Alexander, Emperor of Bulgaria

Alexander Asen (Bulgarian: Александър Асен, Aleksandǎr Asen; c. 1238 – 1286, Princes' Isles) was the last ruler of the Second Bulgarian Empire, reigning from 1249 to 1266. His death marked the extinction of the Asen dynasty in the male line. 
== Biography ==
Alexander was born as the illegitimate son of Ivan Asen, eldest son of the Bulgarian emperor Ivan Asen II. Nothing is known of his childhood, although he must have been recognized by his father and accessible to the Bulgarian nobility. 
At age 11, Alexander Asen was crowned Emperor of the Bulgarians and Vlachs, after his father, grandfather and cousins had been slain in battle outside of Constantinople by the Byzantine emperor Theodore II Laskaris. Alexander was used as a figurehead by the Bulgarian nobility centered around Tarnovo and the Patriarchate of Bulgaria. While hus regents ruled in his behalf, he presided over a country which has fallen into complete social disarray and a brutal civil war, which would last for all of his reign. Upon coming of age, Alexander proved himself a weak and ineffective ruler, easily swayed by his many counselors and advisers. His response to the Byzantine invasion in the Great Bulgar War was lacking, and he was eventually deposed by his opponents at Tarnovo and delivered to the Byzantines in brown rags. 
In Byzantine custody, Alexander Asen was taken to Constantinople in 1268 and paraded on the back of a mule in Theodore II's triumph. At his order Alexander was blinded by a set of mirrors shortly thereafter and sent into monastic exile on Prínkēpos, the largest of the Princes' Islands, where he would remain until his death. 
Known for his incompetence and inadequacy at his time, modern historians have often offered Alexander Asen a kinder look as a young man limited in power by his own advisers, and with restricted access to the resources he would have needed to restore Bulgaria to its former self.
Category:Rulers