papal legate. The empire reached its zenith under Ivan Asen II (1218–1241), when commerce and culture flourished. The strong economic and religious influence of Tarnovo made it a "Third Rome", unlike the already declining Constantinople.
The country's military and economic might declined after the Asen dynasty ended in 1257, facing internal conflicts, constant Byzantine and Hungarian attacks and Mongol domination. By the end of the 14th century, factional divisions between the feudal landlords and the spread of Bogomilism had caused the Second Bulgarian Empire to split into three tsardoms—Vidin, Tarnovo and Karvuna—and several semi-independent principalities that fought each other, along with Byzantines, Hungarians, Serbs, Venetians and Genoese. By the late 14th century the Ottoman Turks had started their conquest of Bulgaria and had taken most towns and fortresses south of the Balkan mountains.
Ottoman rule
Tarnovo was captured by the Ottomans after a three-month siege in 1393. After the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 and the fall of the Vidin Tsardom three years later, the Ottomans conquered all Bulgarian lands south of the Danube, with sporadic resistance ending when the Ottomans gained a firm hold on the Balkans by conquering Constantinople in 1453. Under the Ottoman system, Bulgarians were considered an inferior class of people and were subjected to heavy taxes; Bulgarian culture was suppressed and the educated clergy fled to other countries. The nobility was eliminated, the peasantry was enserfed to Ottoman masters, and the population lost its national consciousness.
The Defence of Shipka Pass was crucial for the liberation of Bulgaria. In the final stage of the battle the Bulgarian forces, having finished their ammunition, threw rocks and bodies of fallen comrades to repulse the Ottoman attacks.
Throughout the nearly five centuries of Ottoman rule, the Bulgarian people attempted to re-establish their state by
