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{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Tsar Fruzhin
| title        = Prince of Bulgaria
| image        = 
| reign        = 1422–1460
| reign-type   = 
| predecessor  = [[Constantine II of Bulgaria|Constantine II]]
| successor    = None<br/><small>(eventually [[Alexander of Battenberg|Alexander I]])</small>
| succession   = [[List of Bulgarian monarchs|Tsar of Bulgaria]]<br/><small>(titular)</small>
| spouse       = 
| house        = [[Sratsimir dynasty|Sratsimir]]
| full name    = 
| father       = [[Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria|Shishman of Bulgaria]]
| mother       = [[Dragana of Serbia]]
| birth_date   = 
| birth_place  = [[Tarnovo]], [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Tsardom of Bulgaria]]
| death_date   = {{circa|1460}}
| death_place  = [[Brașov]], [[Kingdom of Hungary]]
| place of burial = 
| issue        = 
| signature    = 
}}

'''Fruzhin''' ({{langx|bg|Фружин}}; also transliterated ''Fružin'' or ''Frujin'';  died {{Circa|1460}}) was a 15th-century [[Bulgaria]]n noble who fought actively against the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] conquest of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]]. A son of one of the last Bulgarian [[tsar]]s, [[Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria|Ivan Shishman]] of the [[Veliko Tarnovo|Tarnovo]] Tsardom, Fruzhin co-organized the so-called [[Uprising of Konstantin and Fruzhin]] along with [[Constantine II of Bulgaria|Constantine II]] of [[Vidin]], the last Bulgarian monarchs. Fruzhin was mainly based in the [[Kingdom of Hungary]], where he was the ruler of [[Temes County]].<ref name="bakalov">{{cite book  |last = Бакалов |first = Георги |author2=Милен Куманов |title = Електронно издание&nbsp;– История на България |publisher = Труд, Сирма |year = 2003  |location = София |isbn = 954528613X |language = Bulgarian |chapter=Фружин (неизв.-около 1460) }}</ref>

Neither Fruzhin's birthdate nor his biography prior to the [[Fall of Tarnovo]] to the Ottomans in 1393 are known, but from his involvement in the 1404 uprising, the former can be narrowed down to the 1380s, the same decade his parents married, and there's no mention of him having been a bastard. He had a brother, [[Alexander (son of Ivan Shishman)|Alexander]], who converted to [[Islam]] after the Ottoman conquest, adopting the name ''Iskender'' and becoming governor of [[Samsun]] and then [[Smyrna]], where he died in 1418. As the capital Tarnovo was captured by the Ottomans, Fruzhin fled initially to the domains of his uncle [[Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria|Ivan Sratsimir]] at Vidin, in the Bulgarian northwest. He settled in [[Hungary]] under [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund I]] some time after that. Sigismund accepted Fruzhin to his court and recognized his claim to the Bulgarian throne.<ref name="bakalov"/> He stayed in Hungary as a member of the [[Order of the Dragon]] with some other famous noblemen like [[Ozorai Pipo|Filipo Skolari]], [[Vlad Dracula]] and [[Skenderbeg]].   

[[Ecumenical Patriarch]] [[Joseph II of Constantinople]] may also have been an illegitimate half-brother of Fruzhin's.

[[File:Cetatea.Șoimoș.Arad.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Şoimoş]] castle near modern Lipova, likely the seat of Fruzhin's Hungarian domains]]

Probably in 1404, Fruzhin headed an anti-Ottoman revolt in the Bulgarian lands along with his cousin Constantine II, Ivan Sracimir's son and last reigning Bulgarian monarch at Vidin. Despite conflicting historical details regarding the span and size of the revolt, there are hints that Constantine and Fruzhin managed to restore their rule over at least a part of the Bulgarian lands. However, the uprising was crushed (probably in 1413 or 1418) and Fruzhin returned to Hungary.<ref name="bakalov"/>

In 1425, Fruzhin participated in Hungarian service in a joint Hungarian and [[Wallachia]]n raid of the cities of [[Vidin]], [[Oryahovo]] and [[Silistra]] on the [[Danube]] along with [[Dan II of Wallachia|Dan II]] and [[Filippo Scolari|Filipo Scolari]]. Sigismund rewarded Fruzhin's military service with a noble title, entrusting him with the governance of Temes County and presenting him with a personal domain at [[Lipova, Arad|Lippa]]. Fruzhin visited the [[Republic of Ragusa]] ([[Dubrovnik]]) and the leaders of the [[Albanian Revolt of 1432-1436|Albanian revolt]], in 1435 on a secret diplomat mission of Sigismund.<ref name="bakalov"/><ref name="akademia">{{cite book|last1=Anamali|first1=Skënder|last2=Korkuti|first2=Muzafer|last3=Islami|first3=Selim|author4=Frano Prendi |author5=Edi Shukriu|editor=Kristaq Prifti, Muzafer Korkuti|title=Historia e popullit shqiptar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UlUtAQAAIAAJ|page=338|accessdate=31 July 2012|year=2002|publisher=Botimet Toena|isbn=978-99927-1-622-9 }}</ref>

In 1444, he participated in [[Władysław III of Poland]]'s [[Crusade of Varna]], an attempt to drive the Ottoman Turks away from Bulgaria and [[Europe]]. The campaign ended in disaster, as Władysław III died in the [[Battle of Varna]] at the [[Black Sea]].<ref name="bakalov"/>

An Ottoman register of 1454/1455 mentions Fruzhin as being active in the area between [[Svrljig]] and [[Pirot]], having been granted special permission by local authorities to hire men to secure mountain passes there. It additionally mentions him being accompanied in this by his three sons: Stoyan, Stoyko, and Stanislav.<ref>{{cite book |title= Османските завоевания и „Държавата на духа“ |last= Павлов|first=Пламен, Иван Тютюнджиев |authorlink= |year=2017 |publisher=Абагар |location= |isbn= |pages=161 |url=http://www.promacedonia.org/itpp/itpp.htm |accessdate= 6 February 2025|language=Bulgarian}}</ref> The last son, Stanislav, is identified with the boyar Stanko Kosan who held [[Lovech]] against the Ottomans until 1463. Further descendants of Fruzhin are attested living in Hungary until at least the late 16th century, prompting speculation that the pretender [[Ivan Shishman II]] may have been a genuine member of the Sratsimir dynasty.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Епицентър |title=Кой е Фружин, чието име се появи на оръжието на атентатора от Нова Зеландия |url=https://epicenter.bg:443/article/Koy-e-Fruzhin--chieto-ime-se-poyavi-na-orazhieto-na-atentatora-ot-Nova-Zelandiya-/177717/11/61 |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=Epicenter |language=Bulgarian}}</ref>

Fruzhin died in Brașov in 1460.
[[File:Fruzin Konstantin II coats.jpg|thumb|270px|coat of arms on last bulgarian rulers Fruzhin and [[Konstantin II Asen]] in [[:de:Bayerische Staatsbibliothek|Bayerische Staatsbibliothek]], München]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Bulgarian monarchs}}

[[Category:Medieval Bulgarian royalty]]
[[Category:Bulgarian princes]]
[[Category:1460s deaths]]
[[Category:14th-century births]]
[[Category:14th-century Bulgarian people]]
[[Category:15th-century Bulgarian people]]
[[Category:Medieval Bulgarian military personnel]]
[[Category:15th-century Hungarian nobility]]
[[Category:Sratsimir dynasty]]
[[Category:Bulgarian expatriates in Hungary]]
[[Category:Bulgarian people of Serbian descent]]
[[Category:Pretenders to the Bulgarian throne]]