Alexius Slav (, ; 1208–28) was a Bulgarian nobleman ('' bolyarin''), a member of the Asen dynasty, and a nephew of the first three Asen brothers. He was first probably the governor of the Rhodopes domain of the

Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1422. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...

, and then an autocrat in these lands. He was first mentioned as one of the nobles disputing

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Boril's ascension to the Bulgarian throne. He married the daughter of Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders in November 1208, leaving the Bulgarian capital of

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

and establishing himself as an independent ruler over the largest part of the Rhodope Mountains. Alexius Slav became a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

of Henry after the Bulgarian defeat near

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

. Henry promised to support his aspirations for the Bulgarian throne and awarded Alexius Slav the title of despot. In 1211, he fought against Boril together with the

Despotate of Epirus The Despotate of Epirus () was one of the Greek Rump state, successor states of the Byzantine Empire established in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 by a branch of the Angelos dynasty. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the ...

, extending the territory of his state and capturing the fortress of Melnik, where he moved his capital from Tsepina in 1215, and became an autocrat. In Melnik, Alexius Slav had a royal court of his own; the court consisted of Bulgarians as well as

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

(a ''

sebastos ( , ) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of . The female form of the title was (). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th century Byzantine Empire and came to form the basis of a new system of co ...

'' of the Franks was mentioned in one contemporary epigraph). Despot Alexius Slav is also known to have issued a charter donating a

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

possession to the nearby Monastery of the Mother of God Speliotissa in 1220. In this document, Alexius Slav called the monastery ''despot's and tsar's'', hinting at his confidence and power. His state became once again a part of the

Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire may refer to: * First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led b ...

after the

Battle of Klokotnitsa The Battle of Klokotnitsa (, ''Bitkata pri Klokotnitsa'') occurred on 9 March 1230 near the village of Klokotnitsa (Haskovo), Klokotnitsa (today in Haskovo Province, Bulgaria) between the Second Bulgarian Empire and the Empire of Thessalonica. ...

on 9 March 1230. However, after December 1228, his name was no longer mentioned in the historical sources. Some scholars link him to the ''

stolnik Stolnik (, , , , ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office. It approximately corresponds to English term wikt:pantler, "pantler". S ...

'' Slav from a later ring inscription unearthed in Tarnovo, but this identification is unreliable according to historian Ivan Bozhilov. Alexius Slav was married twice: first to an unknown illegitimate daughter of Henry of Flanders and then, after her death, to the daughter of a Petraliphas, brother-in-law to the ruler of Epirus (and after 1225 Emperor of Thessalonica) Theodore Komnenos Doukas (perhaps the ''

sebastokrator ''Sebastokrator'' (, ; ; ), 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 (Bulgarian Empire, Serbian Empire). The word is a compound ...

'' John Petraliphas). The sources give no information about any progeny.

Honours

Slav Point on Oscar II Coast in

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

is named after Alexius Slav.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexius Slav, Despot Medieval Bulgarian nobility Bulgarian princes 12th-century births 13th-century deaths 12th-century Bulgarian people 13th-century Bulgarian people Bulgarian people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars Medieval Bulgarian military personnel People from medieval Macedonia Asen dynasty Despots (court title) Bulgarian–Latin Wars