Ivan Asen III

Ivan Asen III Иван ІІІ Асен
Tsar of Bulgaria
Reign	1279–1280
Predecessor	Ivailo
Successor	Georgi Terter I
Born	1259/1260
Died	1303
Spouse	Irene Palaiologina
Father	Mitso Asen
Mother	Maria Asenina of Bulgaria

Ivan Asen III (Bulgarian: Иван Асен III, also Йоан Асен III, Ioan Asen III, and in English John Asen III), ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria 1279–1280. Ivan Asen III was the son of Mitso Asen of Bulgaria and Maria of Bulgaria, a daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and Irene of Thessalonica. He was probably born in about 1259/60, and died in exile in 1303.

Fearing the rapid success of Ivailo of Bulgaria, the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos summoned Ivan Asen to his court, granted him the title of despotēs, and married him to his eldest daughter Irene Palaiologina in 1277 or 1278. Michael VIII then sent several Byzantine armies to attempt to assert Ivan Asen III on the throne of Bulgaria. Although Ivailo defeated several of these attempts, he was blockaded for three months in Drăstăr (Silistra) by the Mongol allies of Michael VIII. In the interval a Byzantine force besieged the Bulgarian capital Tărnovo and, hearing a rumor of Ivailo's death in battle, the local nobility surrendered and accepted Ivan Asen III as emperor in 1279.

To strengthen his position in Tarnovo, Ivan Asen III married his sister Maria (Kira Maria) to the Bulgaro-Cuman nobleman George Terter, but failed to assert himself throughout the country. Ivailo reappeared before the walls of the capital and defeated two Byzantine attempts to relieve Ivan Asen III. Despairing of success, Ivan Asen III and Irene Palaiologina secretly fled Tarnovo with choice treasures from the palace treasury, including pieces captured from defeated Byzantine Emperors in former victories. Reaching Mesembria (Nesebăr), the imperial couple sailed for Constantinople, where the enraged Michael VIII refused to receive them for days for their cowardice.

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