MARIA ASENINA DOUKAINA, TSARITSA OF THE BULGARS 1256-1263
Profile of this article:
1. Protagonists of the story: Tsar Mitso-Micco, Tsaritsa Maria Asenina Doukaina, Tsar Konstantin Tikh, Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.
2. Country of action: Second Bulgarian Tsardom – eastern Roman Empire.
3. Examined period: 1256-1263
4. Other historical figures mentioned: Kaliman Asen, Michael II Asen, Kaliman II, Sevastokrator Peter, Ana Asenina Doukaina, Tamarara Asenina, Rostislav Mikhailovich, Theodore II Laskaris, Elena Asenina, Irene Laskarina Asenina, Michael Glabas Tarchaniotes.
5. Cities: Tarnovo, Mesembria (Nesebar), Troas.
Maria was a daughter of tsar Ivan II Asen and Irene Doukaina «of Epirus». From the side of her mother, she held the imperial blood of the families of Doukai and Komnenoi, two of the greatest Roman clans of the time that had governed the Roman empire for long. Ivan perished while Maria was only -at the best case- 3 years old. She grew mostly in the company of her mother Irene, so we consider Maria as another representative, another Bulgarian Queen of the so called «Era of the Greek Tsaritsi of Bulgaria» (1238-1355)» that lasted for more than one century.
A romantic painting of tsar Ivan Asen II and his third tsaritsa Irene Doukaina.
Artist: Vasil Goranov.
SISTER OF THE TSAR
From 1241 to 1246 Maria was raised under the supervising of the boyars of Tarnovo since her exiled mother Irene resided in the city of Thessalonica (then under the rule of the Doukai of Epirus), far from the tsardom. Apparently the three royal children of Irene Doukaina (Michael Asen, Ana, Maria) were taken care and protected by a circle of boyars that promoted Michael’s right to the throne. The regency of the «child-tsar» Kaliman ended in 1246 with his death, the rise of Marias brother Michael to the throne, and the return of the tsaritsa-mother Irene to Bulgaria.
Fresco of Michael II Asen, tsar of Bulgaria from 1246 to 1256. Michael is depicted bearded and with a moustache, so it can be speculated that the artwork was painted after he reached the 15 years of age, thast is circa 1253. The fresco is located on the old church of Saint Taxiarchai in Kastoria.
At some time between 1247 and 1252, when Maria was 9 with 14 years old, she married Mitso -a Bulgarian lord of unknown origins- that her mother Irene found appropriate for her Asen blood but mainly for his support to her son Michael. Probably the marriage between Mitso and Maria must have been arranged earlier, presumably during the 5 years reign of Kaliman or at the very start of Michael’s reign. Mitso or Mico or Metzis -the name is a synonym of the Greek name Demetrios- was one of the boyars involved in the violent downfall of Kaliman, along with the other strong man of Bulgaria, the Sebastokrator Peter. Those two lords must have been the main forces behind the coup that brought Michael to the throne. Μitso received an appanage due to his marriage with Maria Asenina and became one of the basic pillars of the regency of Michael Asen, along with Peter, the other son-in-law of Irene.
Nonetheless, in 1256, the now-adult tsar Michael was murdered while hunting, by another Kaliman, his cousin. This Kaliman became tsar as Kaliman the second of his name and forcefully married the widow of Michael -a daughter of Rostislav Mikhailovich, who was a Rus lord from the Kingdom of Hungary- so to add continuity to his aspiring reign. But Kaliman ruled Bulgaria for a terribly short time. Rostislav led a great army outside the ancient capital of the tsars demanding his daughter to be returned to her family. The boyars of Tarnovo or Kaliman himself handled the princess back to her father, in one shaming episode for the pride of the tsarist dignity. As for Kaliman he later found a pitiful death at the hands of his own men that presumambly regarded him too weak to be a king.
Certainly, Mitso must have been one of the boyars -again- that was responsible for the tsar’s death, since as spouse of Maria Asenina and as a brother in law of the previous tsar he was the apparent -and only- candidate to the throne. Certainly, Maria Asenina, the sister of the murdered tsar Michael, saw the fall of Kaliman, as an act of rightful revenge for her brother and perhaps was directly involved in the coup. One could argue that also Sevastokrator Peter, the husband of Ana Asenina, Michaels another sister, could also claim the scepters of the Bulgarians as a son in law of the previous tsar and husband of an Asenina princess, but it appears he did not intervene this time on this change of dynastic power. Perhaps Peter preferred to reside on his estates that he ruled as a de facto autonomous ruler, almost a tsar of his own and as independent from the central government or he had passed away at the time of the events we are discussing, thus Ana Asenina, the sister of Maria, was a widow.
THE ONLY ASENINA OF TARNOVO
Seeing the chaos in the Bulgarian capital, Mitso was strong enought to cease the crown and proclaim himself tsar and Maria tsaritsa. Mitso legalized his right to the throne due to his marriage to Maria Asenina that was a daughter of the great Ivan Asen II and thus she represented the continuity of the glorious Asen family to his administration and the only Asenina left to the halls of Tarnovo. There was still alive, a sister of the deceased Kaliman I, called Tamara Asenina (from the first marriage of Ivan Asen), but wary of any direct siblings alive or a widow, she couldnt be supported by the boyars of the time.
The only surviving seal of Mitso where he is depicted riding a horse. The seal also emphasizes his position as tsar.
Through Maria, the tsar Mitso also started to style himself as Mitso Asen, even if he had no blood connection to the dynasty of Asenids. Also, Maria named her only son Ivan, the name of her father, reasonably not only due to emotional reasons, but to further legalize their position to the eyes of their subjects. Nikeforos Gregoras, the Greek historian of the 14th century, mentions that Mitso possessed an indolent and cowardly personality and that character according to Gregoras was the reason the people of Tarnovo started to defy his orders and to annul all his decisions.
The boyars of Tarnovo were also dissatisfied and decided to overthrow Mitso for the sake of Konstantin Tikh, a Bulgarian lord with Serbian ties, whom they soon proclaimed tsar. According to Gregoras, Konstantin besieged Mitso inside Tarnovo and then forced him, to leave the palaces along with Maria and their children. However its highly unlikely that Konstantin would let Mitso to leave the capital without -at least- keeping one member of the family as a hostage, so as to control the later actions of Mitso against his reign. The most persuasive scenario is that Mitso knew that a plot was brewing against him and fled with Maria far from the capital before it strikes. The couple fled as refugees to Mesembria, today’s Nesebar in the western shores of the Black Sea, so to continue their struggle against Konstantin from there.
DESPOINA OF MESEMBRIA
From the coastline of the Black Sea Mitso continued to style himself as King of Bulgaria. Furthermore he earned the support of the populations of South-Eastern Bulgaria, mainly the lands around Preslav. To support his kingship, he started to strike coins in Mesembria in 1257-58 and in Preslav even as late as 1263. For 6 years he was the de facto tsar of a great part of Bulgaria and NOT just another admiral.
Apparently it was the bishop of Preslav that crowned Mitso and Maria tsar and tsaritsa in order to consolidate their power. Τhe towns at the shore of the Black Sea were always hard to be controlled by the Bulgarian goverments. Those were port-cities that belonged to the jurisdiction of the Roman empire until the late 12th century and the Uprising of Peter and Asen. They retained a great Greek population and were in immediate contact with Constantinople and the imperial lands of Romaniae due to the sea and the trade. Mesembria, Agathopolis, Anchialos, Sozopoli chose to hail Mitso as tsar and in that way, confirmed their separatist movement.
Mitso certainly knew of the great Greek element in the area and this also could explain the greek inscription we find on the copper and only coins that Mitso minted during his reign. On the reverse side, we see an image of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker that is accompanied by the Greek inscription «Ο ΑΓΙΟΣ ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΣ». Perhaps Saint Nicholas, one of the most popular saints in the Greek religious thought, was the patron saint of Mitso.
A coin from the reign of tsar Mitso Asen. Mitso is holding a tripod scepter on his left hand and a big cross on the left. At the reverse side, there is a half-body depiction of Saint Nicholas of Myra with the Greek inscription «O ΑΓΙΟΣ ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΣ». We can say that Mitsos coins have a very byzantine aesthetic.
Maria Asenina -as the daughter of Ivan Asen II- assisted Mitso in his struggle to obtain the alliance of many boyars of east Bulgaria and also the support of the common people that remembered her father Ivan fondly. And this perhaps explains the anxiety of Konstantin Tikh to find an Asenina princess to marry, since immediately in 1258 we find him asking emperor Theodore II Laskaris for peace and the hand of his daughter Irene Laskarina. Irene was half Bulgarian, due to her mother Elena of Bulgaria (also a daughter of tsar Ivan Asen the second). Theodore agreed and the Laskarina bride was sent from Asia Minor to Tarnovo.
Until 1261 the tsardom and the empire enjoyed a period of peace, but this silence didn’t last for long. After the de facto deposition of John Laskaris from the throne of Constantinople and the sole assumption of power by Michael Palaiologos, relationships between the two countries deteriorated again. The first act of the upcoming Roman-Bulgarian confrontation was the invasion of Konstantin in Thrace in 1262. This act was enough for Michael to offer his support to Mitso and Maria.
Mitso had reigned as an independent tsar for 6 years, many times at the battlefield he had been successful against Konstantin but at 1262 Konstantin felt safe enough to eliminate the danger of Mitso once and for all. In 1262 Konstantin marched against the lands held by Mitso around Preslav and managed to reclaim all his estates outside Mesembria. Mitso retreated inside Mesembria followed by Konstantin that appeared in front of the walls of the city and started a siege of the town. At this crucial time, Mitso turned to the Romans for aid.
A map depicting the geopolitical situation of Romaniae in 1261, after the fall of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. The Roman-Bulgarian war is about to begin and the Bulgarian east still belongs to Mitsos dominion.
Source: https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/imladjov/maps
Tsaritsa Maria who knew Greek due to her mother Irene, presumably acted as the negotiator between Mitso and the agents of Michael Palaiologos. The answer of Palaiologos was a positive one and a Roman army under the command of Michael Glabas Tarchaniotes reached in front of Mesembria and chased away the besieging Bulgarians.
Later, Michael, the officer of the Roman army, processed to negotiate the official surrender of the great port. On his part, Mitso asked for asylum and fiefs in exchange for Mesembria and its environment, a request that Michael gladly accepted. Mitso and Maria were given properties in Asia Minor, near the Skamandros river, around the desolated archaic city of Troas. Also the two parties agreed that Maria’s son Ivan -and heir of Bulgaria- would marry a daughter of the emperor, at some point in the future.
AROUND TROY
Maria who was more accustomed to the Greek language and byzantine lifestyle due to her mother, made use of this knowledge in order to promote her children in the highest circles of the Byzantine society and into the court of Constantinople. After all, she was a Doukaina and a Komnene and a distant relative of the Palaiologoi. Indeed, Ivan Asen became the son-in-law of the emperor and the champion of the Romans for the throne of Bulgaria. Later Ivan was offered troops so to reclaim his lost homeland. As for their daughter, she was known as Kyra Maria Asenina. Kyra means «lady» and usually demonstrates a person that holds significant lands.
Mitso and Maria are the progenitors of the Hellenized branch of the Asen family that became prominent in the late Roman state. Two members of this line were Andronikos Asen, one of the most successful strategoi of Morea, and Irene Asenina, spouse of basileus John Kantakouzenos.
The banner of the Asenides, the hellenized line of the royal Asen family. The ancestral crowned lion of the Asens and the red color that are both associated with medieval Bulgaria are still present.
Source: Wappenwiki.
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