was taken to the Serbian camp where he probably expired from his wounds on the fourth day of his captivity, on 31 July. Some other theories suggest that he perished on the battlefield or was killed by order of Stefan Dusan. The body of the ill-fated Emperor Michael was brought to King Stefan and was consequently buried in the monastery of Staro Nagoričane (village Staro Nagoričane, near Kumanovo). On the place where he spent his last night praying in his tent, Stefan built a church which still stands. On the second day after the battle (30 July) the Serbs advanced towards the Konyavska mountain but it was impossible for them to achieve any success because more Bulgarian troops under Michael's brother Belaur and the governor of Lovech Ivan Alexander were concentrated around the Izvor castle and blocked the way to the interior of the country. Near Izvor Belaur met King Stefan Dečanski and they concluded a peace. Consequences The outcome of the battle shaped the balance of power in the Balkans for the next decades to come and although Bulgaria did not lose territory, the Serbs could occupy much of Macedonia. Ivan Stefan, son of Michael Shishman and Stefan's sister Anna Neda, succeeded for eight months from 1330 to 1331 as tsar of Bulgaria, with the help of his uncle Stephen Dečanski. On 2 August the Bulgarian boyars proposed peace to the Serbian king Stephen Dečanski. Stephen Dečanski met them in the area known as Mraka and accepted the proposal and agreed that Ivan Stephen should become emperor of Bulgaria, thus abandoning the idea of uniting the two countries under the sceptre of his son Stephen Dušan. After the agreement of Mraka was reached, Anna Neda her sons were informed to go to the Bulgarian capital Tarnovo. Ivan Stephen entered the city and was proclaimed emperor in the second half of August 1330. Although he was in his early 30s, Ivan Stephen ruled together with his mother; the reasons for that are unknown. Hearing the news of his ally's death, Andronikos decided to abandon the war with Serbia and headed to take advantage of the Bulgarian weakness. However, in 1332 the Bulgarians defeated the Byzantines in the battle of Rusokastro and regained many territories in Thrace. King Stefan reached Macedonia and regained the towns that were taken by Byzantines at the beginning of the campaign. After a successful end of