Tarnovo Patriarchate


The Tаrnovo Patriarchate was the name of the independent Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the period 1235–1393.

History

After the Bulgarian brothers Ivan Asen I and Peter IV reestablished the Bulgarian Empire in 1185 they took steps to restore the autocephalous Bulgarian church.
Since the recognition of an independent church by Patriarch of Constantinople was impossible, the Bulgarians temporarily concluded a Union with the Roman Catholic Church until 1235, when following the Church Council in Lampsak the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was recognized as an independent Patriarchate with its seat in the capital Tarnovo. The first Patriarch of Tаrnovo was Joachim I of Bulgaria. The last Patriarch to reside in Tarnovo was Euthymius of Tarnovo who was sent into exile by the Ottomans after they seized the Bulgarian capital in 1393.

Bulgarian Patriarchs of Tarnovo