legacy Contemporary Serbian sources, such as the hagiography of Saint Sava, are highly critical of Strez's actions. The Serbs accused Strez of recklessness, drunkenness, ungodliness, treason and cruelty. The hagiography of Saint Sava tells of Strez's alleged tendency to have captives thrown from a high cliff into the Vardar River for his and his guests' entertainment. As the prisoners were falling to their death, Strez would sarcastically shout at them not to get their coats wet. Bulgarian historian Ivan Lazarov dismisses these allegations as slanderous. In his biography of Strez, he hails the medieval ruler as a "true member of the Asen dynasty" and defends his actions due to him being a "child of his time". Lazarov assesses Strez as a characteristic, vivid personality who put his independence above all. The name of Strez has become a part of Bulgarian folklore, including a legendary account of his life written down as the Biography of Prince Stregan in the 18th century or later. At least one location throughout Macedonia was tied by the locals with Strez, whom the folk interpreted as a voivode or hajduk who defended the people against the Ottomans. Some ruins by the Vardar River near Jegunovce west of Skopje were known to the locals as "Strez's Fortress" (Стрезово кале, Strezovo kale). Even though in reality his capital, Prosek, lay far to the south, the castle at Jegunovce may have formed part of Strez's border fortifications, or it may have been the site of his negotiations with Sava and his death. References and notes Sources 12th-century births 1214 deaths 13th-century Bulgarian people Asen dynasty Medieval Bulgarian nobility Rulers in medieval Macedonia Bulgarian murder victims Medieval Bulgarian military personnel Sebastokrators