Family Tree of the Second Bulgarian Empire
23 reigning rulers across four dynasties — with their consorts, kin and the family's Byzantine branch
The Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) was ruled by four successive dynasties — the Asen, Terter, Smilets and Shishman houses — from the uprising of the brothers Peter and Asen against Byzantium to the fall of Tarnovo to the Ottomans. This family tree charts every tsar and their relatives across those two centuries, together with the Asens in Byzantium: the descendants of Ivan Asen III, who lived on in Constantinople as the noble Asanes family. Switch between the houses with the tabs, expand a branch to follow a line, and select any name for their reign, family ties and the primary sources behind each fact.
Isaac Asen
- Parents
- Spouse
- Children
Isaac Asen was a son of Andrey Asen and grandson of the panhypersebastos Isaac Asen, whose name he bore. He reached the peak of his career as eparch — the city prefect of Constantinople.
As an "uncle" of the emperor he enjoyed influence at court: in January 1400 Patriarch Matthew instructed the metropolitan of Herakleia to seek his assistance in a judicial decision. He was married to Anna [Goudeles] Asenina Palaiologina, by whom he had a son, Andrey Asen, and a daughter. He is buried in the Constantinopolitan monastery of Christ Philanthropos; the last notice of him is from around 1429. His epitaph, composed by Mark Eugenikos, praises him as just, brave and magnanimous.