Expansion
As a consequence of his victories, Theodore Svetoslav felt secure enough to move on to the offensive by 1303 and captured the fortresses of northeastern Thrace, including Mesembria (Nesebăr), Anchialos (Pomorie), Sozopolis (Sozopol), and Agathopolis (Ahtopol) in 1304. The Byzantine counterattack failed at the battle of Skafida near Poros (Burgas), where the Co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos was turned to flight. Nevertheless, the war continued, with Michael IX and Theodore Svetoslav taking turns pillaging each other's lands. In the following 1305 Theodore Svetoslav's uncle Aldimir appears to have entered into negotiations with the Byzantines, and Theodore Svetoslav annexed his uncle's lands. In 1306 Theodore Svetoslav gained the services of the rebellious Alan mercenaries to the Byzantines, whom he settled in Bulgaria, and made unsuccessful overtures to the mercenaries of the Catalan Company, who had also rebelled against their Byzantine employers. The war ended with a peace treaty in 1307, cemented with a marriage between the widowed Theodore Svetoslav and Theodora, a daughter of the Co-emperor Michael IX Palaiologos.
Until the end of his life Theodore Svetoslav remained at peace with his neighbors. His reassertion of central control over outlying provinces such as Vidin was probably peaceful, and the sparsely documented recovery of the banate of Severin from the Kingdom of Hungary must have been achieved during the dynastic struggles in that country. In 1318 the Serbian King Stefan Uroš II Milutin visited Tărnovo, in spite of his earlier alliance with Andronikos II and his divorce from Theodore Svetoslav's sister Anna.
The only possible sign of new hostilities are two Mongol raids into Byzantine Thrace in 1320 and 1321, but these were probably executed with Bulgarian cooperation and are connected with the beginning of the civil war between Andronikos II Palaiologos and his grandson Andronikos III Palaiologos. In fact, Theodore Svetoslav sent military support to his brother-in-law Andronikos III, allegedly hoping to ensnare and capture his ally.
After a surprisingly successful reign (given the misadventures of his youth), Theodore Svetoslav died in early 1322, and was succeeded by his son George Terter II.
Terter Peak on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named for Tsar Theodore Svetoslav of Bulgaria.
Theodore Svetoslav's seal is depicted on the reverse of the Bulgarian 2 levs banknote, issued in 1999 and 2005.
Read more about this topic: Theodore Svetoslav Of Bulgaria, Emperor of Bulgaria
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