Battle of Stephaniana

{{Short description|1344 battle in the Balkans}}

{{Infobox military conflict|

|image=Map of the Serbian Empire, University of Belgrade, 1922.jpg

|caption=Map of the Serbian Empire, University of Belgrade, 1922.

|partof=the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347|

date=May 1344|

place=Macedonia, near the Aegean shore|

result=Turkish victory{{sfn|Kyriakidis|2018|p=309}}Recueil de travaux de l'Institut des études Byzantines, Vol. 27-28, (Vizantološki institut, 1989), 193.Ritual and art, Ed. Pamela Walker, (Pindar Press, 2006), 237.

|combatant1= Emirate of Aydin

|combatant2=Medieval Kingdom of Serbia

|commander1=Umur Beg

|commander2=caesar Preljub|

strength1=3,100

|strength2=

}}

{{Serbian-Ottoman Wars (Medieval)}}

The Battle of Stephaniana ({{langx|sr|Битка код Стефанијане}}) was a small-scale battle between the forces of the Medieval Serbian Kingdom and the Emirate of Aydin, allies of Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenos. It was the first battle between the Serbs and Turks, as an earlier battle in Gallipoli was fought between troops sent by King Milutin and Turcopole Halil Pasha (1312).Mark C. Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society, 1204-1453, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997), 83.

The Aydin force, 3,100 strong, were in the process of returning to Anatolia to defend against a Latin attack on their main harbour, Smyrna.{{harvnb|Fine|1994|p=303}}Soulis (1984), pp. 24–25 On their way they were attacked by a Serbian army under voivode Preljub, one of the most capable generals in the service of Stefan Dušan.{{harvnb|Soulis|1984|p=24}} The battle, which occurred sometime in May 1344, was won by the Turks, but was not able to thwart the ongoing conquest of Byzantine Macedonia by Dušan.{{harvnb|Fine|1994|p=304}}{{harvnb|Soulis|1984|p=25}}