A Glimpse at the Fate of Byzantine War Captives at the Bulgarian Court in the Period 976–1018 AD

There is no doubt that the rather dynamic and continuous military clash between Byzantium and the Bulgarian Tzardom from the 70’s of the 10th century until the end of the second decade of the 11th century still attracts and will attract scholarly attention.

 In this regard, despite the abundance of publications, when it comes to the fate of Byzantine war captives – direct participants in the battles – it seems that more could be added. 

Even within the limited framework of this paper, it is possible to emphasize on one essential peculiarity. It concerns the fact that, towards Byzantine war captives (both ordinary soldiers and commanders of all ranks), Tzar Samuel and his successors followed the experience acquired over the previous centuries in Early Medieval Bulgaria.