In 1325, the Ecumenical Patriarch nominated Methodius as Metropolitan of Varna and Carvona. After this date, &lt;a href="Balik%20%28ruler%29"&gt;Balik/Balica&lt;/a&gt; is mentioned as a local ruler in Southern Dobruja. In 1346, he supported John V Palaeologus in his dispute for the Byzantine throne with John VI Cantacuzenus. He sent an army corps under his son &lt;a href="Dobrotitsa"&gt;Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici&lt;/a&gt; and his brother, Theodore, to help the mother of John Palaeologus, Anna of Savoy. For his bravery, Dobrotitsa received the title of "strategos" and married the daughter of megadux Apokaukos. After the reconciliation of the two pretenders, a territorial dispute broke out between the Dobrujan polity and the Byzantine Empire for the port of Midia. In 1347, at John V Palaeologus' request, Emir Bahud-din Umur, Bey of Aydin, led a naval expedition against Balik, destroying Dobruja's seaports. Balik and Theodore died during the confrontation, and Dobrotitsa became the new ruler.