Expansion of the Bulgars and Serbs

s a reward for their involvement in the civil war - although they had not actually been of any assistance - the Bulgars received, from their Byzantine allies, lands along the Hebros together with the cities of Philippopolis and Stenimachos. However, it was the Serbs who benefited most from their involvement. Their sovereign, Stefan Dusan, seized the opportunity to extend his domination over the Balkans. In 1343 he took the towns of Vodena, Kastoria and Lerin, and completed the conquest of Albania, with the exception of Dyrrachion. His intention was to replace the Byzantine Empire with a Greco-Serbian one. In 1345 he took Serres and in November of the same year he received the title of Emperor. Following the Byzantine model, the authority of the Emperor was complemented by the establishment, in 1346, of an independent Patriarchate, and at Easter of the same year the new Serbian Patriarch solemnly crowned Stefan Dusan Emperor at Skopje. Not even the end of the civil war, which was to occur shortly after, would now halt the expansion of the Serbs.