Smiltsena Palaiologina
Encyclopedia
Smiltsena was а Byzantine
princess, niece of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos
, and empress-consort (tsaritsa
) of Tsar
Smilets of Bulgaria
.
, who was a half-brother of Emperror Michael VIII Palaiologos
, and his wife Irene Komnene Laskarina Branaina. In the histories she was called just Smiltsena , without a name being given.
She married Smilets - a Bulgaria
n boyar
, who is credited with being descended "from the noblest family of the Bulgarians
". The family held extensive lands between the Balkan mountains
and the Sredna Gora
. Smiltsena and Smilets had three children:
Tsar
Smilets died in 1298 and was succeeded by his son Ivan II
. Smiltsena Palaiologina took over the government as tsarina-regent, because Ivan was still a child when he ascended the throne. The widowed empress apparently defeated Smilets' brothers Radoslav and Voysil (Vojsil), who sought refuge in the Byzantine Empire
and entered into Byzantine service. To meet this threat and the invasion of the Mongol prince Chaka
, Smiltsena sought an alliance with Aldimir
(Eltimir), the brother of the former ruler George Terter I
, who had been deposed by her husband. Aldimir was accordingly married to Smiletsena's daughter Marina
and, if this had not happened earlier, the widowed empress granted him the title of despotēs and invested him with an extensive landholding around Kran
.
In 1299 Smiltsena attempted unsuccessfully to make an alliance with King Stefan Milutin to the exclusion of the latter's projected alignment with the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. She arranged a marriage between her daughter Theodora
and Stefan Dečanski of Serbia
, the eldest son of King Stefan Milutin. Smiltsena even madе a proposal of marriage to Stefan Milutin, and offered him Bulgaria
as dowry, but he refused.
Smiltsena was unable to strengthen her position, and abandoned Tarnovo to Chaka
, who installed himself as emperor in 1299. Smiltsena, Ivan II and their retinue settled in the possessions of Aldimir, where they may have remained even after the accession of Aldimir's nephew Theodore Svetoslav to the throne in 1300. Soon Aldimir entered into an alliance with Theodore Svetoslav and his own possessions around Kran were enlarged. Аs result Smiltsena and Ivan II were asked to leave Kran and they fled to Constantinople
, where they were welcomed into the Byzantine court. In the Byzantine capital Smiltsena continued to play an active role in politics. In 1305 Aldemir appears to have entered into negotiations with the Byzantines against his nephew and Smiltsena was negotiating with the Byzantine government in Constantinople
on behalf of either Aldimir or her son, but with Aldimir's subjugation by Theodore Svetoslav in the same year, she disappears into obscurity.
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
princess, niece of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine Emperor 1259–1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453...
, and empress-consort (tsaritsa
Tsaritsa
Tsaritsa , formerly spelled czaritsa , is the title of a female autocratic ruler of Bulgaria or Russia, or the title of a tsar's wife....
) of Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Smilets of Bulgaria
Smilets of Bulgaria
Smilets reigned as emperor of Bulgaria from 1292 to 1298. The date of his birth is unknown.Although Smilec is credited with being descended "from the noblest family of the Bulgarians", his antecedents are completely unknown...
.
Family
Smiltsena was the daughter of sebastocrator Constantine PalaiologosConstantine Palaiologos (half-brother of Michael VIII)
Constantine Palaiologos was a son of Andronikos Palaiologos, Grand Domestic of the Empire of Nicaea and an unknown second wife...
, who was a half-brother of Emperror Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine Emperor 1259–1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453...
, and his wife Irene Komnene Laskarina Branaina. In the histories she was called just Smiltsena , without a name being given.
She married Smilets - a Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
, who is credited with being descended "from the noblest family of the Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
". The family held extensive lands between the Balkan mountains
Balkan Mountains
The Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea...
and the Sredna Gora
Sredna Gora
Sredna Gora is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to Balkan mountain range and extending from the river Iskar to the west and the elbow of Tundzha north of Yambol to the east. Sredna Gora is 285 km long, reaching 50 km at its greatest width...
. Smiltsena and Smilets had three children:
- MarinaMarina Smilets of BulgariaMarina Smilets was the eledest daughter of tsar Smilets of Bulgaria and his Byzantine wife.-Family:The date and the place of Marina's birth are unknown, but she was born before her father's ascension on the Bulgarian throne in 1292, maybe in his official residence in Kran...
- TheodoraTheodora Smilets of BulgariaTheodora Smilets was a Bulgarian princess and queen consort of Serbia, the first wife of king Stefan Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia....
- IvanIvan II of BulgariaIvan II , reigned as emperor of Bulgaria from 1298 to 1299. The date of his birth is unknown, but probably not much earlier than c. 1290. He died as a monk in exile before 1330.Ivan II succeeded his father Smilets as emperor in Tărnovo in 1298...
Empress consort of Bulgaria
Smilets ascended the throne of Bulgaria in 1292 and the new tsaritsa moved from her husband's provincial residence into the royal palace in Tarnovo.Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Smilets died in 1298 and was succeeded by his son Ivan II
Ivan II of Bulgaria
Ivan II , reigned as emperor of Bulgaria from 1298 to 1299. The date of his birth is unknown, but probably not much earlier than c. 1290. He died as a monk in exile before 1330.Ivan II succeeded his father Smilets as emperor in Tărnovo in 1298...
. Smiltsena Palaiologina took over the government as tsarina-regent, because Ivan was still a child when he ascended the throne. The widowed empress apparently defeated Smilets' brothers Radoslav and Voysil (Vojsil), who sought refuge in the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and entered into Byzantine service. To meet this threat and the invasion of the Mongol prince Chaka
Chaka of Bulgaria
Chaka reigned as emperor of Bulgaria from 1299 to 1300. The date of his birth is unknown.Chaka was the son of the Mongol leader Nogai Khan by a wife named Alaka. Sometime after 1285 Chaka married an unnamed daughter of George Terter I of Bulgaria...
, Smiltsena sought an alliance with Aldimir
Aldimir
Aldimir or EltimirWhile Aldimir is mentioned in Medieval Greek sources solely as Ἐλτιμηρῆς, Eltimiris, his original name Aldimir has been established thanks to the discovery of his son Ivan Dragushin's epitaph. was a Bulgarian noble of the 13th–14th century...
(Eltimir), the brother of the former ruler George Terter I
George I of Bulgaria
George Terter I ruled as emperor of Bulgaria 1280-1292. The date of his birth is unknown, and he died in 1308/1309.The reign of George Terter I represents a continuation of Bulgaria's precipitous decline during the second half of the 13th century...
, who had been deposed by her husband. Aldimir was accordingly married to Smiletsena's daughter Marina
Marina Smilets of Bulgaria
Marina Smilets was the eledest daughter of tsar Smilets of Bulgaria and his Byzantine wife.-Family:The date and the place of Marina's birth are unknown, but she was born before her father's ascension on the Bulgarian throne in 1292, maybe in his official residence in Kran...
and, if this had not happened earlier, the widowed empress granted him the title of despotēs and invested him with an extensive landholding around Kran
KRAN
KHNA is a radio station licensed to serve Wamsutter, Wyoming, USA. The station, established in 2009, is currently owned by White Park Broadcasting, Inc.-History:...
.
In 1299 Smiltsena attempted unsuccessfully to make an alliance with King Stefan Milutin to the exclusion of the latter's projected alignment with the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. She arranged a marriage between her daughter Theodora
Theodora Smilets of Bulgaria
Theodora Smilets was a Bulgarian princess and queen consort of Serbia, the first wife of king Stefan Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia....
and Stefan Dečanski of Serbia
Stefan Uroš III Decanski of Serbia
Stephen Uroš III of Dečani was King of Serbia from January 6, 1322 to 8 September 1331. He defeated and killed several of his family members who wanted to take the throne from him. He took his epithet Dečanski from the great monastery he built at Dečani.-Early:He was the son of King Stefan Uroš II...
, the eldest son of King Stefan Milutin. Smiltsena even madе a proposal of marriage to Stefan Milutin, and offered him Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
as dowry, but he refused.
Smiltsena was unable to strengthen her position, and abandoned Tarnovo to Chaka
Chaka of Bulgaria
Chaka reigned as emperor of Bulgaria from 1299 to 1300. The date of his birth is unknown.Chaka was the son of the Mongol leader Nogai Khan by a wife named Alaka. Sometime after 1285 Chaka married an unnamed daughter of George Terter I of Bulgaria...
, who installed himself as emperor in 1299. Smiltsena, Ivan II and their retinue settled in the possessions of Aldimir, where they may have remained even after the accession of Aldimir's nephew Theodore Svetoslav to the throne in 1300. Soon Aldimir entered into an alliance with Theodore Svetoslav and his own possessions around Kran were enlarged. Аs result Smiltsena and Ivan II were asked to leave Kran and they fled to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, where they were welcomed into the Byzantine court. In the Byzantine capital Smiltsena continued to play an active role in politics. In 1305 Aldemir appears to have entered into negotiations with the Byzantines against his nephew and Smiltsena was negotiating with the Byzantine government in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
on behalf of either Aldimir or her son, but with Aldimir's subjugation by Theodore Svetoslav in the same year, she disappears into obscurity.