Kaloyan of Bulgaria

Kaloyan or Kalojan, also known as Ivan I, Ioannitsa or Johannitsa (Bulgarian: Калоян, Йоаница; c. 1170 – October 1207), the Roman Slayer, was emperor or tsar of Bulgaria from 1196 to 1207. He was the younger brother of Theodor and Asen, who led the anti-Byzantine uprising of the Bulgarians and Vlachs in 1185. The uprising ended with the restoration of Bulgaria as an independent state. He spent a few years as a hostage in Constantinople in the late 1180s. Theodor, crowned Emperor Peter II, made him his co-ruler after Asen was murdered in 1196. A year later, Peter was also murdered, and Kaloyan became the sole ruler of Bulgaria.

After the successful siege of Varna in 1201 against the Byzantine Empire, the defenders and governors of the city were tied and thrown into the moat of the fortress walls and covered with dirt by the Bulgarians. After they were buried alive in this way, Kaloyan declared himself a Bulgarian avenger, adopting the moniker "the Romanslayer" by analogy with the emperor Basil II the Bulgar Slayer, who defeated and blinded a Bulgarian army of 15,000 people.

To obtain an imperial title from the Holy See, Kaloyan entered into correspondence with Pope Innocent III, offering to acknowledge papal primacy. His expansionist policy brought him into conflict with the Byzantine Empire, Hungary, and Serbia. In 1204, King Emeric of Hungary allowed the papal legate who was to deliver a royal crown to Kaloyan to enter Bulgaria only at the Pope's demand. The legate crowned Kaloyan "king of the Bulgarians and Vlachs" on 8 November 1204, but Kaloyan continued to style himself as tsar (emperor).

Kaloyan took advantage of the disintegration of the Byzantine Empire after the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders or "Latins" in 1204. He captured fortresses in the themes of Macedonia and Thrace and supported the local population's riots against the Crusaders. He defeated Baldwin I, Latin Emperor of Constantinople, in the Battle of Adrianople on 14 April 1205. Baldwin was captured and later died in Kaloyan's prison. Kaloyan launched new campaigns against the Crusaders and Romans, capturing or destroying dozens of their fortresses. He died under mysterious circumstances during the siege of Thessalonica in 1207.

Kaloyan was the younger brother of Theodor and Asen, noted as the instigators of the uprising of the Bulgarians and Vlachs against the Byzantine Empire in 1185. Theodor was crowned emperor and adopted the name Peter in 1185. Asen became Peter's co-ruler before 1190. They secured the independence of their realm with the assistance of Cuman warriors from the Pontic steppes.

Kaloyan, who was still a teenager in 1188, must have been born around 1170, according to historian Alexandru Madgearu. He was baptised Ivan (or John), but he was called Johannitsa ("Little Ivan") because Ivan was also the baptismal name of his elder brother Asen. Kaloyan derived from the Greek expression for John the Handsome (Kallos Ioannis). His Greek enemies also called him Skyloioannes ("John the Dog"), which gave rise to references to Tsar Skaloyan or Scaluian in frescos in the Dragalevtsi Monastery and the Sucevița Monastery.

After the Byzantines captured Asen's wife, Kaloyan was sent as a hostage to Constantinople in exchange for her in the spring of 1188. The date of his release is not known, or said to be about 1189 when he escaped. He was back in his homeland when a boyar, Ivanko, murdered Asen in Tarnovo in 1196. Ivanko attempted to obtain the throne with Byzantine support, but Theodor-Peter forced him to flee to the Byzantine Empire.

The Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates mentioned that Theodor-Peter designated Kaloyan "to assist him in his labors and share in his rule" at an unspecified time. Kaloyan became the sole ruler of Bulgaria after Theodor-Peter was murdered in 1197. Shortly afterwards he attacked the Byzantine province of Thrace and launched frequent raids against it during the following months. Around this time, he sent a letter to Pope Innocent III, urging him to dispatch an envoy to Bulgaria. He wanted to persuade the pope to acknowledge his rule in Bulgaria. Innocent eagerly entered into correspondence with Kaloyan because the reunification of the Christian denominations under his authority was one of his principal objectives.