Tsar Michael II Asen

Michael II Asen, a son of Ivan Asen II and Irene Komnene, was tsar of Bulgaria from 1246 to 1256. During his reign, the state was governed by a regency that included his mother Irene and Sebastokrator Peter.

In 1246, the Nicaean emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes took advantage of the presence of a child tsar on the Bulgarian throne and launched an attack. Major Bulgarian towns, including Velbazhd, Melnik, Skopje, Serres, Prilep and Tsepina, were captured, beginning a difficult period for Bulgaria. A peace agreement was concluded in 1247, under which the country lost around a third of its territory.

In 1253, Michael II Asen and Sebastokrator Peter concluded a treaty with the Republic of Ragusa directed against the Serbian king Stefan Uroš I. That year, Bulgarian troops and Cuman cavalry invaded the interior of the Kingdom of Raška and devastated Bijelo Polje, but the war was brought to an end.

At the end of 1255, Michael II Asen made peace with Hungary, secured by his marriage to a granddaughter of King Béla IV. Despite this agreement, Michael’s father-in-law, Rostislav Mikhailovich, unexpectedly reached an agreement with the Nicaean ruler and handed over the recovered territories.

In November 1254, the Nicaean emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes died, and in December Michael Asen launched an offensive against Nicaea. Bulgarian troops recovered the fortresses of Stanimaka (Asenovgrad), Perushtitsa, Krichim, Tsepina and Perperek, but the Nicaean emperor Theodore II Laskaris regained the Rhodope region.

In 1256, Michael II Asen was mortally wounded while hunting by his cousin Kaliman II Asen, who became the next tsar. This period in the history of the medieval Bulgarian Empire was marked by internal conflict and instability.