Constantine I Tih

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Constantine I Tih (Template:Langx) was the tsar of Bulgaria from 1257 to 1277, he was offered the throne from Mitso Asen. He led the Bulgarian Empire at a time when the nearby Byzantine Empire disintegrated into rump states. To strengthen his position, he forged an alliance with one of the rump states—Nicaea—by marrying Irene, a daughter of Theodore II of the prominent Laskaris family.

Early in his reign, his army invaded Severin, Hungary which outraged Béla IV; this led Hungarian troops to capture Vidin, an important town of the Bulgarian Empire and also saw the Hungarians besieging the Lower Danube region, leaving northwestern Bulgaria to Rostislav Mikhailovich (Béla's son-in-law), who had claimed Bulgaria in the years prior.

When Michael VIII took over the throne of the Byzantine Empire (which led Konstantin to go to war with them in the 1260s) this saw Bulgaria losing significant territories to its two principal enemies, the Byzantines and Hungary. Later, when Tatars began attacking the Byzantines, Konstantin joined them in a unified attack but this failed to capture Michael VIII.

After Stephen emerged victorious in the Hungarian civil war, he began attacking Bulgaria again and defeated Konstantin's army. He plundered Tarnovo and captured fortresses on the Danube in the mid to late 1260s. Later, Konstantin suffered an injury and was paralysed from the waist down. The paralysed Konstantin failed in preventing the Nogai Horde from plundering Bulgaria. Further worsening his situation, the latter part of his reign saw economic instability and his failed suppressing of a revolt ended his life.

Early life

Konstantin Tih was a wealthy Bulgarian boyar (or nobleman) whose estates were located in the region of Sofia or Skopje.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Konstantin stated in his charter to the Saint George Monastery near Skopje that Stefan Nemanja of Serbia was his grandfather.Template:Sfn The Byzantine historian, George Pachymeres, described him as a "half-Serbian".Template:Sfn He could have been related to the Serbian royal house through either his mother or father.Template:Sfn If he was a patrilinear relative of Nemanja, his father, Tih, may have been the son of Nemanja's brother, Tihomir, according to historian Srdjan Pirivatrić.Template:Sfn PirivatrićTemplate:Sfn and other scholars also say, Konstantin may have been a son or a nephew of the Bulgarian boyar John Tihomir, who controlled Skopje in the late 12th century. If Konstantin was related to the Serbian royal house through his mother, a daughter or a niece of Nemanja must have been his mother.Template:Sfn

Reign

Ascension

Konstantin Tih mounted the Bulgarian throne after the death of Michael II Asen,Template:Sfn but the circumstances of his ascension are obscure.Template:Sfn Michael Asen was murdered by his cousin, Kaliman in late 1256 or early 1257.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Before long, Kaliman was also killed, and the male line of the Asen dynasty died out.Template:Sfn

Rostislav Mikhailovich, Duke of Macsó (who was Michael and Kaliman's father-in-law), and the boyar Mitso (who was Michael's brother-in-law), laid claim to Bulgaria.Template:Sfn Rostislav captured Vidin, Mitso held sway over southeastern Bulgaria, but none of them could secure the support of the boyars who controlled Tarnovo.Template:Sfn The latter offered the throne to Konstantin who accepted the election.Template:Sfn

Konstantin divorced his first wife (whose name is unknown), and married Irene Doukaina Laskarina in 1258.Template:Sfn Irene was the daughter of Theodore II, Emperor of Nicaea, and Elena of Bulgaria, a daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The marriage with a descendant of the Bulgarian royal family strengthened his position.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He was thereafter called Konstantin Asen.Template:Sfn The marriage also forged an alliance between Bulgaria and Nicaea,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn which was confirmed one or two years later, when the Byzantine historian and official George Akropolites came to Tarnovo.Template:Sfn

Conflict with Hungary

Rostislav Mikhailovich invaded Bulgaria with Hungarian assistance in 1259.Template:Sfn In the following year, Rostislav left his duchy to join the campaign of his father-in-law, Béla IV of Hungary, against Bohemia.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Taking advantage of Rostislav's absence, Konstantin broke into his realm and reoccupied Vidin.Template:Sfn He also sent an army to attack the Banate of Severin, but the Hungarian commander, Lawrence, fought the invaders off.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The Bulgarian invasion of Severin outraged Béla IV.Template:Sfn Soon after he concluded a peace treaty with Ottokar II of Bohemia in March 1261, Hungarian troops stormed into Bulgaria under the command of Béla IV's son and heir, Stephen.Template:Sfn They captured Vidin and besieged Lom on the Lower Danube,Template:Sfn but they were unable to bring Konstantin to a pitched battle, because he withdrew to Tarnovo.Template:Sfn The Hungarian army left Bulgaria before the end of the year, but the campaign restored northwestern Bulgaria to Rostislav.Template:Sfn

War with the Byzantine Empire

File:Bulgaria-second half of the 13th century.png

Bulgaria c.1260

Konstantin's minor brother-in-law, John IV Laskaris, was dethroned and blinded by his former guardian and co-ruler, Michael VIII Palaiologos, before the end of 1261.Template:Sfn Michael VIII's army had occupied Constantinople already in July, thus the coup made him the sole ruler of the restored Byzantine Empire.Template:Sfn The rebirth of the empire changed the traditional relations between the powers of the Balkan Peninsula.Template:Sfn Furthermore, Konstantine's wife decided to take vengeance of her brother's mutilation and persuaded Konstantine to turn against Michael.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Mitso, who still held southeastern Bulgaria, made an alliance with the Byzantines, but another powerful nobleman, Jacob Svetoslav, who had taken control of the southwestern region, was loyal to Konstantine.Template:Sfn Benefiting from a war between the Byzantine Empire, the Republic of Venice, Achaea and Epirus, Konstantine invaded Thrace and captured Stanimaka and Philippopolis (now Asenovgrad and Plovdiv in Bulgaria) in the autumn of 1262.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Mitso was also forced to flee to Mesembria (now Nesebar in Bulgaria).Template:Sfn After Konstantine laid siege to the town, Mitso sought assistance from the Byzantines, offering to surrender Mesembria to them in exchange for landed property in the Byzantine Empire.Template:Sfn Michael VIII accepted the offer and sent Michael Glabas Tarchaneiotes to help Mitso in 1263.Template:Sfn

A second Byzantine army stormed into Thrace and recaptured Stanimaka and Philippopolis.Template:Sfn After seizing Mesembria from Mitso, Glabas Tarchaneiotes continued his campaign along the Black Sea and occupied Agathopolis, Sozopolis and Anchialos (now Ahtopol, Sozopol and Pomorie in Bulgaria).Template:Sfn Meanwhile, the Byzantine fleet took control of Vicina and other ports at the Danube Delta.Template:Sfn Glabas Tarchaneiotes attacked Jacob Svetoslav who could only resist with Hungarian assistance, thus he accepted Béla IV's suzerainty.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

As a consequence of the war with the Byzantines, by the end of 1263, Bulgaria lost significant territories to its two principal enemies, the Byzantine Empire and Hungary.Template:Sfn Konstantin could only seek assistance from the Tatars of the Golden Horde to put an end to his isolation.Template:Sfn The Tatar khans had been the overlords of the Bulgarian monarchs for almost two decades, although their rule was only formal.Template:Sfn A former Sultan of Rum, Kaykaus II, who had been imprisoned at Michael VIII's order, also wanted to regain his throne with the Tatars' help.Template:Sfn One of his uncles was a prominent leader of the Golden Horde and he sent messages to him to persuade the Tatars to invade the Byzantine Empire with Bulgarian assistance.Template:Sfn According to the Byzantine historian, Nicephorus Gregoras, Kaykaus also approached Konstantin, offering much money to him if he came to release him.Template:Sfn

Thousands of Tatars crossed the frozen Lower Danube to invade the Byzantine Empire in late 1264.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Konstantin soon joined them,Template:Sfn although he had fallen from a horse and broken his leg.Template:Sfn The united Tatar and Bulgarian armies launched a sudden attack against Michael VIII who was returning from Thessaly to Constantinople, but they could not capture the emperor.Template:Sfn Konstantin laid siege the Byzantine fortress of Ainos (now Enez in Turkey), forcing the defenders to surrender.Template:Sfn The Byzantines also agreed to release Kaykaus (who soon left for the Golden Horde), but his family was kept imprisoned even thereafter.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Disintegration

Konstantine's alliance with the Tatars strengthened his position.Template:Sfn Jacob Svetoslav again accepted his suzerainty.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Taking advantage of a civil war in Hungary, Jacob Svetoslav also invaded the Banate of Severin.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Hungarian civil war ended with the division of the country between Béla IV and Stephen in March 1266.Template:Sfn Stephen launched a military campaign against Bulgaria and captured Vidin in June.Template:Sfn Konstantin tried to resist, but the Hungarians defeated his army and plundered the region of Tarnovo.Template:Sfn The Hungarians captured Pleven and other fortresses on the Danube and forced Jacob Svetoslav to again do homage to Stephen.Template:Sfn Thereafter Jacob Svetoslav was styled as "emperor of Bulgaria" in the Hungarian royal charters.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

File:Konstantin Asen gold seal.png

Golden seal of Konstantin Asen. Inscription in Bulgarian: "+Konstantin, in Christ the God, a faithful tsar and autocrat of the Bulgarians, Asen."

Charles I of Anjou and Baldwin II, the dispossessed Latin emperor of Constantinople, made an alliance against the Byzantine Empire in 1267.Template:Sfn To prevent Bulgaria from joining the anti-Byzantine coalition, Michael VIII offered his niece, Maria Palaiologina Kantakouzene, to the widowed Konstantin in 1268.Template:Sfn The emperor also pledged that he would return Mesembria and Anchialos to Bulgaria as her dowry if she gave birth to a son.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Konstantin married Maria, but Michael VIII broke his promise and did not renounce the two towns after the birth of Konstantin and Maria's son, Michael.Template:Sfn Outraged by the emperor's betrayal, Konstantin sent envoys to Charles to Naples in September 1271.Template:Sfn The negotiations continued during the following years, showing that Konstantin was willing to support Charles against the Byzantines.Template:Sfn

Konstantin broke into Thrace in 1271 or 1272, but Michael VIII persuaded Nogai, the dominant figure in the westernmost territory of the Golden Horde, to invade Bulgaria.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Tatars plundered the country, forcing Konstantin to return and abandon his claim to the two towns.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Nogai set up his capital in Isaccea near the Danube Delta, thus he could easily attack Bulgaria.Template:Sfn

Konstantin had been seriously injured after a riding accident and could not move without assistance, because he was paralyzed from the waist down.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn His ambitious wife took control of the government.Template:Sfn After Michael VIII's envoys accepted Pope Gregory X's proposal to a church union at the Second Council of Lyon in summer 1274, she became one of the leading opponents of the union.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn She even tried to persuade Baibars, the Mamluk sultan of Egypt, to attack the Byzantine Empire.Template:Sfn Maria was also determined to secure the throne to her son.Template:Sfn Jacob Svetoslav, however, had a strong claim to succeed Konstantin, because his wife was a granddaughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria.Template:Sfn Maria first adopted Jacob Svetoslav to persuade him to acknowledge her son's right to the throne, but later she had him poisoned.Template:Sfn He also had other noblemen captured or executed, which made Konstantin's rule unpopular.Template:Sfn

The paralyzed Konstantin could not prevent Nogai's Tatars from making regular plundering raids against Bulgaria.Template:Sfn The local inhabitants of the regions which were most exposed to the Tatar raids had to organize the defense without the monarch's support.Template:Sfn

Due to the expensive and unsuccessful wars, repeated Mongol raids, and economic instability (Constantine was the first Bulgarian ruler to mint his own coins on a vast scale), the government was faced with a revolt in 1277.Template:Sfn The social and economic aspects of this movement have been stressed by Marxist historians,Template:Sfn but its true character is elusive. What is clear is that a swineherd or swine-owner named Ivaylo became a leader of the discontented and attracted many (presumably mostly lower-class) followers, asserting his control over a significant area.Template:Sfn Konstantine set out against Ivaylo with his guard, but was decisively defeated and slain in his chariot.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Family

Constantine I was married three times. The names of his first wife and children are unknown. By his second wife, Irene Doukaina Laskarina of Nicaea, Constantine had no children. By his third wife, Maria Palaiologina Kantakouzene, he had Michael Tih, who succeeded as co-emperor of Bulgaria 1277–1279.

Sources

Primary sources

• George Akropolites: The History (Translated with and Introduction and Commentary by Ruth Macrides) (2007). Oxford University Press. Template:ISBN.

External links

• Detailed list of Bulgarian rulers

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