Emergence of the Second Bulgarian Empire.

So here we have the Bulgarian stotins, nominal - 50. The year of issue of this coin is 1999, mint: Sophia, Bulgaria. Total circulation – 15.607.500.

With the collapse of the first Bulgarian state, the Bulgarian church fell under the domination of Greek ecclesiastics who took control of the see of Ohrid and attempted to replace the Bulgarian Slavic liturgy with a Greek liturgy. Bulgarian culture was by this time too deeply rooted to be easily changed, and the Byzantine Empire, beset by the attacks of the Seljuq Turks and the disturbances of the Crusaders, lacked the power to support a more forcible Hellenization.

In 1185 the brothers Ivan and Peter Asen of Tŭrnovo launched a revolt to throw off Byzantine sovereignty. The Asen brothers defeated the Byzantines and forced Constantinople to recognize Bulgarian independence.

The second Bulgarian empire, with its centre at Tŭrnovo, reached its height during the reign of Tsar Ivan Asen II. Bulgaria was then the leading power in the Balkans, holding sway over Albania, Epirus, Macedonia, and Western Thrace. During this period the first Bulgarian coinage appeared, and in 1235 the head of the Bulgarian church received the title of patriarch.

The declining state reached its nadir in 1330 when Tsar Mikhail Shishman was defeated and slain by the Serbs at the Battle of Velbuzhd. Bulgaria lost its Macedonian lands to the Serbian empire of Stefan Dušan, which then became the dominant Balkan power for the next four decades.