At the end of the 14th century, Tsar Ivan Shishman no longer ruled a state of the former size. Tarnovo was captured in 1393, the Ottoman army advanced along the Danube, and the last major stronghold of the ruler was Nikopol. It was there that the last pages of his life unfolded.
Ivan Shishman was the son of Tsar Ivan Alexander and Sara-Theodora. He was born around 1350, after his father's accession, which gave him a special status in the medieval royal tradition. Following the Byzantine model, such rulers were called Bagrenorodni. He took the throne of Tarnovo in 1371, while his half-brother Ivan Sratsimir ruled the Kingdom of Vidin.
A Tsar with a Fragmented State
Ivan Shishman's reign was limited not only by the Ottoman advance. The Bulgarian lands were already divided between Tarnovo, Vidin, and independent or semi-independent rulers in Dobrudja. However, the Tsar maintained his claim to speak on behalf of the Tarnovo state. In letters to his boyars, he signed himself as “Lord Tarnovo“, and not simply as a local governor.
After the fall of the capital, Nikopol became his main residence. The city had an important position on the Danube and provided connections with Wallachia, Serbia and Hungary - countries from which Ivan Shishman expected support against Bayezid I. In documents from his last years, he ordered his boyars to send soldiers and weapons to Nikopol.
His family connections were also part of the grand politics of the era. His sister Kera Tamara was married to Sultan Murad I, and Ivan Shishman himself was the son-in-law of the Serbian prince Lazar. In 1386, he helped Mircea the Old establish himself as ruler of Wallachia. However, these alliances failed to stop Ottoman expansion.
The Last Days and the Disputed Date
After the Battle of Rovinj in May 1395, Bayezid I headed for Nikopol. The Bulgarian Anonymous Chronicle states that the Tsar was captured and killed on June 3, 1395. A 15th-century Ottoman chronicler also describes his beheading in Nikopol. However, a short Byzantine chronicle indicates October 29 of the same year. Historian Hristo Matanov considers this date to be more likely, so October 29 is celebrated as the anniversary of Ivan Shishman's death.
The circumstances surrounding his end remain unclear. Hans Schiltberger writes that the ruler died in prison, and his son Alexander converted to Islam and took the name Iskender. According to researchers, this conversion to Islam probably occurred later, around 1416-1418, and not immediately after his father's death.
Ivan Shishman left two sons - Alexander and Fruzhin. Fruzhin later participated in the uprising of Constantine and Fruzhin against Ottoman rule. The Bozhenishki inscription mentions a sevast Ognyan, who served under Tsar Shishman and "held the faith of Tsar Shishman."
Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov calls him the "Defender of the Fatherland" - an assessment that summarizes his role in the memory of the last resistance of the Tarnovo Kingdom. Whether he died in June or October 1395, Ivan Shishman remains the ruler whose name is associated with Nikopol, with the end of medieval Bulgarian statehood and with the effort to maintain power even after the fall of the capital.
Sources: trud.bg, old-news.bnr.bg