16 Facts About Strez

Strez was a member of the Asen dynasty and a cousin or a brother of Boril of Bulgaria.

Strez fled to Serbia, where he accepted the vassalage of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanjic, and Serbian support helped him establish himself as a largely independent ruler in a large part of the region of Macedonia.

However, Strez turned against his suzerains to become a Bulgarian vassal and joined forces with his former enemy Boril against the Latins and then Serbia.

Strez died amidst a major anti-Serbian campaign under unclear circumstances, sometimes described as a Serbian plot.

Just like Alexius Slav, another noble who would later emerge as a separatist, Strez was a nephew of the Asen brothers Peter, Ivan Asen and Kaloyan, who were the first three emperors of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

At the time of Kaloyan's death, Strez was in the capital Tarnovo, perhaps seeking to capitalize on his ancestral rights to the Bulgarian crown.

In 1208, Strez headed a Serbian force which seized much of the Vardar valley from Bulgaria.

Strez established himself as a Serbian vassal at the Prosek fortress, formerly the capital of Vlach separatist Dobromir Chrysos.

Strez agreed to a union with his former enemy, though only after Boril reconfirmed his complete autonomy.

Strez eliminated the remaining Serbian troops in his lands in an act that the Serbs saw as devil-inspired treason.

In early 1211, Strez clashed with the Latins and Epirotes at Thessaloniki and required Boril's assistance after Michael and Henry invaded the western reaches of Strez's realm.

In relation to an anti-Bogomil council in 1211, Strez is referred to as a sebastokrator.

In 1212, Strez was powerful enough to be considered one of the Latin Empire's chief adversaries, along with Boril, Michael and Nicaean emperor Theodore I Laskaris, by Henry himself.

In 1214, the forces of Boril and Henry attacked Serbia from the east, while Strez's army, deemed in contemporary sources to be "countless", penetrated Serbian territory from the south and reached the Polog.

The hagiography of Saint Sava tells of Strez's alleged tendency to have captives thrown from a high cliff into the Vardar River for his and his guests' entertainment.

The name of Strez has become a part of Bulgarian folklore, including a legendary account of his life written down as the Biography of Prince Stregan in the 18th century or later.