| Vildin Vildin Vilodonian Dynasty | |
|---|---|
| Country | Byzantine Empire |
| Founded | 1510 (After the Battle of Ankara) |
| Founder | Vildin the Great |
| Final ruler | Burbus III |
| Dissolution | 1808 |
| Deposition | 1808 |
| Ethnicity | Bulgarian and Greek |
War of the Three Brothers[]
In 1501 the Byzantine Emperor Constantine XIV died without a heir, his brothers Constantus,John, and Prometheus, they would fight a bloody civil war, which was topped eventually by the Persian invasion of Byzantium in 1504 in which the brothers had to unite together to fight the Persian threat, in which under general Vildin who was indeed serving Prometheus, the Persians were defeated at the Battle of Kars in 1505, after this the Persians were driven from the Empire a year later, and the bloody fighting continued, however Vildin soon realized that if he did not act, the Empire might not be able to withstand another invasion, Vildin planned on gathering an army of supporters to overthrow the Palaiologos Dynasty, which would be hard as Vildin was of Bulgarian descent, however enjoyed Byzantine rule, and was able to give hope to the Bulgarians of more representation, as well Vildins men that he led while serving Prometheus were unusually loyal, and were of Greek descent, which gave him popularity with the army and people as well. Vildin soon amassed a massive force of 190,000 Men, as well as having support all over the Empire, he also adopted flintlocks to his regiments, Vildin would serve Prometheus one last time at the Battle of Smyrna which he decisively won, right after this Battle he ambushed and defeated Prometheus at the Second Battle of Smyrna in 1507, this was followed by Vildin attempting to march on Adrianople, however by now the three brothers had united against him, inflicting a decisive defeat on Vildin, postponing his conquest of the Empire, Vildin however would secure Greece and Bulgaria by 1508, which was followed by him conquering Adrianople and Constantinople in 1509, where he captured Prometheus himself, showing mercy to the man as he still had sympathy for him, the final armies loyal to the Palaiologos Dynasty would be defeated on March 15th, 1510 at the Battle of Ankara where both John and Constantus were killed, a year later Promwtheus gave up his claim to the Palaiologos Dynasty, ending it, this was followed by Vildin beginning to rebuild the war torn empire.
Tatar Invasion of Crimea[]
In March of 1515 a Tatar force led by Hisulu invaded Crimea, rapidly gaining ground as the Byzantine army in the region was weakened from a plague which ravaged the region, Vildin went to Crimea, taking Prometheus as his right hand General, as he knew Prometheus wouldn't betray him stating "Prometheus is a man of honor, I served him, and now we serve each other as equals" this was followed by Vildin and his armies engaging the Tatars at the Battle of the High Cliff in June of 1515, during the Battle Vildin fell from his horse, and was nearly killed as a Tatar was about to hit him with his sword, when Prometheus saved Vildin's life, Vildin then remarked "I knew you wouldn't let me die." in which Prometheus famously responded "Why would I, now lets kick these Barbarians out of our homeland." Vildin and Prometheus would go on to win the Battle, Prometheus was then appointed Secondary in command of the Byzantine Army.
Battle of the Brave (Battle of Promethia)[]
Later on in the month the Byzantines would engage the Tatars at present day Promethia, which at the time was a barren plain in the middle of Crimea, the armies fought for two days, on the second day Prometheus was mortally wounded, his last words stating "Do not let my death discourage you Vildin, stay focused and keep your head high, the Empire must be held together!", the Battle would be Won, and the Tatars expelled from Crimea for good, however Vildin mourned his unlikely friends death, founding Promethia in his honor, before returning home, he buried Prometheus in Theodora, his grave can still be seen today, engraved on the headstone is "Here lay the Hero of Byzantium".
Byzantine Conquest of Serbia[]
In 1520 5 years after Prometheus's death, Vildin went on campaign against the Serbians, which owed him debts, and refused to pay, he would defeat a massive Serbian army at the Battle of Novi Sad in July of 1521, in which he then marched on Belgrade, however instead of leaving after collecting his debts, Vildin decided to integrate Serbia into the Empire, which was completed in 1523, this ultimately began the drive of a century of conquest by Vildin's successors.
Death of Vildin the Great[]
Nearly 10 years after the conquest of Serbia, Vildin lay in his bedroom in Constantinople,overlooking the city from his palace, he was around 67-68 years old,however years of war and stress took its toll on the great leader, leading to his death from a heart attack on June 15th, 1533, he had no known last words, he was buried in the front garden of the Palace, his heir Vildin II would take the thrown, and would prove to be as great as his father, his first act as Emperor was placing a Rose on his fathers grave, a tradition which lasted until the end of the Vilodonian Dynasty in 1808.
Reign of Vildin the Reformer[]
Vildin II also known as Vildin the reformer was one of the first European monarchs to make official flintlock units, known as Eagle brigades, these were professional units that wielded Flintlocks, and later muskets, as well Vildin II allowed religous freedom, encouraging migration to the Empire, Vildin's reign is also associated with the construction of roads and new towns, mainly in the Asia minor, bringing new life to a sparsely populated party of the Empire, as well under Vildin II the empires borders expanded again, expanding to vassalize Wallachia, and annexing some Hungarian lands after the Byzantine-Hungarian War of 1542, Vildin II would die in 1551, however he is still remembered as one of the great Byzantine Emperors.
Byzantine-Safavid Wars[]
After the death of Vildin II, his son Belarius I would take the throne, making the rose placing an official ceremony as well, Belarius had one major goal, and that was to push the new Safavid Persians out of Anatolia, in order to do this Belarius had to secure his European borders, making a deal with the Austrians for a defensive pact against the Hungarians, this was followed by Belarius gathering his army, which numbered around 130,000 Men and heading east in 1557 where he'd begin his campaigns against the Persians.
Battle of Trabzon[]
Belarius's army would reach Trabzon, finally reconnecting the city to the Empire, as previously it had been surrounded by Safavid borders, however a massive Safavid army soon arrived from the south,Belarius set up his positions, his scouts estimated 190,000 Persians, however it's more likely it was only 145,000, meaning that the Byzantines were still outnumbered, however the difference was the Byzantines had mastered gunpowder warfare, within a few hours thousands of Persians lay dead, and soon routed, Belarius pursued the Safavids, and after a few more battles secured victory, moving the border to northern Iraq.