Michael ( bg, Михаил) was a Bulgarian nobleman, the son of Tsar

Konstantin Tih 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 ...

of Bulgaria and

Maria Palaiologina Kantakouzene Maria Palaiologina Kantakouzene ( bg, Мария Палеологина Кантакузина, el, Μαρία Παλαιολογίνα Καντακουζηνή; died after 1294) was an Empress consort of Bulgaria by marriage to two Bulgarian em ...

, niece of emperor

Michael VIII Palaiologos Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...

of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. He was born in 1270, was declared ''

porphyrogennetos Traditionally, born in the purple (sometimes "born to the purple") was a category of members of royal families born during the reign of their parent. This notion was later loosely expanded to include all children born of prominent or high-ranking ...

'' (perhaps to block any older sons of Constantine from inheriting the throne), and was crowned co-emperor by his parents in or before 1272. When his father was killed in battle against Ivailo in 1277, Michael was left as the nominal legitimate emperor of Bulgaria, but he ruled under the guidance of his mother, and his control was quickly restricted to the capital Tărnovo. While much of the provinces fell into the hands of Ivailo, his great-uncle Michael VIII put forward his own pretender to the throne,

Ivan Asen III Ivan Asen III ( bg, Иван Асен III, also Йоан Асен III, ''Ioan Asen III'', and in English ''John Asen III''), ruled as tsar of Bulgaria 1279–1280. Ivan Asen III was the son of Mitso Asen of Bulgaria and Maria of Bulgaria, a daught ...

, a son of

Mitso Asen of Bulgaria Mitso Asen ( bg, Мицо Асен) or Micho Asen (Мичо Асен) was the tsar of Bulgaria from 1256 until 1257. Reign Mitso Asen ascended the throne by virtue of his marriage to Maria, a daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria by Irene Komnene ...

and Maria of Bulgaria. With Byzantine armies marching north intent on placing Ivan Asen III on the throne, Maria Kantakouzene came to an arrangement with Ivailo, whereby she married her husband's murderer and associated him on the throne together with her son. Ivailo was successful in resisting the Byzantine encroachments until he was blockaded by the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragme ...

of Nogai Khan inside Drăstăr ( Silistra) for three months in 1279. Assuming that he was dead, the city nobles opened the gates of Tărnovo to the besieging Byzantine army and accepted Ivan Asen III as emperor. Together with his mother Maria, Michael was sent into captivity in the

. He reappeared on the pages of history only about 1302, when a faction of the Bulgarian nobility invited him to recover his throne from

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 ...

. Although provided with Byzantine military support, Michael proved unable to assert himself in Bulgaria. The date of his death is unknown.

External links

Detailed list of Bulgarian rulers

References

* John V.A. Fine, Jr., ''The Late Medieval Balkans'', Ann Arbor, 1987. {{DEFAULTSORT:Michael Asen 02 Of Bulgaria 1270 births 14th-century deaths 13th-century Bulgarian people 14th-century Bulgarian people 13th-century Bulgarian monarchs 14th-century Bulgarian monarchs Rulers deposed as children Medieval child rulers Bulgarian people of Greek descent Sons of emperors