Between the 7th and 13th centuries, two major players died for dominance over the ball companions here. The first and younger one was the first Bulgarian state and its successor, the second Bulgarian Empire. The second contester was the last lieutenant successor of Rome, the resilient Eastern Roman Empire. The two powers engaged in what became one of the most continuous series of conflicts between two nations, a so-called Byzantine Bulgarian Wars. But a 14th century, both of these states were a mere shadow of their former selves. The balance of power in the Balkans was soon to be shifted. A new ambitious player had arrived on the scene. The century old Serbian kingdom, ruled by the powerful, the Manici dynasty was just entering its heyday. Under the reign of King Stefan Decianski, the Serbian realm experienced a significant rise in military power. Concerned by Serbian increasing strength, the Byzantine and Bulgarians wasted no time and were quick to form a coalition against their neighbor. The end goal of this pact being the complete destruction of the Serbian kingdom. This plan, however, was about to fail miserably. On the 28th of July, 1330, the Bulgarian army led by the aggressive Zah, Michael Sishman, went with the Serbian forces in charge of which was King Stefan Decianski near the town of Alberto, a modern day, used in the U.S. The Bulgarians suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in their medieval history. Their proud monarch, Michael Sishman, thanked himself from his wounds a couple of days after the battle. Learning of the decimation of his Bulgarian allies, the Roman Emperor, and Johnny Coseterd abandoned the invasion of southern Serbia, and he had previously begun, all the Serbs were busy fighting on the eastern front. Serbia's rise to a Hegemon in the Balkan Peninsula had just begun. In 1331, Stefan Decianski was succeeded by his son, Stefan Dushan. The former forced his father to retire after he began considering to place another of his sons, Simeon Uroš, on the Serbian throne. Under the reign of the ambitious Dushan, Serbia will reach the zenith of its power. An opportunity for further Serbian expansion appeared in the 1340s, when the Byzantine Empire was engulfed in yet another civil war. May careful maneuver of alliances with the different pretenders for the throne in Constantinople, Dushan skillfully exploited the chaos that had assailed Rome. Between 1341 and 1348, the Serbian ruler embarked on a series of military campaigns in Macedonia, Banias and Chokris, which doubled the territory of Israel, mean less than a decade. In April 1346, Dushan was crowned Zah, or Emperor, thus laying the foundations of the Serbian Empire. Stefan Dushan would reign as an emperor for only 9 years before dying in 1355. His empire would not doubt if it's created by much either, it would collapse only 15 years later. This raises the question, why did this empire which was seemingly on its rise collapse so rapidly? The reasons for this quick downfall are many and complicated, but for the sake of this short video, I'll try to oversimplify them as much as I can. Stefan Dushan was succeeded by his young and inexperienced son Stefan Turozh the fifth, immediately after his ascension on the Serbian throne, the empire began to fragment. This did not happen as much in the heartland of Serbia, but rather mostly in the New Republic of New York, a previously mentioned paternal uncle of Stefan Turozh the fifth, Simeon Urozh, since he is from the Empire establishing an empire of his own in central Greece. Another power for Serbian noble family, the Barnevchi Vici, ruled the region of Macedonia with an almost complete autonomy. The final blow for the Serbian empire would come from the Ottoman Beylic. The Ottomans previously had as mercenaries, but the Byzantines during their attempts to hold the Serbian expansion, and now overrun nearly all form of the Balkan promises of Eastern Roman Empire. Seeing the immediate threat to the east, the head of the Barnevchi Vici Kwan, Vukasin raised a massive army to try and stop the Turks from expanding in Serbian territory. The forces of the Ottoman sent Serbs clashed near the Maritsa river, Patro and the disastrous effort for the Serbs and the Silt Serbian future state. Vukasin, together with the many influential Serbian and Bulgarian nobles, that had joined him in his campaign, perished in midst of the battle, all died from their wounds a couple of days later. Following this clash, the victorious Ottomans vassalized most of Macedonia. Just months after the Serbian humiliation near Maritsa, the child's emperor Stefan Urozh the fifth died in 1371, a power vacuum that occurred after these events led to the rapid fragmentation of the Serbian lands, this time including the heartland of the realm as well. The year 1371 is officially marked as the end of the Serbian Empire, but not as the end of independent medieval Serbia, some of the Empire's successor states would remain intact for almost a century, until they as well fell prey to the rising Ottoman Empire.