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The Battle of Velbazhd ((ブルガリア語:битка при Велбъжд), ''bitka pri Velbazhd''; (セルビア語:Битка код Велбужда), ''bitka kod Velbužda'') is a battle which took place between Bulgarian and Serbian armies on 28 July 1330, near the town of Velbazhd (present day Kyustendil). The growing power of the Serbian Kingdom from the late 13th century raised serious concerns in the traditional Balkan powers Bulgaria and Byzantine Empire which agreed for joint military actions against Serbia in 1327. Three years later the bulk of the Bulgarian and Serbian armies clashed at Velbazhd and the Bulgarians were caught by surprise. Serbian victory shaped the balance of power in Balkans in the next two decades. The Bulgarians did not lose territory after the battle but were unable to stop the Serbian advance towards Macedonia. Serbia managed to conquer Macedonia and parts of Thessaly and Epirus reaching its greatest territorial extent ever. Their new King Stefan Dušan was crowned Emperor with Bulgarian help in 1346. However, after Dušan's death in 1355 his Empire disintegrated as did Bulgaria after the death of Ivan Alexander in 1371 and both states were subsequently destroyed by the Ottoman Turks. == Origins of conflict == During the long but unsuccessful reign of Emperor Constantine Tikh Asen (1257–1277) the Bulgarian Empire lost its possessions in northern Macedonia including Skopie, the original feudal estate of the Emperor to the Byzantines. Both Empires were faced with serious external and internal problems and from the 1280s the Serbs began to expand their Kingdom to the south in northern Macedonia. During the internal war in the Byzantine Empire (1320–1328) waged between the aged emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his ambitious grandson Andronikos III Palaiologos, the Serbian King Stefan Uroš III (also known as Stefan Dečanski) actively supported the side of old emperor and in the process gained some minor forts in Macedonia. After in 1328 Andronikos III won and deposed his grandfather. Serbia and the Byzantines entered a period of bad relations, closer to the state of undeclared war. On the other hand, the Bulgarian Emperor Michael Asen III supported his brother-in-law Andronikos III. Previously, in 1324, he divorced and ousted his wife and Stefan’s sister Anna Neda, and married Andronikos III’s sister Theodora. During that time the Serbs captured some important towns such as Prosek and Prilep and even besieged Ohrid (1329).〔J. A. Fine. The Late Medieval Balkans. A critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press, 1987, II, p. 271〕 The two Empires were seriously worried about the fast growth of Serbia and on 13 May 1327 settled a clearly anti-Serb peace treaty. After another meeting with Andronikos III in 1329, the rulers decided to invade their common enemy; Michael Asen III prepared for joint military operations against Serbia.〔Nicephori Gregoras. Historiae byzantinae ed. Schopen, I, Bonnae, 1829, I, 391, 394;〕 Michael Shishman desired to retake the north-western and south-western Bulgarian lands which the Serbs had previously conquered.〔Божилов. Фамилията Асеневци (1186-1460). С., 1994, I, № 23, с. 125; История, I,〕 The plan included the thorough elimination of Serbia and its partition between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire.〔Бурмов. Шишмановци, с. 45 и бел. 281〕〔Историjа српског народа, I, с.507, бел 25〕 According to some Serbian chroniclers, he demanded the submission of the Serbian king and threatened to "set up his throne in the middle of the Serbian land". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Velbazhd」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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