Frontier town · Ivanko's breakaway domain in the Rhodopes · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Stenimachos

A fortress on a rocky ridge above the Asenitsa, 2-3 km south of the town of Stenimachos (Asenovgrad), at the mouth of the Rhodope valleys; some identify it with the Petrich of the Bachkovo monastery's rule (1083), and it was called Stanimaka in 1205.

It guards the road up to Bachkovo and the central Rhodopes. A fort with a village below, not a town.

Who holds it

Name
Ivanko (Alexios)
Title
Lord
Since
1198 or 1199
Born
not pinned
Family
not pinned
Confidence
medium

Asen's Fortress (English Wikipedia); Ivanko (boyar).

Lord in 1200

Ivanko.

How things stand that morning

In Ivanko's hands (medium confidence).

Communities

Not recorded for 1200.

Fairs and markets

Not recorded for 1200.

Militia

Not recorded.

Walls and castle

Hill fortress with the church of the Mother of God (12th-13th century); the walls that survive are largely Ivan Asen II's rebuilding of 1231 (later).

Trade and crafts

None recorded.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The fortress is known; its role in Ivanko's revolt is inferred from his holding the northern Rhodopes.

Primary sources for Ivanko

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • History of Niketas Choniates, Niketas Choniates (about 1185 to 1217, in stages, with a final revision in exile at Nicaea after 1204). The central narrative for the Byzantine Empire under Alexios III Angelos: the Bulgarian and Vlach war under Kaloyan, the breakaway of Ivanko in the Rhodopes and his capture by treachery in 1200, Dobromir Chrysos at Prosek and Strumica and the emperor's campaign and settlement with him, the Cuman raids into Thrace, John Komnenos the Fat's one-day revolt at Constantinople on 31 July 1200, the loosening of imperial control in the provinces and the rise of Leo Sgouros, and the court's fiscal abuses. Read online

Sources and studies

  1. Asen's Fortress (English Wikipedia)
  2. Ivanko (boyar) (English Wikipedia), citing Choniates (trans. Magoulias 1984) pp. 257-258, 281, 285; Treadgold 1997 pp. 661-662; Kazhdan, Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium p. 1025; Madgearu 2016 p. 117; Cheynet 1986 p. 171

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.