Maria, wife of Ivan Vladislav

Who is Maria, wife of Ivan Vladislav?

Maria was the wife of tsar Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria. She was the last empress-consort of the First Bulgarian Empire.

Her antecedents are unknown. It is believed that Maria was married to Ivan Vladislav in the late 10th century. Her husband was the son of Aron, who was the brother of Emperor Samuel of Bulgaria. In 987 Samuel ordered his brother Aron executed for treason together with his entire family. The massacre was survived only by Ivan Vladislav, who was saved through the intercession of his cousin, Samuel's son Gabriel Radomir.

Tsar Samuil died in 1014 and the Bulgarian throne was inherited by his son Gavril Radomir. In 1015 Ivan Vladislav murdered his savior Gavrail Radomir, while the latter was hunting near Ostrovo, and seized the Bulgarian throne.

Maria's husband followed the determined policy of his predecessors to resist the ongoing Byzantine conquest over Bulgaria, but he was killed before the walls of Dyrrhachium in the winter of 1018. After his death the widowed empress Maria and much of the Bulgarian nobility and court submitted to the advancing Basil II in exchange of guarantees for the preservation of their lives, status, and property.