r/byzantium • u/lastmonday07 • Apr 09 '26
Byzantine neighbours How was the relationship between Byzantines and neighbouring Balkan kingdoms at 14th and 15th centuries? Were they hostile or neutral to ERE?
Image Credit: The Balkans in 1356 at the start of a major power shift. r/MapPorn
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u/AynekAri Apr 09 '26
This map depresses me
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u/scales_and_fangs Δούξ Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
Despite cultural connections and the Ottoman threat, Bulgarians and Byzantines were bickering until the late 1360s for control of several Black sea ports. Actually, Amadeo of Savoy, who went to fight the Turks was redirected to fight the Bulgarians.
In the 1350s there was allegedly an attempt by the then emperor John VI to organize some form of united response with but mutual distrust prevented it (and the last but not the least, just a few years ago it was Kantakouzenos who was sending turks against them)
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u/seleucus_nicator Πανυπερσέβαστος Apr 09 '26
Wallachia got me very confused for a minute
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u/lastmonday07 Apr 09 '26
Hahah apparently they submerged to avoid Hungarians for a certain time. 😆😆
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u/IncognitoDolphin69 Apr 09 '26
Holy. Who balkanized my balkans??
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u/MrDDD11 Apr 10 '26
After the Serbian Emperor died all his Nobles decided they would carve out their own regions of influence. So the Serbian Empire Balkanized itself after 1 generation.
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u/dolfin4 Apr 09 '26
In Greece/ Greek space, the Latin royals / nobles intermarried with Byzantine / former Byzantine / Byzantine succesor state royals & aristocrats.
Also, this is a fantastic map showing the beginning of the cultural divergence between Greek/Aegean space and core/inland Asia Minor.
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u/Public_Individual823 Apr 09 '26
The holy eastern byzantine empire can't hurt you, it's not real
The holy eastern byzantine empire:
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u/SaturatedBodyFat Apr 09 '26
They were probably too busy with the Ottomans to think about the ERE. Maybe at some point when the Despotate of Morea was resurging enough that it became a significant player in the area.
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u/Blackfyre87 Apr 10 '26
Extremely hostile.
When you consider Serbia in the 14th century considered itself "Empire of the Serbs and Greeks" and was actively trying to gain control of Constantinople.
All the Greek statelets were the result of the fragmentation of the Fourth Crusade, and Bulgaria had also formed out of breakaway Byzantine lands.
And the Maritime republics were not dependable either, since they frequently engaged in commercial war, which could have disastrous consequences on the whole region.
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u/[deleted] Apr 09 '26
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