Chapter 18 - Decline and Fall of the Byzantine Empire - Part 02

Boniface of Montferrat as its first king, the Solunian people went through twenty years of unprecedented oppression and subjugation. In their seizure of Macedonia, the Crusaders took over large quantities of grain supplies, livestock and other wealth, establishing their own garrisons in various towns. After the 1205 defeat of the Latin Emperor Baldwin and the Adrianople Crusaders, the Bulgarian army attacked and destroyed the town of Serres and invaded the district of Solun. Bulgarian pressure on Solun increased in 1207, particularly after the death of Boniface of Montferrat. The Bulgarian emperor Kaloyan laid siege to the city but soon died and the siege was abandoned. In the period after Kaloyan's death a power struggle ensued in Bulgaria and Strez. A descendant of the Bulgarian royal line was able to establish an independent kingdom in Macedonia. With the aid of Serbia he set himself up in Prosek and extended his rule from the Solun region to Ohrid. All Bulgarian governors within these territories swore loyalty to him. After a while, agitation from the Bulgarians subsided and Strez was able to establish good relations with the Bulgarian state. Upon consolidating his rule in Macedonia, Strez began a campaign against the Kingdom of Solun which in 1212 sparked a massive conflict in Pelagonia. Even though the conflict was between Strez and the Latins, it had support from the more powerful Despot of Epirus on one side and the Bulgarian state on the other. After losing to the Latins, Strez broke off relations with the Serbians. In 1214 he initiated a campaign against them but died unexpectedly. After Strez’s death the Despot of Epirus conquered a large portion of Macedonia, including Skopje and Ohrid. In 1244 Solun too fell prey to the army of Epirus. Immediately after conquering Ohrid, Demetrius Chomatianus, the Archbishop of Ohrid, crowned the Despot Theodore Angelus Ducas Comnenius, emperor. The despot had intentions of renewing the Byzantine Empire but his defeat by the Bulgarians in 1230, near Klokotnitsa, prematurely ended his great plans. Bulgaria, on the other hand, not only increased its reputation and prestige but also expanded its territory to Thrace, Macedonia and part of Albania. After it consolidated its hold on the new territories, Bulgarian governors were appointed and garrisons were stationed in various Macedonian towns. The Byzantine bishops in the eparchies were replaced by archpriests of the Trnovo Church, which in 1235 became a Patriarchate. The power of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, which was somewhat eroded by the Serbian Church becoming autocephalous in 1219, was now further eroded with the formation of the new Bulgarian Patriarchate. The Latin Empire in Tsari Grad lost its ambitions to maintain control of its territories after the Latin, Henry of Flanders, died in 1216. This created new opportunities in 1224 for the despot Theodore Ducas of Epirus to expand his empire. Theodore had already extended his territories north into Bulgaria, taken Solun from the Latins and had been crowned emperor in spite of objections from the Emperor in Nicaea. Unfortunately his defeat in battle in 1230 against the Bulgars stopped him before reaching Tsari Grad.

Theodore’s defeat opened new opportunities for John III Ducas Vatatzes of Nicaea to expand his empire. Being an ally of the Bulgarians, John played an important role in invading Europe, encircling Tsari Grad and getting Theodore’s successor to surrender. The despot's successor finally surrendered in 1246 and was forced to renounce his imperial title and surrender to the empire of Nicaea. As luck would have it, at about the same time, the Mongols invaded Anatolia and started a campaign against the Seljuk Turks in the east, which greatly benefited the Nicaeans. The Mongol invasion weakened the Seljuq Turkish sultanate and isolated the rival empire of Trebizond. Over time the Nicaean Empire became self-sufficient with a thriving economy based on agriculture and trade. It had no navy but it did have a well-disciplined, organized army. By slowly stretching its frontiers into Europe the empire had gained much strength, especially since it took the greater part of eastern Macedonia and Solun in 1246. After the eviction of the Latins in 1261, the seat of the Nicaean government was moved from Nicaea to Tsari Grad. To the Byzantines, Tsari Grad was “the Jerusalem” and they were not about to leave it in foreign hands. Unfortunately, after the damages inflicted by the Fourth Crusade the city was no longer the focal point of an integrated empire. It was more like an immense city-state in the midst of a number of more or less independent provinces. Much of Peloponnesus and the islands remained in French or Italian hands and the Byzantine rulers of Epirus and Thessaly refused to recognize Michael VIII as their emperor. The regime change in Tsari Grad was good for Macedonia. During its initial rule the Macedonian people experienced two decades of life without external harassment. Then in 1282 the Serbian feudal army of king Stephen Urosh II Milutin invaded northern Macedonia and took Lower and Upper Polog, Skopje, Ovche Pole, Zletovo and Piyanets. Shortly afterwards, the Serbs initiated a new campaign and invaded Poreche and the Kichevo and Debar regions. After that a Serbian detachment was dispatched along the lower course of the Struma River and penetrated as far as Krstopol. About four decades later the Serbians, under the rule of the Serbian King Stephen Urosh III Dechanski, launched another campaign against the Byzantines. During their first wave of attacks they invaded and captured the towns of Shtip, Chreshche on the River Bragalnitsa, Veles and Prosek on the Vardar. Then in 1328 they took Prosek and the Serbian army invaded the regions of Demir Hisar and Debartsa, coming face to face with the Byzantines in Ohrid. Ohrid was an important Byzantine stronghold and the threat did not go unnoticed in Tsari Grad. Emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus immediately prepared a counter-offensive and went in pursuit of the invaders. By 1330 the Emperor had recaptured the towns in the Demir Hisar and Debartsa regions, including Zheleznets. Four years later, under the leadership of their new ruler Stephen Urosh IV Dushan, the Serbs renewed their offensive in Macedonia. With the capture of Serres in 1345, Serbian rule was extended over virtually all of Macedonia. The same year the Serbian ruler Stephen Urosh IV Dushan proclaimed himself

emperor and elevated the Serbian Archbishopric to a Patriarchate. The coronation took place in Skopje on April 16, 1346 but the Byzantines refused to recognize it along with Serbia's territorial gains and the Serbian Patriarchate. During the course of the late 1340’s Serbian rule was expanded to Thessaly and Epirus. But in 1350 the towns of Serres and Voden rebelled and severed links with the Serbs. After that opposition became common everywhere and the Serbs found it very difficult to hang on to their conquered territories. After Stephen Urosh IV Dushan’s death in 1355 the central government's authority quickly eroded, leaving the feudal lords to rule independently. The most notable of the feudal lords in Macedonia at the time were the brothers Volkashin and Uglesha. Volkashin proclaimed himself king in 1365 with Emperor Urosh as co-ruler. In Tsari Grad, meanwhile, Michael's son, Andronicus II who reigned from 1282 to 1328, unwisely attempted to economize by cutting down the size of the army and disbanding the navy. This forced unemployed soldiers and sailors to seek service in foreign and enemy states. It has been said that many of Michael’s sailors ended up in the service of the new Turkish emirs, raiding the Aegean islands. Unable to afford his own, the emperor contracted the Genoese to provide him trade ships and a navy to defend Tsari Grad by sea. This unfortunately made the Venetians very jealous, to the point of declaring war, which in 1296 led to the first of a series of naval battles off Tsari Grad. Michael’s cost cutting measures weakened the empire’s ability to adequately defend itself and the Turks did not hesitate to take advantage of it. The empire’s downslide began in 1302 when a band of Turkish warriors, under the leadership of Osman I, defeated the Byzantine army near Nicomedia in northwestern Anatolia and, for the first time, penetrated Europe. Osman I was the founder of the Osmanli, or Ottomans as they would later be known by westerners. Unable to beat the Ottomans back, a year later in 1303, Andronicus hired a professional army of mercenaries known as the Grand Catalan Company. The Catalans made one successful counterattack against the Turks in Anatolia but after that they became unruly and unpopular. After their leader was murdered they turned against their employers. Having failed to conquer Tsari Grad they headed for Macedonia and stopped in Solun, looting and plundering everything in sight. Even Sveta Gora (Mount Athos), Macedonia’s Holy Mountain was not spared by the Catalan’s ferocious greed. Solun, however, held out and succeeded in repelling the Catalan invaders who were forced to push further southwards. For some years the Catalans used the Gallipoli Peninsula as a base from which to ravage Thrace, inviting thousands of Turks to come over and help them. The Catalans finally moved west and in 1311 conquered Athens from the French and established the Catalan Duchy of Athens and Thebes. The Turks who were left behind were not ejected from Gallipoli until 1312. The Catalans were only a minor problem for the Byzantines in comparison to their own internal strife and civil wars. The trouble started around 1320 when Andronicus II disinherited his grandson Andronicus III. The cause of the young

emperor was taken up by his friends, who periodically fought against the old emperor. The civil strife lasted from 1321 to 1328 until the older Andronicus yielded the throne to the younger. Unfortunately this internal fighting took attention away from needed economic reforms and gave the enemy new opportunities to gain more ground. In 1329 the Turks renewed their campaign against the Byzantines. A battle was fought and lost at Pelekanon (near Nicomedia) giving the Turks a needed victory. Victorious, Osman's son Orhan and his Turkish warriors went on to capture Nicaea in 1331 and Nicomedia in 1337. Northwestern Anatolia, once the heart of the empire, was now lost to the Turks. Surprisingly the Byzantines accepted their defeat and came to terms with the Turks. By so doing Andronicus III now opened the door to an almost limitless number of Turkish soldiers to join his army and fight for pay against his enemies the Italians in the Aegean islands and the Serbs and Bulgars in Macedonia and Thrace. By allowing the Turks to aid them, the Byzantines taught them military skills and gave them combat experience, which helped them to form a base for future campaigns. By the middle of the fourteenth century, the Ottoman Turks had consolidated their power in Asia Minor and were becoming a threat to the Balkan states. Their first serious campaign for the conquest of Europe began in 1352 when they took the fortress of Tzympe, on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Two years later, taking advantage of a devastating earthquake, they took the fortress of Gallipoli, thus creating a convenient bridgehead for their forthcoming penetration of the Balkans. Among the first to be threatened by the Turkish forces was Uglesha’s rule, the feudal lord in Macedonia mentioned earlier. Confronted with danger he persuaded his brother Volkashin to take joint actions. Hostilities broke out in September 1371 near Chernomen followed by a fierce battle on the River Maritsa. The river turned red as casualties mounted, among them the brothers Volkashin and Uglesha. It was a major victory for the Turks and a catastrophe for the Macedonians, not only for the loss of life but for the terrible change of fate. Even though, this was an insignificant battle, its outcome had disastrous significance for Macedonia. The balance of power was destabilized and as a result the Despot Manuel Palaeologus captured the Serres region and Chalcidice. Volkashin's son Marko retained the title of King but recognized Turkish authority and began paying tribute and rendering military aid to them. The Dragash brothers, rulers of eastern Macedonia with their seat at Velbuzhd, became Turkish vassals while Vuk Brankovich extended his rule to include Skopje and the Grand Zhupan, Andrea Gropa, consolidated his position in Ohrid. After winning the Battle of Maritsa the Turks continued to campaign throughout Macedonia. In 1383 they took the town of Serres and in 1385 took the towns of Shtip, Veles, Prilep and Bitola.

From 1382 to 1387 Emperor Manuel reigned from Solun and worked hard to make the city a rallying point for resistance. Unfortunately the city fell to Murad's army in April 1387. When the Turks drove deeper into Macedonia, the Serbs organized a counteroffensive but were overwhelmed at Kossovo in 1389. The loss of Solun and the Battle of Kossovo unfortunately cut off access to Tsari Grad by land. By 1393 the Turk Bayezid had completed his conquest of Bulgaria and returned to lay siege to Tsari Grad. His blockade lasted many years and Manuel II, like his father, pinned his hopes of rescue on the west. The king of Hungary organized a great crusade against the Turks but was defeated at Nicopolis on the Danube in 1396. In 1399 the French marshal Boucicaut, who had fought the Turks at Nicopolis, returned to Tsari Grad with a small army. There he persuaded Manuel to take his appeal for help to the west in person. Leaving his nephew John VII in charge, Manual went to Italy, France, and England. The westerners gave him audience and sympathy but little in the way of practical help. During Manuel's absence, in July 1402, the Ottomans were defeated at Ankara by the Mongols. Bayezid was captured and his empire in Asia was shattered. His four sons, however, individually secured control of European provinces, which had not been affected by the Mongol invasion, and began to compete against one another for total dominion. During these unexpected circumstances the Byzantines found themselves holding the balance of power for the Turkish contenders. For their services, the Byzantines were able to negotiate the lifting of the blockade of Tsari Grad and the restoration of Byzantine rule in Solun, Sveta Gora (Mt. Athos) and so on. The payment of tribute to the sultan was also annulled. Being in a position to hold the balance of power, unfortunately, did not last too long and in 1413 Mehmed I, with the help of Emperor Manuel, triumphed over his rivals and became sultan of the reintegrated Ottoman Empire. During Mehmed I’s reign, from 1413 to 1421, the Byzantines enjoyed their last respite. Manuel II, aware that the lull would not last long, made the most of it by strengthening the defenses and administration of his fragmented empire. The most flourishing province in the last years was the Despotate of Morea (Peloponnesus). Its prosperity had been built up first by the sons of John Cantacuzenus (who died there in 1383) and then by the son and grandson of John V, Theodore I and Theodore II Palaeologus. Its capital city Mistra became a haven for Byzantine scholars and artists and a center of the last revival of Byzantine culture, packed with churches, monasteries and palaces. When Murad II became sultan in 1421 the days of Tsari Grad were numbered. In 1422 Murad revoked all the privileges accorded to the Byzantines by his father and laid siege to Tsari Grad. His armies invaded Macedonia and blockaded Solun. The city at the time was ruled by Manuel II's son Andronicus, who in 1423 handed it over to the Venetians. For seven years Solun was a Venetian colony. Then in March 1430 the Sultan assaulted and captured it. The Byzantine collapse and the Ottoman triumph followed swiftly. Mehmed II laid siege to the walls of Tsari Grad in April 1453. His ships were obstructed

by a chain that the Byzantines had thrown across the mouth of the Golden Horn but the Turks dragged their ships overland to the harbour from the seaward side, bypassing the defenses. The Sultan's heavy artillery continually bombarded the land walls until, on May 29, some of his soldiers forced their way in. As a final note, in the glory of the Byzantine Empire, I want to add that had it not been for the advent of the cannon the Byzantine Empire might still exist to this day. It was not the might of the Turk but the might of his new cannon that brought the walls of Tsari Grad tumbling down. The Sultan allowed his victorious troops three days and nights of plunder before he took possession of his new capital. The Ottoman Empire had now superseded the Byzantine Empire. The material structure of the empire, which had long been crumbling, was now under the management of the Sultan. But the Byzantine faith was less susceptible to change. The Sultan acknowledged the fact that the church had proved to be the most enduring element in the Byzantine world and he gave the Patriarch of Tsari Grad an unprecedented measure of temporal authority by making him answerable for all Christians living under Ottoman rule. The last scattered pockets of Byzantine resistance were eliminated within a decade after 1453. Before ending this story, I want to mention a few words about king Marko, affectionately known to Macedonians as Marko Krale. Marko Krale was a legendary folk hero in western Macedonia who was surrounded by tales and superhero stories. Marko was the son of the feudal lord Volkashin who was the head of a tribal state in Prilep and later became a high courtier and a despot. In about 1365 Volkashin proclaimed himself king (tsar) and became co-ruler with king Urosh. His brother, the despot Uglesha, ruled over the Struma region. Both brothers were killed in 1371 at Chernomen, Thrace during the Marica battle against the Turks, as mentioned earlier. This unsuccessful battle was the last major attempt, by local rulers, to prevent further penetration of Turks into the Balkan Peninsula and to forestall the Turkish occupation of their territories. After Volkashin’s death, his eldest son Marko inherited his throne and title. Unfortunately, as part of the treaty with the Turks he had to recognize Turkish authority and pay tribute to the Turkish Sultan. It is believed that Marko was born in 1335. His name was discovered in a document establishing him as one of Volkashin’s delegates to Dubrovnik. His name was also discovered in some chronicles of his time establishing him as the son of Volkashin and later as Marko the king. In another document dated 1370 Volkashin makes mention of his sons Marko and Andrew and of his wife Elena. With its capital in Prilep, Marko inherited a state that lay between the Vardar River and Albania stretching from the Shar Mountain range down to Kostur excluding the cities of Skopje and Ohrid. After becoming king, Marko minted his own coins and placed the inscription: "King Marko faithful to Lord Jesus Christ" on them. Marko Krale was killed on May 17, 1395 in Craiova Romania, during a battle against the Vlach military leader Mircho. Marko was obliged to fight for the Turks as part of his treaty agreement with Sultan Bayazit. Marko Krale, it appears, left no heir. After his death his state reverted to the Turks.

Even though Marko Krale had been a Turkish vassal and fought on the side of Bayazit's army he was a devout Christian and just before he died he begged God for forgiveness and prayed out loud, asking God to help the Christians. And thus a legend was born. Marko Krale, the fearless legend, has been enshrined in the Towers of Prilep where he was born and by his frescoes and paintings in various churches and monasteries.