History of The Byzantine Empire - Fall - Late Civil Wars

Late Civil Wars

A series of societal infighting also weakened the Byzantine Empire's military power. There were two major civil wars during the late Byzantine Empire one began in 1321 another in 1341. These Civil wars also severely diminished the Byzantines' military capabilities. The civil war of 1321–1328 was led by a grandson of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II who was supported by Byzantine Magnates who often clashed with the centralized Authority of Byzantine. The Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328 was inconclusive and ended with Andronikos III being made co-emperor with his grandfather. However this civil war allowed the Ottoman Turks to make notable gains in Anatolia and set up their capital in Bursa 100 kilometers from Constantinople, the Byzantine capital. However after the initial conflict Andronikos III dethroned his grandfather and became sole emperor.

Following the death of Andronikos III in 1341 another civil war broke out. This civil war lasted from 1341 to 1347. When Andronikos III died he left his six-year-old son under the regency of Anne of Savoy. The de facto leader of the Byzantine Empire, John Cantacuzenus who was not only a close associate of the deceased emperor but an extremely wealthy landowner wanted to become regent instead. However things did not go his way and he was declared emperor in Thrace. More or less this conflict was class warfare the wealthy and powerful supporting Cantacuzenus the poorer supporting the empress regent. In fact when Aristocrats in 1342 proposed that the city of Thessalonica be turned over to Cantacuzenus anti-aristocrats seized the city and governed it until 1350.

The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 saw the exploitation of the Byzantine Empire by the emerging Serbian Empire. The emperor of the new state amidst the chaos proclaimed himself ruler of the Serbs and Greeks. The Serbian king Stefan Uroš IV Dušan made significant territorial gains in Byzantine Macedonia in 1345 and conquered large swaths of Thessaly and Epirus in 1348, Although Dusan would die along with his dream of a Greco–Serbian empire in 1355, Byzantium would still face a powerful Turkish state across the Sea of Marmara. Luckily for Cantacuzenus, he conquered Constantinople in 1347 and ended the civil war afterwards.

In order to secure his authority Cantacuzenus hired Turkish mercenaries which he used in continuing skirmishes against his opponents, left over from his civil war. These mercenaries although they were of some use, in 1354 they seized Gallipoli from the Byzantines. Although in the same year the rogue mercenaries were defeated by western crusaders Turkish armies would eventually control many of the Byzantine Empire's once held territories. These two momentous civil wars severely diminished the Byzantine empires military strength and allowed its opportunistic enemies to make substantial gains into Byzantine territory. Although there was a third smaller conflict from 1373–1379 and a revolt in 1390 the Byzantine Empire was already surrounded by the massive Ottoman Empire.