Alexander Asen

Alexander Asen was the second son of Tsar Ivan Asen I and Empress Elena, and younger brother of Ivan Asen II. After the usurper Boril seized power in 1207, he fled with his brother abroad and returned in 1217. In 1218, after Rus' mercenaries toppled Boril, Ivan Asen II made Alexander sebastokrator with Sofia as his appanage.

In 1233 he defeated the Hungarians near Vidin and at Braničevo, restoring Bulgarian control over the occupied lands. His son Kaliman Asen II briefly held the throne in 1256.