text: Venice carved out a sphere of influence in the Aegean known as the Duchy of the Archipelago, and gained control of the island of Crete. Weakened by constant warfare with Bulgaria and the unconquered sections of the empire, the Latin Empire eventually fell when Byzantines recaptured Constantinople under Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261. The last Latin emperor, Baldwin II, went into exile, but the imperial title survived, with several pretenders to it until the 14th century.
  Late Middle Ages
  Serbian Empire
  In 1346, The Serbian Empire was established by King Stefan Dušan (Who was known by many as "Dušan the Mighty"). He was able to significantly expand the state. Under Dušan's rule, Serbia was the major power in the Balkans, and a multi-lingual empire that stretched from the Danube to the Gulf of Corinth, with its capital in Skopje. He also promoted the Serbian Archbishopric to the Serbian Patriarchate. Dušan enacted the constitution of the Serbian Empire, known as Dušan's Code, which was one of the most important literary works of Medieval Serbia. He was crowned as Emperor and autocrat of the Serbs and Greeks (Romans). His son and successor, Uroš the Weak, lost most of the territory conquered by Dušan, hence his epithet. The Serbian Empire effectively ended with the death of Uroš V in 1371 and the break-up of the Serbian state.