Mitso Asen of Bulgaria
Encyclopedia
Reign
Mitso Asen ascended the throne by virtue of his marriage to MariaMaria Asenina of Bulgaria
Maria Asenina of Bulgaria was a Bulgarian princess and empress consort. She was the consort of Emperor Mitso Asen of Bulgaria.She was the daughter of Emperor Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and Empress Irene Komnene of Epirus. Through her mother, she was a granddaughter of Theodore of Epirus...
, a daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria
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...
by 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....
. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. His antecedents are unclear, but neither his name (which is found in official contexts and is not the diminutive of "Michael"), nor his career described in the Byzantine sources allow an identification with Michael, the son of the Russian prince and Hungarian ban Rostislav Mikhailovich, nor any other member of the house of Chernigov
Chernihiv
Chernihiv or Chernigov is a historic city in northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Chernihiv Oblast , as well as of the surrounding Chernihivskyi Raion within the oblast...
. It is likely that, like his successor Constantine Tikh, Mitso Asen adopted the name Asen after his accession to the throne.
Mitso Asen became emperor of Bulgaria after the murder of his wife's cousin, Kaliman Asen II
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....
in 1256. Although he acquired some support in 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...
and in Preslav, he was faced by the hostility of much of the provincial nobility. Following an obscure unsuccessful campaign against Theodore II Lascaris of 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...
, Mitso lost control even over the commoners.
When the nobility proclaimed Constantine Tikh
Constantine Tikh of Bulgaria
Constantine I , which includes the shortened form of the name of his father as a patronymic), ruled as emperor of Bulgaria from 1257 to 1277....
emperor instead, Mitso and his family fled the capital in 1257 and attempted to resist from Preslav and then Mesembria (now Nesebăr
Nesebar
Nesebar is an ancient town and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Nesebar Municipality...
). In exchange for asylum and lands, Mitso turned over Mesembria and its environs to Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos and sought refuge in Nicaea. Here he was given lands in the Troad, where he remained with his family. The date of his death is unknown, but it is likely that he was no longer alive in 1277/1278, when his son Ivan Asen III was put forward as a claimant to the Bulgarian throne by the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII.
Family
By his marriage with Maria of Bulgaria, Mitso had two known children:- Ivan Asen IIIIvan Asen III of BulgariaIvan Asen III , ruled as emperor of Bulgaria 1279–1280. Ivan Asen III was the son of Mitso Asen of Bulgaria and Maria of Bulgaria, a daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and Irene of Thessalonica...
, emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria 1279–1280. - Kira MariaKira Maria Asenina of BulgariaKira Maria Asenina was a Bulgarian princess and empress consort , second wife of George I of Bulgaria.Kira Maria was the daughter of tsar Mitso Asen of Bulgaria and his wife Maria. The dates and the places of her birth and death are unknown....
, who married George Terter I of BulgariaGeorge I of BulgariaGeorge Terter I ruled as emperor of Bulgaria 1280-1292. The date of his birth is unknown, and he died in 1308/1309.The reign of George Terter I represents a continuation of Bulgaria's precipitous decline during the second half of the 13th century...
.