Coloman II Asen

According to George the Acropolitan, the murdered king Michael II Asen was his cousin ^[1] . The Armenian priest Arakel in 1258 mentioned that the Bulgarian king was killed by the son of his uncle. It is believed that Michael II Asen had only one uncle - Sevastocrat Alexander. For this reason, it is believed that Coloman II was his son ^{[2] [3]} .

Regarding the identity of Coloman II, another debate continues. Some authors identify him with the Sevastocrat Kaloyan , the clerk of the Boyan Church ^[4] . The main argument in favor of this statement is the similarity of their names.

This point of view, however, was refuted by later historians, who established that Koloman II died in 1256 or at the beginning of 1257 ^[5] , and Kaloyan , according to the inscription in the Boyan Church , died no earlier than 1259 . From the same inscription it is known that Kaloyan was the cousin of the king. The king of Bulgaria in 1259 was Konstantin I Tykh , so the sevastocrat was his cousin, and not Michael II Asen ^{[5] [3]} .

There is some debate about the correct pronunciation of the name of the king. For example, Petar Nikov ^[6] suggests that it should be pronounced “Kaloman” . He bases his version on the Hungarian origin of this name. The name Kaliman is the Greek version of the Hungarian name. The Hungarian origin of the name is upheld by Yordan Andreev ^[7] . He points out that in the Western documents the Bulgarian king was called Kaloman . According to other authors, for example, Ivan Bozhilov ^[8] , during his lifetime the ruler was called in the Greek manner Kaliman , this version of the name is found in later sources, for example, in Paisius Hilendarsky , Theodore Grammatik, as well as in the so-called Kaliman letter. In Latin sources, the name is written as Coloman , modeled on the name of the Catholic Saint Coloman . In a letter from Pope Innocent IV to the Tsar of March 21, 1245 , Bulgarian Tsar Koloman I Asen is also called “Colomanno in Bulgaria” ^[9] .

After 1254 , the Bulgarian boyars plotted against Mikhail II Asen . As a result of the conspiracy, Koloman killed his cousin and was crowned in 1256 . But he had dangerous opponents. The first among them was Prince Rostislav Mikhailovich - the father of the queen, whom Koloman married to give his accession a look of heredity. Rostislav Mikhailovich led troops to Tarnovo to protect his daughter. Tsar Koloman II was abandoned by his supporters, fled the city and was soon killed in obscure circumstances. Rostislav Mikhailovich entered the capital and proclaimed himself king of Bulgaria, but was not accepted by the local nobility. As a result, the prince with his daughter left for Belgrade , and the Bulgarian boyars elevated the son-in-law of Ivan Asen II Mitso Asen to the throne.

Koloman Asen II married in 1256 to Anna (Elizabeth) - the daughter of Prince Rostislav Mikhailovich . They had no children.

• Bozhilov, Iv. Surname on Asenevtsi (1186-1460). Genealogy and prosopography. - Publishing house at the BAN "Marine Drinov", Sofia, 1994.
• Fine, Jr., John VA The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. - Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1987 .-- ISBN 9780472100798 .