Despot Voysil

Voysil was a medieval Bulgarian aristocrat, a despot and ruler of the Principality of Sredna Gora. He was a younger brother of Tsar Smilets and Sebastokrator Radoslav. He played an active role in the struggles for the Bulgarian throne and governed important territories during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

According to the available information, Voysil's troops clashed with the Bulgarian tsars Todor Svetoslav, George II Terter and Michael Shishman. Voysil was driven into exile in Byzantium during the rule of Tsarina Smiltsena and the minor Tsar Ivan IV Smilets. After George II Terter's death, he regained power in the Principality of Sredna Gora with Byzantine support and received the title of "despot of Bulgaria" from the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos.

Voysil actively participated in Byzantine wars, including the Battle of Skafida in 1304 and the fighting in Eastern Thrace in 1304–1306. In 1323, after the civil war in Byzantium, he became despot of Moesia and took part in the struggles for power in Bulgaria. He entered the territory of the Tarnovo Tsardom and claimed possession of the lands between Sliven and Kopsis.

While dealing with problems with the Byzantines along the Black Sea coast, Michael Shishman thwarted Voysil's claims and captured Kopsis. Voysil secretly fled to the Byzantines, and these lands were incorporated into the Tarnovo Tsardom. After fleeing to Constantinople, Voysil was appointed commander-in-chief of the Byzantine cavalry in Macedonia and participated in various military operations, including the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347.