Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria


Ivan Sratsimir or Ivan Stratsimir was emperor of Bulgaria in Vidin from 1356 to 1396. He was born in 1324 or 1325, and he died in or after 1397. Despite being the eldest surviving son of Ivan Alexander, Ivan Sratsimir was disinherited in favour of his halfbrother Ivan Shishman and proclaimed himself emperor in Vidin. When the Hungarians attacked and occupied his domains, he received assistance from his father and the invaders were driven away.

In the 1340s Ivan Sratsimir rose in prominence because he was married and already had children, while his eldest brother Michael Asen and his wife did not produce children for ten years. In 1352 Ivan Alexander introduced the title junior emperor in order to secure the smooth and secure transition of the throne and Ivan Sratsimir became known by that title. In the end of 1347 or in the beginning of 1348, however, Ivan Alexander divorced with his first wife and sent her to a monastery to marry the Jewess SarahTheodora. That event spoiled the relations between Ivan Sratsimir and his father and the conflict deepened after the birth of Ivan Shishman in 13501351. The conflict climaxed in 13551356 when the undisputed heir to the throne, Michael Asen IV, perished in battle against the Ottomans. According to the Majorat system, Ivan Sratsimir should have come next in the succession line but since Ivan Shishman was born in the purple, i.e. after his father was crowned, Ivan Alexander and SarahTh

Source: Wikipedia