Battle of Stephaniana

The Battle of Stephaniana (Serbian: Битка код Стефанијане) was a small-scale battle between the forces of the Medieval Serbian Kingdom and the Emirate of Aydin, allies of Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenos. It was the first battle between the Serbs and Turks, as an earlier battle in Gallipoli was fought between troops sent by King Milutin and Turcopole Halil Pasha (1312).[3]

Battle of Stephaniana
Part of the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
DateMay 1344
Location
Macedonia, near the Aegean shore
Result Turkish victory[1][2]
Belligerents
Emirate of Aydin Medieval Kingdom of Serbia
(King Stefan Dušan r.)
Commanders and leaders
unknown caesar Preljub
Strength
3,100 5,000~

The Emirate [Turkish] force, 3,100 strong, were in the process of returning to Anatolia to defend against a Latin attack on their main harbour, Smyrna.[4][5] On their way they were attacked by a Serbian army under voivode Preljub, one of the most capable generals in the service of Stefan Dušan.[6] The battle, which occurred sometime in May 1344, was won by the Turks, but was not able to thwart the ongoing conquest of Byzantine Macedonia by Dušan.[7][8]

Background

Both the Serbs and Bulgars who had existing kingdoms in the Balkans and various groups of Turks were by 1344 very active in the Byzantine Civil War (1341–47)

Byzantine civil war
Main article: Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347

Byzantine-Serbian wars
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See also
  • History of the Serbian-Turkish wars

References
  1. Recueil de travaux de l'Institut des études Byzantines, Vol. 27-28, (Vizantološki institut, 1989), 193.
  2. Ritual and art, Ed. Pamela Walker, (Pindar Press, 2006), 237.
  3. Mark C. Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society, 1204-1453, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997), 83.
  4. Fine 1994, p. 303
  5. Soulis (1984), pp. 24–25
  6. Soulis 1984, p. 24
  7. Fine 1994, p. 304
  8. Soulis 1984, p. 25

Sources
  • Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994), The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5
  • Soulis, George Christos (1984), The Serbs and Byzantium during the reign of Tsar Stephen Dušan (1331–1355) and his successors, Dumbarton Oaks, ISBN 0-88402-137-8

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