The rebellion in Turnovo, Bulgaria that broke out in 1598 was a trans-Balkan effort. Its main organizer was the bishop of the city Dionysios Rallis, the Bulgarian boyar Teodor Balina from Nikopolis, the Croatian Pavel Dortic from Ragusa (today's Dubrovnik), the bishops Theophanes, Jeremiah, Methodios and Spyridon and the Serbian brothers Sorkosević.
In 1595 the ruler of Wallachia, Michael Kandakouzinos, the "Brave", had crushed the Turks in the famous battle in Kalugareni, filling all the slaves of the Balkans with hope. He then managed to secure the support of the Habsburg Emperor Rudolf. Thus he invaded the Turkish-occupied Bulgaria and made significant progress.
At the same time, Greeks and Bulgarians rebelled and attacked the Turks in Sofia . But the Ottomans unleashed the Tatars against him and Michael was forced to retreat and the revolution was suppressed. However, Dortis got in touch with Michael in order to organize his descent to the southern Balkans.
In this context, the rebellion was prepared centered in Turnovo, the old capital of Bulgaria. Dionysios, Ballina and Dortis also had contacts with the Habsburgs – they met with the emperor in Prague – but also with the ruler of Transylvania, Bathory, in an attempt to coordinate a wider alliance against the Turks. In 1597 in Vienna, the relevant plans were drawn up, but they remained plans.
In 1589 Michael returned to Bulgaria giving the slogan of the rebellion. Bishop Dionysios came from the historic families of the Rallids and the Paleologues and was a relative of the Kantakousines and Michael the Brave. Dionysios had contacts with Michael, as evidenced by surviving letters, asking him for help to free him from the Turks.
In one of the letters Dionysios mentions that the Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios Pigas was also aware of the revolutionary movements. Elsewhere he mentioned that with the appearance of the army of Michael and the Habsburg emperor the Balkans would rise and that 200,000 men could be assembled.
Under these conditions, the revolution broke out with a descendant of the Bulgarian royal dynasty - probably Balina - being proclaimed king under the name Sisman III. The rebels liberated the city and gathered a force of 12,000 men. The revolution spread from Turnavos to Ahrida, Sofia and Nis in Serbia.
However, the Turks reacted quickly and attacked with strong forces against the rebels. Although the information is confusing, the revolution was drowned in blood as Michael failed to advance and join the rebels and was forced to retreat and sign a peace treaty with the Turks (1599).
The revolt was put down with the usual Turkish brutality and thousands of Christians were forced to flee their homes for safety. At least 50,000 people crossed into Wallachia for safety and remained there. These movements inspired another Greek, the bishop Dionysios, called by his enemies "Skylosophus", who organized a revolution in Thessaly (1600) and then in Ioannina (1611).
Chaidoukos, Balkan "Thief".