caption father house death_date mother birth_date spouse image article_title name
coin iv depicting ivan alexander and his son michael asen ivan alexander shishman 1355 theodora 1322 maria-irene palaiologina 150px michael asen iv of bulgaria
 michael asen iv
michael asen iv of bulgaria

michail asen -lrb- -rrb- -lrb- c. 1322 -- 1355 -rrb- was the eldest son of ivan alexander of bulgaria from his marriage with theodora of wallachia .
after his father acceded to the throne in 1331 , the young prince was proclaimed co-emperor .
he was to succeed his father under the name michail iv asen .
the heir to the throne was the pride of the royal family and was said to possess `` all virtues '' .
he married maria , renamed irina , the daughter of andronikos iii palaiologos .
in 1354 -- 1355 the ottoman turks invaded bulgaria and headed towards plovdiv and sofia .
it is mentioned in an anonymous bulgarian chronicle that michail asen gathered the bulgarians and engaged the turks near sofia .
the bulgarians were defeated and suffered heavy casualties including michail himself .
but the battle was not in vain : the ottomans failed to capture the cities and did not attack the country up to 1370 .
in the bulgarian folklore is mentioned that the son of the emperor perished with the death of the brave .
