Maria of Bulgaria, Latin Empress

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Maria of Bulgaria was the second Empress consort of Henry of Flanders, Latin Emperor of Constantinople.

Contents 1 Family 2 Empress consort 3 External links 4 References

[edit] Family

She was a daughter of Kaloyan of Bulgaria. Her mother may have been his wife Tselguba (Christian name: Maria), a member of the Cuman aristocracy. She went on to marry Boril of Bulgaria, a nephew of her first husband.

Her paternal uncles included Peter IV of Bulgaria and Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria. The further ancestry of the Asen dynasty is uncertain. There are three main hypothesis regarding their origins, arguing for Bulgarian, Cuman and Vlach ancestry. In his 1199 correspondence with Kaloyan, Pope Innocent III mentioned the "Roman descent" of the Bulgarian ruler. The comment has been variously interpretated to mean Aromanian (from "Romanus"), Byzantine (from "Romania") or even Hungarian (from "Roman Catholic") ancestry.

[edit] Empress consort

In 1213, Maria married Henry of Flanders of the Latin Empire. According to The Late Medieval Balkans (1987) by John V.A. Fine, the marriage was part of an alliance between her stepfather Boril and Henry. The alliance would benefit the Latin Empire by securing Thrace and Kingdom of Thessalonica from the threat of invasion from the Second Bulgarian Empire. Allowing Henry to turn his attention to facing the Empire of Nicaea instead. On the other hand, Boril had suffered losses in both men and territory while the war continued. Unable at the moment to expand his borders, he might have seen the alliance as a way to secure his own borders from Latin invasion. In any case the marriage concluded the first phase of the Bulgarian-Latin Wars. ^[1]

On 11 June, Henry died in Thessaloniki. Maria was reportedly suspected of having poisoned him. Her further fate is unknown. Their marriage was childless and Henry was succeeded by his brother-in-law Peter II of Courtenay.

Royal titles
Preceded by Agnes of Montferrat	Latin Empress consort of Constantinople c. 1213 - 1216	Succeeded by Yolanda of Flanders

[edit] External links

• The page of the "Late Medieval Balkans" mentioning her marriage
• A genealogy of the Asen, including her

[edit] References