Roman was emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 977 to 991, being in Byzantine captivity thereafter still claiming the title.
Kaliman Asen I, also known as Coloman Asen I or Koloman was emperor of Bulgaria from 1241 to 1246. He was the son of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and Anna Maria of Hungary. He was only seven when he succeeded his father in 1241. In the following years, the Mongols invaded Bulgaria and imposed a yearly tax on the country. He may have been poisoned, according to contemporaneous rumors about his death.
Ivan Sratsimir or Ivan Stratsimir was emperor (tsar) 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 half-brother 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.
Ivan Alexander, also sometimes Anglicized as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor (Tsar) of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on 17 February 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history. Ivan Alexander began his rule by dealing with internal problems and external threats from Bulgaria's neighbours, the Byzantine Empire and Serbia, as well as leading his empire into a period of economic recovery and cultural and religious renaissance.
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It was succeeded by the Principality and later Kingdom of Bulgaria in 1878.
Shishman, also Shishmanids or Shishmanovtsi, was a medieval Bulgarian royal dynasty of Cuman origin.
Dorothea of Bulgaria, also called Doroslava (Дорослава), was the first Queen of Bosnia. Daughter of the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Sratsimir, Dorothea was held hostage by King Louis I of Hungary, who married her off to Ban Tvrtko I of Bosnia in 1374. She became queen in 1377 and may have been the mother of King Tvrtko II.
Irene Komnene Doukaina or Eirene Komnene Doukaina was an Empress of Bulgaria during the Second Bulgarian Empire and Byzantine princess. She was the third wife of tsar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria. She was the mother of tsar Michael Asen I of Bulgaria.
Maria Palaiologina Kantakouzene was a Byzantine princess, niece of emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, and empress consort of Constantine Tikh of Bulgaria and Ivaylo of Bulgaria. She is the most powerful Empress of Bulgaria, ruling as a regent from 1271 to 1279.
Ivan Asen II, also known as John Asen II or John Asan II was emperor of Bulgaria from 1218 to 1241. He was still a child when his father, Ivan Asen I–one of the founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire–was killed in 1196. His supporters tried to secure the throne for him after his uncle, Kaloyan, was murdered in 1207, but Kaloyan's other nephew, Boril, overcame them. Ivan Asen fled from Bulgaria and settled in the Rus' principalities.
The Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Ascension of God is a former Eastern Orthodox cathedral in the city of Veliko Tarnovo, in north central Bulgaria. Located on top of the fortified Tsarevets hill in the former capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the cathedral was the seat of the Bulgarian patriarch from its construction in the 11th–12th century to its destruction in 1393.
Kozma Zografski was a medieval Bulgarian saint venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Vissarion was a Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the 13th century. He is the only Bulgarian Patriarch who was not included in the list of Patriarchs in the medieval Book of Boril. The only testimony of his existence is an undated seal reading "Vissarion, by the grace of God Patriarch of the Bulgarians". It is suggested that he presided over the Bulgarian Church during the rule of emperor Ivan Asen II and was omitted in the lists because he supported the union with the Catholic Church concluded by emperor Kaloyan and abolished by Ivan Asen II.
Joachim III was the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church between c. 1282 and 1300, when the Second Bulgarian Empire reached its lowest point of decline during the reign of the emperors George Terter I, Smilets and Chaka. He was executed for treason by emperor Theodore Svetoslav in 1300. The Church did not recognize his guilt and his name was included in the list of Bulgarian Patriarchs in the Book of Boril. His seat was Tarnovo, the capital of Bulgaria.
Macarius was a Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the 13th century. His name is known only from the medieval Book of Boril where he is listed as the fifth Patriarch presiding over the Bulgarian Church from Tarnovo. He is the only Patriarch mentioned as a "thrice beatified and saintly martyr" which signifies that he met a martyr's death. It is unknown how and when he died.
Ignatius was a Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the 13th century during the rule of Emperor Konstantin Tih. He is listed as the fourth Patriarch presiding over the Bulgarian Church from Tarnovo in the medieval Book of Boril.
Joachim II was a Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the mid 13th century. He is listed in the medieval Book of Boril as the third Patriarch presiding over the Bulgarian Church from Tarnovo, the capital of the Bulgarian Empire. Joachim II is also mentioned in a ktitor inscription in a rock monastery near the village of Troitsa on the territory of modern Shumen Plateau Nature Park. The church was consecrated in 1265 and was named after the Saints Nicholas and Andrew. Joachim II lead the Bulgarian Church during the reign of Emperor Konstantin Tih.
Basil II was a Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the mid 13th century. His name is known only from the medieval Book of Boril where he is listed as the second Patriarch presiding over the Bulgarian Church from Tarnovo, the capital of the Bulgarian Empire. Basil II lead the Church in a period of crisis for the Bulgarian state after the demise of the successful Emperor Ivan Asen II.
Joachim I was the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church between 1235 and 1246. He was the first head of the restored Bulgarian Patriarchate with seat in Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Joachim I died of natural death on 18 January 1246 and was proclaimed a saint. He was the founder of an extensive monastic complex known as the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo, now included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Romylos of Vidin, also known as Romylos of Ravanica was a Bulgarian cleric, a disciple of Gregory of Sinai. He was born in Vidin, Bulgaria c. 1330 and died in the Ravanica Monastery, Serbia c. 1385. Romylos was among the brightest followers of the Hesychast tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church in the 14th century. In the wake of the Ottoman conquest of Bulgaria Romylos was among the many Bulgarian intellectuals who emigrated to neighbouring Orthodox countries and brought their talents and texts. His tomb is in the church narthex of the Monastery of Ravanica in Serbia.
