Rostislav Stratimirovic — a descendant of the medieval Shishman dynasty decided to exploit the international situation, established relations with the Russian Patriarch Joachim and visited Moscow in preparation for the uprising.

However, the Ottoman authorities reacted immediately and quickly recaptured the city using regular army, brutally suppressing the uprising.

Rostislav Stratimirovic fled the Ottoman territory and settled in Russia where he married the niece of the patriarch – Maria Dubrovska.

Its legendary character makes many historians doubt its authenticity and consider it "a beautiful legend" which served the political interests in 19th-century Russia.

The ostensible owner of the chronicles, the amateur Russian historian Nikolay Savelyev, who called himself Savelyev-Rostislavich (1815–1854), pretended to be a descendant of Rostislav of Bulgaria and the Patriarch's niece.