Strumica

Who holds it

Name

Dobromir Chrysos

Title

Lord

Confidence

high

Lord in 1200

Dobromir Chrysos, who has held it since 1196.

How things stand that morning

Held by Chrysos, at peace with the emperor.

Charter

No charter; customary rights under the emperor's officials.

Council

Chrysos and his men; the bishop of Strumica.

Communities

Slavs, Greeks and Chrysos's Vlachs.

Fairs and markets

No fair recorded.

Militia

Townsmen's watch on the walls; no numbers.

Walls and castle

A citadel on the hill above the town (the later Tsareva Kula).

Trade and crafts

Farming and vineyards of the Strumica basin; the road from the Vardar to the Struma.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Choniates for Chrysos; little on the town.

Primary sources for Chrysos

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