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Serbian Empire under Dušan's expansion (1340s)

Type Event Region Europe Time 1341–1350

In the 1340s Serbian tsar Stefan Dušan launched a large-scale military and diplomatic offensive, conquering Epirus, Albania and most of Macedonia, an…

Timeline

  1. 1342–1343Epirus · EpirusDušan led his army south, defeating local Byzantine vassals and Albanian lords, pushing Serbian power to the Adriatic coast and controlling the sea lanes to Italy.
  2. 1345Serres · MacedoniaIn 1345 Dušan besieged and captured the major Byzantine stronghold of Serres, then gained control of central Macedonia, severing Byzantine communication lines in the Balkan interior.
  3. 1346Skopje · Serbian EmpireDušan was crowned 'Emperor of Serbs and Greeks' by the Serbian patriarch at Skopje, formally proclaiming the establishment of the Serbian Empire and claiming succession rights to the Byzantine throne.
  4. 1347–1350Balkan Peninsula · Serbian EmpireAfter his coronation Dušan continued pressuring Byzantium and Bulgaria, maintaining a vast zone of control from the Danube to the Peloponnese by the late 1340s, while the imperial administrative and church systems gradually took shape.

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