Stefan Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia

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Stefan of Dečani
King of Serbia
King Stefan Uroš III Dečanski
Reign	1321 - 1331
Coronation	1321
Born	1285
Died	November 11, 1331 (aged 46)
Place of death	Castle of Zvečan
Predecessor	Stefan Uroš II Milutin
Successor	Dušan the Mighty
Consort	Theodora of Bulgaria, Maria Palaiologina
Issue	Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, Simeon Uroš
Royal House	House of Nemanjić
Father	Stefan Uroš II Milutin
Mother	Anna of Bulgaria

Stefan Uroš III Dečanski (Serbian: Стефан Урош III Дечански), (c. 1285 – November 11, 1331) reigned as king of Serbia from 1321 to September 8, 1331. He took his name from the great monastery he built at Dečani.

He was the son of King Stefan Uroš II and Anna of Bulgaria. His maternal grandparents were George I of Bulgaria and his wife Maria, sister of Ivan Asen III of Bulgaria.

While still a youth, he was sent by his father as a hostage to Nogai Khan of the Golden Horde, and on his return was entrusted with the governorship of Zeta (i.e., Montenegro).

He was married (first) to Theodora, daughter of Smilets of Bulgaria. He was secondly married to Byzantine princess Maria Palaiologina.

In 1314 his father, quarrelling with Stefan, sent him to Constantinople to have him blinded there. Stefen was never blinded properly but had to wear black bandage over his eyes. In 1320 he was permitted to return to Serbia and had to defeat several pretenders to the throne before being crowned in 1321. These included his half-brother Stefan Constantine, whom he defeated and killed in 1322, and his cousin Stefan Vladislav II, whom he defeated and exiled in 1324.

Coins minted by Stefan Dečanski

The claimants enjoyed foreign support, and the victorious king was faced by the alliance of Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire. Michael Asen III of Bulgaria divorced Stefan Uroš III's sister Anna and married the Byzantine princess Theodora Palaiologina instead. The allies intended to join forces for a major invasion of Serbia in 1330. This led to the most significant event of Stefan Uroš III's reign, the Battle of Velbuzhd, in which he defeated the Bulgarians and killed Bulgarian emperor Michael Asen III.

Hearing of his ally's defeat, the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos retreated, turning to easier prey. His conquests allowed him to push the Serbian borders to the south into Byzantine Macedonia. Some of his courtiers, however, were discontented with his policies and conspired to dethrone him in favour of his son Dušan. The latter imprisoned Stefan Uroš III in the castle of Zvečan, where he presently died a violent death by strangulation.

Although Stefan's actions were frequently far from saintly, the Serbian Orthodox Church had him canonized. His remains are venerated at the largest medieval church of Serbia that he built at Dečani. His feast day is November 24.

[edit] Ancestors

[edit] Family

By his first wife, Theodora of Bulgaria, Stefan Uroš III had several children, including:

• Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, who succeeded as king
• Helena (Jelena), who married Mladen III Šubić
• Theodora, who married sebastokratōr Dejan

By his second wife, Maria Palaiologina, Stefan Uroš III had:

• Simeon Uroš Palaiologos

[edit] References

• John V.A. Fine, Jr., The Late Medieval Balkans, Ann Arbor, 1987.