Ivan Stephen of Bulgaria
Encyclopedia
Ivan Stefan (c.1300/1301-1373 (?)) ruled as emperor (tsar
) of Bulgaria for eight months from 1330 to 1331. He was the eldest son of emperor Michael III Shishman and Anna Neda of Serbia
, a daughter of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia
. Ivan Stephen was descendent to the Terter dynasty
, the Asen dynasty
and the Shishman dynasty, which were all of partial Cuman origin. After his father's accenssion to the throne in 1323 Ivan Stefan was associated as co-emperor. When Michael III Shishman divorced Anna Neda to marry Theodora Palaiologina
, the daughter of Byzantine emperor Michael IX Palaiologos, in 1324, Ivan Stefan was exiled along with his mother and brother in a monastery. In the summer of 1330 he became emperor of Bulgaria with the help of his uncle Stephen Dečanski. After he was deposed in a coup d'état by the Tarnovo nobility, he fled along with Anna Neda in the domains of his father's brother Belaur
in Niš
and later to Dubrovnik
. He was later expelled from there by Stephen Dušan under the pressure of Ivan Alexander
. Ivan Stefan probably died in Naples
.
s proposed peace to the Serbian king Stephen Dečanski. Stephen Dečanski met them in the area known as Mraka and accepted the proposal and agreed that Ivan Stephen should become emperor of Bulgaria, thus abandoning the idea of uniting the two countries under the sceptre of his son Stephen Dušan. However, less that a year later, Dečanski was deposed and exiled to the Zvečan Fortress
where he died.
After the agreement of Mraka was reached, Anna Neda her sons were informed to go to the Bulgarian capital Tarnovo
. Ivan Stephen entered the city and was proclaimed emperor in the second half of August 1330. Although he was in his early 30s, Ivan Stephen ruled together with his mother; the reasons for that are unknown.
, to her brother the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos
. After the news on the changes in Tarnovo reached Andronikos III he summoned his counsil and decided to abandon the war against Serbia and turn the Byzantine army to the weakened Bulgaria. The Byzantine emperor covered the attack on his former ally pointing that he would defend the rights of his sister and her children for the Bulgarian throne.
When his troops were prepared in Macedonia
, Andronikos III invaded Bulgarian Thrace
in the summer of 1330. The towns of Anchialus (Pomorie
), Messembria (Nessebar), Aetos (Aytos
), Kteniya, Rusokastro
and Diampolis (Yambol
) surrendered without fighting and the hostilities ceased.
, while the rest of the nobility considered his a protege of Dečanski and remained hostile. As a result of the discontent with the new government at the failures against the Byzantine, in March 1331 the protovestiarios
Rascin and the logothete
Philip organized a successful coup. The despot of Lovech
Ivan Alexander
was chosen as emperor of Bulgaria.
Ivan Stephen fled with his mother and his brother to Niš, in the lands of Belaur, where they stayed for a year and a half. In 1332 he and his mother moved to Dubrovnik while his brothers went to the Golden Horde
, where his brother Shishman sought support from the Mongols
and from the Byzantine Empire, but his efforts also came to nothing. There is no certain information on his later life.
According to Detlev Schwennicke Ivan Stephen went with his mother to southern Italy where he married the illegitimate daughter of the prince of Tarento
Philip I but did not have children. In 1342 he was with the future Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenos
during his escape from Constantinople. Twenty years later he was in a prison in Siena
and seemed to have died in Naples
in 1373. Schwennicke also wrote that Ivan Stephen could have perished in 1373 at Slobitsa.
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
) of Bulgaria for eight months from 1330 to 1331. He was the eldest son of emperor Michael III Shishman and Anna Neda of Serbia
Anna Neda of Serbia
Anna Neda was a 14th-century Serb Empress consort of Bulgaria. She was the daughter of Serbian King Stefan Uroš II Milutin and Princess Anna Terter, daughter of George I of Bulgaria...
, a daughter of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. Ivan Stephen was descendent to the Terter dynasty
Terter dynasty
Terter , also Terterids or Terterovtsi , was a Bulgarian noble and royal house that ruled the Second Bulgarian Empire between 1280 and 1292, as well as between 1300 and 1323.The Terterids were originally of Cuman origin Terter , also Terterids or Terterovtsi (Тертеровци), was a Bulgarian noble and...
, the Asen dynasty
Asen dynasty
The Asen dynasty ruled a medieval Bulgarian state, called in modern historiography the Second Bulgarian Empire, between 1187 and 1280.The Asen dynasty and the Second Bulgarian Empire rose as the leaders of a rebellion against the Byzantine Empire at the turn of the year 1185/1186 caused by the...
and the Shishman dynasty, which were all of partial Cuman origin. After his father's accenssion to the throne in 1323 Ivan Stefan was associated as co-emperor. When Michael III Shishman divorced Anna Neda to marry Theodora Palaiologina
Theodora Palaiologina
Theodora Palaiologina Synadene was the daughter of Constantine Palaiologos and Irene Komnene Laskarina Branaina. Through her father, she was a half-niece of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.-Early life:...
, the daughter of Byzantine emperor Michael IX Palaiologos, in 1324, Ivan Stefan was exiled along with his mother and brother in a monastery. In the summer of 1330 he became emperor of Bulgaria with the help of his uncle Stephen Dečanski. After he was deposed in a coup d'état by the Tarnovo nobility, he fled along with Anna Neda in the domains of his father's brother Belaur
Belaur
Belaur was a Bulgarian noble and despot of Vidin and brother of the Bulgarian Emperor Michael Shishman . The son of Shishman of Vidin, he was among the most elaborate Balkan diplomats of his time...
in Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
and later to Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
. He was later expelled from there by Stephen Dušan under the pressure of Ivan Alexander
Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
Ivan Alexander , also known as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history...
. Ivan Stefan probably died in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
.
Accession to the throne
During the battle of Velbazhd against the Serbs, emperor Michael III Shishman was wounded and died a few days later in captivity. On 2 August the Bulgarian boyarBoyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
s proposed peace to the Serbian king Stephen Dečanski. Stephen Dečanski met them in the area known as Mraka and accepted the proposal and agreed that Ivan Stephen should become emperor of Bulgaria, thus abandoning the idea of uniting the two countries under the sceptre of his son Stephen Dušan. However, less that a year later, Dečanski was deposed and exiled to the Zvečan Fortress
Zvecan Fortress
The Fortress of Zvečan, located in the north-west of the city of Kosovska Mitrovica, in North Kosovo, is an enormous castle and one of the oldest fortresses in South Eastern Europe...
where he died.
After the agreement of Mraka was reached, Anna Neda her sons were informed to go to the Bulgarian capital Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred to as the "City of the Tsars", Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Yantra River and is famous as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists...
. Ivan Stephen entered the city and was proclaimed emperor in the second half of August 1330. Although he was in his early 30s, Ivan Stephen ruled together with his mother; the reasons for that are unknown.
Byzantine response
After Ivan Stephen took the throne, the second wife of Michael Shishman Theodora Palaiologina was forced to leave the capital along with her sons and departed to ConstantinopleConstantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, to her brother the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos
Andronikos III Palaiologos
Andronikos III Palaiologos, Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341, after being rival emperor since 1321. Andronikos III was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia...
. After the news on the changes in Tarnovo reached Andronikos III he summoned his counsil and decided to abandon the war against Serbia and turn the Byzantine army to the weakened Bulgaria. The Byzantine emperor covered the attack on his former ally pointing that he would defend the rights of his sister and her children for the Bulgarian throne.
When his troops were prepared in Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
, Andronikos III invaded Bulgarian Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
in the summer of 1330. The towns of Anchialus (Pomorie
Pomorie
Pomorie is a town and seaside resort in southeastern Bulgaria, located on a narrow rocky peninsula in Burgas Bay on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is situated in Burgas Province, 20 km away from the city of Burgas and 18 km from the Sunny Beach resort. The ultrasaline lagoon...
), Messembria (Nessebar), Aetos (Aytos
Aytos
Aytos , sometimes written Aitos and Ajtos, is a town located in eastern Bulgaria some 30 kilometers from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and belonging to the administrative boundaries of Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Aytos Municipality...
), Kteniya, Rusokastro
Rusokastro
Rusokastro is a village in the municipality of Kameno, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria.-References:...
and Diampolis (Yambol
Yambol
Yambol is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 72,843 inhabitants. It is occasionally spelt 'Jambol'.The administrative centres...
) surrendered without fighting and the hostilities ceased.
Dethronement and later life
During his rule Ivan Stephen was supported only by his uncle BelaurBelaur
Belaur was a Bulgarian noble and despot of Vidin and brother of the Bulgarian Emperor Michael Shishman . The son of Shishman of Vidin, he was among the most elaborate Balkan diplomats of his time...
, while the rest of the nobility considered his a protege of Dečanski and remained hostile. As a result of the discontent with the new government at the failures against the Byzantine, in March 1331 the protovestiarios
Protovestiarios
Protovestiarios was a high Byzantine court position, originally reserved for eunuchs.-History and functions:The title is first attested in 412, as the comes sacrae vestis, an official in charge of the Byzantine emperor's "sacred wardrobe" , coming under the praepositus sacri cubiculi...
Rascin and the logothete
Logothete
Logothete was an administrative title originating in the eastern Roman Empire. In the middle and late Byzantine Empire, it rose to become a senior administrative title, equivalent to a minister or secretary of state...
Philip organized a successful coup. The despot of Lovech
Lovech
Lovech is a town in north-central Bulgaria with a population of 36,296 as of February 2011. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The town is located about 150 km northeast from the capital city of Sofia...
Ivan Alexander
Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
Ivan Alexander , also known as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history...
was chosen as emperor of Bulgaria.
Ivan Stephen fled with his mother and his brother to Niš, in the lands of Belaur, where they stayed for a year and a half. In 1332 he and his mother moved to Dubrovnik while his brothers went to the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, where his brother Shishman sought support from the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
and from the Byzantine Empire, but his efforts also came to nothing. There is no certain information on his later life.
According to Detlev Schwennicke Ivan Stephen went with his mother to southern Italy where he married the illegitimate daughter of the prince of Tarento
Tarento
is a Japanese rendering of the English word "talent" and is used as a catch-all term for mass media personalities who regularly appear on television. Detractors of the phenomenon have referred to it in an English sense as "famous just for being famous" because many that fall into this career line...
Philip I but did not have children. In 1342 he was with the future Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus was the Byzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354.-Early life:Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of a Michael Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea. Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was a descendant of the reigning house of...
during his escape from Constantinople. Twenty years later he was in a prison in Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
and seemed to have died in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in 1373. Schwennicke also wrote that Ivan Stephen could have perished in 1373 at Slobitsa.
Ancestors
Sources
- Gregoras, Nicephorus. Byzantina historia
- Schwennicke, Detlev Europäische Stammtafeln, Band II (1984)