Tsar Ivan Stephen

Ivan Stephen was a Bulgarian tsar who ruled briefly between 1330 and 1331. Although he bore the title of tsar, actual power appears to have belonged to his mother, Anna-Neda, who probably exercised effective authority while Ivan Stephen was the titular monarch.

Ivan Stephen was the son of Michael III Shishman Asen and Anna-Neda. He was proclaimed his father's co-ruler in 1323 and depicted alongside him on copper coins. Nevertheless, after Michael III and Anna-Neda divorced, Ivan Stephen lost his status as co-ruler when his father married Theodora Palaiologina. This led to Ivan Stephen's removal from the political scene.

In 1330, after the disastrous Battle of Velbazhd, in which Michael III Shishman died, the Serbian king Stefan Uroš III Dečanski sent envoys to the Bulgarian boyars with an offer of peace. Under this peace agreement, Ivan Stephen was raised to the Bulgarian throne. He thus became tsar of Bulgaria, but the Serbs hoped to strengthen their influence in the country through him.

Ivan Stephen is believed to have ruled briefly, for between seven and eight months. Events during this period were chaotic, with Byzantine troops taking advantage of the disorder to enter Bulgaria and seize territories in Thrace. Ivan Stephen was deposed because of his inability to defend the country. He was replaced by the boy Ivan Alexander, who became the new Bulgarian monarch. Anna-Neda and Belaur, the despot of Vidin, probably played an active role in this transition.

This period of Bulgarian history was characterised by turmoil and instability, as Byzantine and Serbian influence in the region changed in response to internal developments in Bulgaria.

In the first months of 1331, discontent with Anna-Neda's rule erupted into open rebellion. The protovestiarios Raksin and the logothete Philip organised a successful palace coup, which probably enjoyed broad public support. The despot of Lovech, a nephew of Michael Shishman, was elected the new tsar and became known as Tsar Ivan Alexander Asen. The coup was aided by the civil war taking place in Serbia at the same time, which prevented King Stefan Dečanski from helping his nephew Ivan Stephen.

Despot Belaur, a prominent supporter of Ivan Stephen, opposed the new tsar, but because he lacked sufficient influence in Tarnovo, he broke away with his Vidin appanage without improving Ivan Stephen's position.

Ivan Stephen and his mother fled to Serbia to King Stefan Dečanski, while his brother Shishman II fled to the territories of the Golden Horde. When relations between Serbia and Bulgaria improved following the death of Stefan Uroš III Dečanski and Stefan Dušan's accession in September 1331, the new Serbian ruler formed an alliance with a cousin of Ivan Alexander: Elena, Ivan Alexander's sister. As a result, Ivan Stephen and Anna-Neda were forced to leave Serbia.

They settled in Dubrovnik in 1332 and, according to documents, remained there at least until 1347. Ivan Stephen probably did not go directly to his Neapolitan relatives because he hoped to return to the Bulgarian throne and followed events in Bulgaria closely. In 1333, Anna-Neda was sent to Constantinople to avert a war between Dubrovnik and Serbia, since the Serbian king demanded that the former Bulgarian tsarina and her son be handed over. Subsequently, they returned to Dubrovnik in 1335.

What happened to Ivan Stephen after this period remains uncertain. He is thought to have been expelled to Italy and later to have died in Naples, although some accounts suggest that he lived under another name for a time.