WI: Stefan Dusan crowned Roman Emperor

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Deleted member 67076

So, some of ya may know about Stefan Dusan, first ruler of the Serbian empire, amazing general and all around a hyper competent man. Apparently during his intervention of the Roman civil war of 1341-47, there was some talk of crowning him Roman Emperor.

So, what if that happened and he was crowned Roman Emperor? Interestingly enough, with the exception of Athens, Naxos, Bulgaria and the northern part of the Morea, you've effectively recreated Alexios' empire.

What would happen as a result of this? Would we see Slavization of the Roman Empire? A reconquest of Anatolia and Bulgaria?
 
That's an interesting idea. Dusan actually did crown himself "Emperor of the (Serbs and) Romans", Romans here meaning Byzantines, naturally, but he never seized Constantinople, which would have been the key piece relevant to this title.

His priorities would most likely be establishing a strong chain of fortifications at the shores of the Sea of Marmara to force back any Ottoman incursions (Dusan was one of the few people of his time who took the Ottomans as a serious threat). An even bigger priority would be to stabilize the realm and assert his own authority in the new Serbian-Byzantine Empire, and, in terms of foreign policy, this could mean a campaign to reconquer the Catholic-ruled statelets in Athens and Achaea back into the Byzantine fold.

I don't think Dusan would attack Bulgaria, since at the time it was highly cooperative and friendly with Serbia. Besides, it was de facto divided into three states since 1356, so not much of a danger. Probably no invasion of Anatolia either, for a variety of reasons. For one, just like Dusan, the Ottomans can play the fortifications game around the Sea of Marmara too, and he doesn't have a fleet large enough to land elsewhere in Anatolia with a large army.

I also don't think this new empire would be thoroughly slavicized. Dusan was rather tolerant to Byzantine customs and nobility even in his early conquests, and with Constantinople, he'd need to be just as tolerant if not more in order to encourage the existing Byzantine power structures to collaborate. But some degree of slavicization would still happen. Serbian will almost certainly become a second official language of the Empire, next to Greek, and certain slavic customs, words, and aspects of Serbian court life are bound to trickle down to the annexed regions.
 
It all depends on how he plays his cards following the conquest.

Alienating the Greek subjects would be a serious no-no. The Empire's mechanism functioned and it was quite resistant to changes. The most probable result will be a steady hellenisation of Serbia. The Serbian church would be even more submissive to Constantinople and Serbs might start identifying themselves as Romans as well. The syurdier power base in the Balkans means that the Bulgarians are almost encircled and would eventually fold to a dettermined offensive.

The Ottimans would have a serious problem gaining a foothold in the Balkans.

The Venetinas and Genovese would be probably hostile to the reinvigorated state to their east.
 
One other question: if the Ottomans were a threat in the south, does Stefan Dusan have to worry about the Golden Horde from the north? His reign did occur before the Battle of Kulikovo though, and the Tatar-Mongols would have been Muslims already.
 
One other question: if the Ottomans were a threat in the south, does Stefan Dusan have to worry about the Golden Horde from the north? His reign did occur before the Battle of Kulikovo though, and the Tatar-Mongols would have been Muslims already.

The Mongol influence in the Balkans was on a steady decline since 1300. After Khan Ozbek's death in 1341, they completely stopped trying to meddle in Wallachian, Bulgarian and Serbian affairs, and the colony of Tatars at the Budjak was reduced from a formidable military force to a small domain just barely capable of defending its own independence. So, overall, not much of a threat.
 
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