John Komnenos Asen
Encyclopedia
John Komnenos Asen was the ruler of the Principality of Valona
from circa 1345 to 1363, initially as a Serbian
vassal
and after 1355 as a largely independent lord. Descended from high-ranking Bulgarian
nobility, John was a brother of both Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
and Helena of Bulgaria
, the wife of Tsar Stephen Dušan of Serbia. Perhaps in search of better opportunities, he emigrated to Serbia, where his sister was married. There, he was granted the title of despot by Stephen Dušan, who placed him in charge of his territories in modern south Albania
.
As the despot of Valona, John established commercial ties with Venice
and Ragusa
, and he became a citizen of the former in 1353. After the death of Dušan in 1355, he took the side of the unsuccessful Simeon Uroš
in the ensuing conflict for the Serbian throne. With Venetian assistance, John maintained the essentially independent status of the Principality of Valona. He probably died of the plague in 1363 and he was succeeded by Alexander Komnenos Asen, who was likely his son from his unknown first wife. John's second marriage was to Epirote
noblewoman Anna Palaiologina.
, a daughter of despot Shishman of Vidin
, and Sratsimir, the despot of Kran
. John's mother was a descendant of the Asen dynasty
as a grand granddaughter of Tsar Ivan Asen II
. His siblings were Ivan Alexander
, who would ascend to the Bulgarian throne in 1331, and Helena
, who married Serbian ruler Stephen Dušan in 1332. Even though John was commonly referred to as a Komnenos
in the sources, his relations to that Byzantine
family are rather scarce. He had rights to that name either through his mother's descent from the Asens, themselves related to the Komnenoi, or through his marriage to Anna Palaiologina.
It is uncertain as to exactly why John emigrated to Serbia instead of assuming a high-ranking position in Bulgaria, as his ancestry and family ties would suggest. Bulgarian historian Ivan Bozhilov is of the opinion that John was not seeking political refuge in Serbia. Instead, it is most likely that he moved to that country with the belief that Serbia's territorial expansion and political influence in that period would secure him better career opportunities. Presumably, John accompanied his sister Helena when she moved to Serbia to marry Stephen Dušan in 1332.
John was first mentioned as the despot of Valona in 1350 and his documented presence in the Albanian lands only dates to 1349. However, he was most likely bestowed the title as early as 1345 or 1346, when Stephen Dušan was proclaimed Emperor (Tsar
). American scholar John Fine believes this happened immediately after Stephen Dušan's coronation in 1346. Along with Stephen Dušan's half-brother, Simeon Uroš
, and Jovan Oliver
, John was one of three people to bear that title under Stephen Dušan.
John was installed as ruler of Valona in late 1345, in the wake of the Serbian conquest of south Albania from the Byzantine Empire, which was concluded no later than August 1345. Besides the Adriatic
port of Valona (modern Vlorë
), John's appanage
included nearby Kanina
and the inland castle of Berat
to the northeast. Other than that, the extent of his domain is uncertain. Estimates of the area John ruled over range from all of central Albania to only the three cities mentioned, with the rest remaining under the government of local Albanian
nobility, who owed allegiance either to John or to Stephen Dušan directly. To the south, John's appanage bordered on the lands of Simeon Uroš, the ruler of Epirus
.
commercial ship which had been shipwrecked on the coast he controlled, in accordance with the medieval principle of jus naufragii
. This act necessitated the involvement of Stephen Dušan in order to settle the dispute between Venice and John, as evidenced by an official document from 13 April 1350. Despite this conflict, under John the Principality of Valona was an active partner of Venice and Ragusa
(modern Dubrovnik
) in maritime commerce. Two receipts from 27 April 1350 document John's role as a mediator in cattle, sugar and pepper trade and reveal that he received significant income from the Valona customs
. The customs was profitable because the port was often visited by merchant ships. Even though all of these documents were written in Slavic
, John signed his name in Greek
, which testifies to his Hellenisation
. At the time, John also had ties with the Mamluk
rulers of Egypt
, who addressed him as “King of Serbia and Bulgaria” in correspondence.
In 1353, John and his family were granted Venetian citizenship, which hints that his domain was under the protection of Venice. The premature death of Stephen Dušan in 1355 plunged the Serbian Empire into civil war. In that conflict, John took the side of his wife's son-in-law Simeon Uroš
against the legitimate successor Stephen Uroš, who was Stephen Dušan's son and Simeon Uroš's nephew. While Simeon's attempt at taking the throne was ill-fated and Stephen Uroš even captured Berat in 1356, John managed to preserve his remaining lands and became independent from both Simeon and Stephen Uroš. The threat of Nikephoros II Orsini
, who was gaining ground in Thessaly
and Epirus, forced John to request the dispatch of a Venetian warship and an administrator from Venice to take control of his domain, to which the republic obliged.
Bulgarian historian Hristo Matanov conjectures that after 1355, John may have minted his own coinage intended for trade with partners outside the inner Balkans. He bases this theory on a new reading of several Latin
-language coin inscriptions as Monita despoti Ioanni instead of Monita despoti Oliveri, as previously thought. The new reading, which would identify the coins as being minted by John, was proposed by Yugoslav numismatist Nedeljković, who rejects the initial attribution of these coins to Jovan Oliver.
A commercial document from 30 January 1359, which testifies to John's continuing trade relations with Venice, is chronologically the last reference to his activity in contemporary sources. While the date of his death was not recorded, it is likely that John perished during the plague epidemic which hit Valona and Durazzo (today Durrës
) in 1363.
and a widow of John II Orsini
, the despot of Epirus. This marriage to an Epirote noblewoman consolidated and legitimised John's position in the region. Besides Alexander, another very likely child of John Komnenos Asen was a certain Komnena, the wife of Balša II
who had succeeded Alexander as ruler of Valona in early 1372.
Principality of Valona
The Principality of Valona was a medieval principality in Albania, roughly encompassing the territories of the modern counties of Vlorë , Fier, and Berat...
from circa 1345 to 1363, initially as a Serbian
Serbian Empire
The Serbian Empire was a short-lived medieval empire in the Balkans that emerged from the Serbian Kingdom. Stephen Uroš IV Dušan was crowned Emperor of Serbs and Greeks on 16 April, 1346, a title signifying a successorship to the Eastern Roman Empire...
vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
and after 1355 as a largely independent lord. Descended from high-ranking Bulgarian
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
nobility, John was a brother of both Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
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...
and Helena of Bulgaria
Helena of Bulgaria
Jelena or Helena of Bulgaria was the daughter of Sratsimir of Kran and Keratsa Petritsa and the sister of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria....
, the wife of Tsar Stephen Dušan of Serbia. Perhaps in search of better opportunities, he emigrated to Serbia, where his sister was married. There, he was granted the title of despot by Stephen Dušan, who placed him in charge of his territories in modern south Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
.
As the despot of Valona, John established commercial ties with Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
and 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...
, and he became a citizen of the former in 1353. After the death of Dušan in 1355, he took the side of the unsuccessful Simeon Uroš
Simeon Uroš
Simeon Uroš Nemanjić, nicknamed Siniša , also known in Greek as Symeōn Ouresēs Palaiologos , was the Despot of Epirus from 1359 to 1366, and of Thessaly from 1359 until his death in 1370. He governed Epirus and Acarnania under his half-brother Emperor Dušan the Mighty Simeon Uroš Nemanjić,...
in the ensuing conflict for the Serbian throne. With Venetian assistance, John maintained the essentially independent status of the Principality of Valona. He probably died of the plague in 1363 and he was succeeded by Alexander Komnenos Asen, who was likely his son from his unknown first wife. John's second marriage was to Epirote
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
noblewoman Anna Palaiologina.
Origin and Serbian vassalage
While the birth date of John Komnenos Asen is unknown, his origin is clearly documented in the sources. On both sides, he descended from the highest ranks of 14th-century Bulgarian nobility. He was born to Keratsa PetritsaKeratsa Petritsa
Keratsa Petritsa was a Bulgarian noblewoman , sister of tsar Michael Shishman of Bulgaria. Her eldest son Ivan Alexander rose to the Bulgarian throne after vicissitudes of politics....
, a daughter of despot Shishman of Vidin
Shishman of Vidin
Shishman, Despot of Vidin was a Bulgarian noble who ruled a semi-independent realm based out of the Danubian fortress of Vidin in the late 13th and early 14th century...
, and Sratsimir, the despot of Kran
Kran, Bulgaria
Kran is a town in central Bulgaria. It is located just south of the Balkan Mountains and is administratively part of Kazanlak Municipality, Stara Zagora Province. Kran was an important castle of the Second Bulgarian Empire in the 13th–14th century...
. John's mother was a descendant of 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...
as a grand granddaughter of Tsar Ivan Asen II
Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria
-Early rule:He was a son of Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria and Elena . Elena, who survived until after 1235, is sometimes alleged to be a daughter of Stefan Nemanja of Serbia, but this relationship is questionable and would have caused various canonical impediments to marriages between various descendants...
. His siblings were 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...
, who would ascend to the Bulgarian throne in 1331, and Helena
Helena of Bulgaria
Jelena or Helena of Bulgaria was the daughter of Sratsimir of Kran and Keratsa Petritsa and the sister of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria....
, who married Serbian ruler Stephen Dušan in 1332. Even though John was commonly referred to as a Komnenos
Komnenos
Komnenós or Comnenus was the name of a ruling family of the Eastern Roman Empire , who halted the political decline of the Empire from c.1081 to c.1185.-Origins:...
in the sources, his relations to that Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
family are rather scarce. He had rights to that name either through his mother's descent from the Asens, themselves related to the Komnenoi, or through his marriage to Anna Palaiologina.
It is uncertain as to exactly why John emigrated to Serbia instead of assuming a high-ranking position in Bulgaria, as his ancestry and family ties would suggest. Bulgarian historian Ivan Bozhilov is of the opinion that John was not seeking political refuge in Serbia. Instead, it is most likely that he moved to that country with the belief that Serbia's territorial expansion and political influence in that period would secure him better career opportunities. Presumably, John accompanied his sister Helena when she moved to Serbia to marry Stephen Dušan in 1332.
John was first mentioned as the despot of Valona in 1350 and his documented presence in the Albanian lands only dates to 1349. However, he was most likely bestowed the title as early as 1345 or 1346, when Stephen Dušan was proclaimed 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...
). American scholar John Fine believes this happened immediately after Stephen Dušan's coronation in 1346. Along with Stephen Dušan's half-brother, Simeon Uroš
Simeon Uroš
Simeon Uroš Nemanjić, nicknamed Siniša , also known in Greek as Symeōn Ouresēs Palaiologos , was the Despot of Epirus from 1359 to 1366, and of Thessaly from 1359 until his death in 1370. He governed Epirus and Acarnania under his half-brother Emperor Dušan the Mighty Simeon Uroš Nemanjić,...
, and Jovan Oliver
Jovan Oliver
Jovan Oliver Grčinić, known as Despot Jovan Oliver was a magnate of the Serbian Emperor Dušan the Mighty , holding the titles of sebastokrator and despotes, and the great voivode-military rank, showing his prominence and status as one of the most important nobles of Dušan...
, John was one of three people to bear that title under Stephen Dušan.
John was installed as ruler of Valona in late 1345, in the wake of the Serbian conquest of south Albania from the Byzantine Empire, which was concluded no later than August 1345. Besides the Adriatic
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
port of Valona (modern Vlorë
Vlorë
Vlorë is one of the biggest towns and the second largest port city of Albania, after Durrës, with a population of about 94,000 . It is the city where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912...
), John's appanage
Appanage
An apanage or appanage or is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture...
included nearby Kanina
Kaninë
Kaninë is a settlement in the Vlorë District, Vlorë County, southwestern Albania. It is home to the Kaninë Castle....
and the inland castle of Berat
Berat
Berat is a town located in south-central Albania. As of 2009, the town has an estimated population of around 71,000 people. It is the capital of both the District of Berat and the larger County of Berat...
to the northeast. Other than that, the extent of his domain is uncertain. Estimates of the area John ruled over range from all of central Albania to only the three cities mentioned, with the rest remaining under the government of local Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
nobility, who owed allegiance either to John or to Stephen Dušan directly. To the south, John's appanage bordered on the lands of Simeon Uroš, the ruler of Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
.
Relations with Venice and independence
In 1349, John plundered a VenetianRepublic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
commercial ship which had been shipwrecked on the coast he controlled, in accordance with the medieval principle of jus naufragii
Jus naufragii
The jus naufragii , sometimes lex naufragii , was a medieval custom which allowed the inhabitants or lord of a territory to seize all that washed ashore from the wreck of a ship along its coast...
. This act necessitated the involvement of Stephen Dušan in order to settle the dispute between Venice and John, as evidenced by an official document from 13 April 1350. Despite this conflict, under John the Principality of Valona was an active partner of Venice and 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...
(modern 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...
) in maritime commerce. Two receipts from 27 April 1350 document John's role as a mediator in cattle, sugar and pepper trade and reveal that he received significant income from the Valona customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
. The customs was profitable because the port was often visited by merchant ships. Even though all of these documents were written in Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
, John signed his name in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, which testifies to his Hellenisation
Hellenization
Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of ancient Greek culture, and, to a lesser extent, language. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon...
. At the time, John also had ties with the Mamluk
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt was the final independent Egyptian state prior to the establishment of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in 1805. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The sultanate's ruling caste was composed of Mamluks, Arabised...
rulers of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, who addressed him as “King of Serbia and Bulgaria” in correspondence.
In 1353, John and his family were granted Venetian citizenship, which hints that his domain was under the protection of Venice. The premature death of Stephen Dušan in 1355 plunged the Serbian Empire into civil war. In that conflict, John took the side of his wife's son-in-law Simeon Uroš
Simeon Uroš
Simeon Uroš Nemanjić, nicknamed Siniša , also known in Greek as Symeōn Ouresēs Palaiologos , was the Despot of Epirus from 1359 to 1366, and of Thessaly from 1359 until his death in 1370. He governed Epirus and Acarnania under his half-brother Emperor Dušan the Mighty Simeon Uroš Nemanjić,...
against the legitimate successor Stephen Uroš, who was Stephen Dušan's son and Simeon Uroš's nephew. While Simeon's attempt at taking the throne was ill-fated and Stephen Uroš even captured Berat in 1356, John managed to preserve his remaining lands and became independent from both Simeon and Stephen Uroš. The threat of Nikephoros II Orsini
Nikephoros II Orsini
Nikephoros II Orsini - Doukas , was the ruler of Epirus from 1335 to 1338 and from 1356 until his death in 1359.-Life:...
, who was gaining ground in Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
and Epirus, forced John to request the dispatch of a Venetian warship and an administrator from Venice to take control of his domain, to which the republic obliged.
Bulgarian historian Hristo Matanov conjectures that after 1355, John may have minted his own coinage intended for trade with partners outside the inner Balkans. He bases this theory on a new reading of several Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
-language coin inscriptions as Monita despoti Ioanni instead of Monita despoti Oliveri, as previously thought. The new reading, which would identify the coins as being minted by John, was proposed by Yugoslav numismatist Nedeljković, who rejects the initial attribution of these coins to Jovan Oliver.
A commercial document from 30 January 1359, which testifies to John's continuing trade relations with Venice, is chronologically the last reference to his activity in contemporary sources. While the date of his death was not recorded, it is likely that John perished during the plague epidemic which hit Valona and Durazzo (today Durrës
Durrës
Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...
) in 1363.
Family
John's first marriage probably dates to after his arrival in Serbia, though the identity of his first wife, if any, is unknown. If the next ruler of Valona, Alexander Komnenos Asen, was his son, then he would have been born circa 1346–1348, as he was already an adult in 1363–1366. This would place John's potential first marriage a few years before Alexander's estimated birth. Around 1350–1355, John married Anna Palaiologina, a granddaughter of Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII PalaiologosMichael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine Emperor 1259–1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453...
and a widow of John II Orsini
John II Orsini
John II Orsini, also John Komnenos Doukas or Comnenus Ducas , was count palatine of Cephalonia from 1323 to 1324 and Despot of Epirus from 1323 to 1335....
, the despot of Epirus. This marriage to an Epirote noblewoman consolidated and legitimised John's position in the region. Besides Alexander, another very likely child of John Komnenos Asen was a certain Komnena, the wife of Balša II
Balša II
Balša II Balšić was a 14th-century nobleman, the Lord of Zeta from 1378 to 1385. He managed to expand his borders towards the south; defeating the Albanian Duke Karl Thopia....
who had succeeded Alexander as ruler of Valona in early 1372.