Preljub

Preljub
Preljub
Born	ca. 1312
Died	1355/1356
Allegiance	Kingdom of Serbia, Serbian Empire
Rank	voivode
Relations	Thomas II Preljubović

Preljub (Serbian: Прељуб; ca. 1312–1356) was a Serbian magnate who served Emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–55) as vojvoda (general). He participated in the southern conquests and held Thessaly with the rank of caesar (kesar) in 1348–56. His son Thomas Preljubović was Despot of Epirus in 1366–84.

Preljub appears in sources in 1344, taking part in the Serbian conquest of Macedonia during the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347. According to contemporary chroniclers, Stefan Dušan considered him the best of all his magnates "in valor, courage and experience". In May 1344, he led a Serbian army in the Battle of Stephaniana against the Emirate of Aydin, allies of the Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenos. The battle was a defeat, but it did not seriously affect the progress of the Serbian conquest. In 1348, reinforced with large numbers of Albanians, Preljub invaded Thessaly. Aided by the depopulation brought about by the Black Death, which, among others, had killed the local Byzantine governor, John Angelos, he wrested most of the region from the Byzantines and the Catalans of the Duchy of Neopatria by November of the same year. Dušan named him governor of Thessaly, with Trikala as his seat, and gave him the title of caesar as a reward. Several earlier scholars have stated that Preljub also controlled parts of Epirus, including the city of Ioannina, but recent research regards this as unlikely, and most likely the result of additions or mistakes in later sources.

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