Which Byzantine emperor was nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer?

Basil II was the Byzantine emperor nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer. He earned the reputation through his long and ultimately successful wars against the First Bulgarian Empire, especially during the campaigns that ended with Bulgaria’s incorporation into Byzantium.

The nickname is closely associated with the Battle of Kleidion in 1014. Byzantine accounts say that Basil ordered thousands of captured Bulgarian soldiers to be blinded, leaving one guide for every hundred men. When the Bulgarian ruler Samuel saw the survivors, he reportedly suffered a fatal stroke. Modern historians caution that the story may have been exaggerated or shaped by later Byzantine and Bulgarian traditions, but it became central to Basil’s image.

Basil II ruled from 976 to 1025, one of the longest reigns in Byzantine history. He also fought in Anatolia and against internal aristocratic revolts, strengthening imperial authority. He was not Basil I, the dynasty’s founder; nor was the title connected to Romanos IV or Leo VI, who belonged to different episodes of Byzantine history.