Editing 1346 (section)

=== Balkans and Asia Minor ===
In the [[Balkans]], on [[April 16]] (Easter Sunday), [[Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia|Stefan Dušan]] was crowned in [[Skopje]] as [[Tsar]] of the new [[Serbian Empire]], which now occupied much of southeastern Europe.<ref name = "dusan"/> Also in 1346, both Bulgaria and Byzantium (which at this time covered most of Greece) were in the middle of a series of civil wars. At the same time, the Christian-held islands and possessions around the Aegean Sea were subject to Turkish raids.<ref name = turk>Theunissen, Hans. "Ottoman-Venetian Diplomatics: The cAhd-Names." ''Electronic Journal of Oriental Studies.'' 1.2 University of Utrecht (1998)</ref>

Orhan, the Ottoman Turkish prince of [[Bithynia]] was married to Theodora, daughter of Emperor [[John VI Kantakouzenos]].<ref name="Cyril267">{{cite book|last=Mango|first=Cyril|title=The Oxford History of Byzantium|location=New York|publisher= Oxford UP|year=2002|page=267}}</ref> The Greek clergy believed that the marriage of a Christian princess and a prominent Muslim would increase the region's power. Orhan already had several other wives, and although Theodora was permitted to keep her religion, she was required to spend the rest of her life in an Islamic harem. Kantakouzenos hoped that Orhan would become his ally in any future wars, but Orhan, like his fellow Turks, became his enemy in the Genoese war. As part of the alliance, the Ottoman prince was permitted to sell the Christians he had captured at Constantinople as slaves in the public market.<ref name="Cyril267"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Gibbon|first=Edward|title=The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/gibbon/decline/files/volume2/chap64.htm#Europe|access-date=2008-07-05}}</ref>