Timeline
The Second Bulgarian Empire · 1185–1396
From restoration to ruin — two centuries told in five chapters. Each chapter gathers the periods that belong to it, with the years they span, the key events recorded for them, and how much of the realm Tarnovo still held. Follow the spine from the revolt of 1185, through the golden age of Ivan Asen II, to the last resistance at Vidin; open any period for the full article.
I
Before the Empire
1018–1185Bulgaria under Constantinople — the embers of statehood before the revolt.
No realm — the Bulgarian lands lie under Byzantium.
II
The Ascent
1185–1241Rebellion, restoration, and the climb to imperial power.
12 regions · Ivan Asen II · 1230 — Adrianople · Serres · Prilep
See on the map →III
Instability & Recovery
1241–1330Mongol pressure and contested crowns give way to a fragile recovery.
6 regions · Theodore Svetoslav · 1300 — Tarnovo · Vidin
See on the map →IV
The Golden Autumn
1330–1355A late flourishing of letters and art as the borders fell quiet.
6 regions · Ivan Alexander · 1331 — Tarnovo · Vidin · Nikopol
See on the map →V
Fragmentation & Fall
1355–1422The realm splinters and falls to the Ottomans; Vidin resists to the last.
Split into the Tarnovo, Vidin & Dobruja tsardoms — 4 regions, gone by 1396.
See on the map →