Michael Asen I of Bulgaria
Encyclopedia
Michael II Asen of Bulgaria (Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...

: Михаил II Асен), ruled as emperor (tsar
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
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

 from 1246 to 1256. He was the son of Ivan Asen II and his third wife Irene Komnene of Epirus
Irene Komnene of Epirus
Irene Komnene Doukaina or Eirene Komnene Doukaina was a Greek princess and the third wife of tsar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria. She was the mother of tsar Michael Asen I of Bulgaria....

 (nun Xene), daughter of Theodore I Ducas
Theodore Komnenos Doukas
Theodore Komnenos Doukas was ruler of Epirus from 1215 to 1230 and of Thessalonica from 1224 to 1230.-Life:...

 of the Despotate of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...

. Michael II Asen was born between 1238 and 1241 and died in 1256.

Michael II Asen was still a child when he ascended the throne in succession to his brother Kaliman Asen I
Kaliman I of Bulgaria
Kaliman Asen I , reigned as emperor of Bulgaria from 1241 to 1246. Kaliman Asen I was the son of Ivan Asen II and Anna Maria of Hungary. His maternal grandparents were Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania....

. It is assumed that his mother Eirene took over the government as regent, but there is little evidence to prove this hypothesis. At the news of a second underage monarch on the Bulgarian throne, the neighboring powers, the Empire of Nicaea
Empire of Nicaea
The Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the three Byzantine Greek successor states founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine Empire that fled after Constantinople was occupied by Western European and Venetian forces during the Fourth Crusade...

, the Despotate of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...

 and the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

, invaded Bulgaria and annexed significant territories. The losses included 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...

 to Nicaea, much of 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...

 to Epirus, and the Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 area and the banate
Banate
-Geography:* Banate, Iloilo, a municipality in the Philippines.* An alternate name for a "banovina", an internal division of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1929 to 1941.* Banat, a geographical and historical region of Southeastern Europe.-See also:...

 of Severin to Hungary. In spite of the losses, in 1247 Bulgaria was forced to aid Nicaea against the Latin Empire
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...

.

In 1253 the government of Michael II Asen concluded a commercial and military treaty with the Republic of Ragusa
Republic of Ragusa
The Republic of Ragusa or Republic of Dubrovnik was a maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia , that existed from 1358 to 1808...

 (a.k.a. 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...

) directed against Stefan Uroš I of Serbia
History of Medieval Serbia
Тhe medieval history of Serbia begins in the 5th century AD with the Slavic invasion of the Balkans, and lasts until the Ottoman occupation of 1540.- Slavic invasion :...

. The Bulgarian attempt to conquer Serbia failed completely in spite of an inroad deep into Serbian territory.

The death of John III Doukas Vatatzes in 1254 inspired an attempt by the Bulgarians to recover the lands lost to Nicaea. By this time Michael II Asen was coming of age and he participated in the campaign, which met with initial success, overrunning Thrace and obtaining the surrender of various fortresses in the Rhodope Mountains
Rhodope Mountains
The Rhodopes are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece. Its highest peak, Golyam Perelik , is the seventh highest Bulgarian mountain...

 area by the sympathetic local population. However, the swift advance of the new emperor of Nicaea Theodore II Doukas Laskaris caught the Bulgarians by surprise, and Michael II Asen suffered accidental wounds during his precipitous flight through a forest. In the following year, 1255, Michael II Asen attempted to strike back with an army of Cuman foederati and again obtained some initial success. In 1256 the belligerents concluded a peace essentially reflecting conditions before the war.

The meagre sources leave the impression that Michael II Asen spent most of his reign under the influence of one or another powerful figure at court. This role was first fulfilled by his mother Eirene. By the treaty with Dubrovnik in 1253, the sources single out the sebastokratōr
Sebastokrator
Sebastokratōr was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers whose states bordered the Empire or were within its sphere of influence. The word is a compound of "sebastos" Sebastokratōr was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used...

Peter, who had married Michael II Asen's sister Anna (or Theodora). The last years of Michael II Asen's reign seem to reflect the influence of Rostislav Mikhailovich
Rostislav of Slavonia
Rostislav Mikhailovich was a Rus' prince , and a dignitary in the Kingdom of Hungary....

, a Russian prince of the house of Chernigov, who had settled in Hungary, married Anna, a daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV of Hungary
Béla IV , King of Hungary and of Croatia , duke of Styria 1254–58. One of the most famous kings of Hungary, he distinguished himself through his policy of strengthening of the royal power following the example of his grandfather Bela III, and by the rebuilding Hungary after the catastrophe of the...

 and Maria Laskarina of Nicaea
Empire of Nicaea
The Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the three Byzantine Greek successor states founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine Empire that fled after Constantinople was occupied by Western European and Venetian forces during the Fourth Crusade...

, and had become ban of the Belgrade area. Probably about this time Michael Asen I married a daughter (it is not certain which one) of Rostislav, and in 1256 Rostislav served as an intermediary at the signing of the peace treaty with Nicaea.

Perhaps infuriated with the concessions of Michael Asen I and his father-in-law in the peace treaty, a group of nobles rallied around the emperor's cousin Kaliman Asen
Kaliman II of Bulgaria
Kaliman Asen II , or commonly, but less accurately Koloman Asen II, ruled as emperor of Bulgaria for a short time in 1256. The year of his birth is unknown....

. During a hunting trip in the vicinity of the capital Tărnovo
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...

, Kaliman Asen murdered Michael Asen I and usurped the throne.

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