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The dissolution of the Byzantine
Empire heralded the end of Byzantine rule over Macedonia. Discounting short
interruptions, Byzantine authority had extended for more than five centuries.
When the Slavs settled in the Balkans, Byzantium was a highly civilized empire
and a significant factor in shaping and resolving European political and
spiritual issues. The Slavs, including the Macedonian Slavs, were barbarians in
the eyes of Byzantium. But while Byzantium was to give much to the Slavs in
culture and civilization, the Macedonian Slavs contributed to the Empire as
well. The products of the Macedonian peasantry, the fruits of their labors and
their service in Byzantine military forces, often in elite units, represented
the active creative role of the Macedonian Slavs and their contribution to
everyday Byzantine life. Furthermore, "the fresh creative force of the
Macedonian Slavic people penetrated into all spheres of state authority and
cultural life of Byzantium". When the Slavs were first occupying the Balkans, Byzantine art had begun to
bloom anew. The Church of St. Sophia and Church of St. Irene in Constantinople,
Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna and the Basilica of Porech date from this
period. The contemporary art of the Slavs, however, shows "a lower artistic
degree of development". In medieval Macedonia, the history of art is in
many ways the history of religious art: in architecture, fresco painting and
decorative sculpture. Macedonian art began to develop as an independent and
authentic school of art with the coming of
St.
Clement of Ohrid. With the building of his monastery in Ohrid (893), argues
Dimche Koco, the Macedonian Slavs got "their first great religious and
educational center of epochal importance, and conditions were created for a
complete change in the development of their aesthetic feelings. With this
monastery they accepted and continued the artistic forms created and developed
on the territory of Macedonia before their arrival." Whereas architecture
in Macedonia had a provincial character, its fresco painting was at a level
equal to the finest Byzantine works; of note are the 9th and 10th century
frescoes in the Church of St. Sophia in Ohrid and the frescoes of Velyusa and
Vodocha. Stephan Dushan transformed Serbia into a major power in the Balkans in
overrunning the western provinces of the Byzantine Empire. In 1345 he proclaimed
himself Tsar of the Serbs and the Greeks, and the Archbishopric of Serbia was
raised to the level of a patriarchate. Certain significant events in medieval
Serbia are connected to Macedonia: for example, the crowning of Dushan as tsar
on April 16, 1346, took place in Skopje, and the coronation was attended by the
Archbishop of Ohrid. Three years later Dushan, again in Skopje, enacted his Code
of Laws, to be later supplemented in Serres. As often occurs in recently-formed large states after the death of their
founder, the Serbian state soon grew unstable after the passing of Tsar Dushan.
After his death in 1355, the power of the central authorities rapidly declined
and was supplanted by that of the increasingly independently-minded feudal
lords. The Serbian Empire was split up into small parts, with several feudal
states on or holding Macedonian territory. Elena, Dushan's wife, ruled Serres
and the surrounding regions. Caessar Voihna ruled in Drama. Hlapen, Marko's
father-in-law, ruled Berroea (Veria) and Voden (Edessa). Despot Oliver ruled a
realm extending from Zhegligovo to Belasitsa and Melnik. Gregory ruled Ohrid.
Volkashin Mrnyavchevic was zhupan (administrator) of Prilep (in 1365 he
proclaimed himself King), with territory extending from Skopje to Prizren; his
brother Uglesha ruled over Strymon for about six years. The frequent attacks of
Turkish forces forced Uglesha, though a Serbian, to establish closer relations
with Byzantium (which had already begun to show renewed signs of weakness). The
Ottoman Turks invaded Byzantium without encountering significant resistance, in
1354 conquering Gallipoli and eight years later seizing Edirne. Edirne became
the new Turkish capital and the road to the Balkans lay open before them. On September 26, 1371, O.S., at Chernomen on the Maritsa River, Turkish military
forces met the united armies of Volkashin and Uglesha Mrnyavchevich. The Serbian
army was decisively defeated, the two brothers were killed on the battlefield,
and the Turks were free to further penetration of the Balkan Peninsula. After
the defeat of the Mrnyavchevich brothers, Manuel Palaeologus occupied the region
of Serres and Chalcidice. Volkashin's son, Marko, recognized Turkish authority
and became a Turkish vassal. Macedonia was thus left to the mercy of the new
conqueror. At first, the Turks were content with committing small robberies and
taking captives; but they soon they expanded their presence. Serres fell in
1383; Shtip, Veles, Prilep, Bitola and Solun (Salonica, Thessaloniki) in 1387;
and Skopje was taken in 1392. In 1395 at the battle at Rovine, King Marko was
killed while fighting for the Turks against the Vlachs, and the Turks assumed
direct control over the region. By the end of the 14th century, Macedonia was a
Turkish territory. This was the beginning of its five centuries of Turkish
rule-or, all too common, misrule. |
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