The Second Battle of Serres

In the winter following the Battle of Serres in 1195, the Bulgarians withdrew northwards. However, in the same year or, more probably, the following year, 1196, they reappeared in the Struma Valley and captured Amphipolis. They then turned towards Serres. A Byzantine army under Sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos was sent against them.

The Bulgarians won. During the battle, the Byzantine cavalry was surrounded, and the Byzantines suffered heavy losses. Their commander, Isaac Komnenos, was captured. A conspiracy against Tsar Ivan Asen I later developed and succeeded: Ivanko murdered the tsar, earning the epithet “the Tsar-Slayer”. After taking power, Ivanko could not retain it and fled to Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor appointed him governor of the Plovdiv region, which he subsequently separated as an autonomous province.