| Emperor of Serbia | |
|---|---|
| Former Monarchy | |
| Imperial | |
| Imperial Coat of arms | |
| Dušan the Mighty (1346–1355) | |
| First monarch | Stefan Uroš IV Dušan |
| Last monarch | Stefan Uroš V |
| Style | His Imperial Apostolic Majesty |
| Monarchy started | 16 April 1346 |
| Monarchy ended | 02/04 December 1371 |
The Emperor of Serbia or Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks (Serbian: Цар Срба и Грка, Car Srba i Grka, Greek: Bασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτoκράτωρ Σερβίας καὶ Ελλάδως) was the imperial title used during the Serbian Empire (1345–1371), by only two monarchs; Stefan Uroš IV Dušan the Mighty and Stefan Uroš V the Weak.
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In 1345 Stefan Uroš IV Dušan proclaimed himself Emperor (Tsar) and was crowned as such at Skopje on 16 April 1346 by the newly created Patriarch of Serbia, and by the Patriarch of Bulgaria and the autocephalous Archbishop of Ohrid.[1] His imperial title was recognised by Bulgaria and various other neighbors and trading partners but not by the Byzantine Empire.
When Stefan Uroš IV Dušan died in 1355, his son Stefan Uroš V became the next "Emperor of the Serb and Greeks". The new emperor's uncle Simeon Uroš contested the succession and claimed the same titles as a dynast in Thessaly. After his death around 1370, he was succeeded in his claims by his son John Uroš, who retired to a monastery in about 1373.
With the extinction of the House of Nemanjić in Serbia in 1371, the imperial title became obsolete. The royal title was preserved by Vukašin Mrnjavčević, a Serbian ruler in Macedonia, who had been associated by Stefan Uroš V as king, but lapsed on the death of his son Marko in 1395. The Bosnian ban Tvrtko I also assumed the Serbian royal title, but he and his heirs reigned as kings of Serbs and Bosnia, while Serbian part in fact remained under the rule of princes, occasionally granted the Byzantine title of despotēs.
Post-nemanyid ruler Lazar Hrebeljanović is referred to as Tsar Lazar in Serbian tradition, although he never wore the title.
| Portrait | Name | Emperor From | Emperor Until | Relationship with Predecessor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stefan Uroš IV Dušan the Mighty |
16 April 1346 | 20 December 1355 | Son of Stefan Uroš III Dečanski | |
| Stefan Uroš V the Weak |
20 December 1355 | 02/04 December 1371 | Son of Stefan Uroš IV Dušan |
| Portrait | Name | Real title | Claiming years | Relationship with Nemanjić |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simeon Uroš | Despot of Epirus and Thessaly |
1356–1370 | uncle of Stefan Uroš V. He was appointed governor in the southwestern conquered regions in 1348. He proclaimed himself "Emperor of Serbs and Greeks" in 1356, after the death of Uroš V, however against the wishes of nobility of Serbia proper and Macedonia. | |
| Jovan Uroš | Ruler of Epirus and Thessaly |
1370–1373 | son of Simeon Uroš. Succeeded his father as titular Emperor and ruled an area of Epirus and Thessaly before taking monastic vows. In 1384–1385 he helped his sister Empress Maria Angelina Doukaina Palaiologina govern Epirus. |