Kingdom of Vidin

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The Kingdom of Vidin and the Tarnov Bulgarian Empire at the time of Tsar Ivan Alexander

The Kingdom of Vidin was an independent Bulgarian state that existed from 1337 to 1396. It emerged from the feudal possessions of the Bulgarian boyar dynasty of the Shishmanids and included the city of Vidin with the north-western region of Bulgaria.

history

The Kingdom of Vidin was founded by Tsar Ivan Alexander for his son Ivan Strazimir , as compensation for depriving him of the succession to the throne in Tarnowo.

The separation of this kingdom as an independent country and with it the weakening of Bulgaria was a grave mistake by the tsar that was to have an effect for a long time. Perhaps the united Bulgaria, together with the Vidin region, would have been strong enough to withstand the conquest of the Ottoman Empire which soon followed .

Ivan Srazimir was proclaimed tsar of the kingdom of Vidin in the spring of 1337. He was the second son of Tsar Ivan Alexander from his first marriage. He was born in 1324 or 1325. Ivan Srazimir called himself "Tsar of the Bulgarians and the Greeks". Tsar Ivan Alexander divorced his first wife, Ivan Srazimir's mother, in 1350 (or 1351) and declared the first-born son from his second marriage - Ivan Schischman  - to be the heir to the throne of the Bulgarian Empire (Tarnow Bulgarian Empire).

After the death of Tsar Ivan Alexander in 1371, relations between Ivan Srazimir, ruler of the Vidin kingdom, and the Tarnov Bulgarian Empire deteriorated. Ivan Srazimir separated his kingdom from the Patriarchate of Veliko Tarnovo and subordinated the ecclesiastical institutions to the Patriarchate of Constantinople . This naturally increased the Greek influence in the region.

Silver and copper coins were minted with the image of Ivan Srazimir, which bore the inscription "Noble Tsar of the Bulgarians". In 1388 the Kingdom of Vidin became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. In 1396 Iwan Srazimir let the troops of the Hungarian King Sigismund III. into the city and had the troops of the Ottoman garrison slain in the city. Unfortunately for Srazimir, the troops of Sigismund suffered a decisive defeat against the Ottomans in the Battle of Nikopolis (now Nikopol ) on September 25, 1396 . Then the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I turned against Vidin, took the city and dissolved the Kingdom of Vidin. As a punishment, Widin finally fell under Ottoman rule.

According to various sources, the fall of the kingdom of Vidin is given as 1396 or 1397.

Officially, 1397 is given as the year in which the Second Bulgarian Empire fell and the Bulgarians came under Ottoman rule, which ended only after almost 500 years, in 1878 with the defeat of the Ottomans in the Russo-Ottoman War (1877-1878). This war is also known today in Bulgaria as the War of Liberation.

Tsar Ivan Srazimir was captured and taken to the capital of Bayezid I, Brusa, today's Bursa  - 90 km south of Istanbul. This is where Ivan Srazimir was probably held for the rest of his life. There are no sources about his further life. Ivan Srazimir was the last tsar of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

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