Byzantine Battles: Battle of Didymoteichon

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Battle of Didymoteichon (Battle of Demotika)	year: 1352 October 1352
Victory of Ottomans fighting for John VI against Serbs fighting for John V	★ ★ ★ ★ ★

enemy: (Civil War)	location: Modern Didymoteichon on Northeastern Greece	accuracy: ●●●●●
battle type: Pitched Battle	war: Civil War of 1352-1357	modern country: Greece

	▼ The Byzantines(emperor: John VI Kantakouzenos)	▼ The Enemies
Commander:	Suleyman Pasha	Borilovic
Forces:	10,000 Ottoman Turks	4,000 Serbs
Losses:	Heavy	Heavy

Background story:

In 1347, John Kantakouzenos became Byzantine emperor after a civil war that devastated Byzantium and lasted 6 years during which the rival parties called in the aid of the Serbians, Bulgarians, and the Ottoman Turks, and engaged mercenaries of every origin. He was joint emperor with John V Palaiologos and sole administrator during the minority of his colleague
At that time it was not clear when Kantakouzenos would hand over power, but it was almost certain that the successor was John V. This was very unpleasant for Kantakouzenos' son, Matthew Kantakouzenos. John Kantakouzenos, in order to appease his son (and to secure his future), entrusted him with the hegemony of a large region of Thrace, which Matthew ruled from Adrianople as a semi-independent ruler.
John V saw that this was an indirect way of detaching a part of the now small empire of which he was hereditary king. So he reacted and began to intervene in Matthew's territory and challenge his authority there.

The Battle:

Steadily deteriorating relations between Matthew Kantakouzenos, who now ruled eastern Thrace, and John V Palaiologos sowed the seeds of yet another internal conflict.
Open warfare broke out in 1352, when John V, supported by Genoan, Venetian and Turkish troops, launched an attack on Matthew Kantakouzenos. John Kantakouzenos came to his son's aid with 10,000 Ottoman troops, under Suleiman Pasha, son of the Sultan Orhan, who took back the cities of Thrace, liberally plundering them in the process.
In October 1352, at Didymoteichon (or Demotika), south of Adrianople, the Ottoman force met and defeated 4,000 Serbs, under Borilovic, provided to John V by Stephen Dushan.

Aftermath:

This was the Ottomans' first victory in Europe. Two years later started their invasion into the Balkans.
Initially, John V Palaiologos fled and John Kantakouzenos remained sole leader; but this caused the concern of the foreign powers. In 1354 John V with the help of the Genoans took Constantinople and forced Kantakouzenos to resign.