George Terter I

George Terter I Георги І Тертер
Tsar of Bulgaria
Reign	1280–1292
Predecessor	Ivan Asen III
Successor	Smilets
Died	1308/1309
Spouse	Maria Kira Maria (sister of Ivan Asen III)
Issue	Theodore Svetoslav Elena Anna
House	Terter

George Terter I (Bulgarian: Георги Тертер I), of the Terter dynasty ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria 1280–1292. The date of his birth is unknown, and he died in 1308/1309.

The reign of George Terter I represents a continuation of Bulgaria's precipitous decline during the second half of the 13th century. Although George Terter I managed to maintain himself on the throne for more than a decade (unlike his two immediate predecessors), he appears to have failed to assert himself against the centrifugal forces even in his own capital. This severely limited any possibility of engaging in grand-scale international politics or even standing up to foreign aggression and Mongol raids. During the chaotic years preceding George Terter I's accession Bulgaria had lost all of Thrace to the Byzantine Empire, and under his reign its remaining possessions in Macedonia were divided between the Serbians and the Byzantines in 1282–1284.

The antecedents of George Terter I are unclear, but the Byzantine sources testify that he was of Bulgarian and Cuman descent, something corroborated by his double name, which recalls the name of the Cuman clan Terteroba. George Terter I had at least one brother, named Aldimir (Eltimir), who was made a despotēs by either his older brother or by the regency for Ivan II.

When Ivan Asen III became emperor at Tărnovo in 1279 during the Uprising of Ivaylo, he sought to strengthen his position by allying himself with George Terter. The latter divorced his first wife Maria, who was sent together with their son Theodore Svetoslav as a hostage to the Byzantine Empire, to marry Maria (Kira Maria), the sister of Ivan Asen III. George Terter was accordingly made a despotēs, the highest rank in the Byzantino-Bulgarian court hierarchy.

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