The House of Asen, also Asen dynasty or the Asenids (, romanized: Asenevtsi, scientific transliteration: Asenevci), founded and ruled a medieval Bulgarian state, called in modern historiography the Second Bulgarian Empire, between 1185 and 1280.
The Asen dynasty rose as the leaders of Bulgaria after a rebellion against the Byzantine Empire at the turn of the year 1185/1186 caused by the increase in Imperial taxes. Some members of the Asen family entered Byzantine service in the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries. While the name Asen (ÃÂÃÂõý, medieval orthography: ÃÂÃÂãýÃÂ, AsÃÂn) was originally used as a personal name in BulgariaâÂÂusually paired with a Christian baptismal nameâÂÂin foreign contexts, both Byzantine and Western, it quickly assumed the role of a family name, most notably among the Byzantine family Asan or AsanÃÂs, descended from Ivan Asen III. The name also occurs as a family name in modern Greek, and could go back to the same name. Their origin is obscure.
The origins of the dynasty, especially the ethnic background of the three Asen brothersâÂÂPeter IV (or II) (), originally named Theodore (Teodor), Ivan Asen I () and Kaloyan ()âÂÂare still a source of much controversy, debated among historians. There are three main hypotheses regarding their origins:
In their own administrative documents and correspondence, the three rulers viewed themselves as descendants and successors of the Bulgarian Tsars Samuil, Peter I and Simeon I, and the state they founded as a continuation of the First Bulgarian Empire.
In a correspondence, of 1199, the Pope talks about the "Roman descent" of Kaloyan. However, considering the actual text says Nos autem audito quod de nobili urbis Romae prosapia progenitores tui originem traxerint ("We heard that your forefathers come from a noble family from the city of Rome"), it is usually dismissed as simply a hidden compliment of the Pope to Kaloyan.
In his first letter to the Pope, Kaloyan states that neither he nor anyone at his court spoke or understood Latin, and that their correspondence had to be translated from Bulgarian into Greek and then into Latin.This has led Associate Professor Nikola Dyulgerov, a Bulgarian historian, to argue that the native language of the Asen brothers was Bulgarian.
Pope Innocent III in his letters to the Bulgarian king Kaloyan (Calojoannes) in 1204 addressed him "King of Bulgarians and Vlachs" (rex Bulgarorum et Blachorum); in answering the Pope, Kaloyan called himself imperator omnium Bulgarorum et Blachorum ("Emperor of all Bulgarians and Vlachs'), but signed himself imperator Bulgariae Calojoannes ("Emperor Kaloyan of Bulgaria"); besides, the archbishop of Veliko Tarnovo called himself totius Bulgariae et Blaciae Primas ("Primate of all Bulgaria and Vlachia").
Ivan Asen II styled himself âÂÂTsar and sovereign of the Bulgariansâ and âÂÂTsar of Bulgarians and Greeksâ after his victory at the Battle of Klokotnitsa.
Bulgarian historiography largely negates, while Romanian historiography highlights the role of the Vlachs in the uprising. However, the scientific debate reflects the nationalistic rivalry from the 19-20th century, which did not exist in the 12-13th century. Vlachs and Bulgarian Slavs jointly inhabited Bulgaria, and both groups in sufferance were united against the common cause under a leader, regardless of the leader's "race". Niketas Choniates overemphasized the Vlachs while scarcely mentioning the Bulgarians during his narratives of the revolt, but regardless of their ethnicity, it was a joint venture of the Bulgarians, Vlachs and Cumans.
The name of the dynasty comes from one of the brothers, namely Asen I. The etymology is most likely of Cuman Turkic origin, derived from "esen" which meant "safe, sound, healthy" and the Belgun nickname seems to be derived from Turkic "bilgün", which meant "wise". Further support to this connection can be found in the charters of the Great Lavra of Mt. Athos from the end of the 12th century, which mention the monastery's problems with some of the Cuman stratiotes, where "Asen" is listed as the name of one of those Cumans.
Another study shows that the only name that makes sense is änish ("descent") and the word can be found almost exclusively in the languages of the Kipchak Turks.
There is significant variety and inconsistency in the rendition and numbering of monarchs' names in historiography; the formal names of the monarchs of the Second Bulgarian Empire are discussed in detail by Mladjov 2015.
The Asens in Byzantium largely descend from Ivan Asen III, who ruled briefly as Emperor of Bulgaria before fleeing to Constantinople as Ivaylo's uprising was gaining momentum in 1280. A despotes under Michael VIII Palaiologos, Ivan Asen III had already been married to the Byzantine Emperor's eldest daughter, Irene Palaiologina. The couple's five sons and two daughters were the progenitors of one of the highest-regarded Byzantine noble families of their time, along with the Palaiologoi. Among the Byzantine Asens, three bore the title of despotes, three that of sebastokrator, two panhypersebastos, one was a megas doux and two were titled megas primikerios. In Greek, the male form of the family name is rendered as á¼ÂÃÂìý÷à(Asanis) and the female as ÃÂÃÂñýïýñ (Asanina).
A smaller branch descends from Elena Asenina of Bulgaria, wife of Nicaean Emperor Theodore II Laskaris.
The Asens of Byzantium intermarried with other prominent noble dynasties, including the Kantakouzenos, Doukas, Laskaris, Tornikios, Raoul and Zaccaria families. Notable members of the Asen family in the Byzantine Empire include:
From Byzantium, the Asens spread as far as Frankish Greece, the Principality of Theodoro, the Principality of Moldavia, the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Aragon.