Sarah, Theodora or Sarah-Theodora is the name that the second wife of Tsar (Emperor) Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria (ruled 1331–1371) is known under nowadays. There are some Greek and French sources claiming her to be a daughter of a Venetian banker. Sources agree that she was Jewish, having lived with her family in the Jewish Neighbourhood in Tarnovo. Ivan Alexander divorced his wife of many years, Theodora of Wallachia, who was forced to become a nun, and Sarah converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, accepted the name Theodora and soon became the Tsar’s second consort. Their marriage took place in the late 1340s.
The new Tsaritsa was renowned for her fierce support of her new religion, the Eastern Orthodox Christianity. She was one of the instigators of a church council against her compatriots, the Jews. She restored many churches and built a lot of monasteries. This is the reason for the high regard that the Bulgarian Church held her in.
There is no doubt that Theodora played a significant role in the separation of the Bulgarian Empire between her firstborn son Ivan Shishman and Ivan Sratsimir, the sole surviving son of the former Tsaritsa. Since Ivan Shishman was the first son born to Ivan Alexander after his accession to the throne, Theodora insisted that he was the only one worthy of the crown. Ivan Shishman was crowned co-emperor by his father who made his elder son Despot of Vidin in exchange. After Ivan Alexander died in 1371, Ivan Shishman became Tsar and Ivan Sratsimir declared Vidin a separate empire. From now on, the relationship between the two Bulgarian Empires became cold and remained so despite the threat of the forthcoming Ottoman invasion.
The date of the death of the Tsaritsa is unknown, although some historians assume she died in the late 1380s.
Tsaritsa Theodora is often blamed for the separation of the Bulgarian Empire which ultimately led to the Ottoman conquest of Bulgaria in the very end of the 14th century. Anyway, while her influence in favor of her own son Ivan Shishman is beyond doubt, it is hardly believable that it was the only reason for the fall of Bulgaria under the Ottomans. The problems with the stability of the state had started long before her meeting with the Tsar. The Bulgaria that Ivan Shishman and Ivan Sratsimir inherited had too little in common with the empire of Ivan Asen II. Its glorious days were over. The problems with Serbia and Hungary had nothing to do with Theodora and the Ottoman invasion not only of Bulgaria but the whole Balkan Peninsula was likely to happen even without her. There is no reason for us to believe that, given all failed efforts of the Byzantine Emperors, Bulgarian Tsars, Serbian Kings, Wallachian Princes, and Bulgarian and Serbian Despots to repel the Turks, the situation would have changed if Ivan Sratsimir had inherited the whole Bulgarian Empire (which was not whole anyway, having lost the sovereignty over Dobrudja and Wallachia).
A curious thing about this Bulgarian Tsaritsa is the fact that although she is widely known as Sarah or Sarah-Theodora, actually the name she wore before her conversion to Christianity is not mentioned in any historical source. Sarah, the name that she is known under, came from the tragedy Toward the Precipice, written by the great Bulgarian writer Ivan Vazov, which is centered over the love story of the aging Tsar and the beautiful Jewess, who he named Sarah.
There are five known children born to Tsar Ivan Alexander and Tsaritsa Theodora:Kera Tamara, Kera-Maria, Ivan Shishman, Ivan Asen, Desislava of Bulgaria, and Vasilisa.
Read more about Sarah-Theodora: Honours