The Despotate of Lovech (), was a Bulgarian state, covering parts of the territory of what is now

Lovech Province Lovech Province ( bg, Област Ловеч, translit=Oblast Lovech, former name Lovech okrug) is one of the 28 provinces of Bulgaria, lying at the northern centre of the country. It is named after its main city - Lovech. As of December 200 ...

, formed in 1330 after

Ivan Alexander Ivan Alexander ( bg, Иван Александър, transliterated ''Ivan Aleksandǎr'', ; original spelling: ІѠАНЪ АЛЄѮАНдРЪ), also sometimes Anglicized as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor (''Tsar'') of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, ...

was appointed to govern

Lovech Lovech ( bg, Ловеч, Lovech, ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, city in north-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The city is located about northeast f ...

, the capital of the despotate, and the nearby area around the town. It was dissolved after the fall of the Lovech Fortress in 1446 to the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. The state was the last independent Bulgarian state after 1396, before its conquest by the Ottoman Empire. It was ruled by the

Sratsimir dynasty The House of Sratsimir, also Sracimir (), or Sratsimirovtsi ( bg, Срацимировци) was a medieval Bulgarian dynasty that at times ruled the Tsardom of Tarnovo, the Tsardom of Vidin, the Principality of Valona and Kanina, the Despotate of ...

History

Formation

The despotate was formed after Ivan Alexander became the despot, most likely being appointed due to Lovech being a major town that controlled commercial passage through the

Stara Planina The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...

passes, and the migration of intellectuals to

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

and

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

, due to Ottoman conquests.

Period of prosperity

The area was the center for many Bulgarian rulers. In the 14th century, the commercial, administrative and spiritual centres were at their peak. The despot also made a great contribution towards stopping the

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

advance, although Bulgaria still lost the

battle of Velbazhd The Battle of Velbazhd ( bg, битка при Велбъжд, ''bitka pri Velbazhd''; sr, Битка код Велбужда, ''Bitka kod Velbužda'') is a battle which took place between Bulgarian and Serbian armies on 28 July 1330, near the t ...

. Ivan married Princess Theodora of Wallachia. He gradually won trust to become the elected

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

in 1331, after Ivan Stefan was driven out by a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

, and the conspirators placed him on the throne.

Dissolution

Ivan Alexander died on 17 February 1371. Despite his early years of success, his later decisions, such as splitting the empire among his sons in 1356, left the Bulgarian states to face outside powers politically divided and weakened, contributing to the fall of the despotate. The Ottoman invasions of Bulgaria in the 14th century did not directly result in the despotate being conquered. Stanko Kosan defended the town until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1446.

References

{{Authority control Second Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire History of Lovech Province History of Bulgaria by province Lovech Province Despots (court title) Despotates Medieval Bulgaria History of Bulgaria by period Middle Ages by country Medieval history of the Balkans