Maria Asenina

Maria — sometimes, without justification, also called Beloslava — was the eldest daughter of Tsar Ivan Asen II, born of his first marriage to Anna (later the nun Anisia). Her date of birth is unknown, but to judge by her marriage it must be placed no later than 1212–1214.

Maria was married to Despot Manuel Angelos, brother of the Epirote emperor Theodore Angelos Doukas Komnenos, and her marriage sealed the alliance between Bulgaria and Epiros. Manuel escaped the fate that befell his elder brother at Klokotnitsa (1230) and, under the protection of his father-in-law, became sole master of Thessalonica, where he ruled for seven years.

In 1237 Ivan Asen II married Irene and supported her father Theodore Angelos against Manuel. Theodore seized Thessalonica, stripped his brother of power and sent him into exile, while Maria he returned to Tarnovo. This is the last notice of the eldest daughter of the Bulgarian tsar.