Elena-Evgenia, wife of Ivan Asen I
Elena (Bulgarian: Елена) was the second wife of tsar Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria. She was the mother of tsar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria.
Elena Елена | |
|---|---|
| Spouse(s) | Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria |
| Children | Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria Alexander, sebastocrator |
Biography
Her antecedents are unknown. She is sometimes alleged to be a daughter of Stefan Nemanja of Serbia, but this relationship is questionable and would have caused various canonical impediments to marriages between their descendants. Elena married Ivan Asen I in 1183 at the age of thirteen.
By her marriage to Ivan Asen I, Elena had at least two sons:
- Ivan Asen II, emperor of Bulgaria 1218–1241
- Alexander (Aleksandăr), sebastokrator, who died after 1232; Alexander had a son named Kaliman Asen II, emperor of Bulgaria in 1256
After the assassination of Ivan Asen I in 1196, Elena retired to a convent under the monastic name Evgenia[1] (Bulgarian: Евгения). Her memory is honored in the Synodic of Bulgarian Church:
For Elena, the new and pious tsarina, mother of the great tsar Ivan Asen, adopted then an angelic image and called Evgenia, may her memory live forever.
Sources
- "Кой кой е в средновековна България", изд. къща "Петър Берон", 1999 г., ISBN 9544020470
- "Фамилията на Асеневци", Божилов, Ив.