. The Serbian people, their past glory and their destiny. n-lans. The death of the Emperor Andronikos III, in1341, was the beginning in Byzance of a long periodof bloodshed and anarchy resulting from civil warover the succession to the throne. These strifes werethe death throes of the already weakened Empire. Kantakouzene, the regent for the Child-EmperorYoannis, V, Andronikos, was utterly unscrupulous,inspired only by narrow, self-seeking considerations,and actuated solely by a desire for personal famewhich reached the point of mania. The acts bywhich he sought to seize authority and gain his
. The Serbian people, their past glory and their destiny. n-lans. The death of the Emperor Andronikos III, in1341, was the beginning in Byzance of a long periodof bloodshed and anarchy resulting from civil warover the succession to the throne. These strifes werethe death throes of the already weakened Empire. Kantakouzene, the regent for the Child-EmperorYoannis, V, Andronikos, was utterly unscrupulous,inspired only by narrow, self-seeking considerations,and actuated solely by a desire for personal famewhich reached the point of mania. The acts bywhich he sought to seize authority and gain his ends,oblivious of all interests of the State and blind evento his own real advantage, were those of a mind andconscience equally diseased. He quarrelled with theEmpress-Mother, left Constantinople, and proclaimedhimself Byzantine Emperor at Demotika. The Servian King Doushan was ready to inter-vene, when he was approached in 1342 by Kantakou-zene, who offered, in return for military help against Servian Kingdom in tlie Twelfth and Thiiicenth Servian Empire, Fourteenth Century. THE SERVIAN EMPIRE 481 Andronikos, to confirm as Servian possessions allterritory which Doushan might be able during theproposed campaign to occupy. That arrangement, subject to the constant attemptsof the Empress-Mother at Constantinople to inducethe Servian King to support the cause of her youngson, and Doushans dissatisfaction with the methodsof Kantakouzene, was terminated after the span of afew months. Before this change of situation had be-come known at the Servian court, Kantakouzene,during the absence of the Servian King on a huntingexpedition, resorted to a swiftly executed trick bywhich he w as able to obtain the services of Doushansroyal guard, in which were many knights from for-eign lands under the command of a German (Swiss)knight named Palman Bracht. With those soldiershe fell upon several places within Servian borderswhich he plundered in rapid succession. King Doushan at once
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