📅 ON THIS DAY IN BULGARIA, Tuesday 6 October
Britain has Hastings; Bulgaria has Kleidion, the 1014 defeat after which the Emperor Basil II earned the byname "Bulgar-Slayer". The Bulgarian tsar who lost it died on this day, two months later, and the story is that it was the sight of his own army that did it.
What happened on this day
Samuel was Tsar of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 until his death on 6 October 1014, after twenty years as a general under Tsar Roman, and his reign was one long war with Byzantium. From 1001 Basil II began winning it: his armies crossed the Balkan range and took Pliska, Preslav and Drastar. If you live in Shumen, note that Pliska and Preslav, the two old capitals, are each about 20 km from the city.
In 1014 Samuel walled off the gorges near the village of Klyuch. On 29 July the Byzantine commander Nicephorus Xiphias found a way round the wall and attacked from behind, and around 14,000 to 15,000 Bulgarian soldiers were captured. Samuel was wounded, and his son Gavril Radomir got him out on his own horse to the fortified city of Prilep. Basil II then had the prisoners blinded, one man in every hundred left with a single eye to lead the rest home. When the column reached Samuel at Prespa, he reportedly had a heart attack and died two days later. The nickname stuck, and Bulgarian Wikipedia notes that boulevards in Athens and Thessaloniki still carry it, which tells you how differently this story is remembered on either side of the border. The empire lasted until 1018.
Today's name days
Toma and Tomi celebrate today, on the feast of the Apostle Thomas, whom the Orthodox Church honours on 6 October and again on Thomas Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter. Bulgarian Wikipedia says the name means "twin" in Aramaic, and Bulgarians have their own doubting Thomas, Toma Neverni, for anyone prone to unjustified scepticism. Say честит имен ден (chesh-TEET ee-MEN den) to any Toma you know; unannounced visitors are welcome, so drop in with flowers (an odd number) or a small gift, and do not expect to leave quickly.
Towns celebrating today
Krumovgrad is on the list for 6 October, though Bulgarian Wikipedia gives no reason for the date and puts the town's own festival, the three-day "Krumovgrad Lights", in May, so I will not guess. The Eastern Rhodopes town is named after Khan Krum and was called Koshu Kavak, Turkish for "race under the poplars", until 1934. It had 4,918 people at the end of 2025, and Bulgarian Wikipedia calls the nearby Ada Tepe gold mine the main source of income for locals.
Why this matters for British expats
Whose Samuel he is remains one of the region's touchier questions: English Wikipedia says monuments honour him in both Bulgaria and North Macedonia, in Petrich and Ohrid among other places, so ask before you offer an opinion. If you want to stand where it happened, the National Park-Museum "Samuil's Fortress" near the village of Klyuch, in the Petrich area, hosted the culmination of the 2014 millennium commemorations, and his statue in Sofia sits beside the Sveta Sofia basilica.
Sources and further reading
Bulgarian Wikipedia's entry on Samuel covers the reign, the battle at Kleidion, the grave and the memorials, and English Wikipedia adds the family and the argument over his legacy. The pages on the Apostle Thomas, Krumovgrad, Pliska and Veliki Preslav fill in the name day, the town and the old capitals.