Petar Delyan, sometimes enumerated as Peter II, was the leader of an uprising against Byzantine rule in the Theme of Bulgaria during the summer of 1040.
12 Facts About Peter Delyan
2.
Peter Delyan was proclaimed Tsar of Bulgaria, as Samuel's grandson in Belgrade, then in the theme of Bulgaria.
3.
Peter Delyan claimed that he was son of Emperor Gavril Radomir and grandson of Samuel of Bulgaria, but he could be a local who became leader of the uprising and claimed to be Samuel's grandson to justify his proclamation as Tsar of Bulgaria.
4.
Peter Delyan later escaped and went to his mother's country of Hungary, whence he returned to Bulgaria and raised a revolt against the Byzantine rule, taking advantage of the discontent over the imposition of taxes in coin by the Byzantine government.
5.
Peter Delyan was a leader of an uprising that broke out in the summer of 1040 in the Theme of Bulgaria against the Byzantine Empire.
6.
Peter Delyan was proclaimed emperor of Bulgaria there and took the name Petar II after being raised atop a shield by leaders of the resistance.
7.
Peter Delyan had been proclaimed legitimate as the grandson of Samuel.
8.
Peter Delyan perhaps enjoyed some support from the Kingdom of Hungary.
9.
Peter II Delyan took Nis and Skopje, first co-opting and then eliminating another potential leader in the person of one Tihomir, who had led a rebellion in the region of Dyrrhachium.
10.
Petar II Peter Delyan's successes ended with the interference of his cousin Alusian.
11.
In 1041, one night during dinner, while Peter Delyan was drunk, Alusian cut off his nose and blinded him with a kitchen knife.
12.
Meanwhile, though blind, Petar II Peter Delyan resumed command of the Bulgarian forces, but the Byzantine Emperor Michael IV determined to take advantage of the situation and advanced against them.