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Battle Of Peritor




  date 7 July 1345
  place near Xanthi , Greece
  result Ottoman victory
  combatant1 Bulgarian forces
  combatant2 Ottoman forces
  commander1 Momchil
  commander2 Uner Beg
  strength1 A few thousand men
  strength2 Larger force
  casualties1 Unknown
  casualties2 Unknown


The battle of Peritor occurred on July 7 1345 near the seat of the Bulgarian ruler Momchil , Xanthi in modern northern Greece between Bulgarian and Ottoman forces. The result was an Ottoman victory.


ORIGINS OF THE CONFLICT


From 1341 Ottoman mercenaries hired by the pretender for the Byzantine throne John VI Kantakouzenos to fight against his opponent John V Palaiologos who was supported by the Bulgarians began to attack Bulgarian settlements in Thrace and the Eastern Rhodope mountains. After the local ruler of the Rhodope and Aegean region Momchil received help neither from the Bulgarian Emperor Ivan Alexander nor from the Byzantines he fought alone against the Muslim invaders. In 1344 he managed to burn Ottoman ships at Portogalos.


THE BATTLE


In the following year the Ottoman Turks sent a large army against Momchil under Uner beg. On 7 July near the village of Peritor in the vicinity of his capital, the Bulgarian ruler engaged the superior enemy. After a bloody fighting, the few thousand Bulgarians were defeated and their leader perished.


AFTERMATH


After the battle the Ottomans occupied the principle towns and castles in the area. Momchil was the first Balkan ruler who was eliminated by the invaders and the first one to see the real threat of the Turk which the other Balkan rulers realised too late.

His brave resistance entered the Bulgarian Epic Folklore and his name became a legend.


REFERENCES