Kaliman II. Assen

Kaliman II. Assen ( Bulgarian Калиман ІІ Асен , scientific transliteration Kaliman Asen, also Koloman II. Assen; * in the 12th century in Tarnowo , † 1256 near Tarnowo) was Bulgarian tsar from the Assen dynasty for a short time in 1256 . In Serbian sources he appears under the name of Sebastokrator Kalojan, ruler of the fortress and region of Serdica (now Sofia). He was the son of Sebastokratōr Alexander Assen from his marriage to a daughter of Stefan Nemanjić and nephew of Tsar Iwan Assen II. His predecessor Tsar Michael II Assen was thus his cousin.

After Tsar Michael II Assen lost the lands in Thrace in 1255 and concluded a "humiliating" peace for the Bulgarian Boljars with the Nicaea Empire , the voices against him increased. In 1256 he was murdered during a hunt and the Boljar conspiracy made the other grandson of Ivan Assen I , Kaliman II Assen, the new tsar. At the same time, other powerful Boljars such as Mizo Assen (in the Balkan Mountains and Eastern Thrace ), Konstantin Tich Assen (in Skopje ) or Rostislaw (in Belgrade and Branicevo ), Schischman (in Vidin ) split off. The Boljar Rostislav was the first to try to overthrow Kaliman II. Under the pretext of protecting his daughter and avenging the murder of his son-in-law, he marched into Moesia . After an unsuccessful siege of Tarnowo, he was satisfied with the marriage of his daughter Elisaveta by the new tsar and concessions of autonomy and withdrew to his lands. This move showed the Boljars in the Bulgarian capital that Tsar Kaliman II Assen did not have the military means to unite the country. In the same year he was murdered by another Boljar conspiracy that crowned the Boljar Mizo Assen as the new tsar. The time after the death of Kaliman II. Assen was marked by separatism and civil war.

family

Kaliman II Assen married Elisaveta in 1256, a daughter of the powerful Boljar Rostislav and the former wife of Tsar Michael II Assen. It is not known if they had children.

Literature and other sources

• Constantin Jos. Jireček : History of the Bulgarians. F. Tempsky publishing house, Prague 1876; Olms, Hildesheim / New York 1977, ISBN 3-487-06408-1 .
• John VA Fine, Jr .: The Late Medieval Balkans. A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1987, ISBN 0472100793 .
• Jordan Andreev: Tsar Kaliman II Asen / 1256 /. In: Bǎlgarskite khanove i zare VII-XIV vek. "Petar Beron" publishing house, Sofia 1998, ISBN 954-402-034-9 , pp. 152-162
• Detailed list of Bulgarian rulers (PDF; 96 kB)

predecessor	Office	successor
Michael II. Assen	Tsar of Bulgaria 1256	Mizo Assen