Ivan Asen III ( bg, Иван Асен III, also Йоан Асен III, ''Ioan Asen III'', and in English ''John Asen III''), ruled as

tsar of Bulgaria The monarchs of Bulgaria ruled the country during three periods of Bulgaria's history as an independent country: from the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 to the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria in 1018; from the Uprising of Asen ...

1279–1280. Ivan Asen III was the son of

Mitso Asen of Bulgaria Mitso Asen ( bg, Мицо Асен) or Micho Asen (Мичо Асен) was the tsar of Bulgaria from 1256 until 1257. Reign Mitso Asen ascended the throne by virtue of his marriage to Maria, a daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria by Irene Komne ...

and Maria of Bulgaria, a daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and Irene of Thessalonica. He was probably born in about 1259/60, and died in exile in 1303. Fearing the rapid success of

Ivaylo of Bulgaria Ivaylo (died 1281), also spelled Ivailo ( bg, Ивайло), was a rebel leader who ruled briefly as tsar of Bulgaria. In 1277, he spearheaded a peasant uprising and forced the Bulgarian nobility to accept him as emperor. He reigned as emperor f ...

, the

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Michael VIII Palaiologos Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...

summoned Ivan Asen to his court, granted him the title of ''despotēs'', and married him to his eldest daughter Irene Palaiologina in 1277 or 1278. Michael VIII then sent several Byzantine armies to attempt to assert Ivan Asen III on the throne of Bulgaria. Although Ivailo defeated several of these attempts, he was blockaded for three months in Drăstăr (

Silistra Silistra ( bg, Силистра ; tr, Silistre; ro, Silistra) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Si ...

) by the

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group indigenous peoples, native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia, Buryatia Republic of the Russia, Russ ...

allies of Michael VIII. In the interval a Byzantine force besieged the Bulgarian capital Tărnovo and, hearing a rumor of Ivailo's death in battle, the local nobility surrendered and accepted Ivan Asen III as emperor in 1279. To strengthen his position in Tarnovo, Ivan Asen III married his sister Maria (Kira Maria) to the Bulgaro-Cuman nobleman George Terter, but failed to assert himself throughout the country. Ivailo reappeared before the walls of the capital and defeated two Byzantine attempts to relieve Ivan Asen III. Despairing of success, Ivan Asen III and Irene Palaiologina secretly fled Tarnovo with choice treasures from the palace treasury, including pieces captured from defeated Byzantine Emperors in former victories. Reaching Mesembria ( Nesebăr), the imperial couple sailed for

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, where the enraged Michael VIII refused to receive them for days for their cowardice. In 1280 or 1281 Ivan Asen III traveled to the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragmenta ...

, competing with Ivailo in a bid to win support for restoration in Bulgaria. The Mongol chieftain

Nogai Khan Nogai, or Noğay (; also spelled Nogay, Nogaj, Nohai, Nokhai, Noqai, Ngoche, Noche, Kara Nokhai, and Isa Nogai; died 1299/1300) was a general and kingmaker of the Golden Horde and a great-great-grandson of Genghis Khan. His grandfather was Bo'al/ ...

eventually had Ivailo murdered, but failed to restore Ivan Asen III in Bulgaria. The latter returned to his family possessions in the Troad, and died in 1303.

Family

Ivan Asen III and Irene Palaiologina became the progenitors of the large and influential family Asan (or Asanes) in the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, which prospered in various court and provincial offices until the end of the empire and its dependencies in the mid-15th century. One of Ivan Asen III's descendants, Irene Asanina (daughter of his son Andronikos Asan) married the future Byzantine Emperor

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under A ...

and through their daughter Helena (who married emperor

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. Biography John V was the son of E ...

), became the ancestress of later

Byzantine emperors This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

. By his marriage with Irene Palaiologina, Ivan Asen III had the following children: # Michael Asan, titular emperor of Bulgaria. # Andronikos Asan, father of Irene Asanina, wife of

. # Isaac Asan. # Manuel Asan. # Constantine Asan. # Theodora Asanina, who married Fernan Jimenez d'Aunez and then Manuel Tagaris. # Maria Asanina, who married Roger de Flor.

References

* John V.A. Fine, Jr., ''The Late Medieval Balkans'', Ann Arbor, 1987.

External links

Asens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivan Asen 03 Of Bulgaria 1259 births 1303 deaths 13th-century Bulgarian emperors Eastern Orthodox monarchs Asen dynasty Bulgarian people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Despots (court title) Sons of emperors