Elena Asenina of Bulgaria

Elena of Bulgaria was an empress consort of Nicaea, married to Theodore II Laskaris (r. 1254–1258). She was daughter of Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Asen II and Anna Maria of Hungary.

History

Elena was the sister of emperor Kaliman I of Bulgaria and princess Tamara of Bulgaria. Her maternal grandparents were king Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania. On the paternal side, Emperor Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria and Elena of Bulgaria.

She was betrothed to Baldwin II of Courtenay, the last Latin emperor before marrying Theodore.

Her husband died in 1258 and their son, John IV Laskaris, who was only seven years old, became emperor.

Family

Elena and Theodore had three children:

• John IV Laskaris, emperor between 1258 and 1261
• Irene Doukaina Laskarina, who married Constantine Tikh of Bulgaria (r. 1257-1277)
• Maria Doukaina Laskarina, who married Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas of Epirus.

References

• Cawley, Charles (2006–2007). "Ivan Asen II 1218–1241, Koloman I 1241–1246, Mihail II Asen 1246–1257". Medieval Lands. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. 
• John Van Antwerp Fine Jr., The Late Medieval Balkans, Ann Arbor, 1987.
• The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.