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'''Tsar Simeon the Great''' ([[893 ]]-[[May 27]], [[927]]) was 27 when he took the throne from his deposed and blinded brother. After he received his education at the famous Magnaur Academy in [[Constantinople]], he prepared to become the head of the Bulgarian Church, only to become Tsar instead. To break away from Byzantine religious influence he replaced the Greek liturgy with [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]]. The capital was moved from [[Pliska]] (still somewhat paganist) to [[Preslav]].

In 893 the market for Bulgarian goods was moved from Constantinople to [[Thessaloniki]]. There, the Bulgarian tradesmen would have to pay higher taxes. The war that followed (the first such war in Europe, fought solely over economic differences) ended after the Bulgarians crushed the [[Byzantium|Byzantines]] in [[896]] near [[Bulgarophygon]] in Eastern [[Thrace]]. The market was returned to Constantinpole and the Byzantine Emperor had to pay annual tribute to Bulgaria. After a series of battles the border of the Bulgarian state was within twenty kilometers of Thessaloniki.

Simeon was trying to replace Byzantium and build a Bulgaro-Byzantine empire. By [[913]] he was at the gates of Constantinople. In the imperial palace he received the patriarch's blessing and the title of Tsar of Bulgaria. Simeon lured the Serbian[[Serbia]]n king and the Pecheneg chief to his side, away from an attempted alliance with the Byzantines. On August 20, 917 by the river Achebi, between Anchialo and Messembria, the imperial army suffered a heavy defeat. He negotiated with his [[Arab]] neighbors, the Byzantine Emperor, the Patriarch and the Pope. But, his dream to become ruler of both Bulgaria and Byzantium was cut short. After demolishing many Byzantine towns and while preparing to attack Constantinople, he died of a heart attack on May 27, 917.

Simeon the Great had turned Bulgaria into the most powerful Slavic state in Europe. He became a patron of arts and letters as this Bulgarian culture saw its Golden Age.