Editing 1304 (section)

==== Byzantine Empire ====
* [[Battle of Skafida]]: Emperor [[Michael IX Palaiologos]] sends a Byzantine expeditionary force (some 10,000 men) to halt the expansion of the Bulgarians in [[Thrace]]. The two armies meet near [[Sozopol]] on the [[Bulgarian Black Sea Coast]]. During the battle, the Bulgarian army led by Tsar [[Theodore Svetoslav of Bulgaria|Theodore Svetoslav]] is defeated and routed. The Byzantines, infatuated with the chase of the retreating enemy, crowd on a bridge – which possibly is sabotaged, and break down. The Bulgarians capture many Byzantine soldiers and some nobles are held for ransom. Svetoslav secures his territorial gains and stabilizes himself as the sole ruler of the [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]] (until [[1322]]).<ref>Andreev, Y.; M. Lalkov (1996). ''The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars'' (in Bulgarian). Veliko Tarnovo Abagar. {{ISBN|954-427-216-X}}.</ref>
* The Byzantines lose the island of [[Chios]], in the [[Aegean Sea]], to the Genoese under Admiral [[Benedetto I Zaccaria]]. He establishes an [[Lordship of Chios|autonomous lordship]] and justifies the act to the Byzantine court as necessary to prevent the island from being captured by Turkish pirates. Benedetto is granted the island as a fief for a period of 10 years.<ref>Miller, William (1921). "The Zaccaria of Phocaea and Chios (1275-1329)". ''Essays on the Latin Orient'', pp. 287–289. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{OCLC|457893641}}.</ref><ref>Nicol, Donald M. (1993). ''The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453'', p. 113. (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-43991-6}}.</ref>