From the 13th century, the two main Balkan powers Byzantium and Bulgaria fell victims to a process of decentralization, as local feudal lords grew stronger and more independent from the emperors in Constantinople and Tarnovo. This weakened the military and economic power of the central rulers. The process deteriorated central authority to an even larger extent in the 14th century, when numerous nobles came to be only nominally subordinated to the government. In Bulgaria the powerful House of Shishman ruled over the Vidin Province in the west, while in the east Balik established a quasi-independent Despotate of Dobruja.