The Albanians, who were already present in the strategically important triangle between
Durrës,
Ohrid and
Corfu during the power struggles of the 13th century, were in great demand as allies and mercenaries; they increasingly expanded outside of their mountainous homes and began imposing themselves in the surrounding lowlands. The expansions of the growing
Serbian Empire into northern Epirus and Macedonia also encouraged the Albanians to move further south. At the beginning of the 14th century, Albanian tribes began migrating to
Thessaly, where they lived primarily as autonomous nomads who controlled the mountainous parts of the region. The main tribes in this region were the
Mazaraki, the
Bua and the
Malakasioi - all three would later be present in Epirus. After 1318, the Albanian tribes began to invade and ravage the countryside of Thessaly instead of continuing their peaceful migrations, forcing the Greek and Catalan authorities to withdraw to their strongholds. It is possible that the Albanians of Thessaly were recruited to fight in the wars involving the
Catalan Company; a contemporary source of 1325 distinguished three groups of local Albanians - those who served themselves, those who sided with the Greeks, and those who sided with the Catalans. From this point onwards, every ruler of Thessaly employed Albanians into their service, and by the 1330s, Albanians were given military holdings in Phanari. The Albanians of Epirus Nova seized the fortresses of
Skrapar,
Timoro and
Këlcyrë, but they were soon defeated by Turkish mercenaries in the Byzantine army. During this same campaign, the Despotate of Epirus was subdued and once again made part of the Byzantine Empire for a brief period of time. In 1341, with the onset of the
Byzantine Civil War, the Albanians yet again launched a successful invasion of
Pogoniani and Livisda. Prior to the outbreak of the civil war, Byzantine general
Cantacuzene had planned to lead an army westwards to subdue the Albanians of Pogoniani and Livisda, who were regularly raiding and plundering towns as far south as
Akarnania and Balagrita. The Byzantine enclave in
Berat,
Vlorë and Spinaritsa became isolated from the rest of the empire. In Thessaly, however, the Albanians desisted from raiding local towns, and according to Cantacuzene himself, it was due to him giving the tribes a mere warning.
Serbian Empire Many Albanians served in Serbian Emperor
Stefan Dušan's armies as mercenaries, which facilitated further migration of Albanians towards the south as Dušan began conquering parts of Greece in the 1340s. In 1342, the Byzantine governor of Thessaly invaded southern Epirus to end the revolt of
Arta, and probably employed the Albanians of Thessaly who were stationed in the Phanari region. Later that year, Thessaly submitted to Stefan Dušan, and Dušan's conquest of Epirus and Thessaly was complete by the end of 1348. Dušan appointed one of his relatives and generals -
Preljub - to govern Thessaly, and he appointed
Symeon Uroš to govern Epirus. Preljub had conquered Thessaly for Dušan and was given the honorary title of
Caesar. Preljub struggled to subdue the Albanian and
Vlach tribes of Thessaly and was forced to turn his attention towards the now Byzantine emperor
Cantacuzene, who had invaded
Macedonia in 1350 in an attempt to recapture the Byzantine provinces lost to the
Serbian Empire and was now at Thessaly's border. Cantacuzene was repulsed by Preljub after unsuccessfully besieging
Servia, and his territorial gains in Thessaly were soon recovered by the Serbs. Stefan Dušan died in December 1355, and the Serbian Empire began to fragment apart as a number of different successor states rose in its place. The peace between Preljub and the Albanians did not last for very long, and Preljub was killed by the Albanians during a clash near
Trikkala shortly after Dušan's death. The Byzantine Empire was too preoccupied to intervene after Preljub's death in an attempt to retake Epirus and Thessaly, but
Nikephoros II, son of the last Despot of Epirus
John II Orsini, saw the fractioning of the Serbian Empire as an opportunity to recover his father's lost territorial and titular possessions.
Arrival of Nikephoros II Nikephoros felt no personal loyalty to the new Byzantine emperor,
John V Palaiologos, and sailed to Thessaly in 1356 from his governorship of
Aenos. Due to the support he received from his brother-in-law and governor of Epirus
Symeon Uroš as well as locals who were both happy to rid themselves of Serbian rule and eager for help against the Albanians, Nikephoros conquered Thessaly without much difficulty. After becoming ruler of Thessaly and
Akarnania, he ousted family rivals and targeted Venetian-held
Leukas, capturing its ruler. Nikephoros then set his sights on Epirus, and after Symeon was expelled from the capital city of
Arta, the town submitted to Nikephoros' rule. However, although Nikephoros controlled the towns of Epirus and Aetolia, the countryside was firmly under the control of the Albanians. Nikephoros was driven to launch a campaign against the Albanians by the local Greeks who had been dispossessed of much of their territory by the Albanian tribesmen. Despite his limited success, he stirred the animosity of the Albanians against him, and any alliance between the Albanians and Symeon (the former governor of Epirus) would have been problematic. However, Nikephoros' campaign was marred by his admiral Limpidarios' betrayal, who seized Aenos for himself in Nikephoros' absence. Nikephoros' wife, Maria Cantacuzene (the daughter of former Byzantine emperor
John Cantacuzene), initially fled to
Constantinople, then joined her husband in Thessaly. Despite their reunion, Nikephoros, who was advised to seek a political marriage, left Maria under guard in Arta and proposed to a Serbian princess who was the sister of Stefan Dušan's widow,
Helena of Bulgaria. After escaping to the
Morea with her brother
Manuel Cantacuzene's help, Maria's plight and Nikephoros' pursuit of a Serbian alliance angered the Albanians, leading to threats of war against him. According to John Cantacuzene himself in his contemporary work, Nikephoros' poor treatment of his wife Maria - a Cantacuzene - angered the Albanians, who considered themselves allies of the Cantacuzenati. While Cantacuzene's work might have exaggerated the affection his family commanded from the Albanians, they reflect the profound influence of honour, family ties, and patronage in late medieval Epirus and Thessaly. The Albanians used the scandal as a pretext for rebellion, and either out of fear or a realisation of his mistake amid Albanian unrest, Nikephoros annulled the Serbian marriage plans and recalled Maria. However, Not wanting people to think that their loyalty to him depended on Maria, Nikephoros had organised an expedition to subdue the rebellious Albanians before she returned. Nikephoros wanted to crush the Albanians for daring to threaten him in the hopes of changing his policies. == Battle ==