Early Life
Born in Lovech in 1324 or 1325, Ivan Sratsimir was the second son of Theodora and Ivan Alexander (r. 1331–1371), who was despot of Lovech at the time . Ivan Sratsimir was proclaimed co-emperor by his father in 1337 in his early teenage years, along with his brothers Michael Asen IV and Ivan Asen IV. This proved fatal for Bulgaria because the prerogatives of his sons' authority were not defined, leading to rivalry between the brothers. After his proclamation Ivan Sratsimir was given the rule of Vidin as an apanage, because his father wanted to have the different regions of the state under the direct rule of his family.
In the 1340s Ivan Sratsimir rose in prominence because he was married and already had children, while his eldest brother Michael Asen and his wife did not produce children for ten years. In 1352 Ivan Alexander introduced the title junior emperor in order to secure the smooth and secure transition of the throne and Ivan Sratsimir became known by that title. In the end of 1347 or in the beginning of 1348, however, Ivan Alexander divorced with his first wife and sent her to a monastery to marry the Jewess Sarah-Theodora. That event spoiled the relations between Ivan Sratsimir and his father and the conflict deepened after the birth of Ivan Shishman in 1350/1351. The conflict climaxed in 1355–1356 when the undisputed heir to the throne, Michael Asen IV, perished in battle against the Ottomans. According to the Majorat system, Ivan Sratsimir should have come next in the succession line but since Ivan Shishman was born in the purple, i.e. after his father was crowned, Ivan Alexander and Sarah-Theodora declared Ivan Shishman successor to the throne. A hint of the feud between father and son is the fact that the image of Ivan Sratsimir was not included in the Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander where the whole imperial family was pictured, including Ivan Alexander's son-in-law. That could mean either that Ivan Sratsimir was disinherited and proclaimed himself emperor in Vidin or that he was denied the title junior emperor and given the rule of Vidin as a compensation.
Read more about this topic: Ivan Sratsimir Of Bulgaria
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