The rulers of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom

The second Bulgarian kingdom was formed in 1185 after the "Rise of Assen and Peter" against the Byzantine rule in the Bulgarian lands and the coronation of Peter to the Bulgarian kingdom.

Insurrection

The reasons that led to the uprising include the events at the end of 1185 that were unfavorable for the Byzantine Empire: two-year devastating madjars to the north of the country and the Normans to Drach and Solun, a palace coup in Constantinople, the marriage of the new Byzantine king Isak II Angel to the Madjar princess, demanding costs, as a result of which an additional tax was imposed on the Bulgarians.

The brothers Asen and Theodor, hereinafter referred to as Ivan Asen and I Peter IV, raised a riot in northern Bulgaria, and proclaimed the elder brother Theodore as the Bulgarian Tsar Peter. The Byzantine king tried to suppress the coup, but the brothers enlisted the support of the Polovtsian army. Tyrnovgrad (modern Veliko Tarnovo) was elected as the capital of the Second Kingdom because of its inaccessible location in the mountains.

Fortress "Tsarevets" in the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom Turnovo

Therefore, the Second Bulgarian Kingdom is called Turnovo. After unsuccessful military campaigns against the Bulgarians, the Byzantine king was forced to sign in the spring of 1187, the so-called "Lovech reconciliation", which was actually recognized by the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.

The rulers of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom

Peter IV of the Asenovtsi dynasty officially ruled the Second Bulgarian Kingdom from 1185 to 1190, but in fact his brother Asen also took an active part in governing the state. He was crowned as Tsar Ivan Asen I in 1190 and was killed by the sword of the Bulgarian boyar Ivanko in 1196.

In 1197, Kaloyan stepped onto the Bulgarian throne, the third youngest brother of the previous kings.

Tsar Kaloyan. Skull reconstructio

Tsar Kaloyan ruled until 1207 and earned the nickname “Romeogue” for the brutal extermination of the Roman-Byzantine population in the Plovdiv region. Kaloyan was married to the Polovtsian Princess Anne-Anisia and had two children from her. However, after his death in 1207, his nephew Boril ascended the Bulgarian throne.

Tsar Boril Asen Stresz was the son of Peter's sister IV and reigned from 1207 to 1218. He received the throne after the civil war with his two cousins, who also claimed the kingdom. When Boril won this fight, all the other close relatives, children of past kings, were forced to leave away from Tarnovo and take a wait-and-see attitude. Boril's rule was unsuccessful: he quarreled with his neighbors, lost territory, pursued the Bogomilis. The end of his reign came when other contenders for the crown, Ivan Asen and Alexander, came to the Bulgarian land with hired Russian troops and after a seven-month siege of Tirnov they captured the capital, gouged out Boris’s eyes and put Ivan Asen II on the throne.

The reign of Ivan Assen II returned the former territories to Bulgaria - it again began to reach three seas.

The territory of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom under Tsar Ivan Asen II (1230).

During the reign of this king, Bulgaria not only expands its borders, but also improves relations with its neighbors and the situation in the state itself: Bulgaria is experiencing an economic and cultural boom. Ivan Asen II was the first Bulgarian tsar who began minting his coins. Ivan Asen successfully married several times and maintained peaceful relations with everyone. However, under his rule was not without wars. After his death in 1241, his seven-year-old son took the throne.

Koloman I Asen was the son of Ivan Assen II and the Hungarian princess Anna-Maria. He could not rule at the age of seven, and the regents did it for him (1241-1246). At that time, Bulgaria was experiencing the onslaught of the Tatar horde, which by that time had devastated Central Europe and entered northern Bulgaria, forcing the Tarnovo regency to pay them annual tribute. In addition to this problem, the country was torn apart and internal strife. Dissatisfied with the boyar group led by the third wife of Ivan Assen II - Irina, they poisoned a minor king (12 years old) and ascended to the throne her son Michael II Assen, who was 8 years old.

Michael II Asen was put on the Bulgarian throne by his mother Irina in 1246. At the same time, the Nicene emperor Joan III Duca Vataci, taking advantage of the fact that the “child” was on the throne, attacked and seized several large Bulgarian cities. This provision was also used by the Madjars, who took possession of other Bulgarian regions (Belgrade, Branichevo and Srem) and after that the Hungarian ruler added the king of Bulgaria to his title.

Michael's regents tried to reclaim the old territories through diplomacy and military alliances, but not very successfully. Around 1253, Mikhail II Asen married thirteen-year-old Anna Rostislavna, daughter of the Russian prince of Chernigov Rostislav Mikhailovich and the Hungarian princess Anna.

The king died at the age of 18 from the hand of his cousin Kaliman II, also a claimant to the throne, during a hunt in 1256.

After a small civil strife between relatives, Kaliman II Asen sat on the Bulgarian throne and reigned for one month - from the end of 1256 to the beginning of 1257. During this time he managed to marry the widow of his cousin Anna Rostislavna. Her father arrived with the troops at the gates of Tyrnov, wanting to get the Bulgarian throne, but the boyars did not let him in the capital and returned his daughter to him. The prince returned to the Hungarian lands and Anna Rostislavna married again, but already with the Czech king Otokar II.

King Kaliman II Asen fled from Tarnovo and died a violent death under ambiguous circumstances. After him, Mitsu Assen was put on the Bulgarian throne.

Tsar Mitso Asen ruled Bulgaria from 1256 to 1257, and in fact until 1263. Mitsu Asen was the son-in-law of Tsar Ivan Asen II, as well as the regent of Kaliman I Assen. The Bulgarian boyars disliked Mitso and turned the population against him. As a result of this, the king was forced to leave Turnovo and settle in the fortress of Mesemvriya (Nessebar), and after 1261 he gave this fortress to Mikhail VIII Palaeologu, in exchange for political asylum in Troy.

In 1257, the Bulgarian boyars imprisoned the Serbian boyar Konstantin Tikh on the throne. He married the granddaughter of Ivan Asen II, and thus entered the dynasty of Assen, and received the name Konstantin Tikh Asen. Irina died in 1268, and Constantine married the niece of Michael VIII Palaeologa - Mary.

The last years of his reign Konstantin Tikh Asen spent partially paralyzed, after an unsuccessful fall from a horse. Rules Maria, who crowned her son Michael II Assen immediately after his birth in 1277.

Mongol-Tatar raids and unsuccessful wars led to civil strife in the country and Konstantin Tikh was chopped up by the rebels right in his own chariot.

Ivaylo Kapusta received the Bulgarian throne as a result of a riot, which he led against Constantine I Tih Asen. Cabbage got such a nickname because of its simple origin (it was not royal blood) and love for vegetables, in particular cabbage. In a gastronomic sense. “Cabbage” is, of course, a translation - in the original its nickname sounded like “Lakhan” and “Bardokva”. He only rules for one year - from 1278 to 1279. And thanks to the fact that the widow killed by Konstantin Tikh's Cabbage, Maria, suggested that this cabbage should be married in order not to lose power itself.

Ivaylo was forced to fight both the Byzantines and the Tatars, who continued to raid the country. After one such three-month siege, rumors spread to Tarnovo that Ivaylo Kapusa was killed and the Bulgarian boyars were allowed into the city of Ivan Assen III (son of Mitso Assen) to put him on the throne. And then suddenly, Kale returned. To protect him from the city entered the 10 thousandth of the Byzantine army, which Kapusta, oddly enough, defeated. Ivan Asen III fled, and the boyars chose the new Tsar Georgi I Terter. Ivaylo Kapus appealed for help to the Tatar khan Nogai, however, the fluent Ivan Asen III did the same. In order not to quarrel with Byzantium, the Tatar Khan gave the order to chop Ivaylo with his swords.

Ivan Asen IIIpravil 1 year (1279-1280), he was the son of Mitso Asen and Maria Asenina. He received the Bulgarian throne thanks to the efforts of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, who married Ivan Asen on his daughter Irina Palaeolog and, accompanied by a huge army, sent to Tarnovo. Boyars took the king from the clan Asenevtsev. However, Ivan Asen III was very afraid of Ivail Kapus and a year later, turning to the Tatars for protection and not receiving it, he ran away with his wife to Byzantium. He died in the year 1303.

At this the rule of the Asenevtsi dynasty in Bulgaria is interrupted. The origin of the Asenovs (in Russian) is not clear. Bulgarian researchers consider Asenovtsev Bulgarians, Romanians - Vlachs, others - Polovtsy, who came to Bulgaria from the territories of Romania or Hungary. Asenovtsi themselves considered themselves descendants of the first Bulgarian kings Samuel, Peter I and Simeon I, and their kingdom a continuation of the First Bulgarian Kingdom.

From 1280 to 1292, the Second Bulgarian Kingdom was ruled by George I Tartar. In order to lead the Bulgarian kingdom and thus start the Terterovtsi dynasty, Georgi divorced his first wife (he exiled her with his son to Constantinople) and married Ivan Asen III's sister, Kira Maria. After Tsar Ivan Asen III fled from Tarnovo, the boyars elected George I Terter as the new king.

However, four years later, Georgi I Terter, taking advantage of the change of power in Constantinople, returned from exile his first wife and son (from this marriage he had two more daughters). And since the Tatars again forced Bulgaria to pay tribute, Georgi was forced to send the same son to the Golden Horde and marry one of his daughter Elena to Chuck, the son of the Mongolian commander Nogai. However, this did not help - the Tatars continued their attacks on the country. As a result of all this, in 1292 there was a palace conspiracy and Georgi I Terter was forced to flee to Byzantium, and Smilien took over his place.

The new Bulgarian king Smiliec (1292-1298) had the title "Despot of Copsys" and belonged to the dynasty of Smilien, which owned a vast territory called the Srednogorsk principality. Smiliec occupied the Bulgarian throne with the consent of Khan Nogai. Smiliec also did not cope with the Byzintians, and the Tatars, and very mysteriously disappeared in November 1298.

In 1298, the infant throne of Smilits, Ivan IV Smilits, who ruled through the regent (his mother), entered the Bulgarian throne for just one year. In 1299, the son of Tartar Nogai - Chuck

captured Tarnovo and bribed the boyars. Ivan IV Smiliec with his mother fled to Konstaninopol, and Chuck took the throne.

Chaka ruled the Second Bulgarian Kingdom for one year (1299). He was the son of the Tatar commander Nogai and the husband of the daughter of the Bulgarian Tsar Georgi I Terter - Helen. Since before that Chaka had time to quarrel with his Tatar-Mongolian relatives, they found him in Bulgaria and killed him.

In 1300, Todor Svetoslav, who ruled until 1322, came to the Bulgarian throne. His rule finally stabilized the situation in the state and stopped external threats.

Todor Svetoslav was the son of George I Terter and Maria Terter, that is, belonged to the Terterovtsi dynasty. During the years of his rule, Bulgaria expanded its borders again. Theodore Svetoslav died by his death in 1321, and his son came to his place - Georgi II Terter.

Georgi II Tartar rules Bulgaria from 1322 to 1323. This king is known for his love of war, and even took several fortresses, but died suddenly in the spring of 1323 and left no male heirs behind. So ended the dynasty of Terterovtsi. After his death, a struggle for the throne was fought in Tarnovo for several months, in which Michael III Shishman Asen defeated.

Michael III Shishman Asen (1323-1330) became the founder of the Bulgarian royal dynasty Shishmanovtsi - the last in the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. He sought military and political hegemony on the Balkan Peninsula and pursued an aggressive but not permanent policy that led to catastrophic defeats. He fought with Byzantium, Thrace and Serbia. Michael III Shishman Asen died after being seriously wounded in a battle with the Serbs at Kyustendil on July 31, 1330, and was buried in the territory that now belongs to Macedonia. Power passed to his son Ivan Stefan.

Ivan Stefan Shishman Asen ruled Bulgaria for only 8 months - August 1330-January / February 1331. Before that, he spent 6 years in prison along with his mother and brothers, because in 1324 his father decided to marry another woman, Theodore Palaeologus. Ivan Stefan was on the throne as a result of the intrigues of his uncle - the Serbian king Stefan Dečanski, but the Bulgarian boyars did not support him and he fled to Serbia and from there to Naples, where he probably died. And the nobles appointed to rule Ivan Alexander.

Ivan Aleksandar ruled for 40 years (1331-1371) - ascended the throne as a result of a coup in Tarnovo. It is believed that he belongs to the dynasty Shishmanovtsi, because he is the son of the despot Sratsimir and Keratsi Petritsy. However, some historians claim that his lineage comes from the Asenovtsi dynasty.

It was one of the most influential personalities in the history of the Balkan Peninsula in the 14th century.

The Four Gospels of Tsar Ivan Aleksandar

Ivan Aleksandar is known for having married a baptized Jewish woman who bore him five children, including future heirs: Ivan Shishman and Ivan Assen V. His first wife, the roll Theodore Basarab, he was sent to a monastery.

According to folk lore, the second wife bore the name Sara before baptism, and after - Theodore.

At the end of his reign, Ivan Aleksandar divided the kingdom between his sons: Ivan Shishman gave the Turnovo kingdom, and Ivan Sratsimir - Vidinskoe.

Ivan Shishman became king of Bulgaria after the death of his father in early 1371. He was the son of a second marriage. During the life of Ivan Alexander, the co-ruler was a son from his first marriage, Mikhail Asen, but he died in a battle with the Turks and the second wife of a Jewish woman, Sarah / Theodore, did everything possible to put her son on the throne. Ivan Shishman ruled until 1395. All his rule, Ivan Shishman fought with the onset of the Ottoman Empire, but lost.

In 1393 during the siege of Tyrnov by the troops of Sultan Bayazid I, the Bulgarian tsar left the capital, moved to the fortress of Nikopol and after three months Tyrnov fell. So came the end of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, which is called the Turnovo.

Ivan Shishman ruled for two more years in the fortress of Nikopol, being already a formal vassal of the sultan, waiting for the help of the crusaders, but he did not wait. On June 3, 1395, Nikopol was taken by the Turks, and King Shishman was killed.

In 1396, the Ottoman Empire absorbed the Bulgarian lands for a long 482 years. Until the Liberation of Bulgaria on March 3, 1878. The third Bulgarian kingdom will come into its own in 1908.

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