House of Shishman

House of Shishman Шишмановци
Country	Principality of Vidin Principality of Karvuna Tsardom of Tarnovo Principality of Valona Tsardom of Vidin Principality of Serres
Parent house	House of Komnenos House of Assen
Titles	Knyaz, Tsar, Despot
Founded	1280
Founder	Prince Shishman of Vidin
Final ruler	Prince Rostislav of Tarnovo
Current head	Extinct
Dissolution	1686
Ethnicity	Bulgarian, partially Cuman
Cadet branches	Shishmanoğlu family

Family tree for the Shishman dynasty

Shishman (Bulgarian: Шишман), also Shishmanids or Shishmanovtsi (Bulgarian: Шишмановци), was a medieval Bulgarian royal dynasty of partial^[1] Cuman origin.^[2]

The Shishman dynasty consecutively ruled the Second Bulgarian Empire for approximately one century, from 1323 to 1422, when it was conquered by the Ottomans. The Shishmanids were related to the earlier Asen dynasty, and according to the Ragusan historian Lukarić, also to the immediately preceding Terter dynasty.^[1] In Plamen Pavlov's view, the Shishman dynasty's founder, despot Shishman of Vidin, may have been the brother of George I, the first Bulgarian Terterid ruler, thus also coming to Bulgaria from the Kingdom of Hungary after 1241.^[1]

Members

Among its more notable members were:

Main branch:

• despot Shishman of Vidin

• Michael Shishman of Bulgaria (Michael Asen III) (b. after 1280, ruled 1323–1330)

• Ivan Stephen of Bulgaria (ruled 1330–1331)

• despot Belaur of Vidin (d. 1336)

Sratsimir branch:

• Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria (nephew of Michael Shishman) (ruled 1331–1371)

• co-emperor Michael Asen IV of Bulgaria (b. c. 1322, co-emperor 1332–1355)
• Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria (b. 1324/1325, ruled 1356–1397 in Vidin)

• Queen Dorothea of Bosnia
• Constantine II of Bulgaria (b. early 1370s, ruled 1397–1422 in Vidin and in exile)

• Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria (b. 1350/1351, ruled 1371–1395 in Tarnovo)

• Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople? (possible illegitimate son)^[3] (Patriarch of Constantinople 1416–1439)
• Fruzhin (d. c. 1460)

List of monarchs

Principality/Tsardom of Vidin

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Short description
	Shishman	1280	1308	The founder of the dynasty.
	Michael I	1308	1323	Son of prince Shishman, elected to tsar of Bulgaria and uses the name Michael III.
	Belaur	1323	1337	Brother of prince Michael I.
	Mishael II	1337	1356	Son of prince Michael I.
	Sratsimir	1356	1397	Third son of Ivan Alexander. Ruled in Vidin. Captured by the Ottomans in 1396 and imprisoned in Bursa where he was strangled.[4]
	Constantine	1397	1418	Spent most of his life in exile. Most historians do not include him in the list of the Bulgarian monarchs.

Principality of Karvuna

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Short description
	Sratsimir	1300	1330	Father of tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria.
	Keratsa	1330	1340	Wife of Sratsimir and mother of tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria.

Tsardom of Tarnovo

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Short description
	Michael III Shishman	1330	1308	Bolyar of Vidin. Mortally wounded in the battle of Velbazhd on 28 July 1330 against the Serbs.[5]
	Ivan Stephen	1330	1331	Son of Michael III Shishman. Deposed in March 1331 and fled to Serbia.[6] Might have died in 1373.
	Ivan Alexander	1331	1371	Bolyar of Lovech. Descended of the Asen, Terter and Shishman dynasties. Second Golden Age of Bulgarian culture. Died of natural death on 17 February 1371, leaving Bulgaria divided among his sons.[5]
	Ivan Shishman	1371	1393	Fourth son of Ivan Alexander. Beheaded by the Ottomans on 3 June 1395.[7]

Principality of Valona

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Short description
	Komnenos	1346	1363	Brother of tsar Ivan Alexander.
	Alexander	1363	1368	Son of prince Komnenos.
	Komnena	1368	1396	Daughter of prince Komnenos. Married with Balša II Balšić (1372–1385), Lord of Kanina and Valona, and eventually Duke of Albania.

Principality of Serres

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Short description
	Helena	1355	1367	Daughter of Sratsimir of Kran and Keratsa Petritsa and the sister of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria.

Notes

^ a: Only Ivan Alexander and Ivan Shishman claimed the title Emperor of all Bulgarians and Greeks.
^ a: The numbers designate which wife each child was born to.

Citations

1. Павлов, Пламен (2005). "Метежници и претенденти за търновската царска корона през XIV в.". Бунтари и авантюристи в средновековна България (in Bulgarian). Варна: LiterNet.
2. Vásáry, István. Cumans and Tatars: Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185-1365 (PDF). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-83756-1.
3. Павлов, Пламен (2007-06-15). "Щрихи към портрета на Вселенския патриарх Йосиф ІІ" (in Bulgarian). Nobility BG. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
4. Andreev, p. 298
5. Andreev, p. 263
6. Andreev, p. 267
7. Andreev, p. 286

Sources

• Nikolov-Zikov, Petar (2012), Dinastiyata na Sracimirovci, New Bulgarian University, ISBN 978-954-535-702-2

References

• Андреев (Andreev), Йордан (Jordan); Милчо Лалков (Milcho Lalkov) (1996). Българските ханове и царе [The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars] (in Bulgarian). Велико Търново (Veliko Tarnovo): Абагар (Abagar). ISBN 954-427-216-X.
• Ivanov, Yordan (1970). Bulgarian Antiquities from Macednia (in Bulgarian). Sofia: BAN.

External links

• Mladjov, Ian. "Detailed List of Bulgarian Rulers" (PDF). Retrieved 14 April 2011.