John Komnenos Asen

John Komnenos Asen (Bulgarian: Йоан Комнин Асен, romanized: Yoan Komnin Asen; Greek: Ίωάννης Κομνηνός Ἀσάνης, romanized: Iōannēs Komnēnos Asanēs; Serbian: Јован Комнин Асен, romanized: Jovan Komnin Asen) was the ruler of the Principality of Valona from c. 1345 to 1363, initially as a vassal of the Serbian Empire, and after 1355 as a largely independent lord. Descended from high-ranking Bulgarian nobility, John was a brother of both Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria and Helena of Bulgaria, the wife of Tsar Stephen Dušan of Serbia. Perhaps in search of better opportunities, he emigrated to Serbia, where his sister was married. There, he was granted the title of despot by Stephen Dušan, who placed him in charge of his territories in modern south Albania.

As the despot of Valona, John established commercial ties with Venice and Ragusa, and he became a citizen of the former in 1353. After the death of Dušan in 1355, he took the side of the unsuccessful Simeon Uroš in the ensuing conflict for the Serbian throne. With Venetian assistance, John maintained the essentially independent status of the Principality of Valona. He probably died of the plague in 1363 and he was succeeded by Alexander Komnenos Asen, who was likely his son from his unknown first wife. John's second marriage was to the former Epirote queen-consort Anna Palaiologina.