Ivan Alexander Asen (, transliterated Ivan Aleksandăr Asen, ; original spelling: ІѠАНЪ АЛЄѮАНдРЪ),As spelled in the Zograf and Orjahov Charters. also known just as Ivan Alexander, sometimes anglicized as John Alexander,For example in ruled as Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371,Lalkov, Rulers of Bulgaria, pp. 42–43. during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on 17 February 1371.Bǎlgarite i Bǎlgarija, 2.1

The long reign of Ivan Alexander Asen is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history. The Tsar began his rule by dealing with internal problems and external threats from Bulgaria's neighbours, the Byzantine Empire and Serbia, as well as leading his empire into a period of economic recovery and cultural and religious renaissance.Bǎlgarite i Bǎlgarija, 2.1

However, the emperor was later unable to cope with the mounting incursions of Ottoman forces, Hungarian invasions from the northwest and the Black Death. In an ill-fated attempt to combat these problems, he divided the country between his two sons,Delev, Istorija i civilizacija za 11. klas thus forcing it to face the imminent Ottoman conquest weakened and divided.

Early rule Ivan Alexander was the son of the Despot Sratsimir of Kran by Petrica, a sister of Michael Asen III of Bulgaria.Bozhilov, Familiyata na Asenevtsi, pp. 192–235. Therefore, Ivan Alexander was a nephew of Michael Asen III. Paternally, Ivan Alexander descended from the Asen dynasty. By 1330 Ivan Alexander was a despot and governed the city of Lovech. Together with his father and his father-in-law Basarab of Wallachia, Ivan Alexander fought in the Battle of Velbazhd against the Serbs at modern-day Kyustendil in 1330, in which Bulgaria suffered a defeat. The defeat, combined with the worsening relations with the Byzantine Empire, precipitated an internal crisis, which was exacerbated by an invasion of the Byzantines. A coup d'état drove Ivan Stefan out of the capital Tarnovo in 1331, and the conspirators placed Ivan Alexander on the throne.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, p. 273.

The new ruler set about consolidating his position by regaining territories recently lost to the Byzantine Empire. In 1331 Ivan Alexander Asen campaigned around Adrianople and reconquered northeastern Thrace. Meanwhile, Stefan Uroš IV Dušan deposed his father Stefan Uroš III Dečanski and became Serbian king in 1331. This helped normalize the previously tense relations between the two countries. Ivan Alexander Asen and Stefan Uroš IV Dušan concluded an alliance, which was cemented by the marriage of the Serbian king to Helena of Bulgaria, a sister of Ivan Alexander, on Easter 1332.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, p. 274.

At about the same time, Belaur, a brother of Michael Asen III, rebelled in Vidin, probably in support of his deposed nephew Ivan Stefan's claim to the throne. The advance of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos against Bulgaria in the summer of 1332 protracted military operations against the rebels. The Byzantines overran Bulgarian-controlled northeastern Thrace, but Ivan Alexander Asen rushed southward with a small army and swiftly caught up with Andronikos III at Rusokastro.

After giving the impression that he wished to negotiate, Ivan Alexander Asen, reinforced by Mongol cavalry, overwhelmed the smaller but better organized Byzantine army in the Battle of Rusokastro. The contested cities surrendered to Ivan Alexander Asen, while Andronikos III sought refuge within the walls of Rusokastro. The war ended with Ivan Alexander meeting Andronikos and agreeing a peace based on the status quo.Božilov, Familijata na Asenevci, pp. 192–197.

To seal the alliance, he betrothed his eldest son, Michael Asen IV, to Andronikos's daughter Maria (Eirene), the marriage taking place in 1339.Božilov, Familijata na Asenevci, pp. 192–197. The Bulgarian emperor was now free to turn his attentions to Belaur, but it was not until 1336 or 1337 that the rebellion in the northwest was put down.Andreev, Bǎlgarija prez vtorata četvǎrt na XIV v., pp. 33–41.

In about 1332, Ivan Alexander Asen had crowned his eldest son Michael Asen IV co-emperor, perhaps to safeguard possession of the throne by his own family. He followed up this traditional association with the coronation of his younger sons Ivan Sracimir and Ivan Asen IV in 1337. Ivan Alexander Asen may have intended the creation of two younger co-emperors to establish immediate control over important cities and regions, as Ivan Sracimir was eventually based in Vidin, and Ivan Asen IV perhaps in Preslav. Nevertheless, this was a marked departure from Byzantine practice, in which younger sons of the sovereign were made despots, whether they were charged with a territorial administration or not.Andreev, Balgariya prez vtorata chetvart na XIV v., pp. 23–52.

Relations with the Byzantine Empire

In the early 1340s relations with the Byzantine Empire temporarily deteriorated. Ivan Alexander Asen demanded the extradition of his cousin Šišman, one of the sons of Michael Asen III, threatening the Byzantine government with war. Ivan Alexander Asen's show of force backfired, as the Byzantines managed to see through his intentions and sent against him the fleet of their ally, the Turkish emir of Smyrna Umur Beg.Bakalov, Istorija na Bǎlgarija, "Esenta, 1341 g."

Landing in the Danube Delta, they pillaged the countryside and attacked nearby Bulgarian cities. Forced to restrain his demands, Ivan Alexander invaded the Byzantine Empire again at the end of 1341, claiming that he was summoned by the people of Adrianople.Bakalov, Istorija na Bǎlgarija, "Esenta, 1341 g." Ivan Alexander's troops were defeated twice by Turkish allies of the Byzantines near the city.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, pp. 292–293.

In 1341–1347, the Byzantine Empire was plunged into a protracted civil war between the regency for Emperor John V Palaiologos under Anna of Savoy and his intended guardian John VI Kantakouzenos. The neighbours of the Byzantines took advantage of the civil war, and while Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia sided with John VI Kantakouzenos, Ivan Alexander Asen backed John V Palaiologos and his regency. Although the two Balkan rulers picked opposite sides in the Byzantine civil war, they maintained their alliance with each other. As the price for Ivan Alexander Asen's support, the regency for John V Palaiologos ceded him the city of Philippopolis (Plovdiv) and nine important fortresses in the Rhodope Mountains in 1344.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, p. 304. This peaceful turnover constituted the last major success of Ivan Alexander's foreign policy.

Rise of Serbia and the Ottoman threat

During the same period, the Serbian king took advantage of the Byzantine civil war to take possession of what is now Macedonia, and of most of Albania and northern Greece. In 1345, he began to call himself "Emperor of Serbs and Greeks", and in 1346 he was crowned as such by the newly created Serbian Patriarch. These actions, which the Byzantines received with indignation, appear to have been supported by Bulgaria, as the Patriarch of Bulgaria Simeon had participated in both the creation of a Serbian Patriarchate of Peć and the imperial coronation of Stefan Uroš IV Dušan.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, pp. 309–310.

By the second half of the 1340s, little remained of Ivan Alexander's initial successes. John VI Kantakouzenos' Turkish allies pillaged parts of Bulgarian Thrace in 1346, 1347, 1349, 1352 and 1354, to which were added the ravages of the Black Death.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, pp. 322, 325, 328. The Bulgarians' attempts to repel the invaders met with repeated failure, and Ivan Alexander's third son and co-emperor, Ivan Asen IV, was killed in battle against the Turks in 1349, as was his older brother Michael Asen IV in 1355 or a little earlier.Andreev, Bǎlgarija prez vtorata četvǎrt na XIV v., pp. 67–75.

By 1351 the Byzantine civil war was over, and John VI Kantakouzenos had realized the threat posed by the Ottomans to the Balkan Peninsula. He appealed to the rulers of Serbia and Bulgaria for a united effort against the Turks and asked Ivan Alexander Asen for money to construct warships,Bǎlgarite i Bǎlgarija, 2.2 but his appeals fell on deaf ears as his neighbours distrusted his intentions.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, p. 325. A new attempt for cooperation between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire followed in 1355,Bakalov, Istorija na Bǎlgarija, "1355 g." after John VI Kantakouzenos had been forced to abdicate and John V Palaiologos had been established as supreme emperor. To cement the treaty, Ivan Alexander's daughter Keraca Marija was married off to the future Byzantine Emperor Andronikos IV Palaiologos, but the alliance failed to produce concrete results.Božilov, Familijata na Asenevci, pp. 218–224.

Further stability problems and external conflicts

At home Ivan Alexander Asen compromised the internal stability of his realm by divorcing his first wife Theodora of Wallachia (in about 1349) and marrying a converted Jew, also named Theodora. The new marriage produced new sons, whom Ivan Alexander Asen proceeded to crown co-emperors, Ivan Šišman in about 1356 and Ivan Asen V by 1359. Ivan Alexander Asen's last surviving son from his first marriage, the co-emperor Ivan Sracimir, became effectively independent around 1356; and Ivan Alexander Asen's control over other powerful vassals, such as the rulers of Wallachia and Dobruja, who pursued their own foreign policies, was hardly stronger.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, p. 366.

From the middle of the 14th century, Bulgaria fell prey to the aspirations of the Angevin king Louis I of Hungary, who annexed Moldavia in 1352 and established a vassal principality there, before conquering Vidin in 1365, and taking Ivan Sratsimir and his family into captivity.

In the meantime Bulgarians and Byzantines had clashed again in 1364. In 1366, when Emperor John V Palaiologos was returning from his trip to the west, the Bulgarians refused to let him pass through Bulgaria. This stance backfired, as another Byzantine ally, Count Amadeus VI of Savoy, leading the Savoyard crusade, captured several Bulgarian maritime cities in retaliation, including Ankhialos (Pomorie) and Mesembria (Nesebǎr), though he failed to take Varna. Outmanoeuvred, Ivan Alexander was forced to make peace.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, p. 367.

The captured cities were turned over to the Byzantine Empire, while Emperor John V Palaiologos paid the sum of 180,000 florins to Ivan Alexander. The Bulgarian emperor used this sum and territorial concessions to induce his at least de jure vassal Dobrotica of DobrujaBakalov, Istorija na Bǎlgarija, "Dobrotica (neizv.–okolo 1385)" and Vladislav I of Wallachia to reconquer Vidin from the Hungarians.Bakalov, Istorija na Bǎlgarija, "Esenta, 1369 g." The war was successful, and Ivan Sracimir was reinstalled in Vidin in 1369, although the Hungarian king forced him to acknowledge his overlordship.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, pp. 367–368.

The relatively successful resolution of the crisis in the northwest did nothing to help recover the losses in the southeast. To make matters worse, in 1369 (the date is disputed), the Ottoman Turks under Murad I conquered Adrianople (in 1363) and made it the effective capital of their expanding state. At the same time, they also captured the Bulgarian cities of Philippopolis and Boruj (Stara Zagora).Tjutjundžiev and Pavlov, Bǎlgarskata dǎržava i osmanskata ekspanzija As Bulgaria and the Serbian feudal lords in Macedonia as Konstantin Dragas and Prince Marko prepared for united action against the Turks, Ivan Alexander Asen died on 17 February 1371.Fine, Late Medieval Balkans, p. 368. He was succeeded by his sons Ivan Sratsimir in Vidin and Ivan Shishman in Tarnovo, while the rulers of Dobruja and Wallachia achieved further independence.

Culture and religion