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Ivan Asen II

Ivan Asen II, also known as John Asen II (Bulgarian: Иван Асен II, [iˈvan ɐˈsɛn ˈftɔri]; 1190s – May/June 1241), was Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1218 to 1241. He was still a child when his father Ivan Asen I – one of the founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire – was killed in 1196. His supporters tried to secure the throne for him after his uncle, Kaloyan, was murdered in 1207, but Kaloyan's other nephew, Boril, overcame them. Ivan Asen fled from Bulgaria and settled in the Rus' principalities.

Ivan Asen II
Emperor of Bulgaria
Coin of Ivan Asen II
Reign1218 – 1241
PredecessorBoril
SuccessorKaliman Asen I
Born1190s
DiedMay/June 1241
SpouseAnna (Anisia)
Anna Maria of Hungary
Eirene (Xene)
IssueMaria
Beloslava
Elena
Tamara
Kaliman Asen I
Michael Asen
Anna-Teodora
Maria
HouseAsen
FatherIvan Asen I
MotherElena

Boril could never strengthen his rule which enabled Ivan Asen to muster an army and return to Bulgaria. He captured Tarnovo and blinded Boril in 1218. Initially, he supported the full communion of the Bulgarian Church with the Papacy and concluded alliances with the neighboring Catholic powers, Hungary and the Latin Empire of Constantinople. He tried to achieve the regency for the 11-year-old Latin Emperor, Baldwin II, after 1228, but the Latin aristocrats did not support Ivan Asen. He inflicted a crushing defeat on Theodore Komnenos Doukas of the Empire of Thessalonica, in the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230. Theodore's empire soon collapsed and Ivan Asen conquered large territories in Macedonia, Thessaly and Thrace.

The control of the trade on the Via Egnatia enabled Ivan Asen to implement an ambitious building program in Tarnovo and struck gold coins in his new mint in Ohrid. He started negotiations about the return of the Bulgarian Church to Orthodoxy after the barons of the Latin Empire had elected John of Brienne regent for Baldwin II in 1229. Ivan Asen and the Emperor of Nicaea, John III Vatatzes, concluded an alliance against the Latin Empire at their meeting in 1235. During the same conference, the rank of patriarch was granted to the head of the Bulgarian Church in token of its autocephaly (independence). Ivan Asen and Vatatzes joined their forces in attacking Constantinople, but the former realized that Vatatzes could primarily take advantage of the fall of the Latin Empire and broke off his alliance with Nicaea in 1237. After the Mongols invaded the Pontic steppes, several Cuman groups fled to Bulgaria.

Early life edit

Ivan Asen's father, Ivan Asen I, was one of the two leaders of the great uprising of the Bulgarians and Vlachs against the Byzantine Empire in 1185.[1] The nomadic Cumans, who dwelled in the Pontic steppes, supported the rebels, aiding them in the foundation of the Second Bulgarian Empire.[1][2] The nation initially encompassed the Balkan Mountains and the plains to the north of the mountains as far as the Lower Danube.[1] Ivan Asen I was styled "basileus" (or emperor) of the Bulgarians from around 1187.[3] His son and namesake was born between 1192 and 1196.[3][4] The child's mother was called Elena, "the new and pious tsarina" (or empress), in the Synodikon of Tzar Boril.[5]

A boyar (or noble), Ivanko, killed Ivan Asen I in 1196.[6] The murdered emperor was succeeded by his younger brother, Kaloyan.[6] He entered into correspondence with Pope Innocent III and offered to acknowledge the popes' primacy in order to secure the support of the Holy See.[7][8] The Pope denied the request to elevate the head of the Bulgarian Church to the rank of patriarch, but he granted the inferior title of primate to the Bulgarian prelate.[9][10] The Pope did not acknowledge Kaloyan's claim to the title of emperor, but a papal legate crowned Kaloyan king in Tarnovo on 8 November 1204.[9] Kaloyan took advantage of the disintegration of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade and expanded his authority over significant territories.[7] He was murdered while besieging Thessaloniki in October 1207.[7][11]

The teenager Ivan Asen had a strong claim to succeed his uncle, but Kaloyan's Cuman widow married Boril–the son of one of Kaloyan's sisters–who was proclaimed emperor.[4][12] The exact circumstances of Boril's ascension to the throne are unknown.[12] The 13th-century historian, George Akropolites, recorded that Ivan Asen soon fled from Bulgaria and settled in the "lands of the Russians" (in the Principality of Halych or Kiev).[13] According to a later source, Ephrem the Monk, Ivan Asen and his brother, Alexander, were taken to the Cumans by their tutor before they moved to the Rus' principalities.[14] Florin Curta and John V. A. Fine write that a group of boyars had tried to secure the throne to Ivan Asen after Kaloyan's death, but they were overcome by Boril's supporters, and Ivan Asen had to leave Bulgaria.[4][11] Historian Alexandru Madgearu proposes that primarily boyars who opposed the Cumans' growing influence had supported Ivan Asen.[12]

Boril's rule was always insecure.[15] His own relatives, Strez and Alexius Slav, denied to obey to him and he had to face frequent uprisings.[15] Ivan Asen stayed in Rus' "a considerable time", according to Akropolites, before he gathered about him "a certain of the Russian rabble" and returned to Bulgaria.[16] Madgearu says, Ivan Asen could hire soldiers most probably because Boril's opponents had sent money to him.[17] Historian István Vásáry associates Ivan Asen's "Russian rabble" with the semi-nomadic Brodnici.[18] He defeated Boril and seized "not a little land" (that Madgearu tentatively associates with Dobruja).[16]

Curta and Fine write that Ivan Asen returned to Bulgaria after Boril's ally, Andrew II of Hungary, had departed for the Fifth Crusade in 1217.[19][20] Boril withdrew to Tarnovo after his defeat, but Ivan Asen laid siege to the town.[17] Akropolites claimed that the siege lasted for seven years.[16][21] Most modern historians agree that Akropolites confused months for years, but Genoveva Cankova-Petkova accepts Akropolites' chronology.[16][21] She says that the three Cuman chieftains whom Andrew II's military commander, Joachim, Count of Hermannstadt, defeated near Vidin around 1210 had been hired by Ivan Asen, because he wanted to prevent Joachim from supporting Boril against the rebels who had seized the town.[22] Vásáry states that her theory is "far-fetched", lacking any solid evidence.[23] The townspeople of Tarnovo surrendered to Ivan Asen after the long siege.[19] He captured and blinded Boril, and "gained control of all the territory of the Bulgarians", according to Acropolites.[16][19]

Reign edit

Consolidation edit

 
horismos of Ivan Asen II for the city of Ragusa (Dubrovnik)

The first decade of Ivan Asen's rule is poorly documented.[19] Andrew II of Hungary reached Bulgaria during his return from the Fifth Crusade in late 1218.[24][25] Ivan Asen did not allow the king to cross the country until Andrew promised to give his daughter, Maria, in marriage to him.[24] Maria's dowry included the region of Belgrade and Braničevo, the possession of which had been disputed by the Hungarian and Bulgarian rulers for decades.[24]

When Robert of Courtenay, the newly elected Latin Emperor, was marching from France towards Constantinople in 1221,[26] Ivan Asen accompanied him across Bulgaria.[17] He also supplied the emperor's retinue with food and fodder.[17] The relationship between Bulgaria and the Latin Empire remained peaceful during the reign of Robert.[27] Ivan Asen also made peace with the ruler of Epirus, Theodore Komnenos Doukas, who was one of the principal enemies of the Latin Empire.[28] Theodore's brother, Manuel Doukas, married Ivan Asen's illegitimate[29][citation needed] daughter, Mary, in 1225.[30][31] Theodore who regarded himself the lawful successor of the Byzantine emperors was crowned emperor around 1226.[28][32]

The Latin Emperor Robert was succeeded by his 11-year-old brother, Baldwin II, in January 1228.[27][30] Ivan Asen proposed to marry off his daughter, Helen, to the young emperor, because he wanted to lay claim to the regency.[30][33] He also promised to unite his troops with the Latins to reconquer the territories that they had lost to Theodore Komnenos Doukas.[33] Although the Latin lords did not want to accept his offer, they started negotiations about it, because they tried to avoid a military conflict with him.[30] Simultaneously, they offered the regency to the former king of Jerusalem, John of Brienne, who agreed to leave Italy for Constantinople, but they kept their agreement in secret for years.[34] Only Venetian authors who compiled their chronicles decades after the events–Marino Sanudo, Andrea Dandolo and Lorenzo de Monacis–recorded Ivan Asen's offer to the Latins, but the reliability of their report is widely accepted by modern historians.[33]

Relationship between Bulgaria and Hungary deteriorated in the late 1220s.[35] Shortly after the Mongols inflicted a serious defeat on the united armies of the Rus' princes and Cuman chieftains in the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223, a leader of a western Cuman tribe, Boricius, converted to Catholicism in the presence of Andrew II's heir and co-ruler, Béla IV.[36] Pope Gregory IX stated in a letter that those who had attacked the converted Cumans were also the enemies of the Roman Catholic Church, possibly in reference to a previous attack by Ivan Asen, according to Madgearu.[33] Hungarian troops may have tried to capture Vidin already in 1228, but the dating of the siege is uncertain, and it may have occurred only in 1232.[25][27]

Expansion edit

 
The Bulgarian Empire during the reign of Ivan Asen II.

Theodore Komnenos Doukas unexpectedly invaded Bulgaria along the river Maritsa in early 1230.[31] The Epirote and Bulgarian armies clashed at Klokotnitsa in March or April.[19][21] Ivan Asen personally commanded the reserve troops, including 1,000 Cuman mounted archers.[31] He held a copy of his peace treaty with Theodore high in the air while marching into battle as a reference to his opponents' betrayal.[37] Their sudden attack against the Epirotes secured his victory.[21][31] The Bulgarians captured Theodore and his principal officials and seized much booty, but Ivan Asen released the common soldiers.[31] After Theodore tried to hatch a plot against Ivan Asen, he had the captured emperor blinded.[31] A Spanish rabbi, Jacob Arophe, was informed that Ivan Asen first ordered two Jews to blind Theodore, because he knew that the emperor had persecuted the Jews in his empire, but they refused, for which they were thrown from a cliff.[38][39]

Bulgaria became the dominant power of Southeastern Europe after the Battle of Klokotnitsa.[40] His troops swept into Theodore's lands and conquered dozens of Epirote towns.[41] They captured Ohrid, Prilep and Serres in Macedonia, Adrianople, Demotika and Plovdiv in Thrace and also occupied Great Vlachia in Thessaly.[41][38] Alexius Slav's realm in the Rhodope Mountains was also annexed.[41][42] Ivan Asen placed Bulgarian garrisons in the important fortresses and appointed his own men to command them and to collect the taxes, but local officials continued to administer other places in the conquered territories.[43] He replaced the Greek bishops with Bulgarian prelates in Macedonia.[44] He made generous grants to the monasteries on Mount Athos during his visit there in 1230, but he could not persuade the monks to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the primate of the Bulgarian Church.[45] His son-in-law, Manuel Doukas, took control of the Empire of Thessaloniki.[38] The Bulgarian troops also made a plundering raid against Serbia, because Stefan Radoslav, King of Serbia, had supported his father-in-law, Theodore, against Bulgaria.[38]

Ivan Asen's conquests secured the Bulgarian control of the Via Egnatia (the important trade route between Thessaloniki and Durazzo).[42] He established a mint in Ohrid which began to strike gold coins.[46] His growing revenues enabled him to accomplish an ambitious building program in Tarnovo.[40] The Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs, with its facade decorated with ceramic tiles and murals, commemorated his victory at Klokotnitsa.[40] The imperial palace on the Tsaravets Hill was enlarged.[47] A memorial inscription on one of the columns of the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs recorded Ivan Asen's conquests.[38][19] It referred to him as the "tsar of the Bulgarians, Greeks and other countries", implying that he was planning to revive the Byzantine Empire under his rule.[43] He also styled himself emperor in his letter of grant to the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos and in his diploma about the privileges of the Ragusan merchants.[48] Imitating the Byzantine emperors, he sealed his charters with gold bulls.[49] One of his seals portrayed him wearing imperial insignia, also revealing his imperial ambitions.[50]

Conflicts with Catholic powers edit

News about John of Brienne's election to the regency in the Latin Empire outraged Ivan Asen.[51] He sent envoys to the Ecumenical Patriarch Germanus II to Nicaea to start negotiations about the position of the Bulgarian Church.[52] Pope Gregory IX urged Andrew II of Hungary to launch a crusade against the enemies of the Latin Empire on 9 May 1231, most probably in reference to Ivan Asen's hostile actions, according to Madgearu.[53] Béla IV of Hungary invaded Bulgaria and captured Belgrade and Braničevo in late 1231 or in 1232, but the Bulgarians reconquered the lost territories already in the early 1230s.[53][25] The Hungarians seized the Bulgarian fortress at Severin (now Drobeta-Turnu Severin in Romania) to the north of the Lower Danube and established a border province, known as the Banate of Szörény, to prevent the Bulgarians from expanding to the north.[54]

The Serbian nobles who promoted an alliance with Bulgaria revolted against Stefan Radoslav and forced him into exile in 1233.[55][56] His brother and successor, Stefan Vladislav I, married Ivan Asen's daughter, Beloslava.[55] Ivan Asen dismissed the Uniate primate of the Bulgarian Church, Basil I and continued the negotiations about the return of the Bulgarian Church to Orthodoxy.[55] The Orthodox archbishop of Ankyra, Christophoros, who visited Bulgaria in early 1233, urged Ivan Asen to send a bishop to Nicaea to be ordained by the Ecumenical Patriarch.[57] An agreement about the marriage of Theodore II Laskaris–the heir to the Emperor of Nicaea, John III Vatatzes–and Ivan Asen's daughter, Helen, was concluded in 1234.[55]

Sava, the highly respected archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, died in Tarnovo on 14 January 1235.[57] According to Madgearu, Sava had most probably been deeply involved in the negotiations between the Bulgarian Church and the Ecumenical Patriarch.[57] Ivan Asen met with Vatatzes in Lampsacus in early 1235 to reach a compromise and conclude a formal alliance.[55][25] Patriarch Germanus II and the new head of the Bulgarian Church, Joachim I, were also present at the meeting.[51] After Joachim abandoned his claim to jurisdiction over Mount Athos and the archbishops of Thessaloniki, Germanus recognized him as patriarch, thus acknowledging the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church.[51] The marriage of Helen and Theodor Lascaris was also celebrated in Lampsacus.[55]

Ivan Asen and Vatatzes made an alliance against the Latin Empire.[58] The Bulgarian troops conquered the territories to the west of the Maritsa, while the Nicean army seized the lands to the east of the river.[58][59] They laid siege to Constantinople, but John of Brienne and the Venetian fleet forced them to lift the siege before the end of 1235.[59][60] Early next year, they again attacked Constantinople, but the second siege ended in a new failure.[60]

Last years edit

Ivan Asen realized that Vatatzes could primarily take advantage of the fall of the Latin Empire.[59] He persuaded Vatatzes to return his daughter, Helen, to him, stating that he and his wife "wished to see" her and "give her a paternal embrace".[59][61] He severed his alliance with Nicea and entered into a new correspondence with Pope Gregory IX, offering to acknowledge his primacy in early 1237.[61] The Pope urged him to make peace with the Latin Empire.[62]

A new Mongol invasion of Europe forced thousands of Cumans to flee from the steppes in the summer of 1237.[62][63] Ivan Asen who could not prevent them from crossing the Danube into Bulgaria allowed them to invade Macedonia and Thrace.[62][63] The Cumans captured and pillaged the smallest fortresses and plundered the countryside.[62][63] The Latins hired Cuman troops and allied with Ivan Asen who laid siege the Nicean fortress at Tzurullon.[62] He was still besieging the fortress when news of the simultaneous deaths of his wife, son, and Patriarch Joachim I reached him.[64] Taking these events as signs of the wrath of God for breaking his alliance with Vatatzes, Ivan Asen abandoned the siege and sent his daughter Helena back to her husband in Nicaea at the end of 1237.[65]

The widowed Ivan Asen fell in love with Irene who had been captured along with her father Theodore Komnenos Doukas in 1230.[66] According to Akropolites, Ivan Asen loved his new wife "exceedingly, no less than Antony did Cleopatra".[67] The marriage resulted in the release of Theodore, who returned to Thessalonica, chased out his brother Manuel, and imposed his own son John as despot.[66] Pope Gregory IX accused Ivan Asen of protecting heretics and urged Béla IV of Hungary to launch a crusade against Bulgaria in early 1238.[67] The Pope offered Bulgaria to Béla, but the Hungarian king did not want to wage war against Ivan Asen.[68] Ivan Asen granted a free passage to the Latin emperor, Baldwin II, and the crusaders who accompanied him during their march from France to Constantinople in 1239, although he had not abandoned his alliance with Vatatzes.[69] New crusader troops crossed Bulgaria with Ivan Asen's consent in early 1240.[69]

Ivan Asen sent envoys to Hungary before May 1240, most probably because he wanted to forge a defensive alliance against the Mongols.[66] The Mongols' authority expanded as far as the Lower Danube after they captured Kiev on 6 December 1240.[70] The Mongol expansion forced dozens of dispossessed Rus' princes and boyars to flee to Bulgaria.[70] The Cumans who had settled in Hungary also fled to Bulgaria after their chieftain, Köten, was murdered in March 1241.[71][72] According to a biography of the Mamluk sultan, Baibars, who was descended from a Cuman tribe, this tribe also sought asylum in Bulgaria after the Mongol invasion.[73] The same source adds, that "A.n.s.khan, the king of Vlachia", who is associated with Ivan Asen by modern scholars, allowed the Cumans to settle in a valley, but he soon attacked and killed or enslaved them.[74] Madgearu writes that Ivan Asen most probably attacked the Cumans because he wanted to prevent them from pillaging Bulgaria.[75]

The date of Ivan Asen's death is unknown.[75] Vásáry says, the tsar died on 24 June 1241.[76] However, the contemporaneous Alberic of Trois-Fontaines recorded that Ivan Asen's successor, Kaliman I Asen, signed a truce on the feast of Saint John the Baptist (24 June), evidencing that Ivan Asen had already died.[75] Madgearu writes, that Ivan Asen most probably died in May or June 1241.[75]

Family edit

Ivan Asen married two or three times.[77] According to a scholarly theory, his first wife was one Anna whom he forced to enter a monastery after he engaged Maria of Hungary and Anna died as the nun Anisia.[77] Historian Plamen Pavlov states that Anna–Anisia was actually Kaloyan's widow.[77] Anna–Anisia may have been a concubine instead of a legitimate spouse, and she may have been the mother of his two eldest daughters:[78]

  1. Maria (?), who married Manuel of Thessalonica.[29][79]
  2. Beloslava (?), who married Stefan Vladislav I of Serbia.[80]

Ivan Asen married Maria of Hungary in 1221.[77][81] The Synodikon of Tsar Boril and other Bulgarian primary sources referred to her as Anna, suggesting that her name was changed either after she came to Bulgaria, or after she converted to Orthodoxy in 1235.[77][82] She gave birth to four children.[83]

  • Helen, who was married to Theodore II Lascaris in 1235, was one of her daughters.[84] Maria-Anna's other daughter,
  • Tamara, was promised to the future Byzantine emperor, Michael Palaiologos in 1254.[85] Ivan Asen and Maria-Anna's elder son,
  • Kaliman Asen, was born in 1234, thus he was still a minor when he succeeded his father.[75] Maria-Anna and his other son
  • Peter (?) died while Ivan Asen II was besieging Tzurullon in the summer of 1237.[62]

Marrying Irene Komnene Doukaina, Ivan Asen II would have broken church canons, as his daughter from a previous marriage was married to Eirene's uncle Manuel of Thessalonica.[86] There is moot evidence[clarification needed] that the Bulgarian church opposed the marriage and that a patriarch (called either Spiridon or Vissarion) was deposed or executed by the irate tsar.[87][88] Akropolites recorded two lists about Ivan Asen's children by his third (or second) wife, Irene Komnene Doukaina.[89] Irene gave birth to

  • "Michael Asen, Theodora and Maria", according to the first list, but the second list mentioned "a son, Michael, and ... daughters, Maria and Anna".[89] The discrepancy between the two lists can most plausibly resolved through the association of Theodora with Anna, as it was proposed by historian Ivan Božilov.[90] Michael succeeded his half-brother, Kaliman, in 1246.[91]
  • One of the two daughters are supposed to have been given in marriage to sebastokrator Peter who was mentioned as Michael II Asen's brother-in-law in 1253.[92] Peter's wife has traditionally been associated with Anna-Teodora, but she may have actually been identical with Maria, according to historian Ian Mladjov.[85] Modern historians assume that Michael Shishman, Ivan Alexander and their successors were descended from Peter and his wife.[85]
  • Ivan Asen's second daughter by Irene was most probably the wife of the boyar Mitso.[93] Mitso laid claim to Bulgaria after Michael II Asen died in 1256 or 1257.[94] Historians who associates sebastokrator Peter's wife with Anna-Teodora say that Mitso married Maria, but Mladjov emphasizes that this identification is uncertain, and Mitso may have married Anna-Teodora.[93] The Byzantine branch of the Asen family was descended from Mitso and his wife.[85]
Family tree of Ivan Asen II[95][96]
Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria Elena-Evgenia
Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria
1.Anna (Anisia) 2.Anna Maria of Hungary 3.Irene Komnene Doukaina
1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3
Maria Elena Kaliman Asen I Michael Asen Maria
Beloslava Thamar Peter (?) Anna-Teodora

Legacy edit

Akropolites characterized Ivan Asen as "a man who proved to be excellent among barbarians not only with regard to his own people but also even with respect to foreigners".[75] Historian Jean W. Sedlar described him as the "last really powerful ruler of Bulgaria".[97] Being a successful military commander and a skillful diplomat, he conquered almost all lands that had been included in the First Bulgarian Empire during the reign of Simeon I.[1] He also achieved that Hungary did not pose a major threat to Bulgaria.[98][99]

The boyars' fear of punishment and their hunger for booty secured their allegiance to Ivan Asen.[98] However, these personal ties could not permanently secure the dominance of royal authority.[98] The local boyars remained the actual rulers of the provinces, because they controlled the collection of the taxes and the raising of troops.[98] Ivan Asen's reign "ended at a moment of complete disaster",[100] during the Mongol invasion of Europe.[98] The Mongols invaded Bulgaria in 1242 and forced Bulgarians to pay a yearly tribute to them.[98] The minority of Ivan Asen's successor gave rise to the formation of boyar factions and the neighboring powers quickly conquered the peripheral territories.[98]

Ivan Asen II's seal is depicted on the reverse of the Bulgarian 2 lev banknote, issued in 1999 and 2005.[101]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Sedlar 1994, p. 22.
  2. ^ Curta 2006, p. 360.
  3. ^ a b Madgearu 2017, p. 27.
  4. ^ a b c Fine 1994, p. 91.
  5. ^ Petkov 2008, p. 258.
  6. ^ a b Curta 2006, p. 363.
  7. ^ a b c Crampton 2005, p. 24.
  8. ^ Curta 2006, p. 380.
  9. ^ a b Curta 2006, p. 383.
  10. ^ Madgearu 2017, p. 135.
  11. ^ a b Curta 2006, p. 384.
  12. ^ a b c Madgearu 2017, p. 175.
  13. ^ Madgearu 2017, pp. 3, 175.
  14. ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 57.
  15. ^ a b Fine 1994, p. 93.
  16. ^ a b c d e Madgearu 2017, p. 193.
  17. ^ a b c d Madgearu 2017, p. 194.
  18. ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 61.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Curta 2006, p. 386.
  20. ^ Fine 1994, p. 106.
  21. ^ a b c d Vásáry 2005, p. 62.
  22. ^ Vásáry 2005, pp. 59–60.
  23. ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 60.
  24. ^ a b c Madgearu 2017, p. 196.
  25. ^ a b c d Fine 1994, p. 129.
  26. ^ Fine 1994, p. 113.
  27. ^ a b c Madgearu 2017, p. 198.
  28. ^ a b Madgearu 2017, p. 200.
  29. ^ a b Varzos 1984, p. 604.
  30. ^ a b c d Fine 1994, p. 123.
  31. ^ a b c d e f Madgearu 2017, p. 201.
  32. ^ Fine 1994, p. 120.
  33. ^ a b c d Madgearu 2017, p. 199.
  34. ^ Fine 1994, pp. 123–124.
  35. ^ Madgearu 2017, pp. 197–198.
  36. ^ Curta 2006, p. 406.
  37. ^ Sedlar 1994, p. 375.
  38. ^ a b c d e Madgearu 2017, p. 202.
  39. ^ Fine 1994, pp. 124–125.
  40. ^ a b c Curta 2006, p. 387.
  41. ^ a b c Fine 1994, p. 125.
  42. ^ a b Madgearu 2017, p. 205.
  43. ^ a b Madgearu 2017, p. 203.
  44. ^ Fine 1994, p. 126.
  45. ^ Fine 1994, pp. 126–127.
  46. ^ Madgearu 2017, pp. 215–216.
  47. ^ Madgearu 2017, p. 213.
  48. ^ Madgearu 2017, pp. 203–204.
  49. ^ Sedlar 1994, p. 46.
  50. ^ Madgearu 2017, p. 204.
  51. ^ a b c Fine 1994, pp. 128–129.
  52. ^ Madgearu 2017, pp. 205–206.
  53. ^ a b Madgearu 2017, p. 206.
  54. ^ Madgearu 2017, pp. 206–208.
  55. ^ a b c d e f Madgearu 2017, p. 209.
  56. ^ Fine 1994, p. 136.
  57. ^ a b c Madgearu 2017, p. 210.
  58. ^ a b Vásáry 2005, p. 63.
  59. ^ a b c d Fine 1994, p. 130.
  60. ^ a b Madgearu 2017, p. 216.
  61. ^ a b Madgearu 2017, p. 219.
  62. ^ a b c d e f Madgearu 2017, p. 220.
  63. ^ a b c Vásáry 2005, p. 64.
  64. ^ Fine 1994, p. 131.
  65. ^ Madgearu 2017, pp. 220–221.
  66. ^ a b c Fine 1994, p. 133.
  67. ^ a b Madgearu 2017, p. 221.
  68. ^ Madgearu 2017, p. 222.
  69. ^ a b Madgearu 2017, p. 223.
  70. ^ a b Fine 1994, p. 155.
  71. ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 65.
  72. ^ Curta 2006, p. 407.
  73. ^ Madgearu 2017, p. 224.
  74. ^ Madgearu 2017, pp. 224–225.
  75. ^ a b c d e f Madgearu 2017, p. 225.
  76. ^ Vásáry 2005, p. 66.
  77. ^ a b c d e Madgearu 2017, p. 197.
  78. ^ Andreev, Lazarov & Pavlov 2012, p. 19.
  79. ^ François Bredenkamp (1996). The Byzantine Empire of Thessaloniki, 1224-1242. Municipality of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki History Center. p. 148. ISBN 9789608433175.
  80. ^ Fajfrić 2000, ch. 19
  81. ^ Georgieva 2015, pp. 346–347.
  82. ^ Georgieva 2015, pp. 351–352.
  83. ^ Georgieva 2015, p. 351.
  84. ^ Georgieva 2015, p. 350.
  85. ^ a b c d Mladjov 2012, p. 487.
  86. ^ Varzos 1984, p. 637.
  87. ^ Andreev & Lalkov 1996, pp. 193–194.
  88. ^ Andreev, Lazarov & Pavlov 2012, p. 114.
  89. ^ a b Mladjov 2012, p. 485.
  90. ^ Mladjov 2012, pp. 485–486.
  91. ^ Madgearu 2017, p. 236.
  92. ^ Madgearu 2017, p. 245.
  93. ^ a b Mladjov 2012, pp. 486–487.
  94. ^ Madgearu 2017, pp. 243, 246.
  95. ^ Božilov, Familijata na Asenevci, pp. 192–235.
  96. ^ Božilov, Ivan; Vasil Gjuzelev (2006). Istorija na srednovekovna Bǎlgarija VII-XIV vek (tom 1) (in Bulgarian). Anubis. ISBN 954-426-204-0.
  97. ^ Sedlar 1994, p. 376.
  98. ^ a b c d e f g Fine 1994, p. 154.
  99. ^ Crampton 2005, p. 25.
  100. ^ Madgearu 2017, p. 227.
  101. ^ Bulgarian National Bank. Notes and Coins in Circulation: 2 levs (1999 issue) & 2 levs (2005 issue). – Retrieved on 26 March 2009.

Sources edit

  • Андреев (Andreev), Йордан (Jordan); Лалков (Lalkov), Милчо (Milcho) (1996). Българските ханове и царе [The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars] (in Bulgarian). Абагар (Abagar). ISBN 954-427-216-X.
  • Андреев (Andreev), Йордан (Jordan); Лазаров (Lazarov), Иван (Ivan); Павлов (Pavlov), Пламен (Plamen) (2012). Кой кой е в средновековна България [Who is Who in Medieval Bulgaria] (in Bulgarian). Изток Запад (Iztok Zapad). ISBN 978-619-152-012-1.
  • Canev, Stefan (2006). "6 (1218–1241) Zavoevateljat na duši. Car Ivan Asen II". Bǎlgarski hroniki (in Bulgarian). Trud, Žanet 45. ISBN 954-528-610-5.
  • Crampton, R. J. (2005). A Concise History of Bulgaria. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-85085-8.
  • Curta, Florin (2006). Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-85085-8.
  • Delev, Petǎr; Valeri Kacunov; Plamen Mitev; Evgenia Kalinova; Iskra Baeva; Bojan Dobrev (2006). "16 Bǎlgarskata dǎržava pri Car Simeon; 10 Zlatnijat vek na bǎlgarskata kultura". storija i civilizacija za 11. klas (in Bulgarian). Trud, Sirma. ISBN 954-9926-72-9.
  • Dimitrov, Božidar (1994). . Bulgaria: illustrated history. Sofia: Borina. ISBN 954-500-044-9. Archived from the original on 2007-04-04. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  • Fajfrić, Željko (2000) [1998], Sveta loza Stefana Nemanje, Belgrade: Tehnologije, izdavastvo, agencija Janus
  • Fine, John V. A. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
  • Georgieva, Sashka (2015). "Bulgarian-Hungarian marital diplomacy during the first half of the thirteenth century". Bulgaria Mediaevalis. 6 (1): 339–355. ISSN 1314-2941.
  • Lalkov, Milčo (1997). . Rulers of Bulgaria. Kibea. ISBN 954-474-098-8. Archived from the original on 2007-04-04. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  • Madgearu, Alexandru (2017). The Asanids: The Political and Military History of the Second Bulgarian Empire, 1185–1280. BRILL. ISBN 978-9-004-32501-2.
  • Mladjov, Ian S. R. (2012). "The Children of Ivan Asen II and Eirene Komnene". Bulgaria Mediaevalis. 3 (1): 485–500. ISSN 1314-2941.
  • Petkov, Kiril (2008). The Voices of Medieval Bulgaria, Seventh-Fifteenth Century: The Records of a Bygone Culture. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-16831-2.
  • Sedlar, Jean W. (1994). East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97290-4.
  • Varzos, Konstantinos (1984). [The Genealogy of the Komnenoi] (PDF) (in Greek). Vol. B. Thessaloniki: Centre for Byzantine Studies, University of Thessaloniki. OCLC 834784665.
  • Vásáry, István (2005). Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-83756-1.
  • Vasiliev, Alexander (1952). "The role of Bulgaria in the Christian East under Tsar John Asen II". A History of the Byzantine Empire. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. OCLC 2323191.
  • . Bǎlgarite i Bǎlgarija (in Bulgarian). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Trud, Sirma. 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-09-07.

External links edit

  • Detailed List of Bulgarian Rulers
Regnal titles
Preceded by Emperor of Bulgaria
1218–1241
Succeeded by

ivan, asen, also, known, john, asen, bulgarian, Иван, Асен, iˈvan, ɐˈsɛn, ˈftɔri, 1190s, june, 1241, emperor, tsar, bulgaria, from, 1218, 1241, still, child, when, father, ivan, asen, founders, second, bulgarian, empire, killed, 1196, supporters, tried, secure. Ivan Asen II also known as John Asen II Bulgarian Ivan Asen II iˈvan ɐˈsɛn ˈftɔri 1190s May June 1241 was Emperor Tsar of Bulgaria from 1218 to 1241 He was still a child when his father Ivan Asen I one of the founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire was killed in 1196 His supporters tried to secure the throne for him after his uncle Kaloyan was murdered in 1207 but Kaloyan s other nephew Boril overcame them Ivan Asen fled from Bulgaria and settled in the Rus principalities Ivan Asen IIEmperor of BulgariaCoin of Ivan Asen IIReign1218 1241PredecessorBorilSuccessorKaliman Asen IBorn1190sDiedMay June 1241SpouseAnna Anisia Anna Maria of Hungary Eirene Xene IssueMariaBeloslavaElenaTamaraKaliman Asen IMichael AsenAnna TeodoraMariaHouseAsenFatherIvan Asen IMotherElena Boril could never strengthen his rule which enabled Ivan Asen to muster an army and return to Bulgaria He captured Tarnovo and blinded Boril in 1218 Initially he supported the full communion of the Bulgarian Church with the Papacy and concluded alliances with the neighboring Catholic powers Hungary and the Latin Empire of Constantinople He tried to achieve the regency for the 11 year old Latin Emperor Baldwin II after 1228 but the Latin aristocrats did not support Ivan Asen He inflicted a crushing defeat on Theodore Komnenos Doukas of the Empire of Thessalonica in the Battle of Klokotnitsa in 1230 Theodore s empire soon collapsed and Ivan Asen conquered large territories in Macedonia Thessaly and Thrace The control of the trade on the Via Egnatia enabled Ivan Asen to implement an ambitious building program in Tarnovo and struck gold coins in his new mint in Ohrid He started negotiations about the return of the Bulgarian Church to Orthodoxy after the barons of the Latin Empire had elected John of Brienne regent for Baldwin II in 1229 Ivan Asen and the Emperor of Nicaea John III Vatatzes concluded an alliance against the Latin Empire at their meeting in 1235 During the same conference the rank of patriarch was granted to the head of the Bulgarian Church in token of its autocephaly independence Ivan Asen and Vatatzes joined their forces in attacking Constantinople but the former realized that Vatatzes could primarily take advantage of the fall of the Latin Empire and broke off his alliance with Nicaea in 1237 After the Mongols invaded the Pontic steppes several Cuman groups fled to Bulgaria Contents 1 Early life 2 Reign 2 1 Consolidation 2 2 Expansion 2 3 Conflicts with Catholic powers 2 4 Last years 3 Family 4 Legacy 5 See also 6 References 7 Sources 8 External linksEarly life editIvan Asen s father Ivan Asen I was one of the two leaders of the great uprising of the Bulgarians and Vlachs against the Byzantine Empire in 1185 1 The nomadic Cumans who dwelled in the Pontic steppes supported the rebels aiding them in the foundation of the Second Bulgarian Empire 1 2 The nation initially encompassed the Balkan Mountains and the plains to the north of the mountains as far as the Lower Danube 1 Ivan Asen I was styled basileus or emperor of the Bulgarians from around 1187 3 His son and namesake was born between 1192 and 1196 3 4 The child s mother was called Elena the new and pious tsarina or empress in the Synodikon of Tzar Boril 5 A boyar or noble Ivanko killed Ivan Asen I in 1196 6 The murdered emperor was succeeded by his younger brother Kaloyan 6 He entered into correspondence with Pope Innocent III and offered to acknowledge the popes primacy in order to secure the support of the Holy See 7 8 The Pope denied the request to elevate the head of the Bulgarian Church to the rank of patriarch but he granted the inferior title of primate to the Bulgarian prelate 9 10 The Pope did not acknowledge Kaloyan s claim to the title of emperor but a papal legate crowned Kaloyan king in Tarnovo on 8 November 1204 9 Kaloyan took advantage of the disintegration of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade and expanded his authority over significant territories 7 He was murdered while besieging Thessaloniki in October 1207 7 11 The teenager Ivan Asen had a strong claim to succeed his uncle but Kaloyan s Cuman widow married Boril the son of one of Kaloyan s sisters who was proclaimed emperor 4 12 The exact circumstances of Boril s ascension to the throne are unknown 12 The 13th century historian George Akropolites recorded that Ivan Asen soon fled from Bulgaria and settled in the lands of the Russians in the Principality of Halych or Kiev 13 According to a later source Ephrem the Monk Ivan Asen and his brother Alexander were taken to the Cumans by their tutor before they moved to the Rus principalities 14 Florin Curta and John V A Fine write that a group of boyars had tried to secure the throne to Ivan Asen after Kaloyan s death but they were overcome by Boril s supporters and Ivan Asen had to leave Bulgaria 4 11 Historian Alexandru Madgearu proposes that primarily boyars who opposed the Cumans growing influence had supported Ivan Asen 12 Boril s rule was always insecure 15 His own relatives Strez and Alexius Slav denied to obey to him and he had to face frequent uprisings 15 Ivan Asen stayed in Rus a considerable time according to Akropolites before he gathered about him a certain of the Russian rabble and returned to Bulgaria 16 Madgearu says Ivan Asen could hire soldiers most probably because Boril s opponents had sent money to him 17 Historian Istvan Vasary associates Ivan Asen s Russian rabble with the semi nomadic Brodnici 18 He defeated Boril and seized not a little land that Madgearu tentatively associates with Dobruja 16 Curta and Fine write that Ivan Asen returned to Bulgaria after Boril s ally Andrew II of Hungary had departed for the Fifth Crusade in 1217 19 20 Boril withdrew to Tarnovo after his defeat but Ivan Asen laid siege to the town 17 Akropolites claimed that the siege lasted for seven years 16 21 Most modern historians agree that Akropolites confused months for years but Genoveva Cankova Petkova accepts Akropolites chronology 16 21 She says that the three Cuman chieftains whom Andrew II s military commander Joachim Count of Hermannstadt defeated near Vidin around 1210 had been hired by Ivan Asen because he wanted to prevent Joachim from supporting Boril against the rebels who had seized the town 22 Vasary states that her theory is far fetched lacking any solid evidence 23 The townspeople of Tarnovo surrendered to Ivan Asen after the long siege 19 He captured and blinded Boril and gained control of all the territory of the Bulgarians according to Acropolites 16 19 Reign editConsolidation edit nbsp horismos of Ivan Asen II for the city of Ragusa Dubrovnik The first decade of Ivan Asen s rule is poorly documented 19 Andrew II of Hungary reached Bulgaria during his return from the Fifth Crusade in late 1218 24 25 Ivan Asen did not allow the king to cross the country until Andrew promised to give his daughter Maria in marriage to him 24 Maria s dowry included the region of Belgrade and Branicevo the possession of which had been disputed by the Hungarian and Bulgarian rulers for decades 24 When Robert of Courtenay the newly elected Latin Emperor was marching from France towards Constantinople in 1221 26 Ivan Asen accompanied him across Bulgaria 17 He also supplied the emperor s retinue with food and fodder 17 The relationship between Bulgaria and the Latin Empire remained peaceful during the reign of Robert 27 Ivan Asen also made peace with the ruler of Epirus Theodore Komnenos Doukas who was one of the principal enemies of the Latin Empire 28 Theodore s brother Manuel Doukas married Ivan Asen s illegitimate 29 citation needed daughter Mary in 1225 30 31 Theodore who regarded himself the lawful successor of the Byzantine emperors was crowned emperor around 1226 28 32 The Latin Emperor Robert was succeeded by his 11 year old brother Baldwin II in January 1228 27 30 Ivan Asen proposed to marry off his daughter Helen to the young emperor because he wanted to lay claim to the regency 30 33 He also promised to unite his troops with the Latins to reconquer the territories that they had lost to Theodore Komnenos Doukas 33 Although the Latin lords did not want to accept his offer they started negotiations about it because they tried to avoid a military conflict with him 30 Simultaneously they offered the regency to the former king of Jerusalem John of Brienne who agreed to leave Italy for Constantinople but they kept their agreement in secret for years 34 Only Venetian authors who compiled their chronicles decades after the events Marino Sanudo Andrea Dandolo and Lorenzo de Monacis recorded Ivan Asen s offer to the Latins but the reliability of their report is widely accepted by modern historians 33 Relationship between Bulgaria and Hungary deteriorated in the late 1220s 35 Shortly after the Mongols inflicted a serious defeat on the united armies of the Rus princes and Cuman chieftains in the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223 a leader of a western Cuman tribe Boricius converted to Catholicism in the presence of Andrew II s heir and co ruler Bela IV 36 Pope Gregory IX stated in a letter that those who had attacked the converted Cumans were also the enemies of the Roman Catholic Church possibly in reference to a previous attack by Ivan Asen according to Madgearu 33 Hungarian troops may have tried to capture Vidin already in 1228 but the dating of the siege is uncertain and it may have occurred only in 1232 25 27 Expansion edit nbsp The Bulgarian Empire during the reign of Ivan Asen II Theodore Komnenos Doukas unexpectedly invaded Bulgaria along the river Maritsa in early 1230 31 The Epirote and Bulgarian armies clashed at Klokotnitsa in March or April 19 21 Ivan Asen personally commanded the reserve troops including 1 000 Cuman mounted archers 31 He held a copy of his peace treaty with Theodore high in the air while marching into battle as a reference to his opponents betrayal 37 Their sudden attack against the Epirotes secured his victory 21 31 The Bulgarians captured Theodore and his principal officials and seized much booty but Ivan Asen released the common soldiers 31 After Theodore tried to hatch a plot against Ivan Asen he had the captured emperor blinded 31 A Spanish rabbi Jacob Arophe was informed that Ivan Asen first ordered two Jews to blind Theodore because he knew that the emperor had persecuted the Jews in his empire but they refused for which they were thrown from a cliff 38 39 Bulgaria became the dominant power of Southeastern Europe after the Battle of Klokotnitsa 40 His troops swept into Theodore s lands and conquered dozens of Epirote towns 41 They captured Ohrid Prilep and Serres in Macedonia Adrianople Demotika and Plovdiv in Thrace and also occupied Great Vlachia in Thessaly 41 38 Alexius Slav s realm in the Rhodope Mountains was also annexed 41 42 Ivan Asen placed Bulgarian garrisons in the important fortresses and appointed his own men to command them and to collect the taxes but local officials continued to administer other places in the conquered territories 43 He replaced the Greek bishops with Bulgarian prelates in Macedonia 44 He made generous grants to the monasteries on Mount Athos during his visit there in 1230 but he could not persuade the monks to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the primate of the Bulgarian Church 45 His son in law Manuel Doukas took control of the Empire of Thessaloniki 38 The Bulgarian troops also made a plundering raid against Serbia because Stefan Radoslav King of Serbia had supported his father in law Theodore against Bulgaria 38 Ivan Asen s conquests secured the Bulgarian control of the Via Egnatia the important trade route between Thessaloniki and Durazzo 42 He established a mint in Ohrid which began to strike gold coins 46 His growing revenues enabled him to accomplish an ambitious building program in Tarnovo 40 The Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs with its facade decorated with ceramic tiles and murals commemorated his victory at Klokotnitsa 40 The imperial palace on the Tsaravets Hill was enlarged 47 A memorial inscription on one of the columns of the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs recorded Ivan Asen s conquests 38 19 It referred to him as the tsar of the Bulgarians Greeks and other countries implying that he was planning to revive the Byzantine Empire under his rule 43 He also styled himself emperor in his letter of grant to the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos and in his diploma about the privileges of the Ragusan merchants 48 Imitating the Byzantine emperors he sealed his charters with gold bulls 49 One of his seals portrayed him wearing imperial insignia also revealing his imperial ambitions 50 Conflicts with Catholic powers edit News about John of Brienne s election to the regency in the Latin Empire outraged Ivan Asen 51 He sent envoys to the Ecumenical Patriarch Germanus II to Nicaea to start negotiations about the position of the Bulgarian Church 52 Pope Gregory IX urged Andrew II of Hungary to launch a crusade against the enemies of the Latin Empire on 9 May 1231 most probably in reference to Ivan Asen s hostile actions according to Madgearu 53 Bela IV of Hungary invaded Bulgaria and captured Belgrade and Branicevo in late 1231 or in 1232 but the Bulgarians reconquered the lost territories already in the early 1230s 53 25 The Hungarians seized the Bulgarian fortress at Severin now Drobeta Turnu Severin in Romania to the north of the Lower Danube and established a border province known as the Banate of Szoreny to prevent the Bulgarians from expanding to the north 54 The Serbian nobles who promoted an alliance with Bulgaria revolted against Stefan Radoslav and forced him into exile in 1233 55 56 His brother and successor Stefan Vladislav I married Ivan Asen s daughter Beloslava 55 Ivan Asen dismissed the Uniate primate of the Bulgarian Church Basil I and continued the negotiations about the return of the Bulgarian Church to Orthodoxy 55 The Orthodox archbishop of Ankyra Christophoros who visited Bulgaria in early 1233 urged Ivan Asen to send a bishop to Nicaea to be ordained by the Ecumenical Patriarch 57 An agreement about the marriage of Theodore II Laskaris the heir to the Emperor of Nicaea John III Vatatzes and Ivan Asen s daughter Helen was concluded in 1234 55 Sava the highly respected archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church died in Tarnovo on 14 January 1235 57 According to Madgearu Sava had most probably been deeply involved in the negotiations between the Bulgarian Church and the Ecumenical Patriarch 57 Ivan Asen met with Vatatzes in Lampsacus in early 1235 to reach a compromise and conclude a formal alliance 55 25 Patriarch Germanus II and the new head of the Bulgarian Church Joachim I were also present at the meeting 51 After Joachim abandoned his claim to jurisdiction over Mount Athos and the archbishops of Thessaloniki Germanus recognized him as patriarch thus acknowledging the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church 51 The marriage of Helen and Theodor Lascaris was also celebrated in Lampsacus 55 Ivan Asen and Vatatzes made an alliance against the Latin Empire 58 The Bulgarian troops conquered the territories to the west of the Maritsa while the Nicean army seized the lands to the east of the river 58 59 They laid siege to Constantinople but John of Brienne and the Venetian fleet forced them to lift the siege before the end of 1235 59 60 Early next year they again attacked Constantinople but the second siege ended in a new failure 60 Last years edit Ivan Asen realized that Vatatzes could primarily take advantage of the fall of the Latin Empire 59 He persuaded Vatatzes to return his daughter Helen to him stating that he and his wife wished to see her and give her a paternal embrace 59 61 He severed his alliance with Nicea and entered into a new correspondence with Pope Gregory IX offering to acknowledge his primacy in early 1237 61 The Pope urged him to make peace with the Latin Empire 62 A new Mongol invasion of Europe forced thousands of Cumans to flee from the steppes in the summer of 1237 62 63 Ivan Asen who could not prevent them from crossing the Danube into Bulgaria allowed them to invade Macedonia and Thrace 62 63 The Cumans captured and pillaged the smallest fortresses and plundered the countryside 62 63 The Latins hired Cuman troops and allied with Ivan Asen who laid siege the Nicean fortress at Tzurullon 62 He was still besieging the fortress when news of the simultaneous deaths of his wife son and Patriarch Joachim I reached him 64 Taking these events as signs of the wrath of God for breaking his alliance with Vatatzes Ivan Asen abandoned the siege and sent his daughter Helena back to her husband in Nicaea at the end of 1237 65 The widowed Ivan Asen fell in love with Irene who had been captured along with her father Theodore Komnenos Doukas in 1230 66 According to Akropolites Ivan Asen loved his new wife exceedingly no less than Antony did Cleopatra 67 The marriage resulted in the release of Theodore who returned to Thessalonica chased out his brother Manuel and imposed his own son John as despot 66 Pope Gregory IX accused Ivan Asen of protecting heretics and urged Bela IV of Hungary to launch a crusade against Bulgaria in early 1238 67 The Pope offered Bulgaria to Bela but the Hungarian king did not want to wage war against Ivan Asen 68 Ivan Asen granted a free passage to the Latin emperor Baldwin II and the crusaders who accompanied him during their march from France to Constantinople in 1239 although he had not abandoned his alliance with Vatatzes 69 New crusader troops crossed Bulgaria with Ivan Asen s consent in early 1240 69 Ivan Asen sent envoys to Hungary before May 1240 most probably because he wanted to forge a defensive alliance against the Mongols 66 The Mongols authority expanded as far as the Lower Danube after they captured Kiev on 6 December 1240 70 The Mongol expansion forced dozens of dispossessed Rus princes and boyars to flee to Bulgaria 70 The Cumans who had settled in Hungary also fled to Bulgaria after their chieftain Koten was murdered in March 1241 71 72 According to a biography of the Mamluk sultan Baibars who was descended from a Cuman tribe this tribe also sought asylum in Bulgaria after the Mongol invasion 73 The same source adds that A n s khan the king of Vlachia who is associated with Ivan Asen by modern scholars allowed the Cumans to settle in a valley but he soon attacked and killed or enslaved them 74 Madgearu writes that Ivan Asen most probably attacked the Cumans because he wanted to prevent them from pillaging Bulgaria 75 The date of Ivan Asen s death is unknown 75 Vasary says the tsar died on 24 June 1241 76 However the contemporaneous Alberic of Trois Fontaines recorded that Ivan Asen s successor Kaliman I Asen signed a truce on the feast of Saint John the Baptist 24 June evidencing that Ivan Asen had already died 75 Madgearu writes that Ivan Asen most probably died in May or June 1241 75 Family editIvan Asen married two or three times 77 According to a scholarly theory his first wife was one Anna whom he forced to enter a monastery after he engaged Maria of Hungary and Anna died as the nun Anisia 77 Historian Plamen Pavlov states that Anna Anisia was actually Kaloyan s widow 77 Anna Anisia may have been a concubine instead of a legitimate spouse and she may have been the mother of his two eldest daughters 78 Maria who married Manuel of Thessalonica 29 79 Beloslava who married Stefan Vladislav I of Serbia 80 Ivan Asen married Maria of Hungary in 1221 77 81 The Synodikon of Tsar Boril and other Bulgarian primary sources referred to her as Anna suggesting that her name was changed either after she came to Bulgaria or after she converted to Orthodoxy in 1235 77 82 She gave birth to four children 83 Helen who was married to Theodore II Lascaris in 1235 was one of her daughters 84 Maria Anna s other daughter Tamara was promised to the future Byzantine emperor Michael Palaiologos in 1254 85 Ivan Asen and Maria Anna s elder son Kaliman Asen was born in 1234 thus he was still a minor when he succeeded his father 75 Maria Anna and his other son Peter died while Ivan Asen II was besieging Tzurullon in the summer of 1237 62 Marrying Irene Komnene Doukaina Ivan Asen II would have broken church canons as his daughter from a previous marriage was married to Eirene s uncle Manuel of Thessalonica 86 There is moot evidence clarification needed that the Bulgarian church opposed the marriage and that a patriarch called either Spiridon or Vissarion was deposed or executed by the irate tsar 87 88 Akropolites recorded two lists about Ivan Asen s children by his third or second wife Irene Komnene Doukaina 89 Irene gave birth to Michael Asen Theodora and Maria according to the first list but the second list mentioned a son Michael and daughters Maria and Anna 89 The discrepancy between the two lists can most plausibly resolved through the association of Theodora with Anna as it was proposed by historian Ivan Bozilov 90 Michael succeeded his half brother Kaliman in 1246 91 One of the two daughters are supposed to have been given in marriage to sebastokrator Peter who was mentioned as Michael II Asen s brother in law in 1253 92 Peter s wife has traditionally been associated with Anna Teodora but she may have actually been identical with Maria according to historian Ian Mladjov 85 Modern historians assume that Michael Shishman Ivan Alexander and their successors were descended from Peter and his wife 85 Ivan Asen s second daughter by Irene was most probably the wife of the boyar Mitso 93 Mitso laid claim to Bulgaria after Michael II Asen died in 1256 or 1257 94 Historians who associates sebastokrator Peter s wife with Anna Teodora say that Mitso married Maria but Mladjov emphasizes that this identification is uncertain and Mitso may have married Anna Teodora 93 The Byzantine branch of the Asen family was descended from Mitso and his wife 85 Family tree of Ivan Asen II 95 96 Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria Elena Evgenia Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria 1 Anna Anisia 2 Anna Maria of Hungary 3 Irene Komnene Doukaina 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 Maria Elena Kaliman Asen I Michael Asen Maria Beloslava Thamar Peter Anna TeodoraLegacy editAkropolites characterized Ivan Asen as a man who proved to be excellent among barbarians not only with regard to his own people but also even with respect to foreigners 75 Historian Jean W Sedlar described him as the last really powerful ruler of Bulgaria 97 Being a successful military commander and a skillful diplomat he conquered almost all lands that had been included in the First Bulgarian Empire during the reign of Simeon I 1 He also achieved that Hungary did not pose a major threat to Bulgaria 98 99 The boyars fear of punishment and their hunger for booty secured their allegiance to Ivan Asen 98 However these personal ties could not permanently secure the dominance of royal authority 98 The local boyars remained the actual rulers of the provinces because they controlled the collection of the taxes and the raising of troops 98 Ivan Asen s reign ended at a moment of complete disaster 100 during the Mongol invasion of Europe 98 The Mongols invaded Bulgaria in 1242 and forced Bulgarians to pay a yearly tribute to them 98 The minority of Ivan Asen s successor gave rise to the formation of boyar factions and the neighboring powers quickly conquered the peripheral territories 98 Ivan Asen II s seal is depicted on the reverse of the Bulgarian 2 lev banknote issued in 1999 and 2005 101 See also editIvan Asen Point Ivan Asen CoveReferences edit a b c d Sedlar 1994 p 22 Curta 2006 p 360 a b Madgearu 2017 p 27 a b c Fine 1994 p 91 Petkov 2008 p 258 a b Curta 2006 p 363 a b c Crampton 2005 p 24 Curta 2006 p 380 a b Curta 2006 p 383 Madgearu 2017 p 135 a b Curta 2006 p 384 a b c Madgearu 2017 p 175 Madgearu 2017 pp 3 175 Vasary 2005 p 57 a b Fine 1994 p 93 a b c d e Madgearu 2017 p 193 a b c d Madgearu 2017 p 194 Vasary 2005 p 61 a b c d e f Curta 2006 p 386 Fine 1994 p 106 a b c d Vasary 2005 p 62 Vasary 2005 pp 59 60 Vasary 2005 p 60 a b c Madgearu 2017 p 196 a b c d Fine 1994 p 129 Fine 1994 p 113 a b c Madgearu 2017 p 198 a b Madgearu 2017 p 200 a b Varzos 1984 p 604 a b c d Fine 1994 p 123 a b c d e f Madgearu 2017 p 201 Fine 1994 p 120 a b c d Madgearu 2017 p 199 Fine 1994 pp 123 124 Madgearu 2017 pp 197 198 Curta 2006 p 406 Sedlar 1994 p 375 a b c d e Madgearu 2017 p 202 Fine 1994 pp 124 125 a b c Curta 2006 p 387 a b c Fine 1994 p 125 a b Madgearu 2017 p 205 a b Madgearu 2017 p 203 Fine 1994 p 126 Fine 1994 pp 126 127 Madgearu 2017 pp 215 216 Madgearu 2017 p 213 Madgearu 2017 pp 203 204 Sedlar 1994 p 46 Madgearu 2017 p 204 a b c Fine 1994 pp 128 129 Madgearu 2017 pp 205 206 a b Madgearu 2017 p 206 Madgearu 2017 pp 206 208 a b c d e f Madgearu 2017 p 209 Fine 1994 p 136 a b c Madgearu 2017 p 210 a b Vasary 2005 p 63 a b c d Fine 1994 p 130 a b Madgearu 2017 p 216 a b Madgearu 2017 p 219 a b c d e f Madgearu 2017 p 220 a b c Vasary 2005 p 64 Fine 1994 p 131 Madgearu 2017 pp 220 221 a b c Fine 1994 p 133 a b Madgearu 2017 p 221 Madgearu 2017 p 222 a b Madgearu 2017 p 223 a b Fine 1994 p 155 Vasary 2005 p 65 Curta 2006 p 407 Madgearu 2017 p 224 Madgearu 2017 pp 224 225 a b c d e f Madgearu 2017 p 225 Vasary 2005 p 66 a b c d e Madgearu 2017 p 197 Andreev Lazarov amp Pavlov 2012 p 19 Francois Bredenkamp 1996 The Byzantine Empire of Thessaloniki 1224 1242 Municipality of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki History Center p 148 ISBN 9789608433175 Fajfric 2000 ch 19 Georgieva 2015 pp 346 347 Georgieva 2015 pp 351 352 Georgieva 2015 p 351 Georgieva 2015 p 350 a b c d Mladjov 2012 p 487 Varzos 1984 p 637 Andreev amp Lalkov 1996 pp 193 194 Andreev Lazarov amp Pavlov 2012 p 114 a b Mladjov 2012 p 485 Mladjov 2012 pp 485 486 Madgearu 2017 p 236 Madgearu 2017 p 245 a b Mladjov 2012 pp 486 487 Madgearu 2017 pp 243 246 Bozilov Familijata na Asenevci pp 192 235 Bozilov Ivan Vasil Gjuzelev 2006 Istorija na srednovekovna Bǎlgarija VII XIV vek tom 1 in Bulgarian Anubis ISBN 954 426 204 0 Sedlar 1994 p 376 a b c d e f g Fine 1994 p 154 Crampton 2005 p 25 Madgearu 2017 p 227 Bulgarian National Bank Notes and Coins in Circulation 2 levs 1999 issue amp 2 levs 2005 issue Retrieved on 26 March 2009 Sources editAndreev Andreev Jordan Jordan Lalkov Lalkov Milcho Milcho 1996 Blgarskite hanove i care The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars in Bulgarian Abagar Abagar ISBN 954 427 216 X Andreev Andreev Jordan Jordan Lazarov Lazarov Ivan Ivan Pavlov Pavlov Plamen Plamen 2012 Koj koj e v srednovekovna Blgariya Who is Who in Medieval Bulgaria in Bulgarian Iztok Zapad Iztok Zapad ISBN 978 619 152 012 1 Canev Stefan 2006 6 1218 1241 Zavoevateljat na dusi Car Ivan Asen II Bǎlgarski hroniki in Bulgarian Trud Zanet 45 ISBN 954 528 610 5 Crampton R J 2005 A Concise History of Bulgaria Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 85085 8 Curta Florin 2006 Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages 500 1250 Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 85085 8 Delev Petǎr Valeri Kacunov Plamen Mitev Evgenia Kalinova Iskra Baeva Bojan Dobrev 2006 16 Bǎlgarskata dǎrzava pri Car Simeon 10 Zlatnijat vek na bǎlgarskata kultura storija i civilizacija za 11 klas in Bulgarian Trud Sirma ISBN 954 9926 72 9 Dimitrov Bozidar 1994 Restoration and rise of the Bulgarian state and its hegemony on the Balkan Peninsula 1185 1246 Bulgaria illustrated history Sofia Borina ISBN 954 500 044 9 Archived from the original on 2007 04 04 Retrieved 2007 06 30 Fajfric Zeljko 2000 1998 Sveta loza Stefana Nemanje Belgrade Tehnologije izdavastvo agencija Janus Fine John V A 1994 The Late Medieval Balkans A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest The University of Michigan Press ISBN 0 472 08260 4 Georgieva Sashka 2015 Bulgarian Hungarian marital diplomacy during the first half of the thirteenth century Bulgaria Mediaevalis 6 1 339 355 ISSN 1314 2941 Lalkov Milco 1997 Tsar Ivan Assen II 1218 1241 Rulers of Bulgaria Kibea ISBN 954 474 098 8 Archived from the original on 2007 04 04 Retrieved 2007 06 30 Madgearu Alexandru 2017 The Asanids The Political and Military History of the Second Bulgarian Empire 1185 1280 BRILL ISBN 978 9 004 32501 2 Mladjov Ian S R 2012 The Children of Ivan Asen II and Eirene Komnene Bulgaria Mediaevalis 3 1 485 500 ISSN 1314 2941 Petkov Kiril 2008 The Voices of Medieval Bulgaria Seventh Fifteenth Century The Records of a Bygone Culture BRILL ISBN 978 90 04 16831 2 Sedlar Jean W 1994 East Central Europe in the Middle Ages 1000 1500 University of Washington Press ISBN 0 295 97290 4 Varzos Konstantinos 1984 H Genealogia twn Komnhnwn The Genealogy of the Komnenoi PDF in Greek Vol B Thessaloniki Centre for Byzantine Studies University of Thessaloniki OCLC 834784665 Vasary Istvan 2005 Cumans and Tatars Oriental Military in the Pre Ottoman Balkans 1185 1365 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 83756 1 Vasiliev Alexander 1952 The role of Bulgaria in the Christian East under Tsar John Asen II A History of the Byzantine Empire Madison Wisconsin University of Wisconsin Press OCLC 2323191 2 1 Sǎzdavane i utvǎrzdavane na Vtorata bǎlgarska dǎrzava Vǎzstanovenata dǎrzavnost Bǎlgarite i Bǎlgarija in Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria Trud Sirma 2005 Archived from the original on 2006 09 07 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria Borders of Bulgaria during the reign of Ioan Asen II Detailed List of Bulgarian Rulers Regnal titles Preceded byBoril Emperor of Bulgaria1218 1241 Succeeded byKaliman Asen I Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ivan Asen II amp oldid 1224474745, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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