Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a kingdom occupying much of eastern Balkans. It is the most powerful country in the region. Encouraged by their recent victories against the Byzantines and Serbs, Bulgarians are looking forward to extend their rule over the neighbouring nations, and perhaps, even conquer Constantinople.

Lore
During the rule of Byzantine Emperor Basil II, the First Bulgarian Empire ceased to exist. The Byzantines were able to overwhelm our forces and unfortunately, Bulgarians were subordinated to Constantinople. The autocephalous Bulgarian Patriarchate was subordinated to the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople and downgraded to an archbishopric centred in Ohrid, while retaining its autonomy and dioceses. Basil appointed the Bulgarian John I Debranin as its first archbishop, but his successors were Byzantines. The Bulgarian aristocracy and Tsar's relatives were given various Byzantine titles and transferred to the Asian parts of the Empire. Despite the hardships, our people survived and were just waiting for a chance to take revenge and liberate our homeland.

As the Byzantine Empire declined under Basil’s successors, the instability and unrest resulted in several major uprisings against the Byzantine rule. The disastrous rule of Byzantine emperors ultimately led to an uprising led by two brothers from Tarnovo, Theodore and Asen. Bulgarians quickly joined their efforts and launched attacks in northern Thrace and Macedonia. The rebellion was a huge success and Bulgaria once again appeared on the map of Europe, after so many years of Byzantine rule.

While Byzantium was slowly declining, the Second Bulgarian Empire, led by house Asen, was slowly reclaiming the glory of the First Empire. During the Fourth Crusade, Bulgarians used the opportunity and invaded Byzantine lands, seizing most of Macedonia and Albania. The status of Bulgaria as a hegemon of the eastern Balkans was confirmed during the disastrous attempt of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos and his Serbian allies. The allied forces of Byzantium and Serbia were quickly defeated and Bulgaria seized huge parts of Serbia and Solun, the last Byzantine foothold in Macedonia.

As of 1444, Bulgaria is the undisputed ruler of eastern Balkans. Threatened by no one, Bulgaria might be able to struck a final blow to the Byzantine Empire and become the spiritual leader of the Orthodox world as well as forge its own legacy as the succesor to the Romans, ruling from the imperial city of Tsarigrad.

Missions
Bulgaria has 18 unique and 2 generic missions. They are mostly oriented around conquest of the lands that belonged to the First Bulgarian Empire, the rivalry with Byzantium and economic development of Bulgaria.

National Ideas

 * Traditions:
 * +1 merchants
 * -10% core creation cost
 * Ambition:
 * +15% infantry combat ability
 * Ideas:
 * Confirm the Bulgarian Boyars:
 * -10% stability cost modifier
 * Root out the Heresies:
 * +2% missionary strength vs. heretics
 * Unity Before Feuds:
 * -1 national unrest
 * Reform the Army:
 * -10% infantry cost
 * Reform the Bulgarian Church:
 * +1 yearly prestige
 * Military Flexibility:
 * +10% morale of armies
 * Third Rome:
 * +1 yearly legitimacy