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⭐ In the context of Boril of Bulgaria’s rise to power, the marriage to Kaloyan’s widow served to primarily demonstrate alliance with which group?

Boril married Kaloyan’s widow, who was a Cuman princess, which was a political move to legitimize his claim to the throne and secure support from the Cuman people.

⭐ Core Definition: Kumankata

Anna, known in Bulgarian historiography as Kumankata (Bulgarian: Куманката, "the Cuman [woman]") (fl. 1207), was the Empress consort of Bulgaria by marriage to Kaloyan of Bulgaria and Boril of Bulgaria.

The name Anna was the name she took when she converted to Christianity. The original name of the Cuman noblewoman who subsequently married two Tsars Emperors of Bulgaria, Kaloyan of Bulgaria and Boril of Bulgaria, is unknown. There are only two sources mentioning her, both foreign. The Byzantine historian George Akropolites claimed that after the death of Kaloyan, his sister's son Boril 'married his Scythian aunt'. From this evidence, it is not sure whether the Tsaritsa was really a Cuman, or she belonged to another tribe that could be described as Scythian. As Veselin Ignatov points out, given the strong relations between the Asen dynasty and the Cumans, her Cuman lineage is the most probable possibility, but not the only one.

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👉 Kumankata in the context of Boril of Bulgaria

Boril (Bulgarian: Борил) was the emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria from 1207 to 1218. He was the son of an unnamed sister of his predecessor, Kaloyan and Kaloyan's brothers, Peter II and Ivan Asen I, who had restored the independent Bulgarian state. After Kaloyan died unexpectedly in October 1207, Boril married his widow, a Cuman princess and seized the throne. His cousin, Ivan Asen, fled from Bulgaria, enabling Boril to strengthen his position. His other kinsmen, Strez and Alexius Slav, refused to acknowledge him as the lawful monarch. Strez took possession of the land between the Struma and Vardar rivers with the support of Stefan Nemanjić of Serbia. Alexius Slav secured his rule in the Rhodope Mountains with the assistance of Henry, the Latin Emperor of Constantinople.

Boril launched unsuccessful military campaigns against the Latin Empire and the Kingdom of Thessalonica during the first years of his reign. He convoked the synod of the Bulgarian Church in early 1211. At the assembly, the bishops condemned the Bogomils for heresy. After an uprising broke out against him in Vidin between 1211 and 1214, he sought the assistance of Andrew II of Hungary, who sent reinforcements to suppress the rebellion. He made peace with the Latin Empire in late 1213 or early 1214. After Henry died in 1216 and Andrew II left Hungary for a crusade, Ivan Asen returned to Bulgaria. He captured and blinded Boril in Tarnovo in 1218.

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