9th-century Bulgarian people

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Chapters: 9th-century Bulgarian monarchs, Simeon I of Bulgaria, Peter, Boris I of Bulgaria, Glad, Omurtag of Bulgaria, Krum, Isbul, Clement of Ohrid, John of Rila, Chernorizets Hrabar, Kardam of Bulgaria, Presian I of Bulgaria, Salan, Malamir of Bulgaria, Constantine of Preslav, Vladimir of Bulgaria, Enravota, John Exarch, Mihail of Bulgaria, Marmais, Alogobotur, Theodore Sigritsa, Zvinitsa. Excerpt: Simeon (also Symeon) I the Great (Bulgarian: , transliterated Simeon I Veliki ) ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927, during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever, making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern Europe. His reign was also a period of unmatched cultural prosperity and enlightenment later deemed the Golden Age of Bulgarian culture. During Simeon's rule, Bulgaria spread over a territory between the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Black Sea, and the new Bulgarian capital Preslav was said to rival Constantinople. The newly-independent Bulgarian Orthodox Church became the first new patriarchate besides the Pentarchy, and Bulgarian Glagolitic translations of Christian texts spread all over the Slavic world of the time. Halfway through his reign, Simeon assumed the title of Emperor (Tsar), having prior to that been styled Prince (Knyaz). Simeon was born in 864 or 865, as the third son of Knyaz Boris I of Krum's dynasty. As Boris was the ruler who Christianized Bulgaria in 865, Simeon was a Christian all his life. Because his eldest brother Vladimir was designated heir to the Bulgarian throne, Boris intended Simeon to become a high-ranking cleric, possibly Bulgarian archbishop, and sent him to the leading University of Constantinople to receive theological education when he was thirteen or fourteen. He took the Hebrew name Simeon as a novice in a monastery in Constantinople. During the decade (ca. 878-888) he spent in the Byzantine capital, he received excellent education and studied the rhetoric of Demosthenes and Aristotle. He also learned fluent Greek, to the extent that he was referred to as "the half-Greek" in Byzantine chronicles. He is speculated to have been tutored by Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople, but this is not supported by any source. Around 888, Simeon returned to Bulgaria and settled at the newly-established royal