# Kira Maria

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kira_Maria
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Kira_Maria.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kira_Maria
> Source revision: 1253958342
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{More citations needed|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox royalty
| consort = yes
| name =Kira Maria
| image =
| succession = [Empress consort of Bulgaria](/source/Royal_Consorts_of_Bulgaria)
| reign = 1371–138?
| coronation =
| spouse = [Ivan Shishman](/source/Ivan_Shishman_of_Bulgaria)
| spouse-type = Spouse
| issue = 
| house = 
| father = 
| mother = 
| birth_date = Unknown
| birth_place = [Bulgarian Empire](/source/Second_Bulgarian_Empire)
| death_date =
| death_place =
}}
'''Kira Maria''' ({{langx|bg|Кира Мария}}), or only '''Maria''', was a [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria)n empress consort, first wife of [Ivan Shishman](/source/Ivan_Shishman_of_Bulgaria) (r. 1371–1395). There are almost no historical sources about her. Her name is mentioned in the ''Boril obituary'' in the following manner:
{{cquote|...''To Kira Maria, the pious empress <br> to the great emperor Ivan Shishman, eternal memory.<br> To mistress Desislava, mother of the pious <br> empress Maria - to the great emperor Ivan Shishman, called in angel's form Debora, eternal memory''...<ref name="Пламен Павлов">'''Павлов''', Пламен. Търновските царици. В.Т.:ДАР-ТХ, 2006.</ref>}}

The interpretation of the cited extract is not certain. It is possible that Maria and Kira Maria were two different women. It is known that Ivan Shishman had a second wife - [Dragana](/source/Dragana_of_Serbia), daughter of Prince [Lazar of Serbia](/source/Lazar_of_Serbia) and [Milica](/source/Princess_Milica_of_Serbia). Prince Lazar did not have a wife called Desislava and therefore it is possible that the name of the emperor's first wife was only Maria, while Dragana could have been called Kira Maria, unless there was a mistake in the paragraph and the places of the two empresses were changed.<ref name="Пламен Павлов"/>

Another possibility is that the two names were of one person, the first wife of the emperor, mentioned once as ''Kira Maria'' and then as ''Maria''. That option, however, raises the question why is the name of the second wife of Ivan Shishman omitted.<ref name="Пламен Павлов"/>

It has been suggested that Kira Maria descended by an important noble family from the capital [Tarnovo](/source/Veliko_Tarnovo).<ref name="Пламен Павлов"/> The names of children produced by the first marriage of Ivan Shishman are unknown. He had two sons [Alexander](/source/Alexander_(son_of_Ivan_Shishman)) and [Fruzhin](/source/Fruzhin) but it is unknown from by wife they were born. It is likely that he had other children that died in their infancy and were mentioned in the ''Boril obituary''.<ref name="Пламен Павлов"/>

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou| ||?||?}}
{{S-roy}}
{{S-bef|before=[Sarah-Theodora](/source/Sarah-Theodora)}}
{{S-ttl|title=[Empress consort of Bulgaria](/source/Royal_Consorts_of_Bulgaria)|years=1371–138?}}
{{S-aft|after=[Dragana](/source/Dragana_of_Serbia)}}
{{end}}

{{Bulgarian royal consorts|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kira Maria}}
Category:Bulgarian consorts
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:1380s deaths
Category:14th-century births
Category:14th-century Bulgarian women
Category:14th-century Bulgarian people

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kira Maria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kira_Maria) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kira_Maria?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.