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Asen dynasty

November 28, 2023

The Asen dynasty (Bulgarian: Асеневци, Asenevtsi, Romanian: Asănești) founded and ruled a medieval Bulgarian state, called in modern historiography the Second Bulgarian Empire, between 1185 and 1280.

Monument to the Asen dynasty in their capital Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, sculptor prof. Krum Damianov

The Asen dynasty rose as the leaders of Bulgaria after a rebellion against the Byzantine Empire at the turn of the year 1185/1186 caused by the increase in the Imperial taxes.

Some members of the Asen family entered Byzantine service in the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries. The name also occurs as a family name in modern Greek, and could go back to the same name. Their origin is obscure.[1]

Origins edit

 
Genealogy of the Asen dynasty

The origins of the dynasty, especially the ethnic background of the three Asen brothers (Teodor I Peter IV (Romanian: Teodor I Petru IV), Ivan Asen I (Romanian: Ioan Asan I) and Kaloyan (Romanian: Caloian)) are still a source of much controversy, debated among historians. There are three main hypotheses regarding their origins:[2]

  1. Vlach origin,[3][4][5][6][7] a view supported by many contemporary sources and Romanian scholars who base their claims on Western Crusade chronicles, and letters between Pope Innocent III and Kaloyan.[8][9]
  2. Cuman origin,[10][11][12] as some of the names in the dynasty, including Asen, are derived from Cuman language, as well as the close ties to the Cumans, such as intermarriage (including Kaloyan's wife),[13] immediate entourage and allies.[14] Groups of Cumans settled and mingled with the local population in many regions of the Balkans between the 10th and 13th centuries and founded also other successive Bulgarian dynasties (Terterids and Shishmanids).[15][16][17][18]
  3. Bulgarian origin, a view that is common among the Bulgarian historians who reckon that all native sources (from the 13th century[9]) use predominantly the terms Bulgaria, Bulgarians and Bulgarian, the Slavic names like Ivanko (relative and murderer of Ivan Asen I),[19] Boril and Slav, that tsar Kaloyan claimed provenance from the old Bulgarian rulers and his state from the First Bulgarian Empire[20] and declares himself a Bulgarian avenger, adopting the moniker the Romanslayer by analogy with the emperor Basil II the Bulgar Slayer and shows cruelty to the Byzantines as revenge for the murdered and blinded Bulgarians.[21]

In their own administrative documents and correspondence, the three rulers viewed themselves as descendants and successors of the Bulgarian Tsars Samuil, Peter I and Simeon I, and the state they founded as a continuation of the First Bulgarian Empire. However, this could be just a way to proclaim their legitimacy for the throne of the Empire.

In a correspondence, of 1199, the Pope talks about the "Roman descent" of Kaloyan. However, considering the actual text says Nos autem audito quod de nobili urbis Romae prosapia progenitores tui originem traxerint ("We heard that your forefathers come from a noble family from the city of Rome"), it is usually dismissed as simply a hidden compliment of the Pope to Kaloyan.

Pope Innocent III in his letter to the Bulgarian King Kaloyan (Calojoannes) in 1204 addressed him "King of Bulgarians and Vlachs" (rex Bulgarorum et Blachorum); in answering the Pope, John called himself imperator omnium Bulgarorum et Blachorum ("Emperor of all Bulgarians and Vlachs'), but signed himself imperator Bulgariae Calojoannes ("Emperor Kaloyan of Bulgaria"); besides, the archbishop of Veliko Tarnovo called himself totius Bulgariae et Blaciae Primas ("Primate of all Bulgaria and Vlachia").

Ivan Asen II styles himselve “Tsar and sovereign of the Bulgarians“[22] and “Tsar of Bulgarians and Greeks”.[23]

The Bulgarian historiography negate, while the Romanian highlight the role of the Vlachs in the uprising. However, the scientific debate reflects the nationalistic rivality from the 19-20th century, which did not exist in the 12-13th century. Vlachs and Bulgarian Slavs jointly inhabited Bulgaria, and both groups in sufferance were united against the common cause under a leader, regardless of the leader "race". The Asen brothers were associated with the Vlach population of the mountainous regions around Trnovo, Niketas Choniates recorded Vlach shamans during revolt exhibition, but nevertheless of their ethnicity, it was a joint venture of the Bulgarians, Vlachs and Cumans.[24]

Etymology edit

The name of the dynasty comes from one of the brothers, namely Asen I. The etymology is most likely of Cuman Turkic origin, derived from "esen" which meant "safe, sound, healthy" and the Belgun nickname seems to be derived from Turkic "bilgün", which meant "wise". Further support to this connection can be found in the charters of the Great Lavra of Mt. Athos from the end of the 12th century, which mention the monastery's problems with some of the Cuman stratiotes, where "Asen" is listed as the name of one of those Cumans.[25]

Other study shows that the only name that makes sense is änish ("descent") and the word can be found almost exclusively in the languages of the Kipchak Turks[26]

Bulgarian Emperors from the Asen dynasty edit

 
Ivan Asen I (Asen) 1187 - 1196
Peter IV (Teodor) 1186 - 1197
Kaloyan (Ioanitsa) 1197 - 1207
Boril (Boril Kaliman) 1207 - 1218
Ivan Asen II 1218 - 1241
Kaliman I Asen (Koloman) 1241 - 1246
Michael II Asen 1246 - 1256
Kaliman II Asen (Koloman) 1256
Mitso Asen 1256 - 1257
Ivan Asen III 1279 - 1280

Byzantine branch edit

The Asens in Byzantium largely descend from Ivan Asen III, who ruled briefly as Emperor of Bulgaria before fleeing to Constantinople as Ivaylo's uprising was gaining momentum in 1280. A despotes under Michael VIII Palaiologos, Ivan Asen III had already been married to the Byzantine Emperor's eldest daughter, Irene Palaiologina. The couple's five sons and two daughters were the progenitors of one of the highest-regarded Byzantine noble families of their time, along with the Palaiologoi. Among the Byzantine Asens, three bore the title of despotes, three that of sebastokrator, two panhypersebastos, one was a megas doux and two were titled megas primikerios.[27] In Greek, the male form of the family name is rendered as Ἀσάνης (Asanis) and the female as Ασανίνα (Asanina).

A smaller branch descends from Elena Asenina of Bulgaria, wife of Nicaean Emperor Theodore II Laskaris.[28]

The Asens of Byzantium intermarried with other prominent noble dynasties, including the Kantakouzenos, Doukas, Laskaris, Tornikios, Raoul and Zaccaria families. Notable members of the Asen family in the Byzantine Empire include:

Byzantine Asens elsewhere edit

From Byzantium, the Asens spread as far as Frankish Greece, the Principality of Theodoro, the Principality of Moldavia, the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Aragon.[27]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Frederick B. Chary, History of Bulgaria, The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations, ABC-CLIO, 2011, ISBN 0313384479, p. 12.
  2. ^ Humanitas 2008: 4
  3. ^ Runciman, Steven (December 3, 1987). A History of the Crusades. CUP Archive. ISBN 9780521347723 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Paul Stephenson, Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900-1204, Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0521027564
  5. ^ Boldur Alexandru, Istoria Basarabiei, Editura Frunza, Bucuresti, 1990, p 95
  6. ^ Madgearu, Alexandru (2014). Asăneștii. Istoria politico-militara a statului dinastiei Asan (1185-1280). Târgoviște: Cetatea de Scaun. ISBN 9786065372276.
  7. ^ "o-city-of-byzantium-annals-of-niketas-choniates-ttranslated-by-harry-j-magoulias-1984" – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ Wolff 1949, p. 178, 180, 185, 190, 198.
  9. ^ a b Fine 1994, p. 12.
  10. ^ Clifford J. Rogers, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, Volume 1, Oxford University Press, 2010, ISBN 0195334035, p. 522.
  11. ^ Christoph Baumer, The History of Central Asia: The Age of Islam and the Mongols, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016, ISBN 1838609407, p. 75.
  12. ^ Jennifer Lawler, of the Byzantine Empire, McFarland, 2011, ISBN 0786466162, p. 234.
  13. ^ Acropolitae 2007, p. 246.
  14. ^ Dimnik 2004, p. 266.
  15. ^ István Vásáry (2005) Cumans and Tatars, Cambridge University Press, p. 2
  16. ^ The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Volume 1, Denis Sinor, pg 279.
  17. ^ Grumeza, Ion (August 4, 2010). The Roots of Balkanization: Eastern Europe C.E. 500-1500. University Press of America. ISBN 9780761851356 – via Google Books.
  18. ^ Bulgarian Folk Customs, Mercia MacDermott, pg 27
  19. ^ Wolff 1949, pp. 167–206.
  20. ^ Entangled Histories of the Balkans - Volume Three: Shared Pasts, Disputed Legacies Balkan Studies Library, Roumen Daskalov, Alexander Vezenkov, Publisher BRILL, 2015, ISBN 9004290362, pp. 289-316.
  21. ^ „Kalojan, der Griechentöter"
  22. ^ Turnovo inscription of Tsar Ivan Asen II in the Holy 40 Martyrs Church in honour of the victory at Klokotnitsa on 9 March 1230
  23. ^ Иван Божилов, Васил Гюзелев: История на средновековна България VII - XIV век. Verlag Anubis, Sofia 2006, deutsche Übersetzung des Titels: Iwan Boschilow, Wasil Gjuselew: Geschichte des mittelalterlichen Bulgariens VII. – XIV. Jahrhundert. Band 1 der dreibändigen Geschichte Bulgariens. ISBN 978-954-426-718-6, S. 487.
  24. ^ Fine 1994, p. 12–13.
  25. ^ "Пламен Павлов - Бунтари и авантюристи в средновековна България". liternet.bg (in Bulgarian).
  26. ^ Dimitri Korobeinikov, A broken mirror: the Kipçak world in the thirteenth century. In the volume: The other Europe from the Middle Ages, Edited by Florin Curta, Brill 2008, p. 400
  27. ^ a b Božilov, pp. 20-22.
  28. ^ Božilov, pp. 102-103.

References edit

  • Acropolitae, George (2007). George Akropolites: The History. Translated by, with commentary and introduction from, Ruth Macrides. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-921067-1.
  • Božilov, Ivan (1985). Familijata na Asenevci (1186–1460) (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. OCLC 14378091.
  • Dimnik, Martin (2004). "Kievan Rus', the Bulgars and the southern Slavs, c. 1020–c. 1200". In Luscombe, David; Riley-Smith, Jonathan (eds.). The New Cambridge Medieval History, Volume 4, c.1024–c.1198, Part 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 254–276. ISBN 978-1-13905403-4.
  • Vasary, Istvan (2005) "Cumans and Tatars", Cambridge University Press: pp. 34–42
  • Stephenson, Paul (2000) "Byzantium's Balkan Frontier — A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900–1204" pp. 289–300
  • History of the Byzantine Empire, A. A. Vasiliev 1935
  • Djuvara, Neagu (2008). O scurta istorie a romanilor povestita celor tineri. Humanitas. ISBN 978-973-50-2591-5.
  • Stelian Brezeanu, Istoria Imperiului Bizantin, Bucuresti, MERONIA, 2007
  • Boldur, Alexandru (1990). Istoria Basarabiei (in Romanian). Bucuresti: Editura Frunza.
  • Wolff, Robert Lee (April 1949). "The Second Bulgarian Empire. Its Origin and History to 1204". Speculum. The University of Chicago Press. 24 (2): 167–199. doi:10.2307/2848560. JSTOR 2848560. S2CID 164165193.
  • Fine, John (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472082605.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Asen dynasty at Wikimedia Commons

November 28, 2023
asen, dynasty, bulgarian, Асеневци, asenevtsi, romanian, asănești, founded, ruled, medieval, bulgarian, state, called, modern, historiography, second, bulgarian, empire, between, 1185, 1280, monument, their, capital, veliko, tarnovo, bulgaria, sculptor, prof, . The Asen dynasty Bulgarian Asenevci Asenevtsi Romanian Asănești founded and ruled a medieval Bulgarian state called in modern historiography the Second Bulgarian Empire between 1185 and 1280 Monument to the Asen dynasty in their capital Veliko Tarnovo Bulgaria sculptor prof Krum DamianovThe Asen dynasty rose as the leaders of Bulgaria after a rebellion against the Byzantine Empire at the turn of the year 1185 1186 caused by the increase in the Imperial taxes Some members of the Asen family entered Byzantine service in the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries The name also occurs as a family name in modern Greek and could go back to the same name Their origin is obscure 1 Contents 1 Origins 1 1 Etymology 2 Bulgarian Emperors from the Asen dynasty 3 Byzantine branch 3 1 Byzantine Asens elsewhere 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksOrigins edit nbsp Genealogy of the Asen dynastyThe origins of the dynasty especially the ethnic background of the three Asen brothers Teodor I Peter IV Romanian Teodor I Petru IV Ivan Asen I Romanian Ioan Asan I and Kaloyan Romanian Caloian are still a source of much controversy debated among historians There are three main hypotheses regarding their origins 2 Vlach origin 3 4 5 6 7 a view supported by many contemporary sources and Romanian scholars who base their claims on Western Crusade chronicles and letters between Pope Innocent III and Kaloyan 8 9 Cuman origin 10 11 12 as some of the names in the dynasty including Asen are derived from Cuman language as well as the close ties to the Cumans such as intermarriage including Kaloyan s wife 13 immediate entourage and allies 14 Groups of Cumans settled and mingled with the local population in many regions of the Balkans between the 10th and 13th centuries and founded also other successive Bulgarian dynasties Terterids and Shishmanids 15 16 17 18 Bulgarian origin a view that is common among the Bulgarian historians who reckon that all native sources from the 13th century 9 use predominantly the terms Bulgaria Bulgarians and Bulgarian the Slavic names like Ivanko relative and murderer of Ivan Asen I 19 Boril and Slav that tsar Kaloyan claimed provenance from the old Bulgarian rulers and his state from the First Bulgarian Empire 20 and declares himself a Bulgarian avenger adopting the moniker the Romanslayer by analogy with the emperor Basil II the Bulgar Slayer and shows cruelty to the Byzantines as revenge for the murdered and blinded Bulgarians 21 In their own administrative documents and correspondence the three rulers viewed themselves as descendants and successors of the Bulgarian Tsars Samuil Peter I and Simeon I and the state they founded as a continuation of the First Bulgarian Empire However this could be just a way to proclaim their legitimacy for the throne of the Empire In a correspondence of 1199 the Pope talks about the Roman descent of Kaloyan However considering the actual text says Nos autem audito quod de nobili urbis Romae prosapia progenitores tui originem traxerint We heard that your forefathers come from a noble family from the city of Rome it is usually dismissed as simply a hidden compliment of the Pope to Kaloyan Pope Innocent III in his letter to the Bulgarian King Kaloyan Calojoannes in 1204 addressed him King of Bulgarians and Vlachs rex Bulgarorum et Blachorum in answering the Pope John called himself imperator omnium Bulgarorum et Blachorum Emperor of all Bulgarians and Vlachs but signed himself imperator Bulgariae Calojoannes Emperor Kaloyan of Bulgaria besides the archbishop of Veliko Tarnovo called himself totius Bulgariae et Blaciae Primas Primate of all Bulgaria and Vlachia Ivan Asen II styles himselve Tsar and sovereign of the Bulgarians 22 and Tsar of Bulgarians and Greeks 23 The Bulgarian historiography negate while the Romanian highlight the role of the Vlachs in the uprising However the scientific debate reflects the nationalistic rivality from the 19 20th century which did not exist in the 12 13th century Vlachs and Bulgarian Slavs jointly inhabited Bulgaria and both groups in sufferance were united against the common cause under a leader regardless of the leader race The Asen brothers were associated with the Vlach population of the mountainous regions around Trnovo Niketas Choniates recorded Vlach shamans during revolt exhibition but nevertheless of their ethnicity it was a joint venture of the Bulgarians Vlachs and Cumans 24 Etymology edit The name of the dynasty comes from one of the brothers namely Asen I The etymology is most likely of Cuman Turkic origin derived from esen which meant safe sound healthy and the Belgun nickname seems to be derived from Turkic bilgun which meant wise Further support to this connection can be found in the charters of the Great Lavra of Mt Athos from the end of the 12th century which mention the monastery s problems with some of the Cuman stratiotes where Asen is listed as the name of one of those Cumans 25 Other study shows that the only name that makes sense is anish descent and the word can be found almost exclusively in the languages of the Kipchak Turks 26 Bulgarian Emperors from the Asen dynasty edit nbsp Ivan Asen I Asen 1187 1196Peter IV Teodor 1186 1197Kaloyan Ioanitsa 1197 1207Boril Boril Kaliman 1207 1218Ivan Asen II 1218 1241Kaliman I Asen Koloman 1241 1246Michael II Asen 1246 1256Kaliman II Asen Koloman 1256Mitso Asen 1256 1257Ivan Asen III 1279 1280Byzantine branch editThe Asens in Byzantium largely descend from Ivan Asen III who ruled briefly as Emperor of Bulgaria before fleeing to Constantinople as Ivaylo s uprising was gaining momentum in 1280 A despotes under Michael VIII Palaiologos Ivan Asen III had already been married to the Byzantine Emperor s eldest daughter Irene Palaiologina The couple s five sons and two daughters were the progenitors of one of the highest regarded Byzantine noble families of their time along with the Palaiologoi Among the Byzantine Asens three bore the title of despotes three that of sebastokrator two panhypersebastos one was a megas doux and two were titled megas primikerios 27 In Greek the male form of the family name is rendered as Ἀsanhs Asanis and the female as Asanina Asanina A smaller branch descends from Elena Asenina of Bulgaria wife of Nicaean Emperor Theodore II Laskaris 28 The Asens of Byzantium intermarried with other prominent noble dynasties including the Kantakouzenos Doukas Laskaris Tornikios Raoul and Zaccaria families Notable members of the Asen family in the Byzantine Empire include Andronikos Asen epitropos of the Morea 1316 1322 Irene Asanina Empress Consort of John VI Kantakouzenos 1347 1354 Matthew Asen Kantakouzenos Co Emperor of Byzantium 1353 1357 Matthew Palaiologos Asen Lord of Corinth 1454 1458 Byzantine Asens elsewhere edit From Byzantium the Asens spread as far as Frankish Greece the Principality of Theodoro the Principality of Moldavia the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Aragon 27 Eudoxia Laskarina Asanina 1248 1311 Nicaean princess Countess of Ventimiglia and Tende and nun in Aragon Helena Asanina Kantakouzene Dowager Countess of Salona 1380 1394 Andronikos Asen Zaccaria Prince of Achaea before 1386 1401 Thomas Asen Palaiologos exile in Naples and ktetor Maria Asanina Palaiologina Princess Consort of Moldavia 1472 1477 See also editAshina tribe History of Bulgaria List of Bulgarian monarchsNotes edit Frederick B Chary History of Bulgaria The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations ABC CLIO 2011 ISBN 0313384479 p 12 Humanitas 2008 4 Runciman Steven December 3 1987 A History of the Crusades CUP Archive ISBN 9780521347723 via Google Books Paul Stephenson Byzantium s Balkan Frontier A Political Study of the Northern Balkans 900 1204 Cambridge University Press 2004 ISBN 978 0521027564 Boldur Alexandru Istoria Basarabiei Editura Frunza Bucuresti 1990 p 95 Madgearu Alexandru 2014 Asăneștii Istoria politico militara a statului dinastiei Asan 1185 1280 Targoviște Cetatea de Scaun ISBN 9786065372276 o city of byzantium annals of niketas choniates ttranslated by harry j magoulias 1984 via Internet Archive Wolff 1949 p 178 180 185 190 198 a b Fine 1994 p 12 Clifford J Rogers The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology Volume 1 Oxford University Press 2010 ISBN 0195334035 p 522 Christoph Baumer The History of Central Asia The Age of Islam and the Mongols Bloomsbury Publishing 2016 ISBN 1838609407 p 75 Jennifer Lawler of the Byzantine Empire McFarland 2011 ISBN 0786466162 p 234 Acropolitae 2007 p 246 Dimnik 2004 p 266 Istvan Vasary 2005 Cumans and Tatars Cambridge University Press p 2 The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia Volume 1 Denis Sinor pg 279 Grumeza Ion August 4 2010 The Roots of Balkanization Eastern Europe C E 500 1500 University Press of America ISBN 9780761851356 via Google Books Bulgarian Folk Customs Mercia MacDermott pg 27 Wolff 1949 pp 167 206 Entangled Histories of the Balkans Volume Three Shared Pasts Disputed Legacies Balkan Studies Library Roumen Daskalov Alexander Vezenkov Publisher BRILL 2015 ISBN 9004290362 pp 289 316 Kalojan der Griechentoter Turnovo inscription of Tsar Ivan Asen II in the Holy 40 Martyrs Church in honour of the victory at Klokotnitsa on 9 March 1230 Ivan Bozhilov Vasil Gyuzelev Istoriya na srednovekovna Blgariya VII XIV vek Verlag Anubis Sofia 2006 deutsche Ubersetzung des Titels Iwan Boschilow Wasil Gjuselew Geschichte des mittelalterlichen Bulgariens VII XIV Jahrhundert Band 1 der dreibandigen Geschichte Bulgariens ISBN 978 954 426 718 6 S 487 Fine 1994 p 12 13 Plamen Pavlov Buntari i avantyuristi v srednovekovna Blgariya liternet bg in Bulgarian Dimitri Korobeinikov A broken mirror the Kipcak world in the thirteenth century In the volume The other Europe from the Middle Ages Edited by Florin Curta Brill 2008 p 400 a b Bozilov pp 20 22 Bozilov pp 102 103 References editAcropolitae George 2007 George Akropolites The History Translated by with commentary and introduction from Ruth Macrides Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 921067 1 Bozilov Ivan 1985 Familijata na Asenevci 1186 1460 in Bulgarian Sofia Bulgarian Academy of Sciences OCLC 14378091 Dimnik Martin 2004 Kievan Rus the Bulgars and the southern Slavs c 1020 c 1200 In Luscombe David Riley Smith Jonathan eds The New Cambridge Medieval History Volume 4 c 1024 c 1198 Part 2 Cambridge Cambridge University Press pp 254 276 ISBN 978 1 13905403 4 Vasary Istvan 2005 Cumans and Tatars Cambridge University Press pp 34 42 Stephenson Paul 2000 Byzantium s Balkan Frontier A Political Study of the Northern Balkans 900 1204 pp 289 300 History of the Byzantine Empire A A Vasiliev 1935 Djuvara Neagu 2008 O scurta istorie a romanilor povestita celor tineri Humanitas ISBN 978 973 50 2591 5 Stelian Brezeanu Istoria Imperiului Bizantin Bucuresti MERONIA 2007 Boldur Alexandru 1990 Istoria Basarabiei in Romanian Bucuresti Editura Frunza Wolff Robert Lee April 1949 The Second Bulgarian Empire Its Origin and History to 1204 Speculum The University of Chicago Press 24 2 167 199 doi 10 2307 2848560 JSTOR 2848560 S2CID 164165193 Fine John 1994 The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest University of Michigan Press ISBN 9780472082605 External links edit nbsp Media related to Asen dynasty at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Asen dynasty amp oldid 1168393900, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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