Elena of Bulgaria was an empress consort of

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

, married to

Theodore II Laskaris Theodore II Doukas Laskaris or Ducas Lascaris ( gr, Θεόδωρος Δούκας Λάσκαρις, Theodōros Doukas Laskaris; 1221/1222 – 16 August 1258) was Emperor of Nicaea from 1254 to 1258. He was the only child of Emperor John II ...

(r. 1254–1258). She was daughter of

Bulgarian Emperor In the medieval history of Europe, Bulgaria's status as the Bulgarian Empire ( bg, Българско царство, ''Balgarsko tsarstvo'' ) occurred in two distinct periods: between the seventh and the eleventh centuries and again between the ...

Ivan Asen II Ivan Asen II, also known as John Asen II ( bg, Иван Асен II, ; 1190s – May/June 1241), was Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1218 to 1241. He was still a child when his father Ivan Asen I one of the founders of the Second Bulgarian Empi ...

and

Anna Maria of Hungary Anna Maria of Hungary (1204–1237) was an Empress consort of Bulgaria, daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania. She was sister of king Béla IV of Hungary, Béla IV and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Her grandmother was Agnes o ...

Life

Born in to

and

, she was the sister of emperor

Kaliman I of Bulgaria Kaliman Asen I, also known as Coloman Asen I or Koloman ( bg, Калиман Асен I; 1234-August/September 1246) was Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1241 to 1246. He was the son of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and Anna Maria of Hungary. He was onl ...

and princess Tamara of Bulgaria. Her maternal grandparents were king Andrew II of Hungary and

Gertrude of Merania Gertrude of Merania ( 1185 – 28 September 1213) was Queen of Hungary as the first wife of Andrew II from 1205 until her assassination. She was regent during her husband's absence. Life She was the daughter of the Bavarian Count Berthold IV ...

. On the paternal side, Emperor Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria and

Elena of Bulgaria Elena of Bulgaria was an empress consort of Nicaea, married to Theodore II Laskaris (r. 1254–1258). She was daughter of Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Asen II and Anna Maria of Hungary. Life Born in to Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Asen II and Anna Maria o ...

. She was betrothed to

Baldwin II of Courtenay Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Courtenay (french: Baudouin de Courtenay; late 1217 – October 1273), was the last Latin Emperor ruling from Constantinople. Biography Baldwin II was born in Constantinople (the only Latin emperor to be b ...

, the last

Latin emperor The Latin Emperor was the ruler of the Latin Empire, the historiographical convention for the Crusader realm, established in Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade (1204) and lasting until the city was recovered by the Byzantine Greeks in 1261 ...

before marrying Theodore. As part of an alliance between her father and the

Nicaean emperor The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley ...

John III Vatatzes John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes ( el, Ιωάννης Δούκας Βατάτζης, ''Iōannēs Doukas Vatatzēs'', c. 1192 – 3 November 1254), was Emperor of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known ...

, negotiations began in 1233 on a marriage between her and Vatatzes' son and heir,

. This took place finally in 1235 at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

. She died in the spring or summer of 1252.Angelov, D. ''The Byzantine Hellene: The Life of Emperor Theodore Laskaris and Byzantium in the Thirteenth Century'', Cambridge / New York 2019, p. 128, 129. Her husband died in 1258 and their son, John IV Laskaris, who was only seven years old, became emperor.

Family

Elena and Theodore had five children: *

Irene Doukaina Laskarina Irene Doukaina Laskarina ( bg, Ирина Ласкарина Асенина, el, Ειρήνη Δούκαινα Λασκαρίνα) was empress consort (tsaritsa) of Bulgaria (1258–1268). She was the second wife of Tsar Constantine Tikh of Bulgar ...

, who married

Constantine Tikh of Bulgaria Konstantin Tih ( bg, Константин Тих Асен) or Constantine I Tikh (Константин I), was the tsar of Bulgaria from 1257 to 1277, he was offered the throne from Mitso Asen. He led the Bulgarian Empire at a time when the nearb ...

(r. 1257-1277) *

Maria Doukaina Laskarina Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

, who married Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas of Epirus. * Theodora, who married Matthew,

Baron of Veligosti The Barony of Veligosti or Veligosti–Damala was a medieval Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, originally centred on Veligosti ( el, Βελίγοστι or Βελιγόστη; french: Véligourt; es, Viligorda; it, Villegorde) in ...

* Eudoxia Laskarina Asanina, who married Guglielmo Peire de Ventimiglia * John IV Laskaris, emperor between 1258 and 1261

References

Sources

* * * 1224 births 13th-century births 1252 deaths 13th-century deaths 13th-century Bulgarian women 13th-century Byzantine women Bulgarian princesses Laskarid dynasty Empresses of Nicaea Asen dynasty Daughters of emperors Mothers of Byzantine emperors {{Byzantine-bio-stub