Shishman (son of Michael Shishman)

Shishman
House	Shishman
Father	Michael Shishman
Mother	Anna Neda

Shishman (Bulgarian: Шишман) was a contender for the Bulgarian throne in exile, third son of tsar Michael Shishman (r. 1323–1330). He was named after his grandfather Shishman of Vidin and was probably born in the capital of the Bulgarian Empire Tarnovo.

His father, Michael Shishman led aggressive policy in the Balkans, in an attempt to extend the size of Bulgaria to that during the reign of Ivan Asen II (1218–1241). The Byzantine Empire suffered some setbacks and had to agree to concessions in Thrace but Michael Shishman could not achieve a decisive success. He eventually allied with the Byzantines against Serbia and divoced with his Serbian wife Anna Neda. In 1330 the Serbs defeated the Bulgarian army in battle of Velbazhd, in which the Bulgarian tsar perished. After the battle the two sides negotiated peace in the locality Mraka and it was decided that the eldest son of Michael Shishman – Ivan Stephen would succeed his father as emperor.

Eight months later, in 1331, Ivan Stephen was overthrown in a palace coup by Ivan Alexander (1331–1371), son of Michael Shishman's sister. Anna Neda and her sons had to flee to Serbia.

Shishman did not follow his family and fled to Constantinople. He was immediately sent to the Byzantine regent and later emperor John VI Kantakouzenos, who acknowledged him as Emperor of Bulgaria. That act enfuriated Ivan Alexander who demanded that Shishman must be deported to Bulgaria and threatened with war. John VI Kantakouzenos answered that in case of war the Byzantines would transport Shishman to Vidin with ships where the proximity with his family's domains would eventually lead to a civil war.

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