Preljub

Gregory Preljub or simply Preljub (Serbian: Прељуб, in Greek sources Γρηγόριος Πρεάλιμπος or Πρελούμπος, Grēgorios Prealimbos/Preloumbos; ca. 1312–1355/1356) was a 14th-century Serbian noble and voivode (military commander) who conquered and ruled Thessaly with the rank of Caesar in 1348–1356 under Emperor Stephen IV Dushan (r. 1331–1355). His son Thomas II Preljubović was Despot of Epirus in 1366–1384.

Life

Preljub appears in 1344, taking part in the Serbian conquest of Macedonia during the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347. According to the chroniclers, Stephen Dushan considered him the best of all his magnates "in valor, courage and experience".^[1] In May 1344 he led a Serbian army in the Battle of Stephaniana against the Turks of the Emirate of Aydin, allies of the Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenos. The battle was a defeat, but it did not seriously affect the progress of the Serbian conquest.^[1][2] In 1348, reinforced with large numbers of Albanians, Preljub invaded Thessaly. Aided by the depopulation brought about by the Black Death – which among others had killed the local Byzantine governor, John Angelos – he wrested most of the region from the Byzantines and the Catalans of the Duchy of Neopatria by November of the same year. Dushan named him governor of Thessaly, with Trikala as his seat, and gave him the title of Caesar as a reward.^[3][4] Several earlier scholars have stated that Preljub also controlled parts of Epirus, including the city of Ioannina, but recent research regards this as unlikely, and most likely the result of additions or mistakes in later sources.^[5]

In 1350, John VI Kantakouzenos took advantage of Dushan's absence in a campaign against Bosnia to attempt to recover his lost provinces in Macedonia and Thessaly. He landed at Thessalonica and succeeded in regaining several key fortresses in Macedonia, but his advance towards Thessaly was stopped by Preljub, who with 500 men held the strategically important fortress of Servia against him. Kantakouzenos, whose army was rather small, withdrew, and Dushan was able to recover his lost fortresses with ease.^[6][7]

Preljub died in late 1355 or early 1356, shortly after Dushan himself, in a clash with local Albanian clans.^[8][9] His widow, Irene Asanina, a daughter of Dushan, and their son Thomas, soon faced an invasion by Nikephoros Orsini, the former Despot of Epirus. Orsini managed to rally the Greek inhabitants of the province to his side, forcing Irene to return to Serbia. In 1357 she married Radoslav Hlapen, the governor of much of western Macedonia, including Vodena and Berrhoea.^[10][11] In 1366/1367, Thomas became ruler of Epirus at Ioannina.^[12]

References

Sources

• Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994), The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0472082605, http://books.google.com/?id=Hh0Bu8C66TsC 
• Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (1993), The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521439916, http://books.google.com/?id=y2d6OHLqwEsC 
• Soulis, George Christos (1984), The Serbs and Byzantium during the reign of Tsar Stephen Dušan (1331–1355) and his successors, Dumbarton Oaks, ISBN 0-88402-137-8