Monument to the Asen dynasty in their capital Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, sculptor prof. Krum Damianov

The Asen dynasty (Bulgarian: Асеневци, Asenevtsi) ruled a medieval Bulgarian state, called in modern historiography the Second Bulgarian Empire, between 1187 and 1280.

The Asen dynasty and the Second Bulgarian Empire rose as the leaders of a rebellion against the Byzantine Empire at the turn of the year 1185/1186 caused by the increase in the Imperial taxes.

Early rulers from the Asen dynasty (particularly Kaloyan) referred to themselves as "Emperors of Bulgarians and Vlachs". Later rulers, especially the successful Ivan Asen II, styled themselves "Tsars (Emperors) of Bulgarians and Greeks".

Some members of the Asen family entered Byzantine service in the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries.The name also occurs as a family name in modern Greek, and could go back to the same name.

Rulers from the Asen dynasty[link]

Origins[link]

Genealogy of the Asen dynasty

The origins of the dynasty, especially the ethnic background of the three Asen brothers (Teodor I Peter IV, Ivan Asen I and Kaloyan) are still a source of much controversy, debated between historians. There are three main hypothesis regarding their origins:^[1]

1. Bulgarian origin, a view that is common among the Bulgarian historians who reckon that all native sources use predominantly the terms Bulgaria, Bulgarians and Bulgarian, that tsar Kaloyan claimed provenance from the rulers of the First Bulgarian Empire and that it's just a matter of terminology and for certain period by "Vlach" the medieval sources meant "Bulgarian".
2. Vlach origin, a view supported by historians who base their claims on mentions in some chronicles. Ausoni, aseni and eseni were other names of Getae and Dacians warriors (after Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto I,2, 83-84, and Carlo Troya, Storia d'Italia del medio-Evo - Napoli - Stamperia reale - 1830, see References).
3. Cuman origin, as some of the names in the dynasty, including Asen and Belgun (nickname of Ivan Asen I) are derived from Cuman language.

In their own administrative documents and correspondence, the three rulers viewed themselves as descendants and successors of the Bulgarian Tsars Samuil, Peter I and Simeon I, and the state they founded as a continuation of the First Bulgarian Empire. However, this could be just a way to proclaim their legitimacy for the throne of the Empire.

In a correspondence, of 1199, the Pope talks about the "Roman descent" of Kaloyan. However, considering the actual text says "Nos autem audito quod de nobili urbis Romae prosapia progenitores tui originem traxerint" ("We heard that your forefathers come from a noble family from the city of Rome"), it's usually dismissed as simply a hidden compliment of the Pope to Kaloyan.

Pope Innocent III in his letter to the Bulgarian King John (Calojoannes) in 1204 addressed him “King of Bulgarians and Vlachs (Bulgarorum and Blacorum rex) ; in answering the Pope, John calls himself “imperator omnium Bulgarorum et Blachorum” but signs himself “imperator Bulgariae Calojoannes” the archbishop of Trnovo calls himself “totius Bulgariae et Blaciae Primas"

Name[link]

The name of the dynasty comes from one of the brothers, namely Asen I. The etymology is most likely of Cuman Turkic origin, derived from "esen" which meant "safe, sound, healthy" and the Belgun nickname seems to be derived from Turkic "bilgün", which meant "wise".

Aseni and ausoni are olso old names of wallachians ancestors during Middle Age. These names were discussed by Carlo Troya in Storia d'Italia del medio-Evo - Napoli - Stamperia reale - 1830, where he repeated a story about aseni from Attila court. Also Ovid, in his exile between getae wrote "Maxima pars hominum nec te, pulcherinna, curant/ Roma, nec Ausonii militis arma tinent"

Alternatively, the name could also be of Pecheneg origin, since that language was rather similar to Cuman, however this hypothesis is less likely. Another version is that Asen cames from the name of Ashina clan of protobulgarian rivals of Dulo rulers. There is possible link between the Bulgarian name Assen and the Arabic name Hassan. There is evidence that the name Assen has a Turkic origin coming from the Proto-Bulgarian's or Cuman's Turkic origin. Therefore both the Arabic name Hassan that is very popular in the Turkic speaking nations, sometimes written as Assan and the Bulgarian name Assen can be of similar or even the same origin. See Hassan (given name)

The etymology could also be an Indo-European one. There was an older attested Latin name Asinarius.

Notes[link]

See also[link]

• History of Bulgaria
• List of Bulgarian monarchs

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Asen dynasty

References[link]

• Božilov, Ivan (1985) (in Bulgarian). Familijata na Asenevci (1186–1460). Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. OCLC 14378091. 
• Vasary, Istvan (2005) "Cumans and Tatars", Cambridge University Press: pp. 34–42
• Stephenson, Paul (2000) "Byzantium's Balkan Frontier — A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900–1204" pp. 289–300
• History of the Byzantine Empire, A. A. Vasiliev 1935
• Djuvara, Neagu (2008). O scurta istorie a romanilor povestita celor tineri. Humanitas. ISBN 978-973-50-2591-5. 
• Carlo Troya, Storia d'Italia del medio-Evo - Napoli - Stamperia reale - 1830
• Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto I,2, 83-84
• Stelian Brezeanu, Istoria Imperiului Bizantin, Bucuresti, MERONIA, 2007