Bulgarian culture.[6]

During Simeon's rule, Bulgaria spread over a territory between the Aegean, the 
Adriatic and the Black Sea,[7][8] and the new Bulgarian capital Preslav was said to 
rival Constantinople.[8][9] The newly independent Bulgarian Orthodox Church became 
the first new patriarchate besides the Pentarchy, and Bulgarian Glagolitic and Cyrillic 
translations of Christian texts spread all over the Slavic world of the time.[10] It was at 
the Preslav Literary School in the 890s that the Cyrillic alphabet was developed.[11]
[12][13] Halfway through his reign, Simeon assumed the title of Emperor (Tsar),[14] 
having prior to that been styled Prince (Knyaz).[15]
Background and early life[edit]

Simeon was born in 864 or 865, as the third son of Knyaz Boris I[15] of Krum's 
dynasty.[16] As Boris was the ruler who Christianized Bulgaria in 865, Simeon was a 
Christian all his life.[15][17] Because his eldest brother Vladimir was designated heir to 
the Bulgarian throne, Boris intended Simeon to become a high-ranking cleric,[18] 
possibly Bulgarian archbishop, and sent him to the leading University of 
Constantinople to receive theological education when he was thirteen or fourteen.[17] 
He took the name Simeon[19] as a novice in a monastery in Constantinople.[17] 
During the decade (ca. 878–888) he spent in the Byzantine capital, he received 
excellent education and studied the rhetoric of Demosthenes and Aristotle.[20] He 
also learned fluent Greek, to the extent that he was referred to as "the half-Greek" in 
Byzantine chronicles.[21] He is speculated to have been tutored by Patriarch Photios I 
of Constantinople,[22] but this is not supported by any source.[17]

Around 888, Simeon returned to Bulgaria and settled at the newly established royal 
monastery of Preslav "at the mouth of the Tica",[23] where, under the guidance of 
Naum of Preslav, he engaged in active translation of important religious works from 
Greek to Old Church Slavonic (Old Bulgarian), aided by other students from 
Constantinople.[17] Meanwhile, Vladimir had succeeded Boris, who had retreated to a 
monastery, as ruler of Bulgaria. Vladimir attempted to reintroduce paganism in the 
empire and possibly signed an anti-Byzantine pact with Arnulf of Carinthia,[24] forcing 
Boris to re-enter political life. Boris had Vladimir imprisoned and blinded, and then 
appointed Simeon as the new ruler.[25] This was done at an assembly in Preslav 
which also proclaimed Bulgarian as the only language of state and church[26] and 
moved the Bulgarian capital from Pliska to Preslav, to better cement the recent 
conversion.[27] It is not known why Boris did not place his second son, Gavril, on the 
throne, but instead preferred Simeon.[15]
***
Family[edit]

Simeon was married twice. By his first wife, whose identity is unknown, Simeon had a 
son called Michael,[107] possibly because his mother was of inferior birth, he was 
excluded from the succession and sent to a monastery.[101]

By his second wife, the sister of the influential noble George Sursubul, he had three 
sons: Peter, who succeeded as Emperor of Bulgaria in 927 and ruled until 969; Ivan, 
who unsuccessfully conspired against Peter in 929 and then fled to Byzantium;[108] 
and Benjamin (Bajan), who, according to Lombard historian Liutprand of Cremona, 
"possessed the power to transform himself suddenly into a wolf or other strange 
animal".[109]

Simeon also had several daughters, including one who was arranged to marry 
Constantine VII in 913.[65] The marriage was annulled by Constantine's mother Zoe 
once she had returned to the court.[110]
Legacy and popular culture[edit]

Tsar Simeon I has remained among the most highly valued Bulgarian historical figures, 
as indicated by popular vote in the Velikite Balgari (a spin-off of 100 Greatest Britons) 
television programme, which in February 2007 placed him fourth among the greatest 
Bulgarians ever.[112] Simeon the Great has been regularly featured in fiction. 
Bulgarian national writer Ivan Vazov dedicated a children's patriotic poem to him, 
"Tsar Simeon", and it was later arranged as a song, "Kray Bosfora šum se vdiga" ("A 
Clamour Rises by the Bosphorus").[113] An eleven-episode drama series filmed in 
1984, Zlatniyat vek (The Golden Age), retells the story of Simeon's reign. In the 
series, the tsar is played by Marius Donkin.[114] A historical drama play called Tsar 
Simeon Veliki — Zlatniyat vek produced by Stefan Staychev, director of the Silistra 
Theatre, premiered in December 2006. Ivan Samokovliev stars in the part of Simeon.
[115]

The painting, "The Bulgarian Tsar Simeon" is part of the 20-canvas work by Alfons 
Mucha, The Slav Epic.[116]

The last Bulgarian monarch, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was named after Simeon I.
[117] A brand of high-quality grape rakija, Car Simeon Veliki, also bears his name,
[118] and an Antarctic peak on Livingston Island of the South Shetland Islands was 
named Simeon Peak in his honour by the Antarctic Place-names Commission.[119

Parents
____ Boris I (ABT  830 - 2 May  907)
____ Maria ()

Siblings
____ Simeon I (ABT  865 -  927)

Marriage To SURSUVUL Maria ()
    m.  

Notes


Children by SURSUVUL Maria 
____ Peter I (ABT  910 - 30 Jan  970)

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