Ivan Stephen of Bulgaria - Accession To The Throne

Accession To The Throne

During the battle of Velbazhd against the Serbs, emperor Michael III Shishman was wounded and died a few days later in captivity. On 2 August the Bulgarian boyars proposed peace to the Serbian king Stephen Dečanski. Stephen Dečanski met them in the area known as Mraka and accepted the proposal and agreed that Ivan Stephen should become emperor of Bulgaria, thus abandoning the idea of uniting the two countries under the sceptre of his son Stephen Dušan. However, less that a year later, Dečanski was deposed and exiled to the Zvečan Fortress where he died.

After the agreement of Mraka was reached, Anna Neda her sons were informed to go to the Bulgarian capital Tarnovo. Ivan Stephen entered the city and was proclaimed emperor in the second half of August 1330. Although he was in his early 30s, Ivan Stephen ruled together with his mother; the reasons for that are unknown.