Ivailo Uprising of 1277–80

a peasant uprising in Bulgaria led by the shepherd Ivailo. Provoked by worsening feudal oppression and constant Tatar raids, the uprising began in Southern Dobrudzha. The peasants, under Ivailo’s command, defeated the Tatars of the Horde of Nogay and the army of the Bulgarian tsar Constantine Asen’. The Bulgarian feudal lords appealed to Byzantium for help, but in 1278 the rebels seized Tŭrnovo, where Ivailo married Maria, Constantine’s widow, and was proclaimed tsar. The rebels had limited success in the ensuing struggle with Byzantium, which supported the claims of Ivan III Asen’ to the throne. In 1280, Ivailo’s army defeated the Byzantine army but the Bulgarian feudal lords sided ever more resolutely with Byzantium. Fearing betrayal, Ivailo fled to the Tatars, who killed him.