Vladimir of Bulgaria

Vladimir-Rasate (Bulgarian: Владимир Расате) was the ruler of Bulgaria from 889 to 893. He became ruler (knyaz) of Bulgaria when his father Boris-Mihail I decided to retire to a monastery after a reign of 36 years. Preserved seals with the inscription "Michael the Monk, who is archon of the Bulgarians" suggest, however, that Boris I never fully relinquished his power. Vladimir-Rasate was the oldest of Boris-Mihail's sons and possibly the only one of them who had been born a pagan. According to Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos, Vladimir had taken part in a Bulgarian invasion of the Serbian lands, predating the Christianization of Bulgaria. The little we know about his reign includes a military alliance he concluded in 892 with the East Frankish (German) King Arnulf of Carinthia against Great Moravia which, having in mind the interests of the Byzantine Empire, was indirectly aimed against Constantinople. This was a serious straying from the pro-Byzantine policy of his father. In 893, Boris-Mihail left his monastery, dispossessed Vladimir and had him blinded. The only source about the event, the almost contemporary Latin chronicle by Regino of Prüm, explains this act with Vladimir’s attempt to restore paganism. Boris-Michail co-opted his third son, Simeon, into the royal power.