Stephen Constantine of Serbia

Stephen Constantine (Serbian: Стефан Константин, Stefan Konstantin; ca. 1282-1322) was the King of Serbia briefly for a year 1321–1322. He initially held the appanage of Zeta (with Zahumlje and Travunia).^[1] He was the only pretender to the Serbian thone, after his father had exiled his younger brother and initial heir Stephen Uroš III. He was killed by his brother in 1322/1323, who went on to defeat all possible heirs and usurped the Serbian throne.

Life

He was a son of Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia and his second marriage of the daughter of Johannes Angelos, the ruler of Thessaly.

After the failed rebellion by his younger brother Stephen Uroš III (1314), and the death of his uncle Stephen Dragutin in 1316, Konstantin was given the title Young King, and ruled Zeta; as de facto intended heir, though his father had not officially proclaimed him as such in the state assembly. Stephen Uroš III had been exiled to Constantinople, but had been allowed to return in 1321 following talks between the Archbishop and King Milutin. His father died on October 29, 1321, which enabled Stephen Uroš III and Vladislav, Dragutin's son, to claim the throne. The Church supported Stephen Uroš III, and on January 6, 1322, crowned him King of Serbia, after which, according to the hagiography by Grigorije Camblak, Constantine was offered to "accept another dignified Empire, as the second son". He declined, as he trusted the strength of his army, in which there were also foreign mercenaries. He was supported by the Bulgarians for the Serbian throne amid the succession war.^[2] Details of the conflict does not exist, though it is known that it resulted in an armed conflict towards 1323. Constantine's army was defeated, and part of the troops switched to Stephen Uroš III's side. Constantine was most likely captured or killed while retreating. Stephen Uroš III went on to defeat Vladislav, the ruler of the Kingdom of Syrmia, in late 1324; and unified the Serbian crown.

After Constantine's death, his body was transferred and buried in the church of St. Nicholas in Kosovo, an endowment of the Nemanjić dynasty. Some chronicles have recorded stories of his alleged brutal execution, Pseudobrokar states that Stephen Uroš III ordered him nailed to a tree, after which he was cut in half, while Mavro Orbin said that his was done by Vladislav, who had captured him. There also exist a legend that his severed head was emptied and used as a cup from which Stephen Uroš III drank wine.

Constantine provided long lists of Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian monarchs from the 11th century onwards, as did his father.^[3]

References