Anna Of Cumania
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The name of the
Cuman The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian language, Russian Exonym and endonym, exonym ), were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confede ...
noblewoman who subsequently married two
Tsars Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
Emperors An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
of Bulgaria,
Kaloyan of Bulgaria Kaloyan or Kalojan, also known as Ioannitsa or Johannitsa ( bg, Калоян, Йоаница; 1170 – October 1207), was emperor or tsar of Bulgaria from 1196 to 1207. He was the younger brother of Theodor and Asen, who led the anti-Byzant ...
and
Boril of Bulgaria Boril ( bg, Борил) was the emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1207 to 1218. He was the son of an unnamed sister of his predecessor, Kaloyan and Kaloyan's brothers, Peter II and Ivan Asen I, who had restored the independent Bulgar ...
, is unknown. There are only two sources mentioning her, both foreign. The Byzantine historian
George Akropolites George Akropolites ( Latinized as Acropolites or Acropolita; el, , ''Georgios Akropolites''; 1217 or 1220 – 1282) was a Byzantine Greek historian and statesman born at Constantinople. Life In his sixteenth year he was sent by his father, the ...
claimed that after the death of Kaloyan, his sister's son Boril 'married his Scythian aunt'. From this evidence, it is not sure whether the Tsaritsa was really a Cuman, or she belonged to another tribe that could be described as Scythian. As Veselin Ignatov points out, given the strong relations between the Asen dynasty and the Cumans, her Cuman lineage is the most probable possibility, but not the only one. She is known in Bulgarian historiography as ''Kumankata'' ( bg, Куманката, "the Cuman
oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
). The second source mentioning the Tsaritsa was made by Canon Alberih about 1241. He repeated a story that he had heard from a Flemish priest who claimed to have visited the Bulgarian capital of Tarnovo. The priest claimed that the Tsaritsa fell in love with the captive Latin Emperor
Baldwin I of Constantinople Baldwin I ( nl, Boudewijn; french: Baudouin; July 1172 – ) was the first Emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople; Count of Flanders (as Baldwin IX) from 1194 to 1205 and Count of Hainaut (as Baldwin VI) from 1195-1205. Baldwin was o ...
and while her husband was away, she sent the Emperor a love letter, promising that she would help him escape if he took her with him and crown her his Empress. When Baldwin rejected her, she complained to Kaloyan, claiming that the captive Emperor had tried to convince her to help him run away, proposing to wed and crown her. Kaloyan believed her and one night, while drunk, had Baldwin killed in his presence. Most historians distrust this source, since the reasons for Baldwin's death are well known and verified by Byzantine and Latin sources: he was killed along with other captives, both Byzantine and Latin, because Kaloyan was angered by the Byzantines breaking their contract with him and joining the Crusaders. Another reason for the historians' distrust of the story is the time of its arising: almost forty years after the events took place, and it was spread in France, not Bulgaria. As Ignatov points out, Alberih himself started the story by elaborating that he did not deliver confirmed data, so it might be just a rumour without any proof and still more, backed up by no logic, since the Bulgarian Tsaritsa wore the crown of a prospering state, she was wife to the victor over Byzantines, Latins, Serbians, and Hungarians, while Baldwin I was defeated, imprisoned, humiliated. She had nothing to gain by sharing his crown - she had her own, and right then, it was worth far more than his. The birth year of the Tsaritsa and the name that she was given at birth are not known, but it seems likely that with a view to her marriage to Kaloyan, she converted to Christianity and adopted the name Anna. After Kaloyan's death in 1207, she married his nephew and successor
Boril of Bulgaria Boril ( bg, Борил) was the emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1207 to 1218. He was the son of an unnamed sister of his predecessor, Kaloyan and Kaloyan's brothers, Peter II and Ivan Asen I, who had restored the independent Bulgar ...
and that fact, combined with the probable Cuman identity of Kaloyan's supposed murderer, Manastur, encouraged many historians, especially those from the end of 19th and the first half of 20th century, to believe that together with Boril, she was part of a conspiracy that took her husband's life. During the last few decades, the idea of the Empress' part in the conspiracy has been accepted with distrust by many historians. Despite the differences in their beliefs about the reasons for Kaloyan's death - a conspiracy of Byzantines and Latins, death by natural reasons - Ivan Duichev, Ivan Bogilov, Genoveva Tzancova-Petkova, and Veselin Ignatov all support the idea that Boril's marriage with the Dowager Tsaritsa was only a way to legalize his coming to the throne. Whatever the truth, to this day there is no evidence connecting the Tsaritsa with Kaloyan's death. Like her wedding to Kaloyan, the date of her wedding to Boril is unknown. His ascension to the throne was supported by her compatriots, the Cumans, but a few years later there was a great Cuman riot against him. There is no concrete evidence in the sources, but it is likely that Boril repudiated the Tsaritsa and sent her to monastery where she became a nun and assumed the name Anisia.Pavlov, P. About the role of the Cumans in Bulgarian military history (1186-1241): in Military-Historical Symposium, 1990, №6, page 14-23 Sofia (Павлов, П. За ролята на куманите в българската военна история (1186-1241): във Военноисторически сборник, 1990, №6, стр. 14-23, София) Boril then married a niece of the Latin Emperor
Henry of Flanders Henry (c.1178 – 11 June 1216) was Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1205 until his death in 1216. He was one of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade in which the Byzantine Empire was conquered and Latin Empire formed. Life Henry was born in V ...
. Nothing is known about the Tsaritsa's later life. Historians have controversial minds about whether she had children by any or both her marriages. Zlatarsky supports the idea that the princess whom Boril gave to the Latin Emperor Henry in marriage was the Tsaritsa's daughter by Kaloyan, and Ignatov believes that she gave a son to Kaloyan. Other historians give her a second daughter, this time by Boril, but nothing is verified for certain this far.


In fiction

The Cuman Tsaritsa of Bulgaria is portrayed in
Fani Popova-Mutafova Fani Popova–Mutafova ( bg, Фани Попова-Мутафова; October 16, 1902 – July 9, 1977) was a Bulgarian author who is considered by many to have been the best-selling Bulgarian historical fiction author ever. Biography The daughte ...
's historical novels about Kaloyan's reign. In the novels, she is Kaloyan's second wife and is given the Cuman name Tzelguba. In the opera Tsar Kaloyan by
Pancho Vladigerov Pancho Haralanov Vladigerov (or Wladigeroff, Wladigerow, Vladiguerov, Vladigueroff; bg, Панчо Хараланов Владигеров ; 13 March 18998 September 1978) was a Bulgarian composer, pedagogue, and pianist. Vladigerov is arguably ...
, she is given the Christian name Maria.


See also

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Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...
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List of Bulgarian consorts First Bulgarian Empire Second Bulgarian Empire Third Bulgarian State Gallery File:Irene-Komnene-Kastoria.jpg, Anna of Halych File:NHM-BG-photo1-2.jpg, Irene Doukaina Laskarina File:G bogdanov marija.jpg, Maria Palaiologina Kantakouzene File: ...
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Elizabeth the Cuman Elizabeth the Cuman (1244–1290) was the Queen consort of Stephen V of Hungary. She was regent of Hungary during the minority of her son from 1272 to 1277. The Cumans were the western tribes of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. Her people follo ...


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuman Tsaritsa Of Bulgaria Bulgarian consorts Remarried royal consorts 13th-century Bulgarian women Cumans