The Battle of Velbazhd (; ) took place between Bulgarian and Serbian armies on 28 July 1330, near the town of Velbazhd (present day Kyustendil).
The growing power of the Serbian Kingdom from the late 13th century raised serious concerns in the traditional Balkan powers Bulgaria and Byzantine Empire which agreed for joint military actions against Serbia in 1327. Three years later the bulk of the Bulgarian and Serbian armies clashed at Velbazhd and the Bulgarians were caught by surprise. Serbian victory shaped the balance of power in Balkans for the next two decades. The Bulgarians did not lose territory after the battle but were unable to stop the Serbian advance towards Macedonia. Serbia managed to conquer Macedonia and parts of Thessaly and Epirus reaching its greatest territorial extent ever. Their new king Stefan Dušan was crowned Emperor with support from Bulgarian Patriarch Symeon in 1346.
Origins of the conflict
During the long but unsuccessful reign of Emperor Constantine Tikh Asen (1257–1277) the Bulgarian Empire lost its possessions in northern Macedonia including Skopje, the original feudal estate of the Emperor to the Byzantines. Both Empires were faced with serious external and internal problems and from the 1280s the Serbs began to expand their Kingdom to the south in northern Macedonia.
During the internal war in the Byzantine Empire (1320–1328) waged between the aged emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his ambitious grandson Andronikos III Palaiologos, the Serbian king Stefan Uroš III (also known as Stefan Dečanski) actively supported the side of the old emperor and in the process gained some minor forts in Macedonia. After in 1328 Andronikos III won and deposed his grandfather. Serbia and the Byzantines entered a period of bad relations, closer to the state of undeclared war. On the other hand, the Bulgarian Emperor Michael Asen III supported his brother-in-law Andronikos III. Previously, in 1324, he divorced and ousted his wife and Stefan's sister Anna Neda, and married Andronikos III's sister Theodora. During that time the Serbs captured some important towns such as Prosek and Prilep and even besieged Ohrid (1329).
The two Empires were seriously worried about the fast growth of Serbia and on 13 May 1327 settled a clearly anti-Serb peace treaty. After another meeting with Andronikos III in 1329, the rulers decided to invade their common enemy; Michael Asen III prepared for joint military operations against Serbia. Michael Shishman desired to retake the north-western and south-western Bulgarian lands which the Serbs had previously conquered. The plan included the thorough elimination of Serbia and its partition between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire. According to some Serbian chroniclers, he demanded the submission of the Serbian king and threatened to "set up his throne in the middle of the Serbian land".
Preparations
Both sides took careful preparations. Michael called in his ally Basarab of Wallachia who sent him a strong unit, as well as detachments of Ossetians/Jassiges and Tatars, a total of 3,000 men. Michael's army was estimated by contemporaries to be 15,000 strong. Stefan Uroš strengthened his army by more Catalan and German mercenaries (1,000 soldiers each), experienced warriors which presented an elite unit of Serbian army which comprised a total of 17,000 fighters.
Operations before the battle
According to the plan the Bulgarians were to advance from the east and the Byzantines from the south and then to join forces somewhere in present-day north Macedonia but their coordination was feeble. In July 1330 Andronikos III invaded Macedonia but after he captured Prilep and five minor fortresses he halted his army and decided to await the outcome of the decisive battle between Bulgarians and Serbs. The Serbian objective was to prevent the joining of the allies and to fight in separate battles. Fearing an attack on Morava valley by the way of Nish the Serbian King gathered his army in the field of Dobrich, on the confluence of the Toplica river into the Morava.