Against All Odds: The Story of The Serbian Empire

[Vuu]

Flag of the Serbian Empire​

Đavol (Devol), Macedonia [1], 1355.

The stress of the latest string on failures was too much on the Emperor - in the south, the eternal thorn in everyone's side was John IV Kantakouzenos, and his machinations cost the Serbs the important town of Veria, an extremely useful and important town, Edessa and others, which in turn cost Serbia the subjugation of Bosnia. This revealed that the Greek subjects of the empire were rather supporting of Kantakouzenos, with all the nasty implications.

The string of bad luck continued - Kantakouzenos and John V met with Dušan in Thessaloniki and the towns lost to Kantakouzenos were returned, and John recovered Adrianople at the expense of the son of Kantakouzenos, Matthew, who then retreated to his stronghold, waiting for Ottoman mercenaries which Kantakouzenos paid by ceding a town on the Gallipolli peninsula, giving the Turk a foothold in Europe. John V retaliates by asking Serbia and their Bulgarian vassals/allies [2] for help. The accidental skirmish with the Turks at Didymoteicho results in the slightly outnumbered Serbo-Bulgaro-Greek forces being routed, which was blamed on the fact that the Bulgarians immediately retreated. The pillaging of Bulgarian Thrace by the Turks was enough warning of what such behavior will lead to... And after the battle, the Turks strengthened their foothold on Europe.

Dušan, seeing that the Turks are by no means a minor, distant threat, he tried to try and coax the Pope into making him the leader of a crusade to break the Turkish power (and nab Constantinople on the way, since 10 years prior the Venetians refused to loan their fleet to the Serb's use, knowing that the Serbians would not be as tolerant as their incompetent Byzantine colleagues, despite the offer to kick the Genoans out, and there was a more recent attempt to strike a deal with the Ottomans to break Byzantium, but Nikephoros Orsini disrupted the talks and ruined it) even offering to convert to Catholicism... The Pope accepted, but made Louis of Hungary the leader of the crusade, and Louis just used this to further disturb Serbia.

As icing on the cake, the Black Death just passed through, killing indiscriminately...

Which brings us to the current situation - in a small Macedonian village, the Emperor of Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians and Albanians is lying sick in bed, everyone already somehow knowing he is about to die. Rumors spread that the Church poisoned him as they heard that he might convert to Catholicism, many theories to his illness arise. Every moment seems it will be the last for the giant [3] man that looks powerful even on the sickbed. However, his sickness prolongs to weeks, and he moves to his "capital" [4], Skoplje, and by the end of December he starts showing signs of recovery [5]. By the second half of January he's almost completely recovered.

There was luck in the timing, however - nobody was very much in the mood for warfare in the winter, and apart from a few villages that changed hands, no major event had occurred really, and this short break allowed him to take attention to the matters of the court. His son and co-ruler, Uroš, didn't seem to have the spirit of a great statesman, and indeed he wasn't much liked by the nobility. A good person maybe, but he needed to find his own feet as a future Emperor, and fast. Who knows if Dušan might live much longer? Uroš's mother, Helena was overprotective of the coddled young man.

So, in order to fix this issue, Dušan decides to send Uroš to govern the rather complicated lands of Zeta and Albania, despite the protests of Helena. Hopefully he will develop into a good administrator there. If only he would know what this would lead to... [6].

[1] - The English article on Dušan has a mistake - The Devol in question was a village on the Vardar, near modern-day Bogdanci, not the one somewhere on the Albania/Macedonia border
[2] - Data is conflicting and scant of this time period, probably because the Ottomans destroyed it all when they came. Bulgaria was heavily influenced by Serbia either way at the time. Whether or not it was vassalage or alliance I can't find the exact info.
[3] - He was 2,04m tall, which is massive for that time period, and surrounded himself with personal guards that had to be over 2m tall. Terrifying for their enemies.
[4] - Serbia indeed had no fixed capital, the court just went where Dušan went
[5] - The PoD itself - Dušan recovers from whatever befell him, which is also unknown, but theories go from stroke to epilepsy.
[6] - Albania and Zeta have God knows how many noble houses/tribes/clans/groups/whatever. Zeta was used as a training ground of sorts by the Nemanyids previously.

--------

So hello ladies and laddies of this nice forum. This is yet another one attempt to write a good TL, except I realized that ASB stories are harder than you think. So I decided to do something that I am a little familiar with. And it just turns out that this PoD might have ludicrous consequences to the entire world... So sit back and enjoy, and of course comment your thoughts!

 

[Scaevola]

Excellent start, if you need help with maps or even writing let me know.

 

[Wolttaire]

I thought he died in a battle with the Turks

 

[Vuu]

From his court in Skadar, Uroš found out that the local nobility didn't respect the young man's authority much. As a matter of fact, soon started various foreign influences in the area. Venice was interested in securing the various ports on the coast, and the loyalty of the Catholic Malesians was dubious at best. Increasingly frustrated, Uroš decides to put the nobles in their place - ordering that the sons of the heads of the various noble houses be sent to his court in Skadar, obviously to serve as hostages to ensure loyalty. This fails as well. So Uroš decides to play bold, and revokes all their privileges that they were used to, only leaving the loyal noblemen (often of smaller and weaker houses) alone. This results in immediate rebellion. 2 rebellions, actually. One is an primarily Albanian one, led by Karl Thopia, while the other is of the Serbs, led by Balša. Soon enough, the magnates started infighting, and Uroš did all he could to divide them further. Zeta would be the first to be secured, in late 1357, and the loyal Đurač Ilijić secures almost all of Zeta. The Albanian revolt however in the meanwhile spread to Epirus, where the political situation was rapidly falling apart, and the general Preljub was critically injured in a battle against the Albanians, but survives[1]. To make matters worse, Nikopheros Orsini had returned and was agitating the local Greeks in Thessaly and Epirus to rebel [2].

Those lands, however, were not in his domain, and nobody asked for his help. So Uroš was completely free to get his affairs with the Albanians in order, and that task started to seem to be much easier than expected. Between 1357 and 1360 Uroš expands his influence and power base [3]. In 1358 Karl Thopia is killed in battle near the derelict fort of Tirkan [4]. In order to send a message, Uroš orders that Karl's body be paraded around Albania. Soon, many realize that the tolerance of the young King is not to be mistaken for weakness and has it's limits. The Albanian rebellion is now a free-for-all between the various noble houses, meanwhile Uroš keeps driving wedges between them by promising land and titles in exchange for loyalty. Conflicting claims, too, hoping that the Albanians exhaust themselves, for Uroš set his eyes up north... The son of Karl, Đurađ, even crosses over to the side of Uroš, bringing the Thopias into his circle. In 1359 it seems like the Albanians will be finally subdued, but a well-equipped and organized revolt by the Catholic Malesians occurs. They rapidly take control of the innumerable mountain valleys. Just as the Albanians in the south (Epirus not counted) have calmed down and realized Uroš is no pushover, north Albania was now a lawless wasteland. The revolt itself, however, was a gross miscalculation - Skadar, Uroš's capital, was pretty much in Malesia itself, just under the mountains, and the populace itself was actually satisfied with Serbian administration. By the end of 1359 the Malesian revolt is smashed too, but the investigation brings up interesting findings... The Hungarians and Venetians were behind this, albeit accidentally - the rival states had mutual interest in seeing Serbia weakened. Dušan was informed of this. But now Uroš, a respected and capable figure [5] had another ambition...

So, in 1560, Dušan made Uroš co-ruler again, expanding his domain of responsibility to cover all of the Slavic-majority lands, as was the initial situation. Unsurprisingly enough, the magnates try to use this power shift to secure their own positions, only to be ruined and replaced by Uroš's Zetan and Albanian loyalists with extreme prejudice, if it seemed that they were planning to try something unwise, like, God forbid, rebel against the very nice and honorable person that is the Emperor's son and heir. It helped that Dušan invested to centralize his realm, among other things (that I will talk about in the next part). Uroš immediately moves his court to Nerodimlje, located on a strategic location, the drainage divide between the Vardar and the Danube, allowing quick access to any location within the Empire within reasonable time. The same year he marries Anca of Wallachia [8], much to his mother's merriment, though he was interested in the woman due to other reasons - to gain allies against Louis of Hungary.

The land of Zahumlje was occupied by Bosnia for quite some time. The new Ban, Tvrtko, however, was forced to give it up to Hungary, and suffered from rebellious nobility, and ever worsening relations with his overlord, Louis... But Louis was one of the most powerful kings in Europe, and an excellent commander. To destroy Bosnia was no easy task. So, warned by the unusually effective fighting of the Albanian rebels, Uroš decides to experiment... Cavalry was powerful, and Serbian cavalry was particularly quality, but it had an significant drawback - only the wealthy nobles could afford horses, and horses can't be used in a fight anywhere. Eventually, Uroš came to a conclusion that the information from the west was true - a well trained infantry group in a tight formation resembling the ancient Phalanx was devastating against mounted knights [6].

That was just one part of the military changes. Serbia had a lot of money. Ludicrous amounts in fact, all from the extremely productive mines, mined by Saxons [7]. So in 1361 Uroš paid some Englishmen to come to Serbia and demonstrate the longbow that he heard about. It was very powerful indeed. There even was an attempt to have mounted longbowmen, but this failed. Not that mounted archers were a problem - Albanians did it anyway, with satisfactory efficiency. Some Genoese however, decided to visit Nerodimlje at the same time, on their way to meet the Emperor for their business regarding the matters of Constantinople, the Turks and other things [9]. But on their way they demonstrated their crossbow skills. Uroš, of course, pays them to teach the Serbs these skills too. The mounted crossbowman is discovered to be especially potent, albeit the crossbow had the problem of being difficult to destring, which was bad in the rain.

The final military "breakthrough" was the shift of the ordinary infantry towards more irregular warfare, which proved devastating in the Albanian revolts - the irregulars were borderline impossible to catch, they moved fast, and could disrupt enemy supply lines with ease. The new army of Uroš was tailored for asymmetrical warfare against more numerous and stronger opponents. An interesting addition was the small cannon, the same kind used on ships to scare the enemy prior to boarding, which was lightweight enough to not slow down movement too much.

So then, he contacted Venice, and made a deal with them to attack Hungary when the time is right. He convinces the Prince of Wallachia, his father-in-law to rebel against Louis. Most importantly, he contacts Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor, and manages to convince him that Hungary needs to be knocked down. Charles was on good terms with Dušan, as even though the scheme to convert to Catholicism in order to lead a Crusade against the Turks failed, the readyness to add another Slavic nation to the Catholic Church was endearing to the Czech Charles [10].

So now all Uroš had to do is wait... And the moment would soon arise. But first, we should catch up with the Emperor, no?

[1] - OTL he died.
[2] - OTL he used the resulting power vacuum after the death of Preljub to try get back his own domain, and successfully does so. Here he senses that the Albanian revolt and Preljub's injury will weaken his power enough, and still comes, but later, in the second half of 1356, compared to OTL 1355.
[3] - This was his biggest problem as Emperor, he didn't have a strong power base - his friends were minor figures with no influence. Combine it with leading a big state with weak infrastructure that is attacked on all fronts, and it is a recipe for disaster. Here, this will change.
[4] - Tirana
[5] - Having a tricky yet manageable situation but no mummy and daddy to help you immediately does you wonders for character development.
[6] - This wasn't some secret knowledge, nobody cared about the infantry that consisted of peasant leavies. Just like Switzerland though, Serbia uses a lot of mercenaries. It's not the Infantry Revolution, but it is a step prior.
[7] - Dušan basically mercenary spammed his enemies to death, even though 90% of his conquests were simply going around the enemy and sieging towns instead. That requires quite a bit of cash, no? Some sources say that Novo Brdo on Kosovo was one of the biggest cities in Europe, bigger than Paris at it's peak, though that's probably false. 50 thousand was the number I think.
[8] - As of OTL
[9] - Spoiler spoiler, if the Venetians won't, then you can bet their arch-rivals will do so with gusto...
[10] - Apparently the two met when Dušan was trying to arrange a crusade and they liked each other

 

[Vuu]

Excellent start, if you need help with maps or even writing let me know.

Thank'e!

I thought he died in a battle with the Turks

That would be Lazar Hrebeljanović, all the way in 1389. There were some regional magnates that died in battle too, but no leader of entire country.

Anyways, we're now starting to see the consequences of Dušan living longer, and Uroš not being instantly swamped on all sides before even getting used to emperorship. Now, in the next part, we're gonna see what Dušan was up to while Uroš was accumulating his power. How will he deal with the Turks? What about the enclave around Thessaloniki? Affairs with the Bulgarians? The enroaching of the Turks? Europe is basically going to be unrecognizable after all the things that will go down.

 

[aap5454]

Definitely watching this, a surviving Serbian Empire and weaker Ottomans means history as we know it is massively different.!

 

[dusan989]

Survaving Serbian Empire, nice. Good star and good luck in the future.

 

[Vuu]

The affairs in the Serbian proper section of the Empire were relatively calm, Albanian revolt notwithstanding, in the Greek section, Dušan had his hands full. The Turks' European ambitions are not wavering, and Orhan-bey's son, Murad, seems to be an even trickier person than his father. The Bulgarian Emperor, Ivan Alexander, proclaimed Ivan Shishman as co-ruler in 1356, and was preparing to proclaim Ivan Asen too. His son from the first marriage, Ivan Stratsimir, was already in charge of Vidin, and almost independent. This was guaranteed to completely disable Bulgaria, which was theoretically good for Serbia, who'd simply take over. However, now, disunity was the last thing Dušan needs from his ally, until the external threats (the Turks), who now own territory in Europe, have been destroyed. Louis of Hungary is still the eternal troublemaker too. Thessaloniki was still an Byzantine exclave and a source of tension too.

However, things soon started to play into Dušan's favor. Nikopheros II Orsini arrived in 1356 to take advantage of the injury of Preljub and the illness of Dušan. The current governor of Thessaly and Epirus, Dušan's brother Simeon [1], and his brother-in-law, was unpopular with the local Greek nobility. So Nikopheros tried, and had success, with riling up the local Greeks into rebellion. That's where it goes downhill immediately - Simeon makes a deal with the Albanians for help in exchange for privileges. The Greeks make few gains, holding a disjointed, ever-shifting territory scattered in Thessaly and Epirus, as Dušan's armies arrive to quell them. In the battle of Arta in April 1358, two massive Albanian and Greek armies clash. Preljub deliberately delays his intervention, until the Albanians are almost defeated. At that point, Preljub's army sweeps the Greeks and destroys their army, while Nikopheros is captured trying to hide in a nearby village, and killed by the angered Albanian soldiers. However, due to the fact that most of the Albanian leadership died or was critically injured in the battle, the Albanian revolt, which was still simmering in the remote areas, stops, and the Greeks realize that dislodging the Serbs will not be an easy task. Epirus and Thessaly were now more or less pacified, and the stage is set to conquer Athens and the Peloponnese eventually. Most importantly, the Serbs now have at least some more battle experience [2].

The other issue was the issue were the Ottoman Turks. Byzantine Emperor John V recognized Orhan's gains in Thrace, giving the Turks immense prestige and an advantage over their Anatolian rivals. The Turks are excellent soldiers, and keep winning battle after battle. This had to be stopped somehow. So Dušan spends a few years consolidating his domain, putting magnates in their place, and prepared his army. The Turks have spread further while the Serbs were busy hunting Nikopheros, and seem to be gunning for Adrianople, though that was still unattainable for them, for the time being. Even worse, the Byzantines under John V were now completely useless, their state annihilated by the civil war that had continued in 1352 and ended recently with John V winning. Though nominally allied with Serbia and Bulgaria, it was obvious that Byzantium simply didn't have what it took to be of any help against the Turks. Instead, Dušan plans to leave Byzantium to be finished off by the Turks, then pick up the pieces. If plan for a crusade failed, he'll do the job himself.

Then, in early 1359, a miracle happens - namely, one alchemist from Ser [3], whose name is lost to the records, by unknown means, acquired the formula and blueprints for the now-forgotten Greek Fire and the device that goes with it. This raises immediate attention from Dušan himself, who orders the construction of the flamethrower, now capable of throwing more of the incendiary fluid on larger distances. Though primarily designed as a naval weapon, Serbia had no real navy of it's own. But the device was easy to adapt for usage by land armies, and it could deal devastating damage to entire armies [4]. It was now time to make the finishing touches. The construction of shipyards in many coastal locations, and seeks out to rent a navy, and more mercenaries for what he is preparing... Serbia had a quickly growing economy based on mining, and funding this was not too problematic.

In 1360, Uroš is made co-ruler again. Dušan supports his son's plan to take back Zahumlje. In 1361, he arranges for the Genoese to rent him out a small navy. With his new secret weapon, he won't need much anyway... He also hires many mercenaries from everywhere he could find. He notices his son's changes in the army, and starts applying them as well - the Turks fight in a way current armies can't counter good. He then reminds the Bulgarian, Ivan, who he's still technically a vassal to [5]. The stage is set, and all they have to wait for is the right time to strike. The Genoese navy is arranged, and arrived in the port of Morunac [6] in early 1362. Just in time, as Orhan died, and Murad took over, immediately launching a beeline towards Adrianople...

[1] - Preljub was a general (vojvoda), but his "domain" was mostly in the area, he wasn't the ruler of the land though.
[2] - Dušan basically conquered all that land by siege, not any major battle.
[3] - Serres
[4] - You know I had to do it to 'em. It was stronger than me.
[5] - Like I said, it was a strange arrangement - Serbia considered Bulgaria as a vassal, while Bulgarians saw themselves as independent and allied with the Serbs.
[6] - Kavala

 

[Vuu]

The Byzantines became rather suspicious of their fellow Christian neighbors. Bulgarian and Serbian troops amassed at the border, and their numbers increased daily. The Serbian Emperor offered help against the Ottomans, in exchange for pretty much making Byzantium a Serbian vassal. This was unacceptable to John V, and he refused the offer. The Turks started eroding the rump Empire further and further with incredible speed, town after town surrendering to them. The Byzantines, however, prove resilient. In the winter between 1362 and '63, Murad even manages to break into Adrianople, only to be kicked out [1]. This worked well - the Byzantines might make the Serb's job easier when the time is right. Then, in June 1363, Murad places Adrianople under siege yet again. And the city won't last long, albeit the defense is now better. An increasing amount of Turkish troops are concentrating on Adrianople.

This was the signal to invade. On the morning of 27th June 1363, much to the dismay of both Byzantines and Turks, a massive Serbian army was staring them down. With siege equipment of their own. And not alone - the Bulgarians were to the north. What was going to occur was obvious. The Turks were badly outnumbered, but they were good warriors. They fought well, but started to notice something disturbing - the Bulgarians were much easier to fight than the Serbs. The Serbs used strange tactics and had strange western weapons. About halfway through the battle, strange devices appeared in the Serbian lines. Soon enough, the Turks would learn what they are - the legendary Greek Fire was rediscovered somehow, and made even deadlier. The incendiary liquid caused the occasional Greek or non-muslim yaya and musellem [2] to immediately flee or even switch sides. Indeed, the battle turned into a rout - Murad himself was completely destroyed by the heat, no identifiable remain could be found. After witnessing the bloodbath that had occurred, the city surrendered immediately. The city and the area around them were annexed to Bulgaria.

The Ottomans were not in quite a bad situation. Not because the Serbs can now basically burn their way through anything, but because the beylik is left leaderless - Murad had all his brothers killed, and the children of his own are still young. The oldest, Bayezid, was only 9. This was unprecedented, and unknown. Worst of all, the news spread fast - and the not-so small amount of Christians in the beylik were now growing restless, and the other beyliks seem interested in knocking the Ottomans down a notch. Some sort of regency council is established, but their authority is shaky at best.

Meanwhile, back in Europe, the Turkish invaders completely shatter, and Serbia annexes Gallipoli by 1364. But now Byzantium wants their land back. Dušan sends an ultimatum - demanding that John V surrender the Empire to Dušan, who claims that the Byzantines are too incompetent and a security risk for other Balkan and European states, as demonstrated by their inability to prevent the Ottomans from taking land in Europe. John and his family can peacefully retire in privileged positions, and Dušan promises that they will keep the Peloponnese as a sort of a personal domain. John V rejects, again, and tries to rally Venice against Serbia. The Venetians, though, are now busy fighting the Hungarians, and are on amicable terms with Serbia as well [3]. They only harass the Genoan navy, and half-halfheartedly too. Byzantium is left completely alone. Serbian troops and the Genoan navy place Thessaloniki under lockdown. The massive-Serbo-Bulgarian army besieges the Queen of cities, while the Genoans block the city from the water. A small, 3rd army, led by the aging Preljub, crosses onto the Peloponnese, but doesn't do much beyond simple looting and raiding - just to apply pressure on Byzantium from all sides.

It doesn't take long for the populace in Constantinople to grow unruly - Serbs are constantly setting fields on fire with their flamethrowers, and the men that man the walls constantly get turned to char and ash. Riots break out, and grow out of control with the news that Thessaloniki finally surrendered, but the ensuing riot and subsequent fire basically emptied the city fully. Byzantine troops soon grow more and more attracted to the idea that it might be better to surrender the city to a strong Orthodox state, than to remain a glorified city state in shambles, under eternal threat of the Muslim strongmen of Anatolia. This sentiment grows stronger, as the Byzantine fleet is set on fire and almost completely sunk and captured by the Serb-funded Genoan navy in a catastrophic attempt to prevent total naval lockdown.

The city would remain under siege for almost 3 months, until one Byzantine team of guards betrayed and opened their gate, a rather minor one, to the Serbs, or the Serbs managed to force through. Officially, Constantinople fell on 18th November 1364. This is where everything falls apart, and similarly to Thessaloniki, the rioting causes massive damage, and a fire. The entire imperial family is shipped off to the court of the currently absent Uroš, in the distant Nerodimlje. The news come as a shock to Europe and beyond, but was also a relief - Constantinople was now in able hands, and the Ottomans were decapitated, for now. However, the rumors of the Serbs using some strange, fire-breathing machine to slaughter entire armies makes other rulers uneasy, but the Serbs deny that they have such a machine vehemently. The last vestiges of Byzantium are now in the Peloponnese, and the "Macedonian Army" (the one that sieged Thessaloniki) is now making it's way south to finish the job.

The Peloponnese would fall relatively fast, by mid-1365, the powerful Palaiologian citadel of Mystras is captured, ending the "Despotate of Morea". Now, only Athens and Bosnia remain outside of Serbian clutches, and the situation in Bosnia has grown quite interesting as Louis I learns how tricky it is when almost [4] every single country you share a border with invades you simultaneously...

[1] - For some reason, the precise date or even year of the conquest of Adrianople isn't recorded. Anywhere between 1362 and 1363, so I'm taking a little freedom to start adding some events.
[2] - Yayas and musellems were the mostly mercenary troops in the Turkish army, not required to be Muslim, and paid in cash instead of the land grant, the timar. Turks found the salaries uninteresting though, which is why most of these were Christians.
[3] - See part 1, and Uroš's plan. I think you know where this is heading...
[4] - Poland...

****
So yes, I did it. No good Dušan TL can have no Constantinoples taken. Not that there are many, I never seen one anyway. Slowly, but surely, I'm taking care of loose ends. Now to think about the butterflies for when I have to take care of the lands beyond. And to choose how far I want to go with this thing. My rough plans already simply take everything considered holy and throw them into the trash (quite literally, just you wait, and figure out what I'm talking about)

 

[Sceonn]

Wouldn't the Serbs Hellenize now that they've conquered the Empire? This really should be no different than the various Germanic conquests of the west and the way they settled down.

 

[Vuu]

Wouldn't the Serbs Hellenize now that they've conquered the Empire? This really should be no different than the various Germanic conquests of the west and the way they settled down.

Well, Dušan was sort of hellenizing, under the impression of his childhood in Constantinople. On the other hand, the Greeks slaughtered each other quite generously in the civil wars which allowed this to take place.

However, the Greeks aren't very loyal, nor as influential as they were a century earlier... Constantinople is for the time being more of a big trading depot and military outpost by the day, especially after the angry populace kinda caused their own city to burn down, directly or indirectly, with their rioting. And Uroš isn't as Grecophillic as his father. And Slavs historically proved rather resilient to assimilation into Greeks, or full assimilation in general. But don't worry, I got something very interesting cooking. I just have to decide whether or not this will be a mere Serbwank or a Serb superwank, and the latter seems very attractive as an option, simply for the novelty if anything.

But long story short, the assimilation of non-Greeks into Greeks won't be very widespread, simply due to the fact that it's no longer the migration period, and due to the fact that the Greeks kinda jumped on a landmine with their eternal civil wars, making them not as a dominant culture they used to be, others adopting their advances, but keeping their cultural intactness.

 

[kasumigenx]

What about Ragusa?

 

[Vuu]

What about Ragusa?

We'll talk about that in the next part, regarding the war for Zahumlje. Dubrovnik (Ragusa)-Serbia relations were very good, to the point some consider that at the time Dubrovnik was in the Serbian sphere of influence, and Dubrovnik would very much like to have Serbia at it's borders rather than the Hungarians and Bosnians, who always try to destroy the small state.

 

[Phradmon]

Well, Dušan was sort of hellenizing, under the impression of his childhood in Constantinople. On the other hand, the Greeks slaughtered each other quite generously in the civil wars which allowed this to take place.

However, the Greeks aren't very loyal, nor as influential as they were a century earlier... Constantinople is for the time being more of a big trading depot and military outpost by the day, especially after the angry populace kinda caused their own city to burn down, directly or indirectly, with their rioting. And Uroš isn't as Grecophillic as his father. And Slavs historically proved rather resilient to assimilation into Greeks, or full assimilation in general. But don't worry, I got something very interesting cooking. I just have to decide whether or not this will be a Serbwank or a Serbbukkake, and the latter seems very attractive as an option, simply for the novelty if anything.

But long story short, the assimilation of non-Greeks into Greeks won't be very widespread, simply due to the fact that it's no longer the migration period, and due to the fact that the Greeks kinda jumped on a landmine with their eternal civil wars, making them not as a dominant culture they used to be, others adopting their advances, but keeping their cultural intactness.

Serb-bukkake? Quite weird use for this word. Do you mean a Serbscrew by that?

 

[Vuu]

Serb-bukkake? Quite weird use for this word. Do you mean a Serbscrew by that?

I admit that it's unusual, but I saw similar usage once some time ago here. Was quite the bait, got tons of replies. It is what it is.

 

[Vuu]

So, I'm thinking about changing the format a little for future updates - which will really be visible after the next war update. The point of this, is because I currently write parts on the spot. This is why updates are so short. I would instead like to write in notebad, and accumulate material, so parts are longer. Any tips/suggestions? Would you like a yearly format instead, where I type out events by the year? Or periodic format, where events in one time period are described in a more "narrative" fashion?

 

[Unknown]

A yearly format would be good...

 

[The Professor]

An interesting TL here.
It's a bit early but thoughts on language and orthography?

 

[Vuu]

An interesting TL here.
It's a bit early but thoughts on language and orthography?

Hmm, I didn't think much about that. But at this point there already were moves to simplify the official language, and Dušan's Code was written in the "people's language" (due to some shenanigans, spoken and written language were far different). This all influenced much-later programs to make the language accessible, which is why have pretty much the perfect phonemic orthography we do

 

[The Professor]

Hmm, I didn't think much about that. But at this point there already were moves to simplify the official language, and Dušan's Code was written in the "people's language" (due to some shenanigans, spoken and written language were far different). This all influenced much-later programs to make the language accessible, which is why have pretty much the perfect phonemic orthography we do

If his empire endures I can see a more "Greek" Cyrillic in the Balkans which would certainly influence the Latin transliteration.
Definitely differences from OTL Karadzic and Gaj alphabets.