Asen

The Asen dynasty founded the Second Bulgarian Empire at Tarnovo, ruling it from 1185 to 1280. Brothers Peter and Ivan Asen I revolted over Byzantine taxes in 1185, restoring Bulgarian independence. Ivan Asen was murdered in 1196 and Peter in 1197, leaving youngest brother Kaloyan on the throne.

A papal legate crowned Kaloyan in 1204, and in 1205 he captured Latin emperor Baldwin I at Adrianople before dying in 1207. After Boril, Ivan Asen II returned in 1218, blinded his rival and brought Bulgaria to its height: his 1230 victory over Theodore Komnenos Doukas at Klokotnitsa opened Macedonia and Thrace, the patriarchate restored in 1235. His 1241 death began a long decline.

In 1280 Ivan Asen III fled Ivaylo's revolt for Constantinople, where he had married Irene Palaiologina, Michael VIII's daughter. Descendants became a leading Byzantine house: Andronikos Asen governed the Morea from 1316, Irene Asanina was empress to John VI Kantakouzenos from 1347, branches carrying the name to Theodoro and Moldavia.