Lodovico of Bulgaria

Lodovico (as attested in Italian sources; Latin Ludovicus; Bulgarian: Людовик, Ljudovik) was a son of Emperor (tsar) Michael Asen III "Šišman" of Bulgaria (1323–1330) and his first wife, Ana, daughter of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia[1] by Elizabeth of Hungary.

He quickly divorced Lodovico's mother Ana to marry the Byzantine princess Theodora Palaiologina, the widow of the earlier Bulgarian emperor Theodore Svetoslav, in 1324.

The victor, Ana's brother Stefan Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia, came to terms with the Bulgarian nobles, and made her eldest surviving son Ivan Stephen emperor of Bulgaria (1330–1331).

[8] For unknown reasons, another son, Šišman, fled to the "Scythians," presumably meaning the Mongol Golden Horde, before turning up at Constantinople in and causing a Bulgaro-Byzantine diplomatic crisis in 1341.

[14] The precise dates for these events within the period 1339–1357 remain unclear, but a letter of Queen Joanna I of Naples from 9 August 1343 refers to Lodovico's mother Ana and her sons (et filiorum ejus) at Dubrovnik, which is possibly an indication that Ivan Stephen was still alive at that time.

[16] By 18 October 1361, Lodovico had been made judge of the vicariate court of the Kingdom of Naples (generoso & magnifico D. Ludouico Bulgariae Imperatore Curiam Vicaria regni regens).

[27] Recognizing, like Du Cange, that Lodovico is probably a secondary, Catholic name assumed by a Bulgarian prince in exile, scholars have proposed various identifications with the other known sons of Michael Asen III and Ana of Serbia.

[29] Jireček and Nikolov-Zikov's identification of Lodovico with Ivan Stephen is contradicted by the chronological indicators of the sources and the express testimony of King Louis I of Naples.