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.
Paul Asen
Paul Asen was a monk — a descendant of Tsar Ivan Asen III (John III Asen), as Gregory Palamas expressly testifies. Born between 1310 and 1320, he belonged to the second generation of the Byzantine Asens; his secular name is unknown, since he took the name Paul on entering the monastery.
He is known solely from his dealings with Gregory Palamas: around 1343 he asked the famous hesychast (then in disgrace) for a written statement of his views on Gregory Akindynos. In reply Palamas composed a lengthy epistle-treatise that gained great popularity.