Byzantine Battles: Battle of Skafida

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6 th century

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8 th century

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9 th century

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14 th century

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15 th century

Battle of Skafida	year: 1304
A Byzantine defeat by the Bulgarians	★ ★ ★ ★ ★

enemy: Bulgarians	location: At Skafida river, near Sozopol, Bulgaria	accuracy: ●●●●●
battle type: Pitched Battle	war: Later Bulgarian Wars	modern country: Bulgaria

	▼ The Byzantines(emperor: Michael IX Palaiologos)	▼ The Enemies
Commander:	Protostrator Michael Tarchaneiotes Glabas	Tsar Theodore Svetoslav
Forces:	Unknown	Unknown
Losses:	Heavy

Background story:

In 1300, Theodore Svetoslav became Tsar of Bulgaria with the help of the Mongol Toqta, leader of the Golden Horde. In the following years he successfully confronted various rivals and claimants to the throne, while in an unprecedented move, he executed the Bulgarian Patriarch Joachim III on the charge of collaborating with the Byzantines and the Mongols.
His relations with Byzantium were not good at all, as the Byzantines supported his opponents. In 1303, having defeated the dissidents, he turned to Thrace and captured various castles and the cities of Anchialos, Mesimvria, Sozopol and Agathoupolis.
In 1304 the Byzantine emperor Michael IX sent an army against him to stop him. It was led by the protostrator Michael Doukas Tarchaneiotes Glavas, one of the most experienced commanders (although at a very old age) and one of the most powerful figures of Byzantium at that time. Glavas was the one who had taken the above cities from the Bulgarians two decades ago. Along with Glavas was the claimant to the Bulgarian throne Voisil, the brother of the former Tsar Smilets.

The Battle:

Bulgarian stamp depicting Svetoslav

The two armies met at the river Skafida west of Sozopol and south of the fort Skafida (modern Dimchevo).
The Byzantines had an advantage in the beginning of the battle and managed to push the Bulgarians across the river.
They were so infatuated with the chase of the retreating soldiers that they crowded on the bridge, which perhaps had been sabotaged before the battle by the Bulgarians, and broke down. The river was very deep at that place and many Byzantine soldiers panicked and drowned, which helped the Bulgarians snatch victory.

After the victory, the Bulgarians captured many Byzantine soldiers and according to the custom of that period, the ordinary people were released and only the nobles were held for ransom.
Voisil was killed in the battle.

Aftermath:

The battle secured the territorial gains of Svetoslav and stabilized him on the throne. The war continued in the following years. In 1307 a peace treaty was signed sealed by the marriage of Svetoslav to the daughter of Michael IX. The peace lasted until Theodore Svetoslav’s death in 1321.