{"id":1805,"date":"2010-01-01T02:23:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-01T00:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/uncategorized\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria-february-23\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T10:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T08:42:18","slug":"on-this-day-in-bulgaria-february-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria-february-23\/","title":{"rendered":"On This Day in Bulgaria: February 23"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>February 23 connects two very different stories from Bulgaria&#8217;s history \u2014 one about institutional self-organization in the nineteenth century, another about a dramatic international kidnapping that drew the world&#8217;s attention to the Macedonian question.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>February 23, 1871 \u2014 The First Convention of Bulgarian Clergy and Laity Opens<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Orthodox Church opened the first Convention of Bulgarian Clergy and Laity in Constantinople. The convention was part of the process of organizing the Bulgarian Exarchate and defining church administration after the Ottoman decree of 1870. Clergy and lay representatives discussed how Bulgarian communities would manage education, dioceses, worship, and public authority inside the empire.<\/p>\n<p>The involvement of laypeople reflected the civic energy of the National Revival, when merchants, teachers, guilds, and local activists all helped build institutions. The convention showed that Bulgarian church autonomy was becoming a practical structure, not only a political demand \u2014 part of the broader preparation for national liberation.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>February 23, 1902 \u2014 Ellen Stone and Katerina Tsilka Are Released<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>American missionary Ellen Stone and Bulgarian fellow missionary Katerina Tsilka were released after being abducted in 1901 by members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. The kidnappers, including Yane Sandanski and Hristo Chernopeev, demanded a large ransom to support revolutionary activity in Macedonia and Thrace. The case became internationally famous, drawing attention to the Macedonian question and to the methods used by revolutionary groups seeking funds and visibility.<\/p>\n<p>The release ended the immediate crisis, but the episode placed Bulgarian and American public opinion inside a complicated story of nationalism, violence, diplomacy, and humanitarian concern \u2014 and it remains a dramatic moment in the history of liberation movements beyond Bulgaria&#8217;s borders.<\/p>\n<p>Continue through the series with <a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria-february-22\/\">February 22<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria\/on-this-day-in-bulgaria-february-24\/\">February 24<\/a>. Explore <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/category\/from-above\/\">Bulgaria From Above<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bronicable.com\/en\/category\/bulgaria\/\">our guides to Bulgaria<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On this day in Bulgarian history: the first Convention of Bulgarian Clergy and Laity opened in 1871, and Ellen Stone and Katerina Tsilka were released in 1902.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-on-this-day-in-bulgaria","latest_post"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>On This Day in Bulgaria: February 23 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