Tsar Kaloyan

Tsar Kaloyan was the youngest of the brothers of the Asen dynasty. He was born around 1168 and died on 8 October 1207. His brothers, Ivan Asen I and Theodore-Peter, launched an uprising in 1185, succeeding in restoring the Bulgarian state after Byzantine rule and establishing the Second Bulgarian Empire. The Asen dynasty has been regarded as descending from the Bulgarian tsars Samuel, Peter I and Simeon I, although this theory is increasingly rejected today. Other researchers consider their origin to have been Vlach. Some Bulgarian historians believe they were of Cuman origin.

In 1187, Kaloyan was sent to Constantinople as a hostage. He escaped in 1189 and found refuge with Tsar Asen. After Asen’s murder, Tsar Peter appointed Kaloyan as his assistant. Peter fell victim to a conspiracy, but Kaloyan managed to eliminate those plotting against the Asen dynasty’s power and was crowned tsar of the Bulgarians in 1198.