Krum 1 was was ruler of the Bulgars from 803 to 814; see Grumel, Chronologie, p. 388.

Before 803, Krum 1 was a leader of the Bulgars in Pannonia who became powerful when they and the Franks under Charlemagne (Karoulos 1) overthrew the Avars in 795-796 and freed the Bulgars of Pannonia from Avar rule; see Runciman, First Bulgarian Empire, pp. 50-52, and p. 52, note 1.

In 803, presumably, Krum 1 succeeded Kardamos 1 as ruler of the combined peoples of the Balkan and the Pannonian Bulgars.

Ruler of the Bulgars (Κροῦμμος ὁ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἀρχηγός), in 809, before Easter, Krum 1 attacked and captured Serdika, by treachery and promises (δόλῳ καὶ λόγῳ), and killed six thousand Roman troops: Theoph. AM 6301.

In 811, confronted by large Roman forces under Nikephoros I (Nikephoros 8), Krum 1 made overtures for peace, which were refused; the Romans invaded the land of the Bulgars doing much damage and capturing the capital of Krum (at Pliska), seizing his treasury and destroying his palace; he made further overtures, which were again rejected, but then, as the Romans advanced further into Bulgar territory, he caught them in a trap and defeated them, inflicting huge losses which included not only many leading imperial officials but the emperor himself; the date was 26 July; he displayed the emperor's head on a pole for several days and then had it made into a drinking cup and passed it round the chiefs of the Slavs to drink from: Theoph. AM 6303, cf. Zon. XV 15. 10-13, 15. 18-19.

Ruler of the Bulgars (τοῦ δὲ Βουλγάρων ἀρχηγοῦ Κρούμμου), in summer 812 Krum 1 captured Debelton and transferred the inhabitants, who deserted to him, including the bishop; he then occupied Thrace and Macedonia: Theoph. AM 6304. Ruler of the Bulgars (Κροῦμμος, ὁ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἀρχηγός), in 812 he sent an envoy, Dargameros 1, to the emperor Michael I (Michael 7) with peace proposals similar to those once agreed between Kormesios 1 and the emperor Theodosios III (Theodosios 2) and the patriarch Germanos 8 (in c. 715); he threatened to attack Mesembria if they were rejected; Michael 7 turned the proposals down over the issue of handing back refugees, and Krum 1 attacked Mesembria, in mid October, laying siege to it and, using the know-how supplied by a fugitive engineer, Anonymus 22, he soon captured it; the news reached Constantinople on 5 November; the Bulgars soon captured Debelton also and in both Mesembria and Debelton they captured a large quantity of military equipment, including supplies of Greek fire and the equipment for discharging it: Theoph. AM 6305, cf. Theoph. Cont. I 5 (pp. 12-13) (Κρούμνου τοῦ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἡγεμόνος; Krum 1 offered peace proposals subject to payment of the annual tribute formerly agreed and to the return of fugitives; the offer was rejected), Zon. XV 17. 14-18. 2 (Κροῦμος δὲ ὁ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἄρχων), Scyl., p. 12 (ὁ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἀρχηγός Κροῦμος; his request for the return of refugees was turned down and war followed), Genesius I 10.

In February 813 Krum 1 marched into Thrace, but prompt action by the emperor, who left Constantinople on 15 February against him, caused him to withdraw with the loss of many troops and without achieving anything; ruler of the Bulgars (Κροῦμμος, ὁ τῶν Βουλγάρων ἀρχηγός), in early June 813 he made camp not far from the imperial army which was at Bersinikia and was much superior in numbers; on 22 June near Adrianople he inflicted a great defeat on the emperor Michael 7, many of whose troops fled even before joining battle; the emperor himself (Michael 7) fled back to Constantinople: Theoph. AM 6305, cf. Leo Gramm. 206, Scyl., pp. 5-6 (Κρούμου τοῦ Βουλγάρων ἄρχοντος; after ravaging the West, i.e. Thrace, he gathered his forces near Adrianople and defeated the emperor, following the flight of Leo 15), Theoph. Cont. I 6 (pp. 14-16) (his peace proposals had been rejected by the Romans before this campaign), Genesius I 1, I 10, Zon. XV 18. 3-14, 19.13-19 (he had turned down peace offers and defeated the Roman army but nearly perished when Leo 15 led a counter-attack). Krum 1, who is styled "the new Sennacherib" in Theophanes, Leo Grammaticus and Georgius Monachus Continuatus, then led his forces against Constantinople, leaving his brother (Anonymus 26) to lay siege to Adrianople; he failed to make any impression on the defences and made tentative peace offers to the new emperor Leo V (Leo 15); an attempt to assassinate Krum 1 failed but he was wounded; he took revenge by burning the palace of St Mamas and then carrying off many treasures, returning to Adrianople which he besieged and captured: Theoph. AM 6305, Theoph. Cont. V 4 (p. 216), Leo Gramm. 207-208, 231, Georg. Mon. Cont. 764-765, Georg. Mon. Cont. 817. After the fall of Adrianople he carried off many prisoners, including many nobly born Macedonians, to beyond the Danube: Leo Gramm. 208, 231, Georg. Mon. Cont. 765, Georg. Mon. Cont. 817, Theoph. Cont. V 4 (p. 216), Zon. XVI 6. 2.

The siege of Constantinople by Krum 1 is wrongly placed in the reign of Michael I (Michael 7) by the Chron. 1234; according to this source he retreated before the Roman troops under Leo 15 (the future emperor) and was defeated and killed: Chron. 1234, §201 (II, p. 13).

Krum 1's siege of Constantinople, the attempted assassination (cf. Anonymus 27, Anonymus 28 and Konstantinos 28, his three companions), the subsequent destruction of buildings near Constantinople and the capture and plundering of many sites in Thrace and the fall of Adrianople are described at length in the Scriptor Incertus de Leone Armenio 342-346 (repeated in Pseudo-Sym. 612-615). He performed human and animal sacrifices outside Constantinople in 813, according to his customs (κατὰ τὸ ἔθος αὐτοῦ): Scriptor Incertus 342, Pseudo-Sym. 612, cf. Leo Gramm. 207, Georg. Mon. Cont. 764. He was therefore a pagan.

During the winter of 813-814 Krum 1's forces raided as far as Arkadiopolis and the river Rhegina, carrying off many prisoners and much booty; then in 814 he was reported to be amassing a huge force, including Avars and Slavs, with a great supply of siege engines and siege materials, when news came that he had suddenly died, of a violent haemorrhage, on Thursday before Good Friday (τῇ μεγάλῃ πέμπτῃ τοῦ πάσχα, i.e. on 13 April 814); he is here styled ὁ πρωτοβουλγαρίας, ὁ Κροῦμος ὁ περίφημος, ὁ τὴν πόλιν ἑλεῖν βουλευόμενος: Scriptor Incertus 346-348.

King of the Bulgars, Krum 1 was responsible for the death of the emperor Nikephoros I (Nikephoros 8) and he also defeated the emperor Michael I (Michael 7); under Leo V (Leo 15) he advanced on Constantinople and laid siege to it, but was wounded in a sally and returned home in disgrace: Annales regni Francorum s.a. 813.

Krum 1 had a sister, Anonyma 3, who married a Byzantine fugitive, Konstantinos 28, and bore him a son, Anonymus 28: Scriptor Incertus 343. Krum 1 was succeeded by Moutragon (Omurtag 1): Theoph. Cont. V 4 (p. 217).

Krum 1 was wrongly described as the grandfather of Vladimir 1: Leo Gramm. 231, Georg. Mon. Cont. 818.

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