Elena-Evgenia of Bulgaria

Elena was the second wife of tsar Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria. She was the mother of tsar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria.

Biography Her antecedents are unknown. She is sometimes alleged to be a daughter of Stefan Nemanja of Serbia, but this relationship is questionable and would have caused various canonical impediments to marriages between their descendants. Elena married Ivan Asen I in 1183 at the age of thirteen.

In 1188, Elena was captured by enemy Byzantine forces during their attempted Siege of Lovech and kept in Constantinople as a hostage by Emperor Isaac II Angelos. When Ivan Asen ascended the throne as co-tsar, he sent his younger brother Kaloyan to Constantinople as hostage in exchange for Elena.

By her marriage to Ivan Asen I, Elena had at least two sons: Ivan Asen II, emperor of Bulgaria 1218–1241 Alexander (Aleksandăr), sebastokrator, who died after 1232; Alexander had a son named Kaliman Asen II, emperor of Bulgaria in 1256

After the assassination of Ivan Asen I in 1196, Elena retired to a convent under the monastic name Evgenia . Her memory is honored in the Synodic of Bulgarian Church:

After her son ascended the throne, Elena was honored as empress dowager.