Editing Middle Ages (section)

=== Collapse of Byzantium ===
{{Main|Decline of the Byzantine Empire| Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty| Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty| Byzantine–Ottoman Wars|Rise of the Ottoman Empire}}
Although the [[Palaeologi]] emperors recaptured Constantinople from the Western Europeans in 1261, they could never regain control of much of the former imperial lands. They usually controlled only a small section of the Balkan Peninsula near Constantinople, the city itself, and some coastal lands on the [[Black Sea]] and around the [[Aegean Sea]]. The former Byzantine lands in the Balkans were divided between the new [[Kingdom of Serbia (medieval)|Kingdom of Serbia]], the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]], and the city-state of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]]. A new Turkish tribe threatened the power of the Byzantine emperors, the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], who established themselves in Anatolia in the 13th century and [[Byzantine–Ottoman Wars|steadily expanded]] throughout the 14th century. The Ottomans expanded into Europe, reducing Bulgaria to a vassal state by 1366 and taking over Serbia after its defeat at the [[Battle of Kosovo]] in 1389. Western Europeans rallied to the plight of the Christians in the Balkans and declared a new crusade in 1396; a great army was sent to the Balkans, where it was defeated at the [[Battle of Nicopolis]].<ref name=Davies385>Davies ''Europe'' pp. 385–389</ref> Constantinople was finally [[Fall of Constantinople|captured]] by the Ottomans in 1453.<ref name=Davies446>Davies ''Europe'' p. 446</ref>