Ivan Asen III and Irene Palaiologina became the progenitors of the large and influential family Asan (or Asanes) in the
Byzantine Empire, which prospered in various court and provincial offices until the end of the empire and its dependencies in the mid-15th century. One of Ivan Asen III's descendants,
Irene Asanina (daughter of his son
Andronikos Asan) married the future Byzantine Emperor
John VI Kantakouzenos and through their daughter
Helena (who married emperor
John V Palaiologos), became the ancestress of later
Byzantine emperors. By his marriage with Irene Palaiologina, Ivan Asen III had the following children: • Michael Asen, titular emperor of Bulgaria. •
Andronikos Asen, father of
Irene Asanina, wife of
John VI Kantakouzenos. • Isaac Asen. • Manuel Asen. • Constantine Asen. • Theodora Asenina, who married Fernan Jimenez d'Aunez and then
Manuel Tagaris. • Maria Asenina, who married
Roger de Flor. ==References==