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 s ...

, 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 Empir ...

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 and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Her grandmother was Agnes of Antioch from House ...

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 on ...

and princess Tamara of Bulgaria. Her maternal grandparents were king

Andrew II of Hungary Andrew II ( hu, II. András, hr, Andrija II., sk, Ondrej II., uk, Андрій II; 117721 September 1235), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 11 ...

and Gertrude of Merania. On the paternal side, Emperor

Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria Ivan Asen I, also known as Asen I or John Asen I ( bg, Иван Асен I; died in 1196), was emperor or tsar of Bulgaria from 1187/1188 to 1196 as co-ruler with his elder brother, Peter II. Hailing from the Byzantine theme of Paristrion, his ...

and Elena of Bulgaria. She was betrothed to Baldwin II of Courtenay, 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 126 ...

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 Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...

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

. This took place finally in 1235 at Gallipoli. 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 John IV Doukas Laskaris (or Ducas Lascaris) ( el, Ἰωάννης Δούκας Λάσκαρις, ''Iōannēs Doukas Laskaris'') (December 25, 1250 – c. 1305) was emperor of Nicaea from August 16, 1258, to December 25, 1261. This empire was one ...

, who was only seven years old, became emperor.

Family

Elena and Theodore had five children: * Irene Doukaina Laskarina, 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, who married

Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Nicephorus I Comnenus Ducas ( el, Νικηφόρος Κομνηνός Δούκας, Nikēphoros Komnēnos Doukas; – ) was ruler of Epirus from 1267/8 to his death in 1296/98. Life Born around 1240 ...

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

. * Theodora, who married Matthew, Baron of Veligosti * Eudoxia Laskarina Asanina, who married Guglielmo Peire de Ventimiglia *

, 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