By the end of the 12th century, the Byzantine central power had weakened and, as a result, many local lords broke away and became independent. Initially, the leader of the Vlachs and Bulgarians in eastern Macedonia Dobromir Chrysos (1185–1202) and later the Bulgarian "sebastokrator" and a member of the Asen dynasty in Veliko Tarnovo Strez (1208–1214) held the region, which became part of the Bulgarian kingdom in 1202. In the second half of the 13th century the city was recovered by the Byzantine Empire until the Serbian Kingdom conquered the region in the 14th century. Serbian magnate Hrelja ruled Strumica and the nearby region until 1334, when it was put under the direct rule of Serbian King Stefan Dušan who continued his conquest to the south. During the Fall of the Serbian Empire, the Strumica region was first ruled by Uglješa, the brother of magnate Vukašin. Strumica itself was then governed by Dabiživ Spandulj, who served the Dejanović brothers. The Ottoman Empire finally conquered Strumica in 1383.