Prince of Turnovo

Prince of Turnovo or Prince of Tarnovo (Bulgarian: Княз Търновски, Knyaz Tarnovski) is the title held by the first born son of the Bulgarian monarch. This title is held only by the heir to the throne.^[1]

Tarnovo (Veliko Tarnovo) was an old Bulgarian capital and a strongest Bulgarian fortification of the Middle Ages between the 12th and 14th century and the most important political, economic, cultural and religious centre of the empire. In the 14th century as the Byzantine Empire weakened Tarnovo claimed to be the Third Rome based on its preeminent cultural influence in the Balkans and the Slavic Orthodox world.

In 1393 after vigorous resistance to a 3-month siege Tarnovo was seized and the whole Bulgarian Tsardom was destroyed by the invader - The Ottoman Empire. The Bulgarian tsar Ivan Shishman to move the his residence to the castle of Nikopol but take a title Prince of Tarnovo (Lord of Tarnovo, Bulgarian: Господин Търновски, Gospodin Tarnovski).

In 1686 a Bulgarian noble and a descendant of the medieval Shishman dynasty, Rostislav Stratimirovic also take a title Prince of Tarnovo. He was the leader of the Second Tarnovo Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

In 1908 Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha became Tsar of Bulgaria upon that country's declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire. 14 years ago proclamation of The Independence, in 1894 the first son of Ferdinand, Boris take the old title Prince of Tarnovo with sense a Crown Prince, the heir apparent to the throne in a Bulgarian monarchy. The wife of a Prince of Tarnovo is also titled Princess of Tarnovo (Bulgarian: Княгиня Търновска, Knyagina Tarnovska). The current Prince of Tarnovo is Prince Kardam, the eldest son of Tsar Simeon II.

People who to have held the title Prince of Tarnovo:

References