Asen dynasty

The House of Asen, also Asen dynasty or the Asenids (Bulgarian: Асеневци, romanized: Asenevtsi, scientific transliteration: Asenevci), founded and ruled a medieval Bulgarian state, called in modern historiography the Second Bulgarian Empire, between 1185 and 1280.

The Asen dynasty rose as the leaders of Bulgaria after a rebellion against the Byzantine Empire at the turn of the year 1185/1186 caused by the increase in Imperial taxes. Some members of the Asen family entered Byzantine service in the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries. While the name Asen (Асен, medieval orthography: Асѣнь, Asěn) was originally used as a personal name in Bulgaria—usually paired with a Christian baptismal name—in foreign contexts, both Byzantine and Western, it quickly assumed the role of a family name, most notably among the Byzantine family Asan or Asanēs, descended from Ivan Asen III. The name also occurs as a family name in modern Greek, and could go back to the same name. Their origin is obscure.