War of Palaiologan Restoration (St. George's Night)

War of Palailogan Restoration
Part of St. George's Night
Date 1352 - 1357 Location Greece Result Initial Palailogos victory; Serbs later seize Constantinople
Belligerents
Palailogos dynasty Serbian Empire	Kantakouzenos dynasty
Commanders and leaders
John V Palailogos Stefan Dusan	Manuel III Kantakouzenos
Strength
15,000	11,000
Casualties and losses
5000	4000

The War of Palailogan Restoration, fought from 1352 to 1357, was a conflict fought between an alliance of the Byzantine Palailogos family and the Serbian Empire, and the Kantakouzenos family and their allies, the Ottoman Turks. Effectively a proxy war between the Turks and Serbs, it resulted in an initial victory of the Palailogos, who successfully gained the throne from their rivals in 1354. However, in 1355, the Serbian Emperor Sefan Dusan betrayed his former allies and marched on and took Constantinople, deposing and killing John V Palailogos. This marked the effective dissolution of the Byzantine Empire. Subsequently, the Serbs were able to consolidate their control over the remainder of the southern Balkans, and their control of Constantinople obstructed Turkish expansion into Europe for decades to come.