Tsardom of Vidin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Tsardom of Vidin
Видинско Царство (Bulgarian)
Vidinsko Tsarstvo
1369–1396[1][2]
Flag of Vidin
Flag
Coat of arms of the House of Shishman of Vidin
Coat of arms of the House of Shishman
Hungarian rule (1365–1369)
Capital
and largest city
Vidin
Common languagesBulgarian
Other languagesMiddle Bulgarian
Religion
Orthodox Christianity
GovernmentMonarchy
Tsar / Despot 
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
1369
• Disestablished
1396
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Second Bulgarian Empire
Ottoman Empire
Today part ofBulgaria
Serbia

The Tsardom of Vidin (Bulgarian: Видинско Царство, romanized: Vidinsko Tsarstvo) was a medieval Bulgarian state centred in the city of Vidin from 1369–1396.

Early history

In 1257, Rostislav Mikhailovich attacked the Bulgarian capital of Tarnovo, but failed to take it, so he retreated to Vidin where he established himself, claiming the title of Tsar of Bulgaria, and the Hungarians recognized him with this title.[3]

Since the middle of the 13th century, the area of

Yakov Svetoslav (died 1276), Shishman (died between 1308 and 1313), and then his son Michael Shishman, who received the high courtly title of despotēs from his cousin, Theodore Svetoslav, and was referred to in a contemporary Venetian source as a Despot of Bulgaria and Lord of Vidin.[4]

Emperor of Bulgaria, he twice changed allegiance from Bulgaria to the Kingdom of Hungary and vice versa, and the Hungarians recognized his Bulgarian royal rank as their vassal and ruler of Vidin (medieval Bdin). [citation needed
]

By 1261, he had become a

Constantine Tih.[6] Jacob Svetoslav was close to the Bulgarian court and pledged loyalty to Constantine. Thus, the tsar made him the ruler of a domain usually considered to have been south of the Vidin region in the west of the Bulgarian Empire.[5] Byzantine sources indicate his possessions lay "near Haemus", thus close to Sofia,[6] between the Hungarian possessions to the north and Macedonia to the south.[7]

The death of Stephen V in 1272 meant that he was succeeded by his infant son

Michael Asen II. This adoption solidified Jacob's ties to the court and meant that he could safely retain his autonomous domain as a Bulgarian vassal. He also harboured hopes to ascend to the throne by ousting Michael when Constantine died.[8] Suspicious of these disloyal intentions of Jacob's, Constantine's consort Maria is thought to have poisoned him,[9] and he died in 1275 or 1276/1777, shortly before the Uprising of Ivaylo.[6]

While the fate of the city of Vidin itself is unclear, at least part of Jacob's possessions were certainly restored to direct Bulgarian rule in the wake of his death. One such territory was the Svrljig region lying southwest of Vidin, which in 1278 was documented as belonging to Bulgaria.[10]

Shishman dynasty.[11]

Born between 1280

Anna Neda and they married in 1298 or 1299.[4]

After Serbian king Stefan Milutin´s death, in 1321 in Serbia occurred a period of civil war.[14] Michael Shishman was able to follow a more active policy in the Bulgarian capital Tarnovo. He soon became a leading noble in the internal affairs of the country and, on the childless death of young George Terter II in 1323, Michael Shishman was elected emperor of Bulgaria by the nobility.[15] According to some historians he was chosen because he was a descendant of the Asen dynasty and interpret his ascencion to the throne not as the beginning of a new dynasty but rather as a continuation of the House of Asen.[16] His half-brother, Belaur, succeeded him as last despot of Vidin.[17]

Tsardom of Vidin

Battle between Magyarian und Turkish forces near Vidin 1396

In 1356, Bulgarian tsar

Ivan Stratsimir (1356–1396) as absolute ruler, the first Tsar
of the domain of Vidin.

In 1365, the

Principality of Karvuna, led to the return of the city to Bulgarian possession. It is thought that Ivan Sratsimir was reinstalled as the region's ruler in the autumn of 1369. In 1393 the whole of Bulgaria, along with the rest of the surrounding region, fell to the Ottoman Empire. This brought an end to Bulgaria's medieval state empire. Vidin was now the only region controlled by the indigenous Bulgarian population and not the invading Ottoman Turks
.

The Ottomans went on to conquer the despotates of

Velbazhd as well. Vidin's independence did not last long. In 1396, Stratsimir contributed soldiers to assist the Christian nations' bid to overturn the Ottoman Empire. Following defeat at the hands of the Ottomans outside the city of Nicopolis, Vidin finally fell under the sphere of the Ottomans led by Bayezid I.[18][19]

Despots and Tsars of Vidin

References

  1. ISBN 0521616379
    , p. 28.
  2. ISBN 0472082604
    , pp. 423-425.
  3. ^ Fine, John V. A. The Late Medieval Balkans - A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest.
  4. ^ a b Fine, pg. 268
  5. ^ a b Fine, pg. 175.
  6. ^ a b c d Павлов.
  7. ^ Златарски, pg. 499.
  8. ^ Fine, pp. 181–183.
  9. ^ Бакалов.
  10. ^ Fine, pg. 183.
  11. ^ The Balkans: From Constantinople to Communism by D. Hupchick, pg. 88
  12. ^ Андреев, pg. 255
  13. ^ Kazhdan, "Michael III Šišman", pg. 1365
  14. ^ The Balkans: From Constantinople to Communism by D. Hupchick, pg. 89
  15. ^ Fine, pp. 268–269
  16. ^ Божилов, Гюзелев, p. 562
  17. ^ Fine, pg. 269
  18. ISBN 0521616379
    , p. 28.
  19. ISBN 0472082604
    , pp. 423-425.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tsardom_of_Vidin&oldid=1215341006"