Despot Alexius Slav

Despot Alexius Slav was a Bulgarian noble ("болярин", "bolyarin") of the 12th and 13th century and a descendant of the Asen dynasty. He was first the governor of the medieval Rhodopes principality of the Second Bulgarian Empire, and then an autocrat in these lands. He was first mentioned as one of the nobles disputing Tsar Boril's ascension to the Bulgarian throne. He married the daughter of Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders in November 1208, leaving Veliko Tarnovo and establishing himself as an independent ruler over the most part of the Rhodope Mountains. Alexius Slav became a vassal of Henry of Flanders after the Bulgarian defeat near Plovdiv. In 1211, he fought against Boril together with the Despotate of Epirus, extending the territory of his state and capturing the fortress of Melnik, where he moved his capital from Tsepina in 1215, and became an autocrat. With his support, new buildings were erected in the Rozhen Monastery. His state became once again a part of the Bulgarian Empire after the Battle of Klokotnitsa on 9 March 1230, after which his name is no longer mentioned in the historical sources.