Ivan Alexander

Ivan Alexander, illustration from his Tetraevangeliar .

Ivan Alexander ( Bulgarian Иван Александър ; † February 17, 1371 ) ruled from 1331 to 1371 as Tsar of the Bulgarians. Ivan Alexander came from the last ruling dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Empire , the Shishmanids .

Ivan Alexander was the nephew of the Bulgarian Tsar Michael III. Schischman . In 1330 he took part in the battle of Welbaschd , in which the Bulgarian army defeated the Serbs under Stefan Uroš III. Dečanski lost. This made his nephew Ivan Stefan , a son of the Bulgarian Tsar Michael III who died in the battle. Shishman as the new Bulgarian ruler. When in Serbia Stefan Uroš IV. Dušan Stefan Uroš III. Dečanski fell, also overthrew his nephew on the Bulgarian throne, and the Bulgarians elevated Ivan Alexander to the new tsar. His long reign is considered to be the late bloom of the 2nd Bulgarian Empire. In the early years he succeeded in pushing back the Serbs and Byzantines (→ Battle of Rusokastro ). At the end of his rule, however, the decline of the Bulgarian Empire was already evident. The Serbs, the Byzantines and finally the Ottomans could no longer defend themselves. At the same time, the black death , the plague , claimed numerous victims. At the end of his life, Ivan Alexander divided his empire between his two sons, each with the name Ivan from his first and second marriage, before the Ottomans finally put an end to the Bulgarian empire for centuries.

Ivan Alexander was married to Theodora of Wallachia for the first time . In his second marriage in 1335 he married the Jewish banker's daughter Sarah from Venice, who also took the name Theodora when she converted to Orthodox Christianity. With her he had the daughter Maria Keratsa ( Mara Kyratza ), who married the later Byzantine emperor Andronikos IV in the course of a treaty with Byzantium in 1355 . At the instigation of his wife Sarah Theodora, the division of the empire is said to have taken place, which sealed the final fall of the Bulgarian empire. He was succeeded on the Bulgarian throne by Ivan Shishman .

The Manasses Chronicle , a Bulgarian translation of the Chronicle synopsis of Constantine Manasses , the London Tetra Gospel and the Mraka Deed were created on his behalf .

Ivan Alexander Point , a headland on Nelson Island in Antarctica, has borne his name since 2009 .

literature

• Jordan Andreev: Bǎlgarija prez vtorata četvǎrt na XIV vek . Veliko Tǎrnovo 1993.
• Jordan Andreev: Tsar Iwan Alexander / 1331–1371 / in Bǎlgarskite khanove i zare VII-XIV vek , “Petar Beron” publishing house, Sofia 1998, ISBN 954-402-034-9 , pp. 199–208.
• Jordan Andreev, Ivan Lazarov, Plamen Pavlov: Koj koj ev srednovekovna Bǎlgarija . Sofia 1999. ISBN 954-402-047-0 .
• Petǎr Angelov: Bǎlgaro-srǎbskite otnošenija pri caruvaneto na Ivan Aleksandǎr (1331–1371) and Stefan Dušan (1331–1355) . Sofia 1982.
• Georgi Bakalov, Milen Kumanov: Elektronno izdanie - Istorija na Bǎlgarija (Bulgarian). Trud, Sirma, Sofia 2003.
• Ivan Božilov: Familijata na Asenevci (1186-1460) (Bulgarian). Sofia 1985.
• Stefan Canev: “11 km propast. Car Ivan Aleksandǎr, Momčil “, Bǎlgarski hroniki (Bulgarian). Trud, Žanet 45, Sofia / Plovdiv 2006, ISBN 954-528-610-5 .
• John VA Fine, Jr .: The Late Medieval Balkans . Ann Arbor 1987, ISBN 0-472-08260-4 .
• Detlef Kulman: Ivan Aleksandŭr . In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe . Volume 2. Munich 1976, pp. 249-252.
• Milčo Lalkov: Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331-1371) . In: Rulers of Bulgaria . Kibea 1997, ISBN 954-474-098-8 .
• Gerhard Podskalsky : Theological literature of the Middle Ages in Bulgaria and Serbia 815-1459. Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-45024-5 .
• Ivan Tjutjundžiev, Plamen Pavlov: Bǎlgarskata dǎržava i osmanskata ekspanzija 1369–1422 . 1992.

predecessor	Office	successor
Ivan Stefan	Tsar of Bulgaria 1331–1371	Ivan Shishman