Palermo, January 15th, 1348
The city threw open its gates to Theodore Doukas and his army. Fighting for the city was not over though as the Angevin garrison still held the city's castles. It would take several more months till the garrisons were forced to surrender the castles but with the Sicilian fleet controlling the sea, the Angevin soldiers could not hope to receive any support. Meanwhile Theodore systematically reduced the remaining Angevin holdings on the island.
Thessaloniki, April 1348
The city kept defying Ioannis VI and Gregory Palamas as its new archbishop. But it remained cut off with the Serbs dominating Macedonia. Its sole outlet to the outside world was through the sea.
Elasson, Thessaly, May 1348
The despotate's army retreated south. Dusan had brought an army of 26,000 men to invade the Lascarid holdings in Greece. Michael Philantropenos could initially gather only 8,000 men. Even reinforced by Theodore sending in a hurry about 3,000 men from Sicily the despotate's army had been severely outnumbered. But Michael had at least the advantage of highly defensible ground, you could not invade Thessaly from Macedonia only through the Tempi valley or through Elasson. Tempi was practically impassable with the Sicilians holding the castle of Platamon in its northern mouth and the despotate's fleet there to support it. Thus Dusan had chosen to invade from Servia down to Sarantaporon and Elasson. Michael had delayed him time and again but where the Serbian heavy cavalry had repeatedly failed to push out the Greek infantry holding the passes the Albanian light infantry recruited from Dusan's newly acquired holdings had finally succeeded. Michael retreated having lost a thousand men. He had inflicted notably heavier casualties on the Serbs but the Serb road to Thessaly was open...
Samos, July 1348
The last of the Turkish garrisons in the islands lost to the knights of Saint John and the Angevins surrendered to the Sicilian navy. By now the Sicilians had also seized the smaller Dodecanese islands under the control of the knights. Only Karpathos, a Venetian holding, remained outside the despotate's control.
Venice, August 1348
The republic signed an 8 years truce with the kingdom of Hungary.
Galata, Constantinople, September 1348
The local Genoese were busily reinforcing the fortifications of their quarter. They were not the only ones making preparations. In Constantinople proper Ioannis VI despite the imperial treasury being empty, was scrapping money from all sources, including loans from the aristocracy to rebuild the navy. By the end of the year he would be confident enough to reduce tolls in the harbors of Constantinople directly antagonizing the port of Galata which by now was controlling ten times the trade volume of Constantinople proper.
Larisa, Thessaly, November 1348
Dusan's advance into Thessaly had been seriously hindered by having to break through the
castle of Damasi and Larisa's own fortifications. Dusan had the numbers to besiege both at the same time but despite the plague the garrison s had stubbornly held out for months. But Dusan had pushed with the sieges just as stubbornly despite his army suffering as much as the defenders from disease and having to deal with constant harassing from the smaller despotate army. In the end his persistence had born fruit with both garrisons being forced to come to terms. Dusan would appoint one of his magnates
Preljub as governor of the conquered parts of Thessaly. But the war with the despotate was far from over. And this time Dusan also had to deal with a rebellious population that instead of being indifferent to its new conquerors had instead reasons to be loyals to the despotate.
Naples, December 1348
It had not been a good year for the kingdom. The black death had taken the lives of hundreds of thousands. But Charles III could at least count on the plague ravaging just as much the population of the so called despotate of Sicily, including killing thousands out of the army that had smashed his army at Imera. He had managed to raise 11,000 men this year and even launch an attack into Calabria. His attack had not amounted to much, it had been stopped cold by a Sicilian army under Alexandros but, Alexandros army had been actually slightly smaller than his own. This wasn't a bad sign in particular when coupled with news of the Serb invasion of Thessaly. Charles begun making plans for the next campaign season with increased confidence. They would be cut short when he caught the plague himself and died a couple of days before new year's eve...
Piraeus, March 1349
Alexandros Doukas Lascaris, had not been in Greece since before the war with the late and not so lamented Charles III had begun. Now he was bringing with him a thousand Cumans and twice as many infantry. They would be joined in Athens by another thousand recently recruited Greeks and Albanians under Ioannis Buas before marching north to join Philantropenos army in Lamia. The despotate could afford the effort. But it was not coming cheaply. Its debt had jumped to over 370,000 ducats.
Naples, April 1349
Louis of Taranto, newly crowned king of Sicily led the royal army south against Calabria. Theodore had offered him an one year truce when news of Charles III's death had reached him. Louis at the advice of his brother and Walter of Brienne had refused fearing that it would make him look weak to his barons, particularly given the rumors that Theodore had sent a fleet and army east. Theodore had indeed sent an army east. But he still had ten thousand men in Calabria. The Sicilian and Neapolitan armies would pass the next several months maneuvering back in forth, with no decisive battle and with neither gaining the upper hand.
East Macedonia, May 1349
Ioannis VI led an army of five thousand men into Macedonia. With Dusan tied down fighting Theodore he could not let the opportunity to try liberating Macedonia go to waste. His army would soon advance to Serres before Dusan was forced to send reinforcements to Macedonia under Preljub to stop him. While Ioannis VI and his army were tied down in Macedonia the Genoese of Galata would try to take advantage burning the new imperial fleet. But the Byzantines would reack attacking Galata in term forcing the Genoese to come to terms.
Pharsalus, Thessaly, July 1349
Stefan Dusan had start his second campaign with about 27,000 men. Over a third had been diverted to defend against the constant raiding of the Sicilian fleet in garrisons and to meet the attack of Ioannis VI into Macedonia, Dusan had been uncertain whether Kantakouzenos and Vatatzes were in collusion, but could not let Kantakouzenos snip at his Macedonian holdings unhindered. Michael and Alexandros had patiently avoided to give battle till he had been left with just with about 17,500 men facing 15,000. The Serb heavy cavalry would carry the day but at heavy cost, both armies would lose nearly 3,000 men, and the Sicilians would retreat south in good order. It was not the kind of low cost, high profit war Dusan and his nobles were used to waging for all these years. And Dusan was also receiving increasing complaints from his vassals in the north over raids into their lands by
Stephen II Kotromanić the ban of Bosnia...
Ortona, Abruzzo, September 1349
Louis I king of Hungary, upon news of the death of Charles III had tried to convince pope Clement VI to support his claim to the throne of Naples to no avail, Clement had instead confirmed Joanna and her husband on the throne and instructed him that he should follow the church's advise. Louis had instead decided to take matters to his own hands and seize what he considered his own by force of arms. With the war with Venice over, he could take the shortest route directly across the Adriatic to attack Joanna. But Louis had no fleet. The Neapolitan fleet conveniently has but a shadow of its former self after its defeats at Sicilian hands, but the Venetians had refused Louis offer to charter ships to carry his army citing their neutrality, while the pope instructed Genoa to refuse Louis offers to hire ships us well. Happily for Louis Theodore Doulas Lascaris might have been a borderline schismatic but was a schismatic with no reason to heed to the pope's orders with ample ships ad even bore ample reason to want Louis in Italy. And thus Louis with an army of 12,000 men would land in Ortona and march south. The lords of Abruzzo and Aquila would immediately declare for him...
Corfu, October 1349
With Louis of Hungary landing in Italy, Louis of Taranto had been forced to march north to meet the invader, thus leaving the south open to attack. Theodore hadn't lost the opportunity to invade Basilicata faced only with the local feudal levies of the counts of Sanseverino. But at the same time he had dispatched part of his army and fleet to secure Corfu. The local population would welcome the Sicilians, but the Angevin garrison would hunker down to the nearly impregnable castle of Corfu hoping its supplies would hold out longer than the Sicilians...
