Bulgarian kingdom: history of origin. Second Bulgarian Kingdom Fortress and palace architecture

After the death of Ivan Asen II, Bulgaria experienced an invasion of the Tatars returning from the Hungarian campaign. The country was forced to pay tribute to the nomads. Bulgarian hegemony in the Balkans ended.

After the death of Ivan Asen P, long periods of internecine wars. The Bulgarian throne was occupied by the Macedonian feudal lord Konstantin Tikh. In an effort to legitimize his rights to the kingdom, he married the granddaughter of Asen II and began to be called Konstantin Asen. For the first time in the history of the Bulgarian state, the principle of inheritance of power was violated (from father to son; from brother to brother, i.e., within ruling dynasty). The feudal lord who won the internecine struggle reigned. Which indicated the weakness of state power.

Rise of Ivayla. Feudal unrest at the end of the 13th century. In 1277, the largest anti-feudal uprising in the history of Bulgaria broke out in northeastern Bulgaria in Dobruja. The rebels were led by the swineherd Ivaylo. The reasons for the uprising include: feudal oppression; constant unsuccessful wars that undermine the economy; feudal unrest that ravaged the country; predatory invasions of the Mongols; dissatisfaction with the rule of Tsar Constantine Tikh. Not only peasants, but also small feudal lords joined the ranks of the rebels. Ivaylo defeated and drove the Mongols beyond the Danube, which ensured his enormous popularity among the people. Konstantin Tikh launched a campaign against Ivayla, but his army was defeated and he was killed. The defeated warriors joined the ranks of the rebels, who became masters of the country. In the spring of 1278, they besieged the city of Tarnovo, and Queen Maria, in order to retain her crown, was forced to agree to marry Ivaylo. So the swineherd Ivaylo was proclaimed the Bulgarian king. An exceptional case occurred in the history of Europe: the leader of the rebel peasants became the ruler of the country.

Gradually the uprising began to subside. The struggle with Byzantium, which did not want to recognize the peasant king and sought to establish its protege on the throne, exhausted the strength of Ivayla’s army. While he was on the Danube border, Byzantine troops entered the city of Tarnovo and elevated Ivan III Asen to the royal throne (1279).

The fight against Ivaylo and the Byzantines was led by the boyar George Terter, around whom the feudal lords rallied. Ivaylo turned for help to Nogai, the leader of the Golden Horde in the Black Sea region. At the Mongol headquarters he was treacherously killed. In 1280, the Bulgarian feudal lords suppressed the last centers of the uprising and expelled the Byzantines from the country.

After these events, George I Terter (1280-1292) became the Bulgarian king, who failed to achieve stabilization in the country. As a result of civil strife, Theodore Svyatoslav, son of Terter, took the Bulgarian throne.

Bulgaria in the 14th century. Theodore Svyatoslav (1300-1321) somewhat strengthened the central power in Bulgaria, although he was not able to eliminate feudal strife in the country. Theodore Svyatoslav was succeeded by his son George Terter II (1321-1323). In the spring of 1323, the Bulgarian feudal lords elected Mikhail, the son of the boyar Shishman, ruler of the Vidin region, as king.

Mikhail Shishman (1323-1330) undertook a campaign against Byzantium with the aim of reconquering the southern Bulgarian lands. In 1324, he returned some Black Sea cities (Yambol, Ktenia, Nessebar, etc.) and devastated Byzantine Thrace, but he failed to completely expel the Byzantines from the Bulgarian lands.

In connection with the strengthening of Serbia in the 20s. XIV century An anti-Serbian Bulgarian-Byzantine alliance was formed. In the spring of 1330, the Serbs defeated the Bulgarians near the city of Velbuzhd. The Byzantines failed to help their allies. The wounded Mikhail Shishman was captured by the Serbs, where he died. Serbian troops approached the city of Tarnovo. The recent ally of Byzantium took advantage of the defeat of Bulgaria and captured its southern part.

The new Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331-1371). fought civil strife and led an active struggle against Byzantium. In the 40s XIV century The Bulgarian kingdom broke up into independent fiefs. The Black Sea coast from the mouth of the Danube to Varna became an independent possession (the Principality of Dobrudja), ruled by the despot Balik (1346-1360), and then by his brother Dobrotich, after whom the region was later called Dobruja. Ivan Alexander himself in 1363 split his possessions into two parts, allocating the Vidin region to his eldest son Ivan Stratsimir. He made his other son, Ivan Shishman, his co-ruler. Each of the three kingdoms was divided into many small fiefs. In such a disadvantageous position, Bulgaria met Turkish aggression.

Conquest of Bulgaria by the Turks. In the 30s XIV century The Byzantine Empire began to attract the people of Asia Minor - the Ottoman Turks - for campaigns against the Balkan countries. This policy contributed to the emergence of the latter on the Balkan Peninsula. Before mid-XIV V. The Ottomans undertook only predatory campaigns in Europe or fought as part of the Byzantine troops.

In 1352, the Turkish Sultan Suleiman captured the Byzantine city of Tsimpe on the European shore of the Dardanelles. With this event, the conquests of the Turks in Europe began. The Balkan countries, together with Byzantium, tried to throw the Turks out of the region, but things did not go further than attempts. Bulgaria's struggle with the Turks was complicated by the dual position of Byzantium, which opposed the Turks, but at the same time contributed to the strengthening of the separate Dobrudzhan principality led by Balik and his successors, thereby dividing the Bulgarians before the Ottoman threat.

During the reign of the last Bulgarian king Ivan Shishman (1371-1393), a united Bulgaria no longer existed. The Vidin kingdom and the Dobrudzhan principality pursued independent policies. In 1382, the Turks captured the city of Sofia; in 1393, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, the city of Tarnovo, fell. Soon Ivan Shishman was captured by the Turks and executed, and in 1396 the Ottomans took the last and independent Bulgarian city - Vidin. For five centuries, Bulgaria found itself under the Ottoman yoke.

Second Bulgarian Kingdom or Tarnovo kingdom(Bulgarian) Second Bulgarian Kingdom listen)) is a medieval Bulgarian state that existed from 1185 to 1396.

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All three brothers showed themselves to be talented rulers and died as a result of conspiracies, only the death of Tsar Kaloyan is disputed by some historians, since, according to various historical sources, he died as a result of a coup or due to a short illness.

After Kaloyan's death, Tsar Boril ascends the throne. Historians suggest that he was one of the organizers of the conspiracy against Kaloyan. After his accession to the throne, he begins persecution of Asenei. Possible contenders for the throne have to flee for their lives - among them is the future Tsar Ivan Asen II, the son of Ivan Asen I. He runs away first to the Polovtsians, and then to the Galicia-Volyn principality. Boril's reign was characterized by complete destabilization of the country. A number of feudal lords declared their independence and Boril lost many territories conquered by brothers from the Asen dynasty. As a result, he was overthrown from the throne in 1218 by the rightful heir to the kingdom - Ivan Asen II.

During the reign of Ivan II Asen (1218-1241), the second kingdom reached its greatest power. By entering into dynastic marriages and constantly waging wars with the Crusaders, Hungarians and Greeks, Tsar Ivan expanded his state, capturing Macedonia, Albania and Southern Serbia. By the end of his reign, he controlled almost the entire Balkan Peninsula.

Mongol invasion

After the death of Ivan Asen II, the country was ruled for a long time by weak rulers. As a result, it lost its influence on the Balkan Peninsula. In 1242 Bulgaria was subjected to Mongol invasion and is forced to pay tribute to the Horde. Under pressure from its neighbors, Bulgaria is losing land. Byzantium conquers Macedonia and Northern Thrace, the Hungarians conquer Belgrade. Wallachia is gradually separated and the title of the rulers of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom is reduced from “King of the Wallachians and Bolgars” to “King of the Bolgars”.

Moreover, a number of nobles declared the independence of their domains. Thus, in 1261, the Vidin Despotate was formed, which was completely independent under the first despots Yakov Svyatoslav and Shishman. Moreover, they disputed the royal title of the rulers of Bulgaria. TO end of XIII century, as a result of wars and internal unrest, Bulgaria weakened so much that in 1299 the son of Khan Nogai - Chaka - briefly became its king. However, Khan Toktu, who took Nogai’s place, invaded Bulgaria with troops a year later. As a result of the uprising led by Svyatoslav (son of the deposed Tsar George I), Chaka was killed and his head was sent to Khan Toktu. As gratitude, the Tatars stopped raiding Bulgarian territories forever and the tribute was withdrawn.

Due to its location, the Vidin kingdom was protected from attacks by the Turks. However, this did not last long. In 1396, shortly after the fall of the Tarnovo kingdom, the Turks put an end to the independence of Vidin. Ivan Sratsimir was arrested for disobedience to the Sultan (he allowed Hungarian troops through his territory) and his further fate is unknown.

The Polovtsians began to actively penetrate into the territory of Bulgaria at the beginning of the 12th century, when the Bulgarian lands were under the rule of Byzantium. Crossing the Danube, the Cumans settled on pastures in the lower Danube, in northeastern Bulgaria and in Dobruja. The first invasion of the Cumans into the lands of the Byzantine Empire dates back to 1078. IN large quantities The Cuman hordes appeared in connection with the Pecheneg-Byzantine war of the late 1080s and early 1090s, in which the Cumans acted as allies on the side of Byzantium. In 1186, the Bolyar (Cuman) brothers Fedor and Asen, with the support of Cuman troops, launched an anti-Byzantine uprising in North-Eastern Bulgaria. As a result of the uprising, the Bulgarian state (Second Bulgarian Kingdom) was restored, Asen was proclaimed king of Bulgaria. Since then, the Cumans-Polovtsians began to play an important role in the life of the Bulgarian state. During the reign of Kaloyan, who was married to the daughter of the Cuman Khan, the Bulgarian and Cuman nobility staged a conspiracy, as a result of which Kaloyan was killed. The Cuman feudal lord Boril became the new king of Bulgaria. Under his successor, Ivan Asen II (ruled 1218-1241), the influx of Cumans from Hungary and especially from the Mongols increased. Finds of stone statues in northeastern Bulgaria dating back to the 13th century indicate that the Cumans arrived in Bulgaria not only from the west, but also from the east. As in Hungary, in Bulgaria the Cumans became Christians. In 1280, George Terter, a native of the Polovtsian Tortoba tribe, the founder of the Terter dynasty, became the king of Bulgaria. The Cuman nobility merged with the Bulgarians faster than the nomadic Cumans. In the 14th century, before the Turkish conquest, in the steppes of Dobrudja there existed the Principality of Dobrudja, founded by the Cuman Balik.

Culture

Development continued in the Second Bulgarian Kingdom cultural traditions First Kingdom. During this period, Bulgaria developed its own schools of painting, including Tarnovo, Ohrid, Sofia, and Nessebar. The icon of the Mother of God Eleusa, painted in Nessebar in the 14th century, gained worldwide fame. Painting and icon painting flourished. Famous are the paintings of the Poganovsky Monastery, the Church of St. George in Sofia, the rock church in Ivanovo, the Khrelova Tower in the Rila Monastery. Rich book miniature was most developed in the gospels, psalters and translated chronicles created for Ivan Alexander. The literature of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, which reached its highest rise in the middle and second half of the 14th century, developed primarily as liturgical literature, translated from Greek language. The original monument of literature is the “Synodikon of Tsar Boril”. Patriarch Euthymius Tarnovsky wrote laudatory words and lives of Ivan Rilsky, Petka Tarnovskaya, and Hilarion Moglensky. Euthymius carried out a reform of the Bulgarian literary language, translations from Greek came closer to the texts of Cyril and Methodius. This reform influenced writing in Serbia and Rus'. Indirect evidence also indicates the keeping of chronicles. In the monasteries of Athos and Constantinople, the Bulgarians interacted with scribes from Byzantium, Rus' and Serbia. In areas of Macedonia lost to Bulgaria back in the 1240s, and subject to the Ohrid Archdiocese with its Greek clergy, Slavic writing was in decline. Folklore Legends and traditions were created about heroes-defenders from external enemies and freedom fighters.

Architecture

Fortress and palace architecture

Unlike the fortresses of the First Kingdom, new fortresses were built on high hills, protected by rocks and rivers. They consisted of stone walls that obeyed the natural landscape. The walls had cylindrical, polyhedral or tetrahedral towers. Accessible places were fortified with a deep ditch. However, the level of construction technology became lower: walls were built mainly from broken stone on low-quality white mortar; Wooden beams were installed to level the rows of stone. The cities of this period consisted of a fortress and the buildings of the townspeople at its foot. This is how the capital of Tarnov, the cities of Lovech, Cherven and others were built. The royal palace in Tarnovo, built on a hill, consisted of living quarters, a church and a throne room. The hall in a later period was a three-nave basilica measuring 32x19 m with a richly decorated interior. The palace church was decorated inside with marble and mosaics, and outside with ceramic decoration. The royal palaces and houses of the nobility remain as remains on the hills in Tarnovo Tsarevets and Trapezitsa, as well as in Varna, Cherven and Melnik. Fortresses were erected in Tarnovo, Nikopol, Varna, Vidin, Sofia.

Iconic architecture

This period of history was characterized by churches with a cross-domed structure, which replaced the more ancient basilica. The churches of the Forty Martyrs, St. Demetrius in Tarnovo, Poganovsky monastery in Ohrid, episcopal church in Cherven, rock church near the village of Ivanovo. Church construction was especially active in the capital Tarnovo and the important seaport of Mesemvria. From the 11th to the 14th centuries, a large number of churches were built here, differing from each other in architectural types. All churches built in Bulgaria during this period were distinguished by their relatively small size and architectural diversity. Churches from the period of feudal fragmentation of the 13th-14th centuries are in large numbers cross-domed or single-nave of small size. Their architectural expressiveness was achieved through external decoration, rather than the volume of buildings. Painting from this period almost entirely covered the walls, domes and vaults of churches. During the construction of temples in Tarnovo, Mesemvria and Macedonia, mixed masonry of a clearly decorative nature was used from rows of cut stone and brick, alternating with each other. The decor of the facades was enhanced by rows of ceramic rosettes, which were framed by archivolts of blind arches and windows. The interior decor was complemented by columns made of marble, porphyry or serpentine. Marble slabs were most often brought from ancient or Byzantine buildings. Monasteries from the era of the Second (as well as the First) Bulgarian Kingdom have not been preserved as integral architectural complexes.

Four-pillar churches were built with a pre-apse space (Constantinople version); with an elongated eastern part of the planned cross without preapsid space (Tarnovo, Mesemvria); with uniform parts of a planned cross and without a vestibule (in the provinces). In Veliko Tarnovo, the four-pillar church of Peter and Paul has been preserved, in Mesemvria there are two such churches: the Pantocrator and Ivan Aliturgitos, belonging to the Mesemvria architectural school. The Church of the Pantocrator is built from alternating rows of stone and bricks. Three three-conch domed churches have been preserved - in the Arkhangelsk, Orekhovsky and Poganovsky monasteries. The church of the Rila Monastery, built in the 1330s, was of the same type. Pillarless domed churches with a square plan are small buildings, usually without a vestibule. These are the old part of the Boyana Church, the Church of St. Nicholas in Sapareva Ban, the Church of St. Theodore near Boboshev. Single-nave churches with a dome appeared in Bulgaria during the period of Byzantine rule. The oldest temple of this type is the Asen Church of the 12th century. In Nessebar, this type includes the Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, which in its design is reminiscent of Asen’s Church. Modest single-nave vaulted churches were built during the First Bulgarian Kingdom. They continued to be built in small and poor villages and monasteries. A version of these churches with a richer appearance was erected in Tarnovo and Mesemvria (for example, the Paraskeva Church).

Socio-economic development

The restoration of national statehood after almost two centuries of Byzantine domination became the main event of Bulgarian history in the 13th - 14th centuries. In the autumn of 1187, in the city of Velikoye Tarnovo, which became the capital of Bulgaria, Tsar Asen I was solemnly crowned, and Metropolitan Vasily of Tarnovo was proclaimed archbishop. The Second Bulgarian Kingdom was formed.

Byzantine orders and Greek terminology were firmly established in the social life of Bulgaria in the previous period. But much of what was previously customary during the First Bulgarian Kingdom was also restored. The socio-economic basis of the country was predominantly agrarian relations. Large structures that emerged during the period of Byzantine rule land holdings After the liberation of Bulgaria, their masters changed: Byzantine feudal lords were replaced by Bulgarian ones. Estates belonged to both secular persons and churches and monasteries. A significant part of the country's land fund was the property of the state and royal family. Judging by the sources, land was most often given to those who served, i.e. the share of conditional land ownership was significant.

Church and monastic land ownership developed impressively intensively. More than 70 Bulgarian monasteries had extensive estates. In Southwestern Bulgaria the possessions of the largest Rila Monastery in Bulgaria were located. His estate consisted of 21 villages with a subordinate population. Often the state granted large owners the right of immunity - tax, judicial and administrative. The wealth of the state rested on the labor of the dependent population, the predominant group among which were peasants who owned hereditary plots. The population was included in the tax lists and was obliged to pay centralized rent to the treasury in kind and in cash, and cash payments occupied a prominent place in the state budget.

The Bulgarian economy relied not only on the countryside, but also on the city, which were of various types: maritime, cities located on busy river trade routes, and continental. Contemporaries called Velikoye Tarnovo the first and main city of Bulgaria, the capital city where the royal and patriarchal residences were located. Preslav, the former Bulgarian capital, continued to remain a significant craft center, and Vidin was a major port on the Danube. The cities of the Bulgarian Black Sea region developed rapidly - Nessebar, Varna, Sozopol, Ankhial. Sources often mention cities and fortresses of Southern Bulgaria, the center of which was Plovdiv. In the South-West of Bulgaria, Sredets (Sofia) stood out.

In the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, various types of urban and rural crafts developed. Non-ferrous and precious metals were processed. There were jewelry workshops in Vratsa, Lovech and other cities. In the capital Tarnovo at the end of the 12th - beginning. XIII centuries grandiose urban construction began. The city turned into an impregnable fortress. On the Tsarevets and Trapezitsa hills, surrounded by powerful walls, the palaces of the king and the residence of the patriarch were erected. The highest military and civil administration also resided there. On both banks of the Yantra River there was an “outer city”, in which traders and artisans lived.

Bulgaria in the XIII - XIV centuries. was an active trading partner. At the beginning of the 13th century. the country began minting its own coin. Both Byzantine and Venetian money were in use. International trade flourished especially actively in the Danube and Black Sea regions. Bulgaria traded food on the foreign market. In addition to food, raw materials were supplied to the foreign market: leather, furs, wax. Bulgarian grain was well known in both Byzantium and Italy. Particularly close ties have been established with Italian republics- Genoa and Venice, whose traders had a number of privileges in Bulgaria: they paid low trade duties and had the right of extraterritoriality.

Freed from foreign orders, Bulgaria at the end of the 12th century. began to restore its statehood. The country was again led by the Bulgarian sovereign, who bore the title “tsar and autocrat.” As in the First Bulgarian Kingdom, its power was hereditary and extensive: the king was the supreme commander and legislator. He took part in resolving issues relating not only to secular, but also to spiritual life. In all state affairs, he relied on the Council, consisting of “great boys.” The nobility of Bulgaria, replacing the Greek, quickly occupied all the highest government positions. From her midst, a great logothete was appointed - the second person after the king in the state, as well as a protovestiary in charge of the state treasury, and a great voivode - the supreme military leader. In the regions, the main ranks were duks. The titled aristocracy (despots) owned vast territories and often pursued independent policies.

Rise of Ivayla

Social life was quite tense. In 1277-1280 A movement unfolded in Bulgaria, in which almost all layers of the then Bulgarian society took part, although at first it was of a democratic nature. The uprising was led by the peasant Ivaylo, who came from the very bottom of society: he was a swineherd. This circumstance became the basis for the conclusion, dominant in historiography, about the peasant nature of the entire movement. Although these very complex events can hardly be called a peasant uprising or, moreover, peasant war. The movement began in 1277 in North-East Bulgaria. Ivaylo initially composed his army of “simple and violent”, as the Byzantine historian Grigora tells about it, but then it quickly grew due to the opposition nobility who joined the army. The troops led by Ivaylo accomplished what the government forces of the central government could not do. They defeated the Tatars who were robbing Bulgaria several times. It was these victories that made the name Ivaylo popular in the country. In 1277, the rebels managed to defeat the tsar's troops near Tarnovo. The Bulgarian Tsar Konstantin Tikh himself died in the battle. The government units that survived the battle joined the rebels. In the spring of 1278, the gates of the Bulgarian capital opened to Ivaylo, who took the royal throne by marrying the widowed queen. However, the motley opposition to the central government was not always unequivocally loyal to the peasant tsar. Another contender, a protege of Byzantium, the son of a Bulgarian nobleman, proclaimed Ivan Asen III, sought to take the coveted throne. Now Ivayla had to fight not only the Tatars, but also the Byzantine troops. At the same time, part of the Bulgarian nobility supported another contender for the Tarnovo throne - George Terterius. It was he who was destined to become the Bulgarian king (1280-1292).

Bulgaria in the 13th century.

Bulgaria in the XIII - XIV centuries. was a centralized monarchy. Among the rulers of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom there are very bright figures. The end of anarchy and the period of numerous palace coups was put by Tsar Kaloyan (1197-1207), who managed to significantly expand the borders of his country. The Black Sea cities that previously belonged to Bulgaria were liberated from Byzantine rule, the areas near Vidin, Belgrade and Branichev, as well as part of Macedonia, were annexed.

Seeking to restore the patriarchate in Bulgaria and not receiving the “go-ahead” from Constantinople for this, Kaloyan decided to turn to the pope, trying to achieve what he wanted by concluding a union with the Catholic Church. Early in his reign, Kaloyan entered into intensive negotiations with Pope Innocent III. In 1204, Kaloyan received confirmation of the title of “King of Bulgaria” from the papal envoy in Tarnovo, and the archbishop was recognized as “primate”. A union was also concluded (1204), which was only a short-term episode in the history of the country. It was quickly put to an end by the invasion of the Crusaders in the Balkans, the fall of Constantinople under their blows (1204) and the struggle of Bulgaria against the uninvited knights. Already in 1205, the Bulgarians successfully defeated the crusader troops near Odrin. The “Latin Emperor” Baldwin of Flanders himself was captured. Under the current conditions, the union with Catholics became meaningless and ceased to exist.

The powerful Kaloyan was forcibly removed from power by the Bolyar conspirators, who elevated his nephew Boril (1207-1218) to the throne. This was a rather weak ruler, compared to Kaloyan, who suffered defeat after defeat from external enemies. True, he glorified himself by fighting against heretics who had never calmed down in the country. It was this king who convened the anti-Bogomil Council in Tarnovo in 1211, as evidenced by the source that has reached us - the Synodik of Tsar Boril. This tsar, who was essentially a usurper, was removed from power in 1218, and the throne passed to the legal heir - the son of Tsar Asen I - Ivan Asen II.

Ivan Asen II

In his person, Bulgaria received a brilliant ruler, who succeeded in a lot in terms of organizing government affairs in the country. Under him, internal strife subsided, central power strengthened, and state borders expanded far. The warlike and powerful Bulgarian ruler remained in the memory of his contemporaries and how humane ruler, who, having won military victories, released prisoners captured in battles to their homes. The Bulgarian Tsar left a good memory not only in his country, but also among his neighbors.

Apparently, luck contributed to Ivan Asen II. Soon after his accession to the throne (1221), he returned to Bulgaria the areas previously captured by the Hungarians near Belgrade and Branicevo, and achieved this peacefully by marrying the daughter of the Hungarian king. In 1225, the Bulgarian king made another successful diplomatic step - he gave one of his daughters in marriage to the brother of Fedor Komnenos, the powerful ruler of the Epirus Despotate. At the same time, Ivan Asen II receives a tempting offer from the Latins themselves, who rule in Constantinople, to conclude a peace treaty with the Latin Empire, and at the same time seal it with the marriage of Baldwin II with the daughter of the Bulgarian king. Having thus acquired powerful allies, Ivan Asen II managed in the late 20s of the 13th century. return part of Thrace and Plovdiv to Bulgaria. And then the recent ally of the Bulgarian king and his close relative Feodor Komnenos, in the spring of 1230, moved troops against Bulgaria. And before that, for almost ten years, thanks to the diplomatic skill of its king, the country lived in peace. A military clash with Greek troops took place near Plovdiv, in the village of Klokotnitsa. The total defeat of Komnenos' troops and his capture opened the way for the victorious march of the Bulgarian troops. The Bulgarians captured Western Thrace, all of Macedonia, part of the Adriatic coast, part of Thessaly and Albania. Having won such impressive victories, the Bulgarian Tsar considered it necessary to change his title supreme power and from now on began to call himself “the king of the Bulgarians and Greeks.” Ivan Asen II ordered information about his military successes to be recorded in inscriptions embossed on hard materials. One of these eloquent inscriptions is found on the stone bell tower in the church “St. forty martyrs” in Tarnovo. The inscription reads: “In the summer of 6738 (1230), the third indictment, I, Ivan Asen, in Christ God the faithful king and autocrat of the Bulgarians, the son of old Asen, erected from the foundations and decorated this church to the top with paintings in the name of the holy Forty Martyrs, with the help of which, in the twelfth year of my reign, when this temple was being painted, I went to war in Romania and defeated the Greek army. The king himself, Cyrus Theodore Komnenos, was captured with all his bolyars and occupied the Greek lands from Odrin to Drach, as well as the lands of Arbanas and Serbia. The Franks owned only the cities around Constantinople and this city too, but they also obeyed the day of my kingdom, for they had no other king besides me, and thanks to me they dragged out their days.” According to another inscription from 1231, Ivan Asen II already has a different title and is called “Asen, God-appointed king of the Bulgarians and Greeks, as well as other countries.”

What, in essence, are the goals of this, without exaggeration, great Bulgarian ruler? Creation of a great empire? Maybe. But there is a constant concern for the restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. And again, diplomatic successes, above all, helped this action. In 1235, the betrothal of the daughter of Ivan Asen II to the heir to the Nicene throne took place. And then at the Church Council held in the same year, the Bulgarian Patriarchate was established. The first patriarch of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom was Archbishop Joachim of Tarnov. Soon the Nicaean Emperor Vatatzes and the Bulgarian Tsar became allies in the fight against the Latins. But subsequent events showed that this time the steps of Ivan Asen II, perhaps, were not carefully calculated by him, as before, or were calculated by him erroneously. The Bulgarian king suddenly dissolved the alliance with the Nicaean Empire and, moreover, entered into an alliance this time with the Latins located in Constantinople (1237). Apparently, his desire to occupy the throne of Constantinople was too great. However, when the allies moved against Nicaea, the king received news that his wife, son and Patriarch of Bulgaria Joachim I had died of the plague in Tarnovo. Ivan Asen returned to Bulgaria, breaking the alliance with the Latins, and in 1241 Ivan Asen II died. This Bulgarian king was an extraordinary and simply rare ruler for the Middle Ages. Not only his compatriots, which is natural, but also his former enemies spoke equally well and with respect about him. Many sources note that after the battles he released prisoners and did not oppress the opposition. Even Byzantine chroniclers speak well of him.

After the era of Ivan Asen II, there were no such brilliant rulers in Bulgaria. Under the rule of many kings who did not particularly glorify themselves, Bulgaria lost more than it gained.

Ivan Alexander

And yet, in a fairly long series of Bulgarian kings, Tsar Ivan Alexander, who ruled the country in 1331-1371, deserves to be noted. and which has dealt quite successfully with the difficult problems facing Bulgaria. He often acted through peaceful diplomacy. So, he concluded a peace treaty with Byzantium, sealed by a dynastic marriage. Good neighborly relations between Bulgaria and Serbia were restored. Ivan Alexandra's sister Elena married the powerful Serbian ruler Stefan Dusan. For almost ten years, Bulgaria lived in peace and tranquility, and the king, like Simeon, launched cultural activities at this time, patronizing the sciences and art. The Bulgarian people did not forget about this educational mission of his and responded to it with solemn praise, captured in written monuments. Both the military successes and the educational activities of the Bulgarian king inspired the 14th century author. to lines like this: “Let us sing the praises of the Almighty, who gave us a great commander and king of kings, the great John Alexander, the most Orthodox among all the elders and military leaders, steadfast in battle, diligent and kind, ruddy and kind-looking, with a beautiful face, a slender figure, a confident gait, He who looks with sweet eyes on everyone, the ineffable righteous judge of widows and orphans. In terms of his strength in battle, he reminds me of the second Alexander. It seems to me that this king appeared to us as the second Tsar Constantine in faith and piety, heart and character. I think there was no one among the first kings like this great Tsar John Alexander, the praise and glory of the Bulgarian.”

Meanwhile, state events unfolded as follows. In 1344, Ivan Alexander managed to return nine Bulgarian cities, including Plovdiv, previously captured by Byzantium. In the early 50s. XIV century An agreement between Bulgaria and Venice was concluded. But the 50-60s. were not successful for Bulgaria. The state has ceased to represent a single whole. Between the lower reaches of the Danube and the Black Sea, power belonged to Balik. He was succeeded by Dobrotitsa, whose name this region (Dobrudzha) was named. All R. XIV century Ivan Alexander divided the state into two appanages: the Tarnovo kingdom, headed by his son and co-ruler Ivan Shishman, and the Vidinskoye kingdom, which he gave to his other son, Ivan Sratsimir.

Ottoman conquest

But the main tragedy was ahead. In the XIV century. Bulgaria now has a formidable and dangerous neighbor - the Ottoman Turks, who seized Byzantine possessions in Asia Minor. Already in the 20s of the XIV century. they began to carry out their devastating raids on the Balkan Peninsula, and in 1352 they captured the first fortress in the Balkans - Tsimpa. Unfortunately, the Turks were opposed only by scattered forces of competing Balkan rulers. Attempts to form an alliance to jointly fight against the Turks were unsuccessful. In the early 60s, the Ottomans captured almost all of eastern Thrace, including the city of Odrin. After the death of Ivan Alexander (1371), who managed to maintain peaceful relations with the Turks, their conquest of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom began.

In 1371 on the river. Maritsa, under Chernomen, the Turks defeated the troops of two Macedonian rulers, the brothers Vukashin and Ugleshi. The path to Serbia and the western Bulgarian lands was open. Ivan Shishman was forced to recognize himself as a vassal of Sultan Murad and even give his sister Tamara to the Sultan's harem. At the same time, all Bulgarian lands south of the Balkan Range fell under the rule of the Turks. The Ottoman offensive began on other Bulgarian regions. In 1385 Sofia fell. Sultan Murad decided to deal with Serbia first, but he died in the battle of Kosovo with the Serbs (1389). Sultan Bayezid continued the attack on Bulgaria. In the summer of 1393, besieged by the Turks, the capital of Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo, fell. The last patriarch of medieval Bulgaria, Euthymius of Tarnovsky, was expelled from the city and sent into exile. The Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Shishman was at that time in the city of Nikopol, where he was arrested and beheaded (1395). At the same time, Dobruja was captured. In 1396, the Vidin kingdom fell, and Bulgaria ceased to exist as an independent state for five long centuries.

Development of culture

Battles and battles, losses and successes on the battlefield are undoubtedly an important, but not the only aspect of the life of society and the state. A constant phenomenon, along with ordinary life common people, was the development of culture in medieval Bulgaria.

Accumulated cultural life Bulgaria XIII - XIV centuries. its capital is Velikoye Tarnovo. It was this city that became the cradle of an amazing phenomenon - Tarnovo book school, headed by the Bulgarian Patriarch Euthymius.

Euthymius (born ca. 1320) came from the capital's nobility, received an excellent education at home and in Byzantium - in Constantinople and Athos, and in 1375 became the patriarch of the Bulgarian church. In the early 70s. XIV century, having returned from Byzantium to his homeland as an active adherent of the religious and philosophical teachings of the hesychasts, Euthymius founded the monastery of St. Trinity, which became the largest cultural center. At the monastery, books were copied (Euphemius sought to return Bulgarian Orthodoxy to its original purity, correcting liturgical texts based on the Greek originals, bringing the norms of the literary language closer to the classical Cyril and Methodius models), and a cycle of hagiographic and hagiographic works was compiled, dedicated to local and revered saints in Bulgaria. Euthymius himself took an active part in the processing of liturgical and hagiographic literature, compiling, on the basis of old texts, updated biographies and praises of the saints of the Bulgarian Church, emphasizing in them the ideals of hesychasm and giving the presentation sublime and pathetic features through a special style, called by his contemporaries “weaving words.” Thus, the life of John of Rila Euthymius is full of new features: the power and importance of the Bulgarian cities of Sredets and Tarnova are emphasized, topical teachings to the Bulgarian Tsar Peter are put into the mouth of the Bulgarian ascetic: “Wealth... should not be spent on pleasure, but on weapons and troops” or “ lie at the feet of your mother, the church! ... Bow your head before her First Throne!”

In the life of the Bulgarian ascetic of the 12th century. Hilarion, who was ordained in 1134 by the Byzantine Archbishop Eustathius of Ohrid as bishop of Meglen, Euthymius addresses the topic of the anti-heretical struggle. Hilarion, whose short life was available to Euthymius, was a fierce opponent of the Bogomils, as well as supporters of another eastern heresy - Manichaeism - which became widespread in the Bulgarian lands in the 10th - 12th centuries. The basic facts reported by Euthymius regarding the activities of Hilarion are reliable and go back to his more ancient life. However, a detailed description of the dispute between the Meglen bishop and the Manichaeans and Armenian Monophysites is based mainly on the anti-heretical treatise of the Byzantine theologian of the early 12th century. Evfimiy Zigavina’s “Dogmatic Armament” can hardly be considered a presentation of real disputes. The life ends with the plot of Tsar Kaloyan transferring the relics of Hilarion to Tarnovo after the victory over the Byzantines.

Euphemia's pen includes a biography of Saint Paraskeva (Petka), popular in Bulgaria, who was considered the heavenly intercessor of the Bulgarian kingdom and its capital. Her relics from the 13th century. were also stored in Tarnovo. The life includes a detailed account of the transfer of the saint’s relics, going back to the earlier life of Petka, but expanded and supplemented by Euthymius. It tells in detail about Ivan Asen II, who, having won military victories, “occupied the entire Macedonian land and Ser, and even the entire Mount Athos, or, more precisely, the Holy Mountain and, in addition, the glorious city of Thessaloniki and all of Thessaly, and Trivolia, called Serbia , and Dalmatia, and the state called Arbanas, all the way to Drach. And he installed holy and pious bishops and metropolitans in these lands, as is clearly evidenced by his highest chrisovuli, kept in the holy Svyatogorsk Lavra in Prostate.” Euthymius reports that the relics of St. The Paraskevas were accompanied to the Bulgarian capital by the Preslav Metropolitan Marko, and were greeted by Ivan Asen II with Queen Anna and nobles, as well as the Bulgarian Patriarch Vasily with the church clergy and countless crowds of people.” A special feature of Euthymius's works is their magnificent style. Here is his appeal to St. Paraskeva: “You are a Bulgarian beauty, intercessor and guardian! Our kings call themselves you! Through your intercession, all those who fight against us stop.” Through you, our land is affirmed and wins a bright victory!”

The works of the student of Euthymius Gregory Tsamblak (born in the 60s of the 14th century - died in 1420) are ideologically and stylistically consistent in the traditions of the Tarnovo school. In addition to characteristic rhetorical turns and adherence to Byzantine hagiographic canons, they are distinguished by an abundance of specific historical information, which makes Tsamblak’s works the most important source on Bulgarian history late XIV V. Tsamblak continued the life of St. written by Euthymius. Petka’s vivid and richly detailed story about the transfer of her relics from Tarnov to Vidin, and then to Serbia at the end of the 14th century. The most important among Gregory's works is the Euphemia of Tarnovsky - a work with a distinct Bulgarian theme, dedicated to the life and deeds of the last patriarch of the Tarnovo church. The writer dwells in detail on educational activities Euthymius, whose school is in the monastery of St. Trinity near Tarnovo “attracted many people not only of the Bulgarian family... but also from all countries - to the north to the Ocean and to the west to Illyricum...”. Much attention is devoted to the anti-heretic struggle of Euthymius, and the heretical movements that often arose among the residents of the Bulgarian capital in the alarming situation of the impending Ottoman invasion are described in detail. In Tsamblak’s attitude towards Byzantium, a certain duality is visible, explained by the vicissitudes of the church-political struggle in the Orthodox world at the end of the 14th century. Reproaching Emperor John V Palaeologus for his “insatiable love of gold,” Tsamblak contrasts him with the “wise men of Constantinople”—the highest clergy of the capital. Tsamblak's work is a work of fierce and irreconcilable anti-Ottoman orientation. Among the most striking pages is the story about the siege and capture of Tyrnov by the Turks, about the heroic behavior of Euthymius before foreign enslavers and his expulsion from the capital. “Is there anything more bitter than exile and separation from relatives, when memories of the fatherland and loved ones pierce the heart like a sting!” - the author sincerely exclaims, having himself experienced the bitterness of separation from his homeland.

Tsamblak had to live and work in Wallachia and Moldova, in Serbia and Rus', but Bulgarian subjects also appear in his works dedicated to other countries. Thus, in the life of the Serbian Tsar Stefan Dečansky, Gregory condemns past strife between the Bulgarians and Serbs, and in his funeral homily to Moscow Metropolitan Cyprian he describes the Bulgarian capital from the time of his childhood, when the famous ascetic passed through it on his way to Constantinople.

Grigory Tsamblak is a historian of the last dramatic decades of the history of the Bulgarian kingdom. His works are based not only on his own impressions, but also on the stories of eyewitnesses. He informs the reader that he used the testimony of the monks of the Studite Monastery in Constantinople, the Athonite Lavra of St. Athanasius and other Svyatogorsk monks. The author takes his work as a historian very responsibly, reminding and sometimes swearing that everything he communicates is reliable and true.

The death of a viable Slavic state, which was the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, became a tragedy not only for the Bulgarian people, but also for the entire Slavic world.

(last)

Second Bulgarian Kingdom or Tarnovo kingdom(Bulgarian) Second Bulgarian Kingdom listen)) is a medieval Bulgarian state that existed from 1185 to 1396.

Story

After Kaloyan's death, Tsar Boril ascends the throne. Historians suggest that he was one of the organizers of the conspiracy against Kaloyan. After his accession to the throne, he begins persecution of Aseneas. Possible contenders for the throne have to flee for their lives - among them is the future Tsar Ivan Asen II, the son of Ivan Asen I. He flees first to the Polovtsians, and then to the Galician-Volyn principality. Boril's reign was characterized by complete destabilization of the country. A number of feudal lords declared their independence and Boril lost many territories conquered by brothers from the Asen dynasty. As a result, he was overthrown from the throne in 1218, by the legal heir to the kingdom - Ivan Asen II.

Mongol invasion

After the death of Ivan Asen II, the country was ruled for a long time by weak rulers. As a result, it lost its influence on the Balkan Peninsula. In 1242, Bulgaria is subject to a Mongol invasion and is forced to pay tribute to the Horde. Under pressure from its neighbors, Bulgaria is losing land. Byzantium conquers Macedonia and Northern Thrace, the Hungarians conquer Belgrade. Wallachia is gradually separated and the title of the rulers of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom is reduced from “King of the Wallachians and Bolgars” to “King of the Bolgars”. By the end of the 13th century, as a result of wars and internal unrest, Bulgaria had weakened so much that in 1299 the son of Khan Nogai, Chaka, briefly became its king. However, Khan Toktu, who took Nogai’s place, invaded Bulgaria with troops a year later. As a result of the uprising led by Svyatoslav (son of the deposed Tsar George I), Chaka was killed and his head was sent to Khan Toktu. As gratitude, the Tatars stopped raiding Bulgarian territories forever and the tribute was withdrawn.

Bulgaria under Ivan Alexander rapidly recovered from foreign invasion and civil war. The subsequent period was a Golden Age for medieval Bulgarian culture, and a significant number of works survived the ravages of time.

Turkish conquest

In the 14th century, Bulgaria had a formidable and dangerous neighbor - the Ottoman Turks, who seized possessions in Asia Minor. Already in the 1320s, they began to carry out devastating raids on the Balkan peninsula, and in 1352 they captured the first fortress on Balkanankh - Tsimp. Attempts to form an alliance to jointly fight the Turks were unsuccessful. After the death of Ivan Alexander (1371), who managed to maintain peaceful relations with the Turks, their conquest of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom began. In 1371, on the Maritsa River under Chernomen, the Turks defeated the troops of two Macedonian rulers, the brothers Vukashin and Uglesi. The route to Macedonia, Serbia and the western Bulgarian lands was open. Ivan Shishman was forced to recognize himself as a vassal of Sultan Murad and even give him his sister Tamara to the Sultan’s harem.

At the same time, the Bulgarian lands south of the Balkan Mountains came under Turkish rule, and the Ottoman offensive began on other Bulgarian regions. In 1385 Sredets (Sofia) fell. Sultan Murad decided to deal with Serbia first, but he died in the battle with the Serbs on Kosovo in 1389. The attack on Bulgaria was continued by Sultan Bayezid I. In the summer of 1393, the capital of Bulgaria, Tarnovo, fell under siege by the Turks. The last patriarch of medieval Bulgaria, Euthymius of Tarnovsky, was sent into exile. The Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Shishman was at that time in the city of Nikopol, where he was captured and beheaded (1395). At the same time, it came under the rule of the Turks and Dobruja. In 1396, the kingdom of Vidin fell, and Bulgaria ceased to exist as an independent state for five long centuries.

Cumans

The Cumans (Cumans) played a significant role in the ethnopolitical history of Bulgaria, including the restoration of its statehood - the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, which arose as a result of the uprising of the military alliance of the Cumans with the sedentary Bulgarians. By their origin, all the dynasties of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (Aseni, Terter and Shishmanovich) were closely related to the Polovtsians.

The Cumans began to actively penetrate into the territory of Bulgaria at the beginning of the 12th century, when the Bulgarian lands were under the rule of Byzantium. Crossing the Danube, the Cumans settled on pastures in the lower Danube, in northeastern Bulgaria and in Dobruja. The first invasion of the Cumans into the lands of the Byzantine Empire dates back to 1078. Cuman hordes appeared in large numbers in connection with the Pecheneg-Byzantine war of the late 1080s - early 1090s, in which the Cumans acted as allies on the side of Byzantium. In 1186, the Bolyar (Cuman) brothers Fedor and Asen, with the support of Cuman troops, launched an anti-Byzantine uprising in North-Eastern Bulgaria. As a result of the uprising, the Bulgarian state (Second Bulgarian Kingdom) was restored, Asen was proclaimed king of Bulgaria. Since then, the Cumans-Polovtsians began to play an important role in the life of the Bulgarian state. During the reign of Kaloyan, who was married to the daughter of the Cuman Khan, the Bulgarian and Cuman nobility staged a conspiracy, as a result of which Kaloyan was killed. The Cuman feudal lord Boril became the new king of Bulgaria. Under his successor, Ivan Asen II (ruled 1218-1241), the influx of Cumans from Hungary and especially from the Mongols increased. Finds of stone statues in northeastern Bulgaria dating back to the 13th century indicate that the Cumans arrived in Bulgaria not only from the west, but also from the east. As in Hungary, in Bulgaria the Cumans became Christians. In 1280, George Terter, a native of the Polovtsian Tortoba tribe, the founder of the Terter dynasty, became the king of Bulgaria. The Cuman nobility merged with the Bulgarians faster than the nomadic Cumans. In the 14th century, before the Turkish conquest, the Dobrudzhan Principality existed in the steppes of Dobruja, founded by the Cuman Balik.

Culture

In the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, the development of the cultural traditions of the First Kingdom continued. During this period, Bulgaria developed its own schools of painting, including Tarnovo, Ohrid, Sofia, and Nessebar. The icon of the Mother of God Eleusa, painted in Nessebar in the 14th century, gained worldwide fame. Painting and icon painting flourished. Famous are the paintings of the Poganovsky Monastery, the Church of St. George in Sofia, the rock church in Ivanovo, the Khrelova Tower in the Rila Monastery. Rich book miniature was most developed in the gospels, psalters and translated chronicles created for Ivan Alexander. The literature of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, which reached its highest rise in the middle and second half of the 14th century, developed primarily as liturgical literature, translated from Greek. The original literary monument is the “Synodik of Tsar Boril”. Patriarch Evfimy Tarnovsky wrote words of praise and lives of Ivan Rilsky, Petka Tarnovskaya, Hilarion Moglensky. Euthymius carried out a reform of the Bulgarian literary language, translations from Greek came closer to the texts of Cyril and Methodius. This reform influenced writing in Serbia and Rus'. Indirect evidence also indicates the keeping of chronicles. In the monasteries of Athos and Constantinople, the Bulgarians interacted with scribes from Byzantium, Rus' and Serbia. In the areas of Macedonia lost to Bulgaria back in the 1240s, and subject to the Ohrid Archdiocese with its Greek clergy, Slavic writing experienced decline. Folklore has created legends and tales about heroes-defenders from external enemies and freedom fighters.

Architecture

Fortress and palace architecture

Iconic architecture

Four-pillar churches were built with a pre-apse space (Constantinople version); with an elongated eastern part of the planned cross without preapsid space (Tarnovo, Mesemvria); with uniform parts of a planned cross and without a vestibule (in the provinces). In Veliko Tarnovo, the four-pillar church of Peter and Paul has been preserved, and in Mesemvria there are two such churches: the Pantocrator and Ivan Aliturgitos, belonging to the Mesemvria architectural school. The Church of the Pantocrator is built from alternating rows of stone and bricks. Three three-conch domed churches have been preserved - in the Arkhangelsk, Orekhovsky and Poganovsky monasteries. The church of the Rila Monastery, built in the 1330s, was of the same type. Pillarless domed churches with a square plan are small buildings, usually without a vestibule. These are the old part of the Boyana Church, the Church of St. Nicholas in Sapareva Ban, the Church of St. Theodore near Boboshev. Single-nave churches with a dome appeared in Bulgaria during the period of Byzantine rule. The oldest temple of this type is the Church of Asen of the 12th century. In Nessebar, this type includes the Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, which in its design is reminiscent of Asen's Church. Modest single-nave vaulted churches were built during the First Bulgarian Kingdom. They continued to be built in small and poor villages and monasteries. A version of these churches with a richer appearance was erected in Tarnovo and Mesemvria (for example, the Church of Paraskeva).

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Notes

Kamburova, Violeta. Atlas: History of Bulgaria. - Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1992. - P. 18, 20, 23.
Pantheon of Great People of Bulgaria. - Sofia, 1971. - P. 79.
Ageeva, R. A. What kind of tribe are we?: the peoples of Russia, names and destinies. - Academia, 2000. - P. 89.
Duychev, I. S.. - P. 592.
Vasary, Istvan.. - Cambridge University Press, 2005. - P. 166.
Pletneva, S. A. Polovtsy. - M.: Nauka, 1990. - P. 181.
Foreigners in Byzantium: Byzantines outside the borders of their fatherland: abstracts of conference reports, Moscow, June 23-25, 1997 - Indrik, 1997. - P. 19.
Rep. ed. Litavrin, G. G.. - M.: Nauka, 1987. - P. 117, 118.
Rep. ed. Litavrin, G. G.. - M.: Nauka, 1987. - P. 117, 119.
See the Mongol Invasion chapter in the book: Evstigneev, Yuri.. - Litres, 2015.
Pletneva, S. A. Polovtsy. - M.: Nauka, 1990. - P. 181, 182.
Pletneva, S. A. Polovtsy. - M.: Nauka, 1990. - P. 182.
, With. 154.
, With. 155-159.
Miyatev, K. Architecture of Bulgaria // General history of architecture. - Leningrad. Moscow: Construction Literature Publishing House, 1966. - T. 3. - P. 398.
, With. 155.
, With. 154-155.
Miyatev, K. Architecture of Bulgaria // General history of architecture. - Leningrad. Moscow: Construction Literature Publishing House, 1966. - T. 3. - P. 379.
Miyatev, K. Architecture of Bulgaria // General history of architecture. - Leningrad. Moscow: Construction Literature Publishing House, 1966. - T. 3. - P. 398-400.
Miyatev, K. Architecture of Bulgaria // General history of architecture. - Leningrad. Moscow: Construction Literature Publishing House, 1966. - T. 3. - P. 404-405, 407-410.

Literature

Rep. ed. Valeva, E. L.. - M.: Science, 2003.
Rep. ed. Litavrin, G. G.. - M.: Nauka, 1987.

An excerpt characterizing the Second Bulgarian Kingdom

This is where the true records of Qatar were!!! Together with the rest of the “heretical” wealth, they were shamelessly hidden in the lair of the “holiest” Popes, while at the same time mercilessly destroying the owners who once wrote them.
My hatred for Dad grew and strengthened every day, although it seemed impossible to hate more... Right now, seeing all the shameless lies and cold, calculating violence, my heart and mind were outraged to the last human limit!.. I don’t I could think calmly. Although once upon a time (it seemed like a long time ago!), having just fallen into the hands of Cardinal Caraffa, I promised myself not to give in to feelings for anything in the world... in order to survive. True, I did not yet know then how terrible and merciless my fate would be... Therefore, even now, despite confusion and indignation, I forcibly tried to somehow pull myself together and again returned to the story of the sad diary...
The voice, which called itself Esclarmonde, was very quiet, soft and infinitely sad! But at the same time, there was an incredible determination in him. I didn’t know her, this woman (or girl), but something very familiar slipped through her determination, fragility, and doom. And I realized - she reminded me of my daughter... my sweet, brave Anna!..
And suddenly I wildly wanted to see her! This strong, sad stranger. I tried to tune in... Present reality disappeared as usual, giving way to unprecedented images that came to me now from its distant past...
Right in front of me, in a huge, poorly lit ancient hall, on a wide wooden bed lay a very young, exhausted pregnant woman. Almost a girl. I understood - this was Esclarmonde.
Some people were crowding around the high stone walls of the hall. They were all very thin and emaciated. Some were quietly whispering about something, as if afraid of frightening off the happy resolution by loud conversation. Others nervously walked from corner to corner, clearly worried either for the unborn child, or for the young woman in labor herself...
A man and a woman stood at the head of the huge bed. Apparently, Esclarmonde's parents or close relatives, since they were very similar to her... The woman was about forty-five years old, she looked very thin and pale, but she behaved independently and proudly. The man showed his condition more openly - he was scared, confused and nervous. Continually wiping the perspiration that stood out on his face (although the room was damp and cold!), he did not hide the slight trembling of his hands, as if the surrounding this moment didn't matter to him.
Next to the bed, on the stone floor, a long-haired young man was kneeling, all of whose attention was literally nailed to the young woman in labor. Seeing nothing around and not taking his eyes off her, he continuously whispered something to her, hopelessly trying to calm her down.
I was interested in trying to look at the expectant mother, when suddenly a sharp pain slashed all over my body!.. And I immediately, with my whole being, felt how cruelly Esclarmonde suffered!.. Apparently, her child, who was about to be born, brought her a sea of unfamiliar pain, for which she was not yet ready.
Convulsively grabbing the young man’s hands, Esclarmonde quietly whispered:
- Promise me... Please, promise me... you will be able to save him... No matter what happens... promise me...
The man did not answer anything, he only affectionately stroked her thin hands, apparently unable to find the saving words needed at that moment.
– He should be born today! He must!.. – the girl suddenly shouted desperately. - He cannot die with me!.. What should we do? Well, tell me, what should we do?!!
Her face was incredibly thin, exhausted and pale. But neither thinness nor terrible exhaustion could spoil the refined beauty of this amazingly tender and bright face! Now only his eyes lived on him... Clean and huge, like two gray-blue springs, they shone with endless tenderness and love, not looking away from the alarmed young man... And in the very depths of these wonderful eyes lurked a wild, black hopelessness...
What was that?!.. Who were all these people who came to me from someone’s distant past? Were these the Cathars?! And was it not because my heart sank so sadly for them because an inevitable, terrible misfortune hung over them?..
The mother of young Esclarmond (and it was probably her) was clearly excited to the limit, but, as best she could, she tried not to show it to her already completely exhausted daughter, who at times generally “went away” from them into oblivion, feeling nothing and not responding. ... And she just lay there like a sad angel, having left her tired body for a while... On the pillows, scattered in golden-brown waves, long, wet, silky hair glistened... The girl, indeed, was very unusual. Some kind of strange, spiritually doomed, very deep beauty shone in her.
Two thin, stern, but pleasant women approached Esclarmonde. Approaching the bed, they tried to gently persuade the young man to leave the room. But he, without answering, just shook his head negatively and turned back to the woman in labor.
The lighting in the hall was sparse and dark - several smoking torches hung on the walls on both sides, casting long, swaying shadows. Once upon a time, this hall must have been very beautiful... Wonderfully embroidered tapestries were still proudly hanging on the walls... And the high windows were protected by cheerful multi-colored stained glass windows, enlivening the last dim evening light pouring into the room. Something very bad must have happened to the owners for such a rich room to look so abandoned and uncomfortable now...
I couldn’t understand why this strange story completely and completely captured me?! And what was the most important thing about it: the event itself? Some of those present there? Or the one not yet born small man?.. Unable to tear myself away from the vision, I longed to quickly find out how this strange, probably not very happy, alien story would end!
Suddenly the air thickened in the papal library - North suddenly appeared.
– Oh!.. I felt something familiar and decided to return to you. But I didn’t think that you would watch something like this... You don’t need to read this sad story, Isidora. It will only bring you more pain.
– Do you know her?.. Then tell me, who are these people, North? And why does my heart hurt so much for them? “I asked, surprised by his advice.
“These are the Cathars, Isidora... Your beloved Cathars... on the night before the burning,” Sever said sadly. “And the place you see is their last and dearest fortress, which lasted longer than all the others.” This is Montsegur, Isidora... Temple of the Sun. The home of Magdalene and her descendants... one of whom is about to be born.
– ?!..
- Do not be surprised. The father of that child is a descendant of Beloyar, and, of course, Radomir. His name was Svetozar. Or – the Light of Dawn, if you prefer. This (as they always have) is a very sad and cruel story... I don’t advise you to watch it, my friend.
The North was focused and deeply sad. And I understood that the vision that I was looking at at that moment did not give him pleasure. But despite everything, he was, as always, patient, warm and calm.
– When did this happen, Sever? Are you saying that we are seeing the real end of Qatar?
North looked at me for a long time, as if pitying.... As if not wanting to hurt me even more... But I stubbornly continued to wait for an answer, not giving him the opportunity to remain silent.
– Unfortunately, this is so, Isidora. Although I would really like to answer you something more joyful... What you are now observing happened in 1244, in the month of March. On the night when the last refuge of Qatar fell... Montsegur. They held out for a very long time, ten long months, freezing and starving, infuriating the army of the Holy Pope and His Majesty, the King of France. There were only one hundred real warrior knights and four hundred other people, among whom were women and children, and more than two hundred Perfect Ones. And the attackers were several thousand professional knight-warriors, real killers who received the go-ahead to destroy the disobedient “heretics”... to mercilessly kill all the innocent and unarmed... in the name of Christ. And in the name of the “holy”, “all-forgiving” church.
And yet, the Cathars held out. The fortress was almost inaccessible, and in order to capture it, it was necessary to know the secret underground passages, or passable paths, known only to the residents of the fortress or the residents of the area who helped them.

But, as usually happened with heroes, betrayal appeared on the scene... The army of murderous knights, out of patience and going crazy from empty inaction, asked for help from the church. Well, naturally, the church immediately responded, using its most proven method for this - giving one of the local shepherds a large fee for showing the path leading to the “platform” (that was the name of the nearest site where a catapult could be installed). The shepherd sold himself, destroying his immortal soul... and the sacred fortress of the last remaining Cathars.

My heart was beating wildly with indignation. Trying not to succumb to the overwhelming hopelessness, I continued to ask Sever, as if I still hadn’t given up, as if I still had the strength to watch this pain and the savagery of the atrocity that had once happened...
-Who was Esclarmonde? Do you know something about her, Sever?
“She was the third and youngest daughter of the last lords of Montsegur, Raymond and Corba de Pereil,” answered Sever sadly. “You saw them at Esclarmonde’s bedside in your vision.” Esclarmonde herself was a cheerful, affectionate and beloved girl. She was explosive and mobile, like a fountain. And very kind. Her name translated meant – Light of the World. But her acquaintances affectionately called her “flash,” I think, for her seething and sparkling character. Just don’t confuse her with another Esclarmonde - Qatar also had the Great Esclarmonde, Dame de Foix.
The people themselves called her great, for her perseverance and unshakable faith, for her love and help to others, for her protection and Faith of Qatar. But this is another, although very beautiful, but (again!) very sad story. Esclarmonde, whom you “watched,” became Svetozar’s wife at a very young age. And now she was giving birth to his child, which the father, according to an agreement with her and with all the Perfect Ones, had to somehow take away from the fortress that same night in order to save it. Which meant that she would see her child for just a few short minutes while his father prepared to escape... But, as you have already seen, the child was not born. Esclarmonde was losing strength, and this made her more and more panicked. A whole two weeks, which, according to general estimates, should have been enough for the birth of a son, came to an end, and for some reason the child did not want to be born... Being in a complete frenzy, exhausted from attempts, Esclarmonde almost didn’t believe it anymore. that she would still be able to save her poor child from terrible death in the flames of the fire. Why did he, an unborn baby, have to experience this?! Svetozar tried to calm her down as best he could, but she no longer listened to anything, completely plunging into despair and hopelessness.
Having tuned in, I saw the same room again. About ten people gathered around Esclarmonde's bed. They stood in a circle, all dressed identically in dark, and from their outstretched hands a golden glow gently flowed directly into the woman in labor. The flow became thicker, as if the people around her were pouring all their remaining Life Power into her...
– These are the Cathars, aren’t they? – I asked quietly.
– Yes, Isidora, these are the Perfect Ones. They helped her survive, helped her baby be born.
Suddenly Esclarmonde screamed wildly... and at the same moment, in unison, the heart-rending cry of a baby was heard! A bright joy appeared on the haggard faces surrounding her. People laughed and cried, as if a long-awaited miracle had suddenly appeared to them! Although, probably, it was so?.. After all, a descendant of Magdalene, their beloved and revered guiding Star, was born into the world!.. A bright descendant of Radomir! It seemed that the people filling the hall had completely forgotten that at sunrise they would all go to the bonfire. Their joy was sincere and proud, like a stream of fresh air in the vastness of Occitania scorched by fires! Taking turns welcoming the newborn, they, smiling happily, left the hall until only Esclarmonde’s parents and her husband, the person she loved most in the world, remained around.
With happy, sparkling eyes, the young mother looked at the boy, unable to utter a word. She understood perfectly well that these moments would be very short, since, wanting to protect his newborn son, his father would have to immediately pick him up in order to try to escape from the fortress before morning. Before his unfortunate mother goes to the stake with the others....
- Thank you!.. Thank you for your son! – Svetozar whispered without hiding the tears rolling down his tired face. - My bright-eyed joy... come with me! We will all help you! I can't lose you! He doesn’t know you yet!.. Your son doesn’t know how kind and beautiful his mother is! Come with me, Esclarmonde!..
He begged her, knowing in advance what the answer would be. He simply couldn't leave her to die. After all, everything was calculated so perfectly!.. Monsegur surrendered, but asked for two weeks, supposedly to prepare for death. In reality, they were waiting for the appearance of the descendant of Magdalena and Radomir. And they calculated that after his appearance, Esclarmonde would have enough time to get stronger. But, apparently, they say correctly: “we assume, but fate disposes”... So she made cruel decisions... allowing the newborn to be born only on the last night. Esclarmonde did not have the strength to go with them. And now she was going to end her short, not yet lived life at the terrible bonfire of the “heretics”...
The Pereyls hugged each other and sobbed. They so wanted to save their beloved, bright girl!.. They so wanted her to live!
My throat tightened - how familiar this story was!.. They had to see how their daughter would die in the flames of the fire. Just as I will apparently have to watch the death of my beloved Anna...
The Perfect Ones appeared in the stone hall again - it was time to say goodbye. Esclarmonde screamed and tried to get out of bed. Her legs gave way, not wanting to hold her... Her husband grabbed her, not letting her fall, squeezing her tightly in the last hug.
“You see, my love, how can I go with you?” Esclarmonde whispered quietly. - You go! Promise that you will save him. Promise me please! I will love you there too... And my son.
Esclarmonde burst into tears... She so wanted to look courageous and strong!.. But the fragile and affectionate woman’s heart let her down... She didn’t want them to leave!.. She didn’t even have time to recognize her little Vidomir! It was much more painful than she had naively imagined. It was pain from which there was no escape. She was in such inhuman pain!!!
Finally, kissing her little son for the last time, she released them into the unknown... They left to survive. And she stayed to die... The world was cold and unfair. And there was no place left in it even for Love...

The second Bulgarian kingdom was formed in 1185 after the "Revolt of Asen and Peter" against Byzantine rule in the Bulgarian lands and the coronation of Peter as the Bulgarian kingdom.

Insurrection

The reasons that led to the uprising are those that were unfavorable for Byzantine Empire events at the end of 1185: two years of devastating raids by Madjars in the north of the country and Normans on Drach and Solun, palace coup in Constantinople, the marriage of the new Byzantine king Isaac II Angelos to a Madjar princess, which required expenses, as a result of which an additional tax was imposed on the Bulgarians.

Brothers Asen and Theodor, later called Ivan Asen and I Peter IV, rebelled in Northern Bulgaria, and the elder brother Theodor was proclaimed the Bulgarian Tsar Peter IV. The Byzantine king tried to suppress the coup, but the brothers enlisted the support of the Polovtsian army. Tarnovgrad (modern Veliko Tarnovo) was chosen as the capital of the Second Kingdom due to its inaccessible location in the mountains.

Fortress "Tsarevets" in the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom of Tarnovo

Therefore, the Second Bulgarian Kingdom is called Tarnovo. After unsuccessful military campaigns against the Bulgarians, the Byzantine king was forced in the spring of 1187 to sign the so-called " Loveshko reconciliation", which actually recognized the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.

Rulers of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom

Peter IV from the Asenovtsi dynasty officially ruled the Second Bulgarian Kingdom from 1185 to 1190, but in fact his brother Asen also took an active part in governing the state. He was crowned as Tsar Ivan Asen I in 1190 and died from the sword of the Bulgarian boyar Ivanko in 1196.

In 1197 he took the Bulgarian throne Kaloyan- the third, youngest, brother of the previous kings.

Tsar Kaloyan reigned until 1207 and received the nickname " Romeokiller"for the brutal extermination of the Roman-Byzantine population in the Plovdiv region. Kaloyan was married to the Polovtsian princess Anna Anisia and had two children from her. However, after his death in 1207, his nephew Boril ascended the Bulgarian throne.

Tsar Boril Asen Strez was the son of the sister of Peter IV and reigned from 1207 to 1218. He received the throne after a civil war with two of his cousins, also laying claim to the kingdom. When Boril won this fight, all other close relatives, children of past kings, were forced to move away from Tarnovo and take a wait-and-see approach. Boril's reign was not successful: he quarreled with his neighbors, lost territories, and persecuted the Bogomils. The end of his reign came when other contenders for the crown, Ivan Asen and Alexander, came to Bulgarian soil with hired Russian squads and, after a seven-month siege of Tarnov, captured the capital, gouged out Boril's eyes and placed Ivan Asen II on the throne.

Reign Ivan Asen II returned Bulgaria to its former territories - it again began to reach three seas.

During the reign of this king, Bulgaria not only expanded its borders, but also improved relations with its neighbors and the situation in the state itself: Bulgaria experienced economic and cultural growth. Ivan Asen II was the first Bulgarian king who began minting his own coins. Ivan Asen successfully married several times and maintained peaceful relations with everyone. However, even under his rule there were wars. After his death in 1241, his seven-year-old son took the throne.

Koloman I Asen was the son of Ivan Asen II and the Hungarian princess Anna Maria. He could not rule at the age of seven and the regents did it for him (1241-1246). At this time, Bulgaria was under pressure from the Tatar horde, which by that time had devastated Central Europe and entered northern Bulgaria, forcing the Tarnovo regency to pay them an annual tribute. In addition to this problem, the country was also torn apart by internal strife. A dissatisfied boyar group led by the third wife of Ivan Asen II, Irina, poisoned the young king (12 years old) and her son Mikhail II Asen, who was 8 years old, ascended the throne.

Michael II Asen was placed on the Bulgarian throne by his mother Irina in 1246. At the same moment, the Nicaean Emperor Ioan III Duka Vatatsi, taking advantage of the fact that there was a “child” on the throne, attacked and took possession of several large Bulgarian cities. The Madjars also took advantage of this situation and took possession of other Bulgarian regions (Belgrade, Branicevo and Srem) and after that the Hungarian ruler added “King of Bulgaria” to his title.

Michael's regents made attempts to regain the old territories through diplomacy and military alliances, but were not particularly successful. Around 1253, Mikhail II Asen married thirteen-year-old Anna Rostislavna, the daughter of the Russian Chernigov prince Rostislav Mikhailovich and the Hungarian princess Anna.

The king died at the age of 18 at the hands of his cousin Kaliman II, also a contender for the throne, during a hunt in 1256.

After a small feud between relatives, he sat on the Bulgarian throne Kaliman II Asen and ruled for one month - from the end of 1256 to the beginning of 1257. During this time, he managed to marry the widow of his cousin Anna Rostislavna. Her father arrived with troops at the gates of Tarnov, wanting to receive the Bulgarian throne, but the boyars did not allow him into the capital and returned his daughter to him. The prince returned to the Hungarian lands and Anna Rostislavna married again, but to the Czech king Otokar II.

King Kaliman II Asen fled from Tarnovo and died a violent death under unclear circumstances. After him, Mitso Asen was placed on the Bulgarian throne.

Tsar Mitso Asen ruled Bulgaria from 1256 to 1257, and in fact until 1263. Mitso Asen was the son-in-law of Tsar Ivan Asen II, and also the regent of Kaliman I Asen. The Bulgarian boyars disliked Mitso and turned the population against him. As a result of this, the king was forced to leave Tarnovo and settle in the fortress of Mesemvria (), and after 1261 he gave this fortress to Michael VIII Palaiologos, in exchange for political asylum in Troy.

In 1257, the Bulgarian boyars placed a Serbian boyar on the throne Konstantin Tikha. He married the granddaughter of Ivan Asen II and thereby entered the Asen dynasty, and received the name Konstantin Tikh Asen. Irina died in 1268, and Constantine married the niece of Michael VIII Palaiologos, Maria.

Konstantin Tikh Asen spent the last years of his reign partially paralyzed after an unsuccessful fall from a horse. Ruled by Mary, who crowned her son Michael II Asen immediately after his birth in 1277.

Mongol-Tatar raids and unsuccessful wars led to civil strife in the country and Konstantin Tikh was cut down by the rebels right in his own chariot.

Ivaylo Cabbage received the Bulgarian throne as a result of the rebellion he led against Constantine I Tikh Asen. Cabbage received this nickname because of his simple origin (he was not of royal blood) and his love for vegetables, in particular cabbage. "Cabbage" is, of course, a translation - in the original his nickname sounded like " Lakhana" And " Bardokva"He ruled for only one year - from 1278 to 1279. And this was due to the fact that the widow of Konstantin Tikh, who was killed by Cabbage, Maria, proposed marriage to this Cabbage, so as not to lose power herself.

Ivaylo Kapusta was forced to fight both the Byzantines and the Tatars, who continued to launch raids on the country. After one such three-month siege, rumors spread in Tarnovo that Ivaylo Kapusta had died and the Bulgarian boyars allowed Ivan Asen III (son of Mitso Asen) into the city to place him on the throne. And then Cabbage suddenly returned. To protect against him, a 10,000-strong Byzantine army entered the city, which Cabbage, oddly enough, defeated. Ivan Asen III fled, and the boyars elected a new king, George I Terter. Ivaylo Kapusta turned to the Tatar Khan Nogai for help, but the fugitive Ivan Asen III did the same. In order not to quarrel with Byzantium, the Tatar Khan gave the order to chop Ivaylo with swords.

Ivan Asen III ruled for 1 year (1279-1280), he was the son of Mitso Asen and Maria Asenina. He received the Bulgarian throne thanks to the efforts of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, who married Ivan Asen to his daughter Irina Palaeologus and, accompanied by a huge army, sent him to Tarnovo. The boyars accepted the king from the Asenev family. However, Ivan Asen III was very afraid of Ivaylo Kapusta and, having turned to the Tatars for protection and not receiving it, he fled with his wife back to Byzantium. Died in 1303.

This ends the reign of the Asenevtsi dynasty in Bulgaria. The origin of the Assenovs (in Russian) is unclear. Bulgarian researchers consider the Asenovites to be Bulgarians, Romanian researchers - Vlachs, others - Cumans who came to Bulgaria from the territories of Romania or Hungary. The Asenovtsi themselves considered themselves descendants of the first Bulgarian kings Samuel, Peter I and Simeon I, and their kingdom as a continuation of the First Bulgarian Kingdom.

From 1280 to 1292 the Second Bulgarian Kingdom was ruled by George I of Terter. In order to lead the Bulgarian kingdom and thus begin the Terterovtsi dynasty, Georgi divorced his first wife (exiled her with her son to Constantinople) and married the sister of Ivan Asen III - Kira-Maria. After Tsar Ivan Asen III fled from Tarnovo, the boyars elected George I Terter as the new Tsar.

However, four years later, George I Terter, taking advantage of the change in power in Constantinople, returned his first wife and son from exile (he had two more daughters from this marriage). And since the Tatars again forced Bulgaria to pay tribute, Georgi was forced to send the same son now to Golden Horde and marry one of his daughters, Elena, to Chak, the son of the Mongol military leader Nogai. However, this did not help either - the Tatars continued their attacks on the country. As a result of all this, a palace conspiracy occurred in 1292 and George I Terter was forced to flee to Byzantium, and Smilets took his place.

New Bulgarian Tsar Smilets(1292-1298) had the title “Despot of Kopsis” and belonged to the Smilets dynasty, which owned a huge territory called the Srednogorsk principality. Smilets took the Bulgarian throne with the consent of Khan Nogai. Smilets also could not cope with the Byzinthians and Tatars, and very mysteriously disappeared in November 1298.

In 1298, the young son of Smilets took the Bulgarian throne for just one year - Ivan IV Smilets, who ruled through a regent (his mother). In 1299, the son of the Tatar Nogai, Chaka, captured Tarnovo and bribed the boyars. Ivan IV Smilets and his mother fled to Constantinople, and Chaka took the throne.

Chaka ruled the Second Bulgarian Kingdom for one year (1299). He was the son of the Tatar military leader Nogai and the husband of the daughter of the Bulgarian Tsar George I Terter - Elena. Since Chaka had previously quarreled with his Tatar-Mongol relatives, they found him in Bulgaria and killed him.

In 1300 he sat on the Bulgarian throne Todor Svetoslav, who reigned until 1322. His reign finally stabilized the situation in the state and stopped external threats.

Todor Svetoslav was the son of George I Terter and Maria Terter, that is, he belonged to the Terterovtsi dynasty. During the years of his reign, Bulgaria again expanded its borders. Theodor Svetoslav died of natural causes in 1321, and was replaced by his son, George II Terter.

George II Terter ruled Bulgaria from 1322 to 1323. This king is known for the fact that he also loved to fight and even took several fortresses, but he died suddenly in the spring of 1323 and left no male heirs. Thus ended the Terterovtsi dynasty. After his death, a struggle for the throne took place in Tarnovo for several months, in which Mikhail III Shishman Asen won.

Mikhail III Shishman Asen(1323-1330) became the founder of the Bulgarian royal dynasty of Shishmanovtsi, the last in the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. He sought military and political hegemony in the Balkan Peninsula and pursued an aggressive but unstable policy that led to catastrophic defeats. He fought with Byzantium, Thrace and Serbia. Michael III Shishman Asen died after being seriously wounded in the battle with the Serbs at Kyustendil on July 31, 1330, and was buried in what is now Macedonia. Power passed to his son Ivan Stefan.

Ivan Stefan Shishman Asen ruled Bulgaria for only 8 months - August 1330-January/February 1331. Before that, he spent 6 years in captivity with his mother and brothers, because his father in 1324 decided to marry another woman - Theodora Palaiologos. Ivan Stefan found himself on the throne as a result of the intrigues of his uncle, the Serbian king Stefan Dechanski, but the Bulgarian boyars did not support him and he fled to Serbia, and from there to Naples, where he probably died. And the boyars appointed Ivan Alexander to rule.

Ivan Alexander reigned for 40 years (1331-1371) - ascended the throne as a result of a coup in Tarnovo. It is believed that he belongs to the Shishmanovtsi dynasty, since he is the son of the despot Sratsimir and Keratsi Petritsa. However, some historians claim that his ancestry comes from the Asenovtsi dynasty.

He was one of the most influential figures in the history of the Balkan Peninsula in the 14th century.

Ivan Alexander He is known for having married a baptized Jewish woman, who bore him five children, including future heirs: Ivan Shishman and Ivan Asen V. He sent his first wife, Wallachian Theodora Basarab, to a monastery.

According to popular legends, the second wife was named Sarah before baptism, and after that, Theodora.

At the end of his reign, Ivan Alexander divided the kingdom between his sons: he gave the Tarnovo kingdom to Ivan Shishman, and the Vidinskoe kingdom to Ivan Sratsimir.

Ivan Shishman became Tsar of Bulgaria after the death of his father in early 1371. He was the son from his second marriage. During the life of Ivan Alexander, the co-ruler was the son from his first marriage, Mikhail Asen, but he died in the battle with the Turks, and the second Jewish wife Sarah/Theodora did everything possible to place her son on the throne. Ivan Shishman ruled until 1395. Throughout his reign, Ivan Shishman fought against the advance of the Ottoman Empire, but lost.

In 1393, during the siege of Tarnov by the troops of Sultan Bayezid I, the Bulgarian king left the capital, moving to the Nikopol fortress and three months later Tarnov fell. Thus came the end of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, which is called Tarnovo.

Ivan Shishman ruled for two more years in the Nikopol fortress, already being a formal vassal of the Sultan, expecting help from the crusaders, but did not receive it. On June 3, 1395, Nikopol also fell, and Tsar Shishman died.

In 1396 Ottoman Empire swallowed up the Bulgarian lands for a long 482 years. Before the Liberation of Bulgaria on March 3, 1878. The third Bulgarian kingdom will come into its own in 1908.