Patriarch Macarius presided over the Church in a turbulent period of constant menace by the Muslim Mongols, who raided the north-eastern regions of the Bulgarian Empire in the second half of the 13th century. He witnessed the Uprising of Ivaylo between 1277 and 1280 that arose in response the failure of the central authorities to confront the Mongols. During his short tenure four Emperors ascended to the Bulgarian throne: Konstantin Tih (r. 1257–1277), the peasant Tsar Ivaylo (r. 1278–1280), Ivan Asen III (r. 1279–1280) and George Terter I (r. 1280–1292).