Balik ( bg, Балик, Byzantine Greek: ; fl. c. 1320 and died 1347) was a noble of the Second Bulgarian Empire who increased the autonomy of his province and became despot of the

Principality of Karvuna The Despotate of Dobruja or Principality of Karvuna ( bg, Добруджанско деспотство or ; ro, Despotatul Dobrogei or ) was a 14th-century quasi-independent polity in the region of modern Dobruja, that split off from the Secon ...

. An account cited that he finally broke away from the empire in the 1340s and, as a result, the dioceses in his region, which was later named Dobrudja, were subsumed under the jurisdiction of the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

. This came after Tsar Ivan Alexander divided Bulgaria into three territories that were held by his sons. V. Stoyanov explains the name through Turkic balik - 'city', or balïk - 'fish'. But another Turkic etymology can also be indicated. balq – 'shines, sparkles, shines', balqï, Turkish dial. balqïn – 'beautiful, shining', balqïr – 'lightning', or with Turk. Chagatai balga, Kalmyk balig – 'mace'. During the

Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiologan Civil War, was a conflict that broke out in the Byzantine Empire after the death of Andronikos III Palaiologos over the guardianship of his nine-year-old so ...

he supported the regent

Anna of Savoy Anna of Savoy, born Giovanna (1306–1365) was a Byzantine Empress consort, as the second spouse of Andronikos III Palaiologos. She served as regent, with the titles '' augusta'' and '' autokratorissa'', during the minority of her son John V Palai ...

against pretender

John VI Kantakouzenos John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under ...

. Balik died in 1347, either during an outbreak of the Black Death or killed during a retaliation campaign led by Umur Beg, on behalf of

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. Biography John V was the son of E ...

, that destroyed Dobruja's seaports. In 1359, Balik's brother

Dobrotitsa Dobrotitsa ( bg, Добротица, ; ro, Dobrotici or ; in contemporaneous Byzantine documents; ''Dobrodicie'' in contemporaneous Genoese documentsM. Balard, ''Actes de Kilia du notaire Antonio di Ponzo, 1360'' in ''Genes et l'Outre-Mer'', II ...

was appointed head of a new province created by the Anna of Savoy as his reward for helping her gain the Byzantine throne. He succeeded Balik after he recaptured Karvuna in 1354.

References

1347 deaths Medieval Bulgarian nobility 14th-century Bulgarian people Year of birth unknown Medieval Dobruja {{Bulgaria-hist-stub