Merope (region)

In the 14th-century Balkans, Merope (Greek: Μερόπη, Bulgarian: Меропа, Meropa) was a subregion of Thrace in modern Northern Greece and southern Bulgaria. The region lay in the western and middle part of the Rhodope Mountains.^[1]

The term is only found in the writings of Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos.^[2] Merope extended to the Nestos River in the west and to the town of Gratianopolis in the east.^[3] Bulgarian historian Plamen Pavlov defines Merope as encompassing the course of the Arda River up north until the Chepelare River and including the fortresses Sveta Irina ("Saint Irene") and Podvis.^[4]

In 1343, John VI Kantakouzenos granted Merope to Bulgarian brigand Momchil for his military assistance in the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347.^[2][4] After Momchil changed sides in the civil war and was ultimately defeated by Kantakouzenos in 1345, Merope returned to Byzantine sovereignty.^[5]

1. ^ Делев, Петър (Petar Delev); collective (1996). "19. България при цар Иван Александър (Bulgaria under Emperor Ivan Alexander)". История и цивилизация за 11 клас (History and Civilization for 11th Grade) (in Bulgarian). Труд, Сирма (Trud, Sirma). ISBN 954-439-701-9. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05.
2. ^ ^{a b} Soustal, Peter (1991). Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 6: Thrakien (Thrakē, Rodopē und Haimimontos) (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. pp. 51, 117ff., 354. ISBN 3-7001-1898-8.
3. ^ John V. A. Fine Jr., The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, 1994, ISBN 0472082604, p. 303-305.
4. ^ ^{a b} Павлов, Пламен (2005). "Родопският юнак Момчил и цар Иван Александър" [The Rhodopean hero Momchil and Tsar Ivan Alexander]. Бунтари и авантюристи в средновековна България [Rebels and Venturers in Medieval Bulgaria] (in Bulgarian). Varna: LiterNet.
5. ^ Soulis, George Christos (1984), "Momčilo", The Serbs and Byzantium during the Reign of Tsar Stephen Dušan (1331–1355) and his Successors, Dumbarton Oaks, pp. 149–150, ISBN 0-88402-137-8

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