Shishman dynasty

The Shishman dynasty was the last ruling house of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Following the decline of the Asen dynasty, the houses of Terter and Shishman took control, but struggled to restore central authority. Tsar Mikhail Shishman was defeated and killed by the Serbs at the Battle of Velbuzhd in 1330, leading to Bulgaria losing its Macedonian territories to the Serbian empire.1

Bulgaria faced further pressure from Ottoman invasions. Ivan Shishman, the last medieval tsar, became a vassal of the Ottomans in 1371. Despite this, the Ottomans continued their conquest, capturing Sofia in 1382 and Shumen in 1388. The fall of Tarnovo in 1393 and the capture of Vidin in 1396 marked the end of Bulgarian independence, with the Shishman dynasty disappearing as the Ottomans consolidated their rule over the Balkan Peninsula.2