Keratsa Petritsa ( bg, Кераца Петрица; ) was a Bulgarian noblewoman ('' bolyarka''), sister of tsar

Michael Shishman of Bulgaria Michael Asen III ( bg, Михаил Асен III, ''Mihail Asen III'', commonly called Michael Shishman (Михаил Шишман, ''Mihail Šišman'')), ruled as tsar of Bulgaria from 1323 to 1330. The exact year of his birth is unknown but it w ...

. Her eldest son Ivan Alexander rose to the Bulgarian throne after vicissitudes of politics. Keratsa descended, via a lateral line, from

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 ...

. She was the sister of Michael III Shishman Asen and

Belaur Belaur ( bg, Белаур) (died 1336) was a Bulgarian noble and '' despot'' of Vidin and brother of the Bulgarian Emperor Michael Shishman (1323–1330). The son of Shishman of Vidin, he was among the most elaborate Balkan diplomats of his time. P ...

, children of '' despotēs'' Shishman of

Vidin Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as o ...

by an unnamed daughter of

sebastokrator ''Sebastokrator'' ( grc-byz, Σεβαστοκράτωρ, Sevastokrátor, August Ruler, ; bg, севастократор, sevastokrator; sh, sebastokrator), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers wh ...

Peter and Anna (Theodora). She was also a distant cousin of tsar

Theodore Svetoslav Theodore Svetoslav ( bg, Тодор Светослав, ''Todor Svetoslav'' and also Теодор Светослав, ''Teodor Svetoslav'') ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1300 to 1322. The date of his birth is unknown. He expanded the ter ...

and tsar George II Terter. She was Catholic. Since the middle of the 13th century, the area of Vidin had been effectively autonomous under ineffective Bulgarian overlordship, and was ruled successively by

Yakov Svetoslav Jacob Svetoslav ( bg, Яков Светослав, ''Yakov Svetoslav'') (ca. 1210s/1220s–1275 or 1276/1277) was a prominent 13th-century Bulgarian noble ('' bolyarin''). Bestowed the title of despot, Jacob Svetoslav was the ruler of a widely au ...

(died 1276), Shishman (died between 1308 and 1313), and then the future Michael Asen III. Shishman and his son received the high courtly title of despotēs from their cousin Theodore Svetoslav and, on the childless death of young George Terter II in 1323, the brother of Keratsa Petritsa was elected emperor of Bulgaria by the nobility. Keratsa Petritsa converted from Catholicism to Orthodoxy at some point, and retired to a convent under the

monastic name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should not be "foreign ...

Theophana (Теофана). Her memory is honored in the Bulgarian Orthodox ''Synodic'' (Синодик):

Issue

Keratsa Petritsa married '' despot'' Sratsimir of Kran. They had five children: * Ivan Alexander (or Ivan Shishman), ''despot'' of

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 ...

, who succeeded as emperor of Bulgaria after a coup in 1331. * Helena, married Serbian King

Stefan Dušan Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош IV Душан, ), known as Dušan the Mighty ( sr, / ; circa 1308 – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Tsar (or Emperor) and autocrat of the Serbs, Gr ...

in 1332. *

John Komnenos Asen John Komnenos Asen ( bg, Йоан Комнин Асен, Yoan Komnin Asen; gr, Ίωάννης Κομνηνός Ἀσάνης, Iōannēs Komnēnos Asanēs; sr, Јован Комнин Асен, Jovan Komnin Asen) was the ruler of the Principal ...

, who was made despotes of Valona by his brother-in-law Stefan Dushan of Serbia. *Michael, despotes of

*Theodora __NOTOC__

Annotations

She is known in sources as ''Despotess Keratsa'' (деспотица Кераца). She is also called ''Kera Petritsa'' (Кера Петрица). In correspondence with Pope Benedict XII she is called ''Petrissa'', rendered in Bulgarian as ''Petritsa'' (Петрица). The name "Keratsa" is not known in Bulgarian history. "Keratsa" or "Kiratsa" are diminutives of the Greek title ''kyr'' (lord).

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keratsa Petritsa Medieval Bulgarian nobility 14th-century Bulgarian nuns