The Battle of Rusokastro – Discussion and Chronology Problems

The discussion about the year of the battle of Rusokastro between Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331 – 1371) and Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos (1325 – 1341) has more than half a century story. Military actions and tactics are not prioritized in the text, because the disagreements refer to the chronology of the events. All of them come from the difficult arrangement of Andronikos III’s actions after the battle of Velbuzd on July 28, 1330. The different information in the main sources – the histories of Nicephorus Gregoras (1295 – 1360) and John VI Kantakouzenos (1347 – 1354), refers to all events in the period 1331 – 1334, when the battle of Rusokastro happened.