Elena Asenina of Bulgaria

Elena Asenina of Bulgaria
Empress-consort of Nicaea
Tenure	1235–1252
Born	c. 1224
Spouse	Theodore II Laskaris
Issue	Irene Doukaina Laskarina Maria Doukaina Laskarina Theodora Eudoxia Laskarina Asanina John IV Laskaris
Father	Ivan Asen II
Mother	Anna Maria of Hungary

For the Bulgarian Queen consort, see Elena, Queen consort of Bulgaria.

Elena Asenina of Bulgaria (Greek: Ελένα Ασανίνα, romanized: Elena Asanina; c.1224 – 1252 CE) (also Helena) was an empress consort of Nicaea, married to Theodore II Laskaris (r. 1254–1258).[1][2] She was daughter of Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Asen II and Anna Maria of Hungary.[1]

Life

Born in c. 1224 to Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Asen II and Anna Maria of Hungary, she was the sister of emperor Kaliman I of Bulgaria and princess Tamara of Bulgaria.[3][4] Her maternal grandparents were king Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania. On the paternal side, Emperor Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria and Elena of Bulgaria.

She was originally betrothed to Baldwin II of Courtenay, the last Latin emperor. However, as part of an alliance between her father and the Nicaean emperor John III Vatatzes, negotiations began in 1233 on a marriage between her and Vatatzes' son and heir, Theodore II Laskaris.[5] As a condition of this union, the Bulgarians demanded that the Bulgarian patriarchy be restored, while the Nicaeans received territory in Thrace.[6][7] With these conditions agreed to, the marriage of the two children took place finally in 1235 at Gallipoli.[3]

The marriage was apparently very loving, and her husband mourned deeply after her death (from unknown causes) in the spring of 1252.[2][8] He was devastated by her loss, and only finally ceased the rituals of deep mourning after his father commanded it, requiring his assistance.[2] Yet, his grief continued, inspiring him to write a series of essays entitled Moral Pieces, that focused on the brevity of life and joy, often revolving around the loss of Elena.[9] In these works, he referred to her as his "soul mate", "a like soul", and the "sharer of my life".[2] Her husband died in 1258 and their son, John IV Laskaris, who was only seven years old, became emperor.

Family

Elena and Theodore had five children:[3]

• Irene Doukaina Laskarina, who married Constantine Tikh of Bulgaria (r. 1,5 when she was 8 years old.[1]7-1277)
• Maria Doukaina Laskarina, who married Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas of Epirus.
• Theodora, who married Matthew, Baron of Veligosti
• Eudoxia Laskarina Asanina, who married Guglielmo Peire de Ventimiglia
• John IV Laskaris, emperor between 1258 and 1261

References

1. Court Ceremonies and Rituals of Power in Byzantium and the Medieval Mediterranean: Comparative Perspectives. BRILL. 2013-09-19. ISBN 978-90-04-25815-0.
2. Angelov, Dimiter (August 2019). The Byzantine Hellene: The Life of Emperor Theodore Laskaris and Byzantium in the Thirteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-48071-0.
3. PLP, 6000. Ἑλένη.
4. Leveleux-Teixeira, Corinne; Donne, Fulvio Delle (2023-07-29). Gli spazi del potere: strategie e attributi dell'imperialità - Les espaces de la puissance: stratégies et marqueurs de l'impérialité (in French). Basilicata University Press - BUP. ISBN 978-88-31309-23-3.
5. Georgieva, Sashka (2015). "Bulgarian-Hungarian marital diplomacy during the first half of the thirteenth century". Bulgaria Mediaevalis. 6 (1): 339–355. ISSN 1314-2941.
6. Petkov, Kiril (2008-08-31). The Voices of Medieval Bulgaria, Seventh-Fifteenth Century: The Records of a Bygone Culture. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-16831-2.
7. Sode, Claudia; Takács, Sarolta (2017-05-15). Novum Millennium: Studies on Byzantine History and Culture Dedicated to Paul Speck. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-91426-0.
8. Georgieva, Sashka (2012). "Bulgarian-Byzantine marital diplomacy from 1185 to 1280". Bulgaria Mediaevalis. 3 (1): 431–452. ISSN 1314-2941.
9. Angelov, Dimiter G. (2011). "The "Moral Pieces" by Theodore II Laskaris". Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 65/66: 237–269. ISSN 0070-7546. JSTOR 41933711.

Sources

• Fine, John V. A. Jr. (1994) [1987]. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
• Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
• Trapp, Erich; Beyer, Hans-Veit; Walther, Rainer; Sturm-Schnabl, Katja; Kislinger, Ewald; Leontiadis, Ioannis; Kaplaneres, Sokrates (1976–1996). Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 3-7001-3003-1.

Elena Asenina of Bulgaria Asen dynasty Born: c. 1224 Died: 1252
Royal titles
Preceded by Constance II of Hohenstaufen	Empress consort of Nicaea 1235–1252	Succeeded by Theodora Palaiologina