Ivanko (boyar)

Template:Short description Ivanko (Template:Langx, Template:Langx), also referred to by some scholars as Ivanko-Alexius,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn was a VlachTemplate:Sfnm boyar who killed his cousin Ivan Asen I, the ruler of the renascent Second Bulgarian Empire, in 1196.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He was a leader of local Vlachs and Bulgarian Slavs.

Life

It is not known when and where Ivanko was born.Template:Sfn Ivanko served in Bulgarian ruler and his cousin Ivan Asen's court.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In 1196, Ivanko murdered Asen.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The murder occurred when Asen angrily summoned Ivanko to discipline him for having an affair with his wife's sister.Template:Sfn Bulgarian historian Vasil Zlatarski attributed this murder by Ivanko to the Cuman faction in Bulgarian court, as opposed to other explanations involving anti-Vlach Bulgarian boyars, boyar discontent with his harsh rule, Byzantine intrigue, etc.Template:Sfn After the murder, he seized the Bulgarian capital Tarnovo and requested the assistance of the Byzantines. However, the Byzantine army mutinied on its way and thus let Asen's brother Peter claim the throne, forcing Ivanko to flee to Byzantine capital Constantinople.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

In 1197, Ivanko married Theodora Angelina, the daughter of Anna Angelina and the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Theodora's father had died in Bulgarian captivity not many months earlier.Template:Sfn After the marriage, Ivanko adopted the Greek name Alexius.Template:Sfn His grandfather-in-law, Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos, gave the command of Philippopolis to him to deal with Bulgarian raids.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Ivanko recruited and trained an army of his fellow Vlachs to deal with the raiders, but ended up rebelling against the Byzantines.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In this period, he had set up an independent principality in Rhodope and central Thrace.Template:Sfn He captured the Byzantine general Manuel Kamytzes, who was sent against him;Template:Sfn Kamytzes was ransomed by his son-in-law, Ivanko's rival, Dobromir Chrysos.Template:Sfn

The emperor's sons-in-law Alexios Palaiologos and Theodore Laskaris marched against Ivanko in 1200.Template:Sfn Ivanko was eventually captured when Alexios invited him to a peace council but imprisoned him instead.Template:Sfn He was executed by his order.Template:Sfn After his death, his fortresses were recovered by the Byzantines.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates described him as "far worse than earlier rebels, and driven to such cruelty that most barbarians deem to be manliness."Template:Sfn

See also

• Asenids

Bibliography

• Template:O City of Byzantium